COOK MAGAZINE - October 2019

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Trying out new restaurants can still be hit and miss. Of course, since taste is subjective, it could be down to differing preferences. But more often, the hype around something new takes pretty ordinary food and makes it seem that much better.

As a magazine editor, I often get invited to new restaurants and new menu launches. While getting treated to a meal is always a privilege, seldom have I had something so good that I can’t wait to come back and spend my own money. Outside work, I end up eating or ordering from the same few places. Once in a while though, you discover a place that serves great food, is relatively near, and has a menu that you can’t wait try one by one until you’ve tasted everything they have. I got to try one such place recently, with friend and eating buddy Joy Catiis-Cruz.

I’ve known Joy through work for close to 10 years and we’ve been going on random, unplanned lunches for at least 5 years. The “planning” usually begins with a message from her. It could be as simple as some cheesy nachos at a food park or some isaw. It could be one of her cravings, or her search for the best crispy pata. Always, it would be a type of food you’d be better off avoiding—sinful food, everything bawal. I have become Joy’s willing “partner in crime”. Our most recent lunch was brought about by a feature she read online. It was on a 10 best places for bone marrow list. We ended up at a restaurant we both haven’t tried, in nearby (to us) Roces Avenue in Quezon City.

Gourmet Gypsy Art Café is relatively unknown, at least to me. While their restaurant has been around for 5 years and has been featured on TV, in print and online, I have honestly never heard of them. If not for Joy’s craving for bone marrow, I wouldn’t have discovered this wonderful restaurant. I will come back and do a proper feature on them.

Go out and try new dining places. Even if you keep encountering hype and mediocrity, keep at it. Eventually, you’ll find a few gems.