A Quaint Little Italian Place

food at La Grotta

It's been quite a while since I last posted, I know. I've been sidetracked by a lot of things lately. Mostly, I've been reading a lot that pretty much preoccupied my free time. I finally finished the Lord Of The Rings books (thank heavens! I've been sitting down with that series for about a year now) and had read a couple of others more (most notably the memoir by Elizabeth Wurtzel entitled Prozac Nation, which I quite enjoyed reading, and just started with a Louisa May Alcott classic, Little Women). But that doesn't excused me for not updating my online diary. So, I'll tell you about this quaint little Italian restaurant in Makati that I quite enjoyed dining recently.

Searching For That Chocolate Cake That Would Sweep Me Off My Feet

chocolate desserts at Maitre Chocolatier

Did you ever get tired of eating something you fervently loved for the longest time? That happened to me recently. With a kind of dessert adored by many. What every girl (and some guys I know) ultimate brand of sugar rush and something they couldn't get enough of. The chocolate cake. There was a time that most chocolate cakes I've tried from various food places and establishments seems to be either too dry or has that one track chocolate flavor that I easily get fed up eating.  So I avoided this dessert as someone would avoid eating an ampalaya (bitter gourd), for instance. But I've come to realize that maybe I'm not looking at the right places in getting better quality chocolate cakes. So I set off to visit two establishments that specializes in---what else?---but chocolates, in hopes that it would ignite again my affection to this dessert.

Coffee Shops & It's Load Of Goodies

What I normally do inside a coffee shop: eat, sip and read a good book

Food establishments, especially coffee shops, are the ones that I usually gravitate no matter what mood I'm in. Whether I'm in a celebratory mood for earning a work related incentive, or to ease myself back to normalcy from the frenetic schedule of the past week at the office, or maybe to set the mood with the suspense-thriller fiction I'm currently engrossed reading, or to bawl my frustrations about life and love with my closest friends. But these days, I head to these food places to nurse a weary heart. A lot of things occupy my mind lately and these food places helped me to take it slow, gather my resolve and refuel myself to pick up steam for the next journey.

A Sudden Whim Fulfilled

desserts at Chateau 1771

Learning new stuff could be quite of a challenge. This prove to be the case after I got transferred to a new line of business in the company I'm currently working with. Good thing I'm getting ample support from friends and mentors that helps me to get by. But after one tedious workweek, I got this yearning to feed myself of some homey, comforting meal which also offers a very relaxing ambiance. Never mind if I have to brace the bumper-to-bumper traffic from Eastwood to Makati. If it would immensely satisfy my hankering, then I deem the long travel inconsequential.

Another Burger Odyssey

bacon cheeseburger at The Hungry Hound

I'm on a burger streak yet again. It seems that I would perennially gravitate towards this burger sandwich once I see it on the menu, no matter which restaurant I'm in. This unceasing adoration toward hamburgers was rooted deeply growing up eating burgers from McDonald's and Jollibee. And to eventually learn that there's a wide gamut of burger varieties that one could get from other food establishments has a certain enticement to me that I couldn't get from any other food.

Burger Utopia

food at Burger Bar

It all started with a burger order that I had at Jollibee. Their trademark Champ burger. To think I'm not all too crazy with it since I'm not into burgers on this side sweet. But something in me tick the moment I bite into it. A craving was awakened. A longing for a good sized burger, thick and juicy. Goodness amplified even more with the addition of cheese, lettuce and all the necessary trimmings. It's that kind of craving that could never be abated until I get what I want.

I Dare You To Forget Me Not

French macarons & a chick lit paperback

I seem to be gravitating towards dessert cafe and coffee shops that has a feminine flair to it these days which is quite fine by me. I love tables topped with laced covers, pink and floral accents plus exquisitely detailed cups, saucers, plates and utensils. So it was no wonder that I visited Forget Me Not Specialty Cakes which I first read about on the Dessert Comes First website. It's a fairly new bakery cafe in a not-so-obscure location in Makati and I didn't mind at all getting a little lost trying to find it. I usually take that as a challenge and was never fazed by the unfamiliarity of its location.