It stands in the neighborhood in front of Malacañang Palace. From Sta. Mesa Boulevard, that’s what we used to call R. Magsaysay Boulevard when I was growing up; you go straight into a street we used to call Aviles. It was part of my childhood. My Lola’s lawyer lived on that street in a beautiful old house that now I think has been taken over by a restaurant. If you went straight down Aviles, you passed in front of Malacañang Palace and then turned left into San Miguel Church at the corner there. Next to that was the Singian Clinic, where they brought me bawling when a bangus bone got stuck in my throat and a doctor tried to take it out.
Anyway, this time you don’t pass Malacañang Palace but take the road to the right and then you take the first left. You are on San Rafael Street, full of big parked vehicles. It looks like a street trying to find its new place in today’s world. Once upon a time it belonged to an old world, the residence of the Legardas, Prietos, Tuasons, Lichaucos are all around the area, back then when life was peaceful and there were no attempted coups. Then you see the sign and the open gate – La Cocina de Tita Moning. Your car enters and traverses the longish driveway. You have left the new world behind.
You are here to discover what life in Old Manila was about. The house was built in 1939 and its owners passed on in 1993 and 1999. Then their granddaughter, Suzette Legarda Montinola, decided to turn the house into a restaurant that would serve her grandmother’s menus and make the guests experience their lifestyle.
First you are received on the terrace outside the house where, depending on the number in your party, you are seated. The first night there were six of us. Then the next time I went there were four of us, then two, then six again. You got me right, I love this restaurant and invite everyone I know who comes to town over there. "It reminds me of a schloss (castle) in Germany," I say. It really does. You have dinner with history mixed in. You are served light refreshment and little pieces of toast with the queso de bola spread. It is delicious, reminds me of the way my grandmother used to make me merienda sometimes. Then they show you the house.
There is a young lady who serves as a guide. She shows you the train room, the library, the clinic, and the camera room with all its old photographs. Then you go upstairs and you are shown the portrait painted by Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo and a small one by Juan Luna, hanging on a wall with family photographs. Then you are brought into a room where there are old radios on display and silverware against the walls. Finally there is the room where dresses are displayed. The centerpiece is a lovely wedding dress. There are dressing tables with old bottles of perfume, aged. It is charming and it is of a period. It brings back memories of your childhood. It brought back memories of mine. It brings back memories of what Manila used to be, the way we entertained then, the way we set up tables and taught the maids, who were in fact also friends, to serve our guests.
The food is delicious. You get to order it when you reserve and you must reserve 24 hours ahead of time. Minimum you will spend P1,200 per person for a meal plus taxes. It is expensive, yes, but it is an experience worth having and worth giving to people who come home to Manila and miss something, the old life, the fine charmed life that Manila offered once upon a time. The old mayordoma is still there, and the old maids and drivers. They know the place very well. Bringing guests to Cocina de Tita Moning gives them an experience that includes a delicious dinner but definitely goes beyond that.
I think most of all it brings nostalgia for times past, for days remembered, for elegant tables and delicious food served quietly, informally, but elegantly. It reminds you of life in Europe but also of life here and it makes you think wistfully about how our history has unraveled us. But never mind, there is at least at last this restaurant you can go to when you want to forget the present and stay for a while in the beautiful past.