Chefie’s World

Payard Bistro and Patisserie

I am so loaded with work the past few days, I have class everyday and tons of meeting with people wanting more information about the food business. I have also been savouring good wine the past three days since I have been dining out, the other night at Le Regalade with old chef friends, then with Gino and the students, and last night with my Ate Cynthia andsome great friends who just want to hang around. Forget about the present and let’s talk about the food I ate in New York, it wasn’t as eventful as that of last year but I had a share of worthy to write about food eating….

(more…)

your chefie with Alain Sainhac

Jacques Pepin, moving fast I couldnt get a good picture

my idol, James Peterson…

When you are in New York, you can see a lot of things, some you don’t want to see. I got the thrill of my life years ago when I saw Don Johnson hailing a cab in 5th Avenue carrying a Gap bag, I couldn’t even say anything or shout at my mom who was a few yards away from me. Then on the same day, I saw Mariel Hemingway walking her dog in Central Park. This trip I really wanted to see some celebrities so I went on a walking marathon….I just walked and walked and it has been two weeks of walking and no celebrities to catch until………..while visiting Payard Patisserie and Bistro, out from a Jaguar, the beautiful Catherine Deneuve, how regal and graceful and she was just getting out of the car….heheheh….then while I was walking in Madison Avenue in search of a David Yurman Store….guess who was strolling….a Pinay walking a dog but you know what even if I smile at them, they don’t smile back or at least nod the least….most of the Filipinos I saw in New York were not friendly, and I was. Only this Pinoy couple was courteous and I instantly befriended them while I was in the subway, all of us with a big Century 21 shopping bag chatting about how our day was. The eternal question was where to eat good food in Manhattan that’s not expensive…and my answer was Angus Hamburger in Mcdonald’s – it was so good, my underwear fell….( Pinoy translation should be common to you.) When I get home to my hotel and I feel hungry, one piece of my Angus Burger is just right to make me fall asleep.

Yes, I got to see Jacques Pepin, Alain Sailhac and James Peterson, they were very friendly and I could feel so much energy from their presence. They were idols to behold, admire and just stare at, which was what I did most of the time, so Pinoy of me.

While walking in Broadway, Soho area, strolling like a true winner was Fashion Runway’s winner Christian Siriano. I wanted to ask for an autograph but with what I saw, I think it was not one of his good days….

That’s it, my people sights later I write about my food sightings and how I miss Manila while I was in New York and now, how I miss New York now that I am back here………..

I should have done this a week ago, I love to procrastinate… I’ve been back here in Manila for almost 10 days and have hibernated for some time, not letting anyone know that I am once again here, the jet lag has been so bad, only in the last couple of days that it has slowly disappeared. I never really mentioned to you where I was ….I took a trip to New York, New Jersey and Washington DC to renew ties that must be done. My brother and his family stay in Princeton and I decided last year that I would try my best to visit him every year while I still can. During the whole period, I ate, drank and filled my brain with new methods, learning insights to this world I am in.

(more…)