Blessing of PINO! INASAL in Talisay City with officiating priest, Fr. Poferio Mahinay Jr.

Last November 8, 2007, a new restaurant, Pino! Filipino Cuisine (Wilson St. Lahug, Phone 232-0939, 505-4840) opened in Cebu City. Restaurant entrepreneurs Michel and Amparito Lhuillier had the vision of investing in a restaurant that serves Filipino food where Cebuanos can bring their family and guests to a destination with an ambiance of a five-star setting and yet keep food prices affordable.

Nearly four years later, a branch of this restaurant called Pino! Inasal & Filipino Cuisine opened in Talisay City (2nd floor, Gaisano Grand Fiesta Mall, Tabunok, Talisay City, phone 520-1641) to serve the residents of this fast growing metropolis. The same vision remains: keep the prices reasonable where restaurant patrons and guest can enjoy their food in a luxurious setting.

The Talisay I knew in the 60s was a sleepy municipality which was the picnic destination of Cebu City residents with its fine beaches (like Larawan Beach and Yaro Beach Resort) and crystalline sea waters teeming with sea cucumbers and an occasional sea urchin. Water was so abundant that you stick a bamboo tube 5 feet from the shore line and water will be gushing out! Many schools in Cebu City had properties there, with swimming pools for P.E. classes of their students.  

This was an era where the tartanilla reigned supreme and motor vehicles were a minority and Talisay was so far away that residing there was like living near the moon. People’s livelihood were farming, fishing, livestock and poultry farming and visitors knew they were in Talisay when they see food stalls with the ubiquitous lechon (only native pigs were cooked for lechon!) and vendors selling kamote and konselba (banana fritters with sugar cane juice).

Today, Talisay is a city (2000) and is linked to Cebu City through the South Coastal Highway of the S.R.P. And people moved from Cebu City to Talisay because property values in Cebu had increased tremendously. Subsequently, many farmlands, swine and poultry farms were converted to sub-divisions and now Talisay has an estimated population of 225,000 (2010).

There is sophistication in the needs of the new urban elite with a higher disposable income and investors from Cebu City followed and opened branches in Talisay City. One of these new establishments is Pino! Inasal. It officially opened its doors with the traditional Christian ceremonies with Fr. Poferio Mahinay Jr last August 19, 2011 and your favourite food columnist joined the blessing with his media colleagues and other invited guests with restaurant owners Michel and Amparito Lhuillier.

Pino! GM Edna Caparoso prepared Rhumaki (Chicken Liver wrapped with Bacon), Calamares, Crispy Shrimps, Chicken Lollipops and Pork Barbecue Tips with refreshing drinks and wine. The new GM has Kapangpangan roots (they are the best in Filipino culinary traditions) and is well versed in the restaurant business. She knows the temperament of the Cebuanos (value for money!) and has prepared a dish for the patrons of the new restaurant, the Pino Amigo Ribs, served with unlimited rice, a glass of iced tea at an affordable price of 125 pesos.