It’s a beautiful life for Roberto Bellini

A few years ago, Italian actor Roberto Benigni showed that love and laughter can stay alive in a Nazi concentration camp in his movie Life Is Beautiful.

In Cubao, Roberto’s namesake and fellow Italian, Roberto Bellini, makes Filipinos believe that life is indeed beautiful. With the same flamboyant personality as Benigni’s Guido in the movie, he has embraced the joys of life in the Philippines.

Bellini is the proud owner and the face behind the name, Bellini’s Italian Restaurant.

A friend’s persistent invitation brought me to Bellini’s. I was shocked to find it among the shoe stores at the Marikina Shoe Expo in Cubao, Quezon City. It was supposed to be a big secret. I was later to discover that so many other people had already discovered Bellini’s and regularly flock to it for their regular dose of authentic Italian meals.

Roberto dashed from one table to another with a bottle of wine in one hand to fill up the empty glasses of his guests. His thick Italian accent was distinct, carrying of a casual banter in broken English and Tagalog. This only endeared him to his diners, who approved with their peals of laughter.

The place is simple and totally unlike the usual fine-dining Italian establishments in Manila. No candles, no fine china, nor crisp white linens. Instead, the place was distinguished by its uncoordinated checkered cotton tablecloths, plain ceramic white plates, and monobloc chairs.

Four clocks hand from the wall telling the time in Cubao, Italy, London and New York. Roberto said he planned on adding another clock to show Makati time. Of course, there was no different between the time in Cubao and Makati, but he pointed out that it would take you close to an hour to get to Makati. The time would only tell you how late you would be for an appointment, he explains.

My friend told me that Roberto is a real paparazzi. The walls of the restaurant are decorated with photos of famous celebrities, attesting to the signore’s 30-year stint as a freelance photographer for Italian newspapers and magazines. Aside from the photos of Benigni, also taking pride of place were pictures of Princess Diana’s wedding, Ol’ Blue Eyes himself Frank Sinatra, President Bill Clinton, Pope John Paul II and many more.

And like a soldier showing his scars from battle, Roberto also proudly displayed published photos of him getting into a fight with Madonna’s bodyguards.

While the place does not have the romantic ambiance often associated with Italian restaurants, Bellini’s does not lack romance. On the wall behind the food counter, where waitresses worked non-stop, two names were painted in a cursive script, Roberto’s and his wife’s, M. Luisa.

Maria Luisa is Roberto’s Filipina wife, who makes up half of the story and adds to the romance of the place.

As a paparazzi, Roberto was one of the many foreign photographers who covered the 1986 Edsa Revolution. He met Luisa during one of his visits to Malacañang, where she was then working at the press office. It was love at first sight. In an instant, he proposed to her. She took his bluff, but only if he would personally ask her parents. The smitten Italian went to Luisa’s family in Montalban to ask for her hand in marriage. Luisa’s parents left the decision making back to her, telling the foreigner that it was really up to their daughter. He flew back to Italy, with an offer for Luisa to follow him to his hometown in Pisa. She soon followed, marrying the crazy paparazzi. Soon enough, they had three beautiful children.

Eventually, Roberto decided to give up his 30-year-old career as a photographer and decided to return to Manila to open a restaurant. In July 1999, their dream became a reality. Roberto chose to be different by opening shop in Cubao.

Even if his parents had a restaurant in Italy, Roberto left his wife to do the cooking. She might not be Italian by birth, but she mastered the secrets of Italian kitchens from the best chefs in Italy.

During her stint in Italy from 1986 to 1999, she worked as a dishwasher at many of Italy’s top restaurants. It proved to be a clever way to learn how to cook. The restaurant owners could hardly refuse her offer to work. After all, she was a hardworking Filipina, prized in that country, and a paparazzi’s wife to boot. Many of these restaurant owners often sought Roberto’s assistance in covering their special events and when celebrities dined in their posh restaurants.

Luisa recounted that their first year at Bellini’s was tough. They hardly had customers walking in their restaurant. Yet, her gung-ho spirit held on and allowed her to persevere. She continued baking bread, making fresh pasta and fresh tomato sauce day in and day out.

All that work seems to have paid off. By their second year, the secret was out. People, who haven’t been to Cubao for years, trekked all the way from Parañaque and Las Piñas just to sample authentic Italian food. And, they have been coming back for more. Rowell Santiago, Toni Lambino, Sari-Sari’s Marni Ocampo, Louie Heredia, and Christopher de Leon are just some of celebrities who regularly dine at Bellini’s. Even business tycoons go all the way to the Shoe Expo to dine.

Last December, Bellini’s second outlet opened in Katipunan, Quezon City, and another is set to open in Greenbelt, Makati in May.

When I pressed Roberto on the influences of the food they served, he says it is simply home-style Italian cooking.

Roberto and Luisa make their own spaghetti, fettuccine, ravioli, bread and sweet wine. They serve eleven kinds of pasta with nine sauces using either Luisa’s fresh pasta or noodles imported from Italy. He even showed me a package of dried porcini mushrooms that came from Italy.

But what is shocking is that they only charge P90 to P130 per plate of pasta. They also serve an extensive menu of 22 different types of pizza, priced at either P150 or P300 for small and large one, respectively.

On my first visit to Bellini’s, I asked Roberto to recommend a pasta dish. Instead, he first commented on how beautiful I was, before suggesting a spicy pasta with olive oil and garlic. I took his offer and was not disappointed. The pasta was simple but definitely flavorful.

With Roberto’s festive mood, as he entertained guests, took orders, and filled up empty wine glasses for only P85 per glass, the whole restaurant was infected with his jovial mood. Good food, good company; indeed, life was good.

Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Roberto Bellini is living proof that, indeed, it is still a beautiful life.