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The Makati restaurant celebrates 20 years after having to endure the worst pandemic of our lifetime, proving that Filipinos have truly developed a soft spot for classic Italian cuisine
I thought I arrived right on time, but the party had already begun.
The usually understated elegance of Caruso’s dining room is accented—no, it was dripping—with gold. Even the servers were bedecked in canary yellow suits replacing the usual inconspicuous white shirts and black ties. The man of the hour, restauranteur Emilio Mina, not a sliver hair out of place and enrobed in the same golden hue as the rest of his team, sits at the apex of the pi-shaped table arrangement flanked by friends and media. His co-conspirator for the event and close ally in recent years, F&B personality and Resto PH’s Spanky Enriquez, introduces me and perhaps sensing my unease at being one of the last to arrive, Mina gets up and moves much quicker than I had anticipated. In mere seconds he is next to me, reaching for my hands and, as I start to congratulate him for the fine dining Italian restaurant’s 20th year, cuts me off and says in his charming heavily-accented English, “look at me, I have become…” He sings the refrain of the song “Goldfinger” from the 1964 James Bond film of the same name. Being a gentleman of a certain era, he knows how to put a girl at ease, and it works like a charm as I instantaneously giggle.
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Caruso Ristorante Italiano opened in 2002 as Caffe Caruso with its original owner Dario Gardini in that same spot on the ground floor of LRI Design Plaza along Nicanor Garcia Street in Bel-Air, Makati. Even then, the “caffe” already had an air of refinement that belied its name, but it truly was an appropriate representation of its owners and the people who frequented it. This was back when European concepts often had to make adjustments to appeal more to the Filipino palate, sweetening their sauces and having to accommodate requests for rice with their main courses. Caruso has always stuck to the traditional ways of the old country which is famous for being bullish about its beloved heirloom recipes. Their clientele is the type that appreciates this—from a regular stream of travelling Japanese businessmen to the well-heeled Makati habitué to European ex-pats looking for more familiar fare.
However, one of my favourite memories of the place is seeing that gathering of older Italian men who would come and go as they pleased, occupying their regular spot in what was then the enclosed smoking area. One would order a double espresso, while another would have a bowl of their famous garganelli in mushroom cream sauce, to accompany them while they shoot the breeze. The tanned and always polished Dario held court there, speaking in his modulated Italian, then switching to English as he welcomed regulars and then later when he bade them goodbye.
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Caffe Caruso (named after the famous Italian opera singer of the early 1900s) became known for serving Italian food the way it was meant to be. Their bestselling saffron risotto—firm grains of arborio rice loosely set in its sauce of broth and parmesan—is served unadorned with barely a garnish save for perhaps some cracked black pepper and chopped flat-leaf parsley. It is usually followed by a secondi of veal scaloppine in lemon sauce, again embellished simply with spinach and boiled baby potatoes. Meals end with that timeless Italian dessert tiramisu or the panna cotta which many say is probably the best in Manila, if not the world. Their well-trained servers—most of whom have been with them for more than ten years, like their manager, Che—know which of their regulars would enjoy a digestive of sambuca or limoncello and will offer them a shot or two as they settle their bill. Their brick-oven pizzas have probably been on every “Manila’s Best Pizzas” list since the day they opened.
Mina came to Manila to follow the love of his life, Evelyn, whom he met in Florence while the former was on a buying trip for one of the local department stores. During one of his nights out, he met Gandini at a casino and the restauranteur invited Mina to his restaurant. “I liked the food and the ambience,” Mina admits, and even hosted a luncheon there for Evelyn and 30 guests. The Minas were married in 2006 in Manila and in 2007 decided to partner with Gandini in Caruso, renovating the caffe and turning it into the fine dining restaurant that it still is today. “In 2015, we (he and Evelyn) became the only owners and are the owners until now,” narrates Mina, and that was all he was going to say about that.
This transition seems to be of little significance, anyway, since Mina chose to retain most if not all the staff, as well as the original menu, save for a few additions. The vitello tonnato (sliced veal with tuna sauce) is the recipe of Mina’s mother and a personal favourite of Caruso regular, businessman, and local singing icon Jose Mari Chan. The Genoa native also has a nostalgic attachment to truffles which he imports from Alba whenever it is in season. “I love it, “Mina admits. “When I was a kid, my father would bring me to the Piazza del Duomo and he taught me how to buy the best quality (truffles) by smelling and tasting.” Their tagliatelle with truffles always sells out when it is truffle season and regulars know to reserve their favourite dishes when fresh stocks of the prized ingredient arrive.
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Like most restauranteurs, the pandemic was a scary time for Mina, but now things seem to be business as usual. The devoted husband has lunch with his beloved Evelyn every day before he makes his way to the restaurant at 1pm, and there he will stay until dinner service where he greets his guests and would sometimes serenade them with some catchy Italian classics. That is his routine, broken only by this celebration of their 20 years in the business serving Italian food as it should be, incidentally educating Filipinos to appreciate their cuisine without having to tweak its flavours to make it more familiar. That day, Mina covered all of our dishes in 24-carat gold leaf which is a gimmick any TikTok-er can pull off.
But, what is non-replicable and priceless is the food it adorns. A pizzette meant to accompany sips of Prosecco was perfectly crisp and enlivened by anchovy. That previously mentioned vitello tonnato is a culinary paradox that seemed so ridiculous to me until I had a taste. Delicate spinach ravioli with its perfectly al dente fresh pasta draped simply in the most flavorful butter and sage sauce. A bistecca grilled until rare and seasoned sparsely as they would serve it in the trattorias in Florence. Caruso’s food is resplendent in its directness and deliciousness, and this is what makes it truly golden.
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Jaclyn Clemente Koppe is a food and lifestyle writer, as well as a consultant to some of the country’s beloved food and beverage brands. Her passion for food and drink is only surpassed by her devotion to her family, most especially to her soulmate, Pepa the poodle.
