August 11, 2006

Sightings...at Cirkulo

SEEN enjoying a delicious meal at Jay Gamboa's Cirkulo restaurant along Pasay Road this lunchtime were first cousins Choy Cojuangco and Rocky Lopa, elder brother of Aquino family spokesman Rapa Lopa, and a female companion. Choy, former head honcho of Piltel and now Boracay resort owner, was dressed down as usual, in a striking red T-shirt, jeans and sneakers, while he and Rocky's two other male lunchmates, possibly Chinese or Japanese businessmen, were all snazzy in their American-style suits. Well in this country, when you're surname is Cojuangco or any de buena famille surname for that matter, you can damn well dress up however you want. It helps that Choy can get away with it because of his tall, suntanned, boyish good looks. Yum!

By the way, is it true that Choy and society chef Binggoy Remedios have already parted ways? This is truly bad news considering that Manila's 500 have been going all the way to Boracay to feast on Binggoy's inspired culinary creations at La Traviesa, his restaurant at Choy's resort. Bad news for whom? Well definitely not for our favorite Boracay chef since we hear a lot of investors are willing to sink in the money to open a new restaurant for him. And you can be sure that they won't be insisting that Binggoy include something as pedestrian as spaghetti or other ordinary dishes in his elegant Spanish mestizo menu.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

all i can say about binggoy's food is that it is not as spectacular as everyone thinks. his paella is not even that great! the rice is all wrong, there are no real distinct flavors, and he obviously uses "magic" to make his broth seem tasty. i respect the man but his cooking doesn't do it for me.

Anonymous said...

perhaps you should re consider your opinion, you obviously know nothing about good food because binggoy's cooking leaves much to be desired in terms of flavor and sincerity.

Stella Arnaldo said...

Well Mr./Ms. Anonymous, everyone has his or her opinion about not only Binggoy's food, but other restaurants in this part of our world. Doesn't mean he, she or even you are right or wrong. More often than not, I find that a person's opinion of a dish doesn't only have to do with the taste and aroma of the ingredients, but also involves how he's feeling that day and the memories that the dish evokes.

Btw, you forgot to mention what specific paella you ate because Binggoy makes a lot of varieties. And yes, many times, a cook or chef uses "magic" to make food tasty more than it normally is. That's the whole idea of being a cook...it's to put a whole lot of flavors together and see what works. If you cook yourself, you would know what I'm talking about.

And pardon me for saying, but I find it hard to believe that you really respect Binggoy and would write a comment here, anonymously might I add, just to disparage his cooking. Because if you do respect him, you would really sit down and talk to him to point out exactly what you don't like about his cooking. He is a very accommodating person who would only welcome honest sincere comments. When my friends and I eat his food, he often solicits our comments about them, and if we find something off, we do tell him. He is just gracious about it, just as other real cooks/chefs are because they know they will not improve unless someone tells them the truth.

Anyway, thanks for visiting my blog.

Stella Arnaldo said...

Oh and get over yourself hon!

Anonymous said...

choy cojuangco and rocky lopa are not first cousins but are second cousins. choy's late father Ramon (PLDT) is the first cousin of Teresita C. Lopa. Ramon was the son of Antonio Cojuangco who was the brother of the late Jose "Pepe" Cojuangco (father of Mrs. Lopa, Cory Aquino, Peping, Josephine Reyes, etc)