Health in this winning corner

Every time I pass by Jupiter Street, I make a mental note to try The Corner Tree Cafe. That time never happened until I heard a news and lifestyle anchor being asked about her favorite date place. She immediately answered Corner Tree Cafe. Hhhmm, interesting!

 Coming from several trips, where Trip Advisor of course has always been a handy reference, I checked their featured Makati restaurants. To my surprise, this cozy cafe ranked fourth out of 157 restaurants in the city. Wow!

 It doesn’t stop with the rave reviews from repeat customers and bloggers alike. For two straight years now, The Corner Street Cafe has been part of the prestigious The Miele Guide to Asia’s Top 500 restaurants! Proud owner Chiqui Mabanta was in Singapore early this month for the gala dinner to honor the awardees. The 2011/2012 edition features 50 restaurants more than last year’s edition. The Miele Guide is Asia’s first truly independent and prestigious dining guide to the region’s finest restaurants.

It is inspiring to see a vegetarian restaurant succeed like this. Some have opened and closed in the last decade due to a constricted market but The Corner Tree Cafe seemed to have gotten the formula right.

For starters, try the Corner Tree starter plate. This is a combination of two best-selling appetizers for P210. The Egyptian snack dukka, a dry blend of seeds, spices, and nuts served with extra virgin olive oil and warm chunks of whole wheat bread. This is served side-by-side with white bean hummus, a lemony white bean dip served with vegetable sticks.

There is also the popular spinach feta croquettes made with fresh spinach, feta cheese, and organic red rice, served with a mint organic yogurt sauce, and an original harissa on the side. You may order three pieces for P185 or six pieces for P340.

 For the main dish, they have spaghettini with broccoli and toasted nuts (P325).

This is a unique combination of ingredients that can be topped with a choice of almonds or pine nuts. Vegans can omit the Parmesan cheese. There is a P 20 surcharge for whole wheat pasta.

There’s also the spinach & mushroom lasagna (P390) made of spinach, roasted red bell pepper, mushrooms, and three different cheeses.  My husband swears by the Bowl of Chili (P245) composed of red beans, shiitake mushrooms, zucchini, and corn. I like the kare-kareng gulay (P195), traditional Filipino stew made with garden-fresh veggies, an organic peanut sauce, served with organic red rice and vegetarian bagoong!

They recently added the Arroz ala Cubana (P225) with minced tofu, tomatoes, green olives, raisins, fried bananas, and an optional organic fried egg. This is served with organic red rice. But while the menu provides a variety of choices, a majority come here to try the baked tofu walnut burger (P310). This is a big healthy burger in a whole wheat bun slathered with an optional mint yogurt sauce served with a choice of sweet potato fries with homemade mayo or organic greens. Just add P40 for gruyere cheese or P 25 for fried onions.

 This small, cozy cafe for 25 people (call 897-0295 for reservations) also delivers via www.quickdelivery.ph (call 2121212) for a minimum of P500. The Corner Street Cafe is closed on Mondays.

We got hold of Chiqui Mabanta for a few quick-fire questions:

PHILIPPINE STAR: When did you become a vegetarian? Why?

CHIQUI MABANTA: I’ve been eating a mostly vegetarian diet since the mid-late ’90s but would still eat some chicken/pork/lamb up until almost three years ago. Then I decided to just eat seafood; I have never declared myself a true vegetarian. My friend and I just agreed the other night to quit seafood as well, so I’m trying to go veg all the way now.

What is your main reason for converting this way of life to a business? What is your vision for Corner Tree Cafe?

I have actually been waiting for a veg place to open for years. No one did. There was no place that offered what I was looking for so I decided to finally do it around five years ago. People have thanked me saying many people have been wanting to do this but were waiting on the sidelines to see if there was a market. I have no big visions. I created the place to fulfill a need of mine, and I knew that in the process, it would fulfill the needs of many like me. It is a nurturing cafe and I’m not sure yet if there will be others to follow.

What is, hands down, the most ordered dish? Why?

It’s the baked tofu walnut burger in whole wheat buns with sweet potato fries. I’m not saying it is the best dish, but it is the most ordered perhaps because people still want to feel like they are eating meat. Or it is the most recognizable thing on the menu so it is usually the first thing ordered, then they try the other stuff and love them equally.

What advice can you give to someone who would like to turn vegan so that the transformation will be longer lasting and not temporary?

There are three excellent reasons to turn vegetarian/vegan:

 1. For health. It has been proven that a plant-based diet is the way to go to avoid diseases such as cancer, diabetes, thyroid problems, all of which are partly diet-related.

 2. We are not killing anything to satisfy our taste buds. When people see how animals are killed, they feel bad, yet they encourage the practice by eating them. All animals feel fear and pain, no matter what we say so my second reason would be food good karma. Nothing suffered for the meal.

 3. For the planet. This is the most important reason of all. The meat industry is killing our planet — it is not sustainable (that is, for one kilo of beef, you need 4,000 liters of water). They have destroyed a lot of land/forests by converting them into grazing land, thus causing climate change.

Any tips to mothers on how to make their kids like vegetables?

 In other countries, it is no big deal for children to eat vegetarian food/vegetables alongside meat or fish. Here, the attitude from when they are babies is to “trick” them into eating vegetables. Maybe it’s because parents themselves don’t eat balanced diets. If children are exposed to veggies as an integral part of their everyday diet, they wouldn’t get turned off. If they are already turned off, I guess you can create dishes using cheese and breadcrumbs, and bake them. Then some kids only eat a few kinds of vegetable — I would just stick to that then, then let them try a few more little by little. But still, I would try to get vegetables in their diet for every meal. Many children love coming to the cafe. The atmosphere is friendly; there are crayons, children’s books; sometimes they are the ones who remind their parents to eat here.

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Post me a note at mylene@goldsgym.com.phor mylenedayrit@gmail.com.