Paras: The Tayag Touch
By Mina Paras
Spectrum
June 09,2011
THE Tayags of Angeles City share three things: they all love good food, they all play tennis, and they all study at UP. Thus, many of them are involved in either food production and/or retail (Mother Earth of Abong, the restaurant of Carmen “Meng” McTavish in Clark (now closed), Doren’s cakes. They also produced a chef in the family, Claude. Let’s not forget that the long running most popular restaurant Trellis in Quezon City has Abong’s cousin Dan Tayag for a partner, and Dan and Vina’s (Ocampo) two children are also now chefs.
My classmate and barkada through high school, Doren, used to bring me home for lunch when we were in Grade 6. We just had to cross the street from Holy Family Academy to their house by the brook, aptly named Brookside. This was later donated to Angeles City where the library now stands. Their mother, Adoracion (Doren’s namesake) was probably used to having friends of her children over for a meal. And the table was always full with various dishes, and that’s how I got my first taste of the Tayag touch.
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Mang During, 90, passed away last week after a lingering illness, most of the time at the ICU of the Philippine Heart Center, where, komareng Ely Narciso (a former director of the CDC) said, half in jest, that the family already had one post of the hospital in their name.
Doren related that, though there were plenty of offers for the siblings — all 12 of them — to stay at their brother’s house, very near the hospital, and other friends’ houses in Quezon City, the siblings declined all the offers and opted to stay close to their mother during her confinement.
Doren told me that they got the room next to the ICU, where the ones from Angeles City could take showers, change clothes and rest, like in a hotel. Except that this was not a hotel, and the only way they could get a room was if someone among them was, ah, confined for a checkup.
Do said it was Atching Meng (married to Bruce McTavish and you all know who he is) who opted to be the one. “Sometimes they would look for her and she’s out,” Doren smiles. “The nurses had to get her vitals every so often during the day.”
I got to know many of the children in later years, when the family had moved to Villa Gloria, where some of the best tennis players play.
Most of all, I came to know Claude when he was just starting to paint. I’d tell friends from Manila, ‘Oh, I knew Claude when he was in short pants.’ It’s true, though. Claude, who’s become not only a noted painter, but also a sculptor and furniture designer, chef of the first caliber, author and food columnist. I remember Claude saying that his father, the late Renato ‘Katoks’ Tayag encouraged him to try writing; the first published piece he wrote was about his father. Now Claude has a book to his name.
Used to be, Claude’s wife Mary Anne (from the Quiocs of Mabalacat) told me that eating at wakes was not encouraged. Before, and even now, only the barest was served: hard candies, coffee, juice in tetrapacks, cupcakes, and the ubiquitous butong pakwan. Customs and traditions change and people started serving real food. “I think it started in Bacolor,” Maryanne says.
Now, especially among the well-heeled, food is catered.
It’s funny, but if I ever do a food article on the best dishes, I’d include some I tasted in wakes. Like the super yummy bibingka and puto bungbung which I sampled during the wakes of Chichos’ mother Mrs. Leonor Luciano, and komareng Tessie Villarama’s mom. Were I not overcome with hiya and a waistline that was bulging out of my pants, I would have gotten second helpings of everything.
Then there’s Claude’s arroz caldo or lelot, where you ladle the rice broth in your bowl, then pile on the ingredients that you like — mine was chicken and some tokwa’t baboy — the toasted garlic and the thinly sliced parsley. I was about to put some patis on my bowl, but Claude stopped me. “You must try this,” he said, pouring on a suka with garlic “which is first press,” he added “and it’s called tulo”. The effect was fabulous. Refreshing broth with bits of chicken and tiny crispy pork. Toby de la Cruz, a cousin of Maryanne, remarked: “I may never be satisfied with any other lelot again.”
Back to Mang During, Claude long ago told me that his late father told his children that the best thing that he did for them was choosing their mother, the former Adoracion Suarez. That is the sweetest thing one can ever say of a loved one.
