@sallysaristore

Even if I come from a family of stellar—and very opinionated—cooks, I never really set foot in the kitchen pre-COVID. I always thought that cooking was a skill that could lay dormant. . . until the pandemic came along and made it necessary. Now, I suddenly have a whole arsenal of culinary reference materials in my bookcase and phone.

If there’s one cuisine I don’t attempt on my own, it’s Chinese (that’s my husband’s comfort food, so it’s like I’m setting myself up to fail). We normally order from a host of cult Banawe eateries (Mandarin Sky, King Chef, and Fei Yi Ban Shao La). My favourite though is the Tondo-based Sally Sari Store because they’re just a stress-free DM away. I’m slowly going through their menu (which changes daily). So far, I’ve sworn allegiance to the eel in black bean sauce (perfectly half-cooked so it doesn’t get mushy) and the black chicken misua. They are also a veritable Ali Baba’s den of Oriental—Chinese, Japanese and Korean—pantry items! They do have a shop in Lazada, but it’s much quicker to order on Instagram.

After a day stuck in Zoom meetings, my go-to quick meal is hotpot using Hai Di Lao soup base—we’ve gone through all the flavours (the boys’ favourite is butter spicy beef; I like tomato). Ask for a sesame dipping sauce to complete the experience.

@etag_guy_mnl | +6392 0927 9010

Living in a condo makes it impossible to barbecue, so the second best thing is to order from Etag Guy and finish off his traditional Benguet-smoked meats in the oven. The Ibalois (a local indigenous community) use the Kinuday—their version (for lack of a better word) of smoked bacon—to punch up the flavour of tinola. I like to use it in place of guanciale for carbonara. The pulled pork is excellent and ready in no time at all (a serving is more party size though, rather than dinner for five). I add a heaping spoonful on brioche buns with Fergus Henderson’s Red Salad (recipe on Food52.com) instead of coleslaw (my kids hate it) and an extra helping of their signature spicy barbecue sauce made with Benguet coffee and strawberries. 

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@lagrimanila

My family’s been fans of Lagrima since it opened—my son Roque even spent an entire summer waiting on tables and mixing cocktails. Although since the pandemic, they’ve closed the restaurant, and do take-out now from their commissary. It’s come to a point that we don’t even have to look at the menu to rattle off what has become our standard orders. for their street tacos: shrimp fried in garlic butter, carne asada using grilled Kitayama Wagyu (if the neighbours are over I’ll add the kimchi version of this), buche (that’s cow stomach, and not the same as beef belly), or braised lengua. The boys will then top this off with whatever strikes their fancy from the menu, but I’m always sure to add extra: extra tortillas (there’s really no match for their sourdough-leavened flour tortillas) and their red and green chilli sauces for when I do fish tacos to augment whatever leftovers (their portion sizes are uber generous) the next day.

@fruitwarehouseph | +6390 6266 1766

I get my weekly supply of berries, green apples and lemons from Fruit Warehouse, plus whatever’s fresh and seasonal. Sunkist blood oranges, Egyptian pomegranates, premium seedless lychees (normally exported to Japan), and they have the fanciest selection of grapes too. I’ve never seen so much variety: Kyoho, Muscat, Chile Sugar Baby Red, Sweet Sapphire, Gum Drop Red, Cotton Candy, Gummy Berry… when I serve this, the kids don’t even look for cake or ice cream. The rest of their extensive product listing, though admittedly lacking in local selections, is pretty impressive too.

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Coop Grocer

If there’s one thing I know with utmost certainty about founder Eman Pineda is that he is a stickler for quality, and I feel like Coop Grocer is an expansion of his home pantry. Almost a year into the pandemic, we got to talking and he told me that Coop Grocer was his way to find work for the employees in his retail stores and restaurants. Cheers to business pivots! What I Iove about it is how they built the brand (it has a website and app) from the ground up, and continue to improve on it. They have a well-curated stock with a solid (as opposed to token) selection of organic produce—and you can even buy school supplies and basic drug store needs. Your cart is updated in real-time based on what’s in stock. Payment is fast, smooth and fuss-free. Your grocery is delivered in recycled boxes too! Customer service is excellent; a staff member updates the status of delivery, and any complaints are dealt with and resolved immediately.

My boys are currently counting macros and working out like crazy, so their favourite meal is chicken, and that’s the reason why I return again and again to Coop Grocer. I can only eat hormone-free chicken, and they sell them up to 1.4 kg, which is a decent enough size to make a juicy roast (most free-range chicken are depressingly joyless and bony when they emerge from the oven). They also sell them cut up in parts, filleted or bone-in. I never thought I’d see the day when I’d wax poetic about poultry, but here I am because the last time I regularly ate chicken was in the third grade.

@communeph

I would be in the doghouse if I ever let my household run out of coffee. (I don’t drink it myself since I’m known to get palpitations and bounce around like a maniac when I finish a cup.) Full disclosure: Ros Juan, the chief coffee extractor, is my sister in law. I always have to have an extra one-kilo bag of her Commune Blend, which is made with Benguet Arrabica and Cavite Robusta, or else panic ensues. For special occasions or when I need to please coffee connoisseurs, I choose the Peaberry (the last one we had was from Atok, Benguet). The Peaberry flavour is more robust and less acidic. Sometimes in the guise of training my body, I will sneak a sip from my husband’s preferred Americano. So good. Funny though how as I’ve grown older, I prefer bitter to sweet.

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@patisserielechouxcolat

The drawback to spending time in the kitchen is knowing how much sugar—a major contributor to inflammation and weight gain—goes into baked goods. I can now make my own cakes and galettes (and I always cut the sugar in the recipe), and only order when there’s a birthday, though I will make an exception for Patisserie le Choux-colat. Their mirror entremet cakes are literally a labour of love; I can never decide if the coffee creme brulee or chocolate is my favourite—both are just the right amount of sweet and do not mask the taste of the coffee and cocoa.

@marvsboqueria.ph

I feel like I’ve had so many significant moments in this never-ending quarantine with Marv’s...here are a few:

• Moules frites, Elias’ (my son) favourite, for his last day of virtual high school
• Salt-crusted sea bass for our first Halloween at home (instead of the beach)
• Harima oysters with mignonette for Raffy’s (my husband) French-themed birthday
• Max learning to slice salmon belly sashimi and grill unagi for Elias’ birthday
• A seafood tower with mussels, crab claws, Iloilo oysters (and an extra helping of lobsters from @seasourceph) for my lockdown birthday
• Chutoro and hamachi kama for my mum’s lockdown birthday 

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