Going out of town for Sunday lunch with my three boys will always be a case of: who will sit in front, how many more hours to get where we’re heading and what UFC bouts on Balls we are missing. So having assured them that there was no live feed of a stellar UFC card that Sunday, we trooped to Tagaytay to check out the newly launched Bergamo Suites of Mel Meer. The property is situated on Sta. Rosa Road, right before you hit Tagaytay Ridge. Mel converted what used to be a sprawling residence into a tasteful collection of suites, two great dining areas, and an ambience that encourages quietude, reflection — an escape from the “urban jungle” existence we have to contend with on the weekdays of our lives. While still a work in progress, one can see how much passion and dedication Mel has placed into this “project!”
Mel’s lifelong passion has centered on renovating and designing, and while he’s better known for men’s formal wear and apparel, it was just a hop, skip and jump to shift to rooms and houses. With a view that includes a pineapple field/hillside and verdant greenery, his Bergamo Suites blends touches of Tuscany and Filipiniana, with the Tagaytay weather and ambience we’re so familiar with. The well-appointed suites are named after herbs — Fresh Oregano, Vibrant Saffron, Wild Thyme, Crisp Coriander and the penthouse, Hot Paprika. And there are two casual dining options, if one opts to just stop for a meal, with creative dishes whipped up by chef Sau del Rosario and resident chef Mark Christian Galvez. The menu boasts of freshness, mixing Italian ingredients with the local Tagaytay produce, herbs and vegetables.
The bruschetta is topped with tawilis found in Taal Lake and chopped bell peppers. Bergamo Suites’ salads are highly recommended, and my eldest, Quintin, loved the lapu-lapu fillet with greens, brown rice and salsa topping. The mushroom cappuccino was Matteo’s favorite, and Luca feasted on the lamb shank. The aglio olio pasta dish comes with osso buco, while the linguine is a truffle-mushroom concoction. Thanks to the personal touch of Mel, Bergamo Suites has become a new culinary haven for those driving to or passing through Tagaytay. The impeccably decorated rooms and suites beckon for those who are looking for a picturesque option that isn’t smack dab on the ridge. Without originally meaning to, the Suites turned into a real backbreaker for Mel, who jokes how he hasn’t logged so many travel hours in years during the time he was setting up the establishment. Mel, the back may be bent and spent, but the hours were well spent — Bergamo Suites is a wonderful haven of subtle style and taste.
Family planning
A common theme for these three novels is family — how it can be both “wonderwall” and minefield; and quite often, both at the same time. It’s the novelists’ deft writing that takes these books into such entertaining and thought-provoking territory.
Seating Arrangements by Maggie Shipstead — (available at National Book Store) A wedding weekend on an island off Maine is the setting for a brisk and probing examination of family, friendship and the shifting nature of the supposedly secure foundations we build upon them. Winn and Biddy have a seven-month pregnant daughter about to marry (Daphne), and a second daughter who just ended a relationship and had an abortion (Livia). Agatha is a flirtatious bridesmaid who Winn is obsessing over. The book talks about a nuclear family that’s about to detonate like a nuclear bomb. The dynamics of relationships are all placed under a compassionate microscope.
Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple — (available at National Book Store) Semple is a regular SNL comedy writer and this is her first novel. Once a renowned architect, Bernadette is married to Elgin, a top Microsoft designer. Fifteen-year-old daughter, Bee, is a budding genius whose high grades grant her a family trip to Antarctica. The tragedy and imbalance of genius, a mother who inexplicably disappears two days before the said trip, eccentricity and the trials of “belonging” — all these make for the grist of this humorous, yet deep, story. One wonderful thing about it is you really don’t know what to expect. Guaranteed to make you both laugh and cry.
The Red House by Mark Haddon — (available at National Book Store) Author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Haddon is also an accomplished poet, and that’s very evident in how he creates prose. An examination of the modern family, the novel’s action revolves around one week on a country estate, when resentment, guilt, recriminations and ultimately tenuous compassion all rear their heads. Richard is a successful doctor who has just remarried, now with stepdaughter. He invites his sister, Angela, with husband and three children to join him on holiday. Alternating viewpoints from all eight characters make for an interesting narrative device.