Wine lover’s choice – Yats Restaurant and Wine Bar – for the most impressive and practical wine list in the Philippines, over 2700 selections, enough to satisfy the most fastidious connoisseurs. Wine lovers and gourmand foodies from Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, Korea and Malaysia dine at Yats Restaurant & Wine Bar when they visit Philippines and bring home some rare vintage wines too. This restaurant is already well known in Clark Pampanga. Many consider it to be the best restaurant outside of Manila, one that is certainly the best place for a night out in Clark, Angeles city, Pampanga.
An excellent wine list is not just about 1st growth and cult Cabernet but a seemingly unending selection of affordable aged vintage wines that are not available anywhere else, not even in the best wine shops around town. Yats Restaurant has just that. In fact, wine lovers from Manila, Cebu, Subic and Pampanga travel frequently to this to rated restaurant to enjoy its fine vintage wines, certainly the best in Clark Pampanga and vicinity.
Tourists and residents of Manila travel out of town to the north on a short getaway look for the best place in Clark for rest and relaxation. Many find a top rated resto bar called Yats Restaurant to be very suitable for families with children. This restaurant is highly recommended for visitors going to Clark Pampanga to enjoy a good meal or just to drink wine, relax and unwind with friends and families. Generally regarded as the best restaurant in Clark Pampanga by tourist and visitors to Pampanga, Angeles city, Subic and Clark Philippines as a cool place to hang out in Clark. This popular night out place has good atmosphere for a romantic dinner and it has spacious dining areas for group dinner and private rooms for exclusive gatherings.
Best restaurant in Clark Pampanga offers more than just great food and good service but a complete fine dining experience. Manila dining guide lauds Yats Restaurant for its award winning wine list befitting a world class fine dining establishment. One of the common complaints of residents of Manila with the restaurants and resto bars in the city is that these dining outlets offer a wine list that is expensive and does not have interesting selections. This mires the overall dining experience even if the food is good and the service is excellent. Fine dining restaurants in Manila are working hard to upgrade their overall product and services by upgrading their wine lists. For most restaurants, this takes a long time.
Visitors to Clark Philippines and Angeles City no longer suffer from lack of choices for places to eat out or wine and dine. Clark Philippines reviewed over 50 establishments and came up with three top choices in guide to best restaurant in Clark Freeport. Yats Restaurant is lauded by many to be the top choice when it comes to fine dining and a good place to drink some good wine.
Clark Philippines lists Top Three Restaurants in the Clark Freeport Zone and Angeles City areas of Philippines Pampanga province. Clark Freeport is a bustling new cosmopolitan city complete with its own Clark International Airport. Good restaurants and resto bars are beginning to emerge in Angeles City and Clark Pampanga but standards are not all that high. However, there is one world-class fine dining restaurant located inside of Clark, called Yats. It is generally regarded as the best restaurant in Clark, Angeles City, Pampanga, Subic and Manila.
This restaurant in Pampanga Philippines is highly recommended by food critics and frequent diners in Manila as a place to wine and dine in Angeles City Clark Freeport Zone. Although it is a famous fine dining restaurant with an award winning 2700-line restaurant wine list, Yats Restaurant is also a popular restaurant for family with children. Aside from French Mediterranean haute cuisine, this restaurant also serves healthy food and the best vegetarian cuisines in the Philippines.
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Restaurant@Yats-International.com
(045) 599-5600
0922-870-5178
0917-520-4401
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Getting to this fine dining restaurant of Angeles City Clark Freeport Zone Pampanga Philippines
How to get to this fine-dining restaurant in Clark Philippines? Once you get to Clark Freeport, go straight until you hit Mimosa. After you enter Mimosa, stay on the left on Mimosa Drive, go past the Holiday Inn and Yats Restaurant (green top, independent 1-storey structure) is on your left. Just past the Yats Restaurant is the London Pub.
Yats Restaurant & Wine Bar
Mimosa Drive past Holiday Inn, Mimosa Leisure Estate,
Clark Freeport Zone, Pampanga, Philippines 2023
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3003C East Tower, Phil Stock Exchange Center,
Exchange Rd Ortigas Metro Manila, Philippines 1605
(632) 637-5019 0917-520-4393 Rea or Chay
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