When entrepreneurs Andrew Masigan and his wife, the former Sandee Siytangco, inaugurated XO 46 Bistro Filipino, their first Filipino-themed restaurant in Makati, they made sure they had a very special guest — the family cook of some 50 years, Gloria “Mamang” Villanueva.
Sandee insisted that Mamang (who started as her Lola Paz Munson’s cook) take her exalted place alongside Makati Mayor Junjun Binay, world-class restaurateur Glenda Barretto and other big shots during the ribbon-cutting of the quaint bistro on 130 Valero St. in Salcedo Village, Makati City. XO 46 is perhaps the only restaurant on busy Valero St. with a wrought iron fence and a tree-shaded garden.
Mamang, now happily retired, represents the emotion that gels the food served at XO 46 — seasoned with nostalgia, familiarity and the comfort of slow-cooked food prepared in a traditional Pinoy kitchen.
Mamang’s influence on XO 46 is complemented by the professional skills of 33-year-old chef CK Kalaw, who trained at Cordon Bleu Australia.
Throw into the XO 46 cauldron the wealth of knowledge of Andrew and Sandee, and their discriminating tastebuds, and you have a menu that’s tasty, familiar and presented to diners the way your parents would present dishes during a festive family reunion.
* * *
Andrew is the brains behind such familiar brands as Popperoo and Dimsum ‘n Dumplings, which he recently sold, feeling it was time “to try something new.” When he and Sandee were brainstorming about a new concept for their food business, they decided they wanted to serve food “that would perpetuate Filipino cuisine, culture and heritage.” They also agreed to serve food that was close to home — literally and figuratively.
When Andrew was courting Sandee, he looked forward to visiting her in the family home in Paco because their house was always brimming with good food. In fact, Sandee’s late dad Sonny also liked visiting Deedee in the same Paco ancestral home because Mamang would serve him the best kare-kare in town.
“I remember,” recalls Deedee, the press undersecretary of the late President Cory Aquino, “that Mamang used to tell Sonny, ‘O gusto mo ng kare-kare, magdikdik ka ng bigas at mani habang dinadalaw mo si Deedee’.”
Chef CK Kalaw, in his modern stainless steel kitchen, does XO’s kare-kare the way it was prepared by Mamang — thickened with ground roasted peanuts and rice grains. “No way is the food we serve ‘fusion’,” proudly says Andrew, who has Ilocano roots, of XO’s specialties. “There is no need to mask the flavors of Filipino food. The more honest the dish, the better.”
Andrew himself grew up in a home where his Mama “dined, not ate.” His Mama grew up in an era when the lady of the house was addressed as “Señora,” and the man of the house, “Señor or Señorito.” Spanish-Filipino-themed meals in her home commenced with a cocktail and ended with postre laced with cherry liquer. At XO 46, diners are also addressed as “Señor” and “Señorita.”
“Our cuisine is actually deeper than the more popular Asian cuisines,” points out Andrew. “Each of our regions like Ilocos, Pampanga, Bulacan and the Bicol region, for instance, has a flavor profile.”
* * *
The couple’s reverence for their Filipino heritage is reflected in the restaurant’s name XO 46 Bistro Filipino. “XO” stands for Extraordinary and “46” for the year the Philippines was liberated after World War II.
The restaurant’s interiors are cozy yet elegant and reflect the indelible Spanish influence on our culture. The Spanish wines served are perched on what looks like a traditional banggerahan, except that the ones in XO are made of wrought iron. Framed black and white photos of old Filipino manors in Ilocos, taken by Andrew, are mounted on the walls. The waiters and attendants are dressed in barongs and kimonas, and they greet you in Filipino. The modern Filipino touch comes from the hanging lamps from Cebu and the Ed Calma-designed lounge chairs.
For starters, guests are served steamed rice puto instead of dinner rolls with aligue (crab fat) butter. You are poured chilled water flavored with cucumber slices — a refreshing start and end to any meal.
A specialty of XO 46 is its kare-kareng crispy tadyang — the tadyang served separately. Its lechon kawali is a recipe that is the best of both the Masigan (Ilocano) and the Munson-Siytangco (Kapampangan and Bicolano) homes.
“Our lechon kawali is dried, frozen then deep-fried,” says Andrew. The laing is a legacy from the Siytangcos of Bicol. The secret, shares Sandee, is that only dried pure gabi leaves are used, with its spine and veins discarded.
My husband Ed’s favorite is XO 46’s sopa de mariscos, which tastes like lobster bisque. It is served steaming under a dome of filo pastry baked to golden brown perfection. Since I am a dessert person, my favorite is the mantecado ice cream (made from scratch in the XO kitchen and not bought in the supermarket), sprinkled with ube and leche flan bits. The Masigans serve this with cherry liquer, which you drizzle on the ice cream.
Sandee, who is also a food stylist, takes care of the food presentation. So what you have at XO 46 is food served in your mom’s kitchen but presented to you like you were the guest of honor dining in your own home.
“At XO 46, we serve Filipino food taken to another level of refinement,” proclaims Andrew.
* * *
Nostalgia isn’t spelled out on the menu but it is all over the place, including in the piped-in OPM music that gets you into the Pinoy groove.
“What we have here is simple food prepared with love and care. I like to eat food that brings back memories of the food we used to crave for when we were growing up. And I like our daughter Amanda to have good food as part of her happy memories of growing up, because with these memories she takes a part of us with her.”
Sandee says she relives her happy childhood at XO 46, “where we serve the kind of food my brothers would eat.”
Sandee’s brothers (Junie, David and AJ) are all six-footers whose food cravings were indulged by kitchen whizzes — their Lola Paz, Mamang, their mom Deedee and their Ate Sandee.
So expect X0 46 to spoil your tastebuds like the women — and men — in your lives who believed that the shortest way to your happiness was through your stomach.
Just ask Mamang.
(For reservations, please call XO 46 at tel. no. 553-6632.) (You may e-mail me at joanneraeramirez@yahoo.com)