A meal, a roast, and a long overdue reunion

In Marikina, friends gather over Mr. Cochinillo's signature dish and spend an evening of good fun and cheer

- FELICIANO RODRIGUEZ III

CRISPY MOMENT Tinee de Guzman breaks open his signature cochinillo with a single, confident strike, revealing the crisp skin and tender meat that anchor every gathering at his Marikina table.

With December edging closer, thoughts drift naturally to the holiday table, to the dish that will anchor it and bring people toward the center of the room. For many Filipino families, cochinillo fills that place.

I was reminded of this not long ago, when a casual message led to a Sunday supper in Marikina. The gathering had been years in the making. My closest friends on the lifestyle beat and I have spent years together in newsrooms, events, and long days on the field, but sitting down as friends—not as colleagues—was something we had been trying and failing to schedule. The irony, as always, is that the things planned carefully rarely materialize, and the ones thrown into the air on a whim fall neatly into place.