Simply ToDieFor

MANILA, Philippines - TDF Foods sits quietly on the corner of Zobel Roxas and Espiritu streets beside various other establishments – a car repair shop, a few office buildings. The best way to find it while plying Zobel Roxas street is to keep your eyes peeled for the large sign that announces the food as To Die For, beside another large sign of Carica Herbal Products.

The entire TDF store, in fact, came to be because of signage. “My brother was in charge of marketing Carica, so when he died, I decided our marketing would have to depend a lot on signage,” says TDF owner Tina Tan. Finding the price of putting up billboards too expensive, she decided to rent spaces where small businesses could be put up to be able to pay for the signage outside. “I decided we must recover some of the signage cost by having stores underneath it,” Tan says.

Tan and her brother started Carica in 1995 as what she describes as a very small venture, producing fermented papaya for a Japanese client.

Soon, she gave up her job in finance to be able to focus on growing their business.

“On the side, I had a hobby. I liked to develop food for parties, and I have a very good cook in our house, Edna, who has been with us for 32 years… she really has a talent for cooking,” Tan says.

Both Carica and TDF are homegrown businesses – from the materials and ingredients used, to the people involved, some who started with the company as the Tans’ househelp. “They grew with the company,” she says.

Starting only a year ago, To Die For Foods has steadily been building their fan base. “What big claims,” Tan laughs as she talks about naming her store To Die For.

“This is a take out store,” Tan says of the TDF concept. The dishes are sold in packs good for two to three, ready to be heated in the microwave for a delicious home-cooked meal. For those living in condominiums or those who can’t cook, TDF is miles better than having fast food every day.

Tan shares that on top of the list of bestsellers is lengua, followed closely by callos and caldereta (which they offer in beef, goat and chicken). “These dishes are more difficult and take longer to make,” says Tan on why she thinks these are the bestsellers among their patrons. That, and the fact that her recipes for these dishes are, indeed, “To die for!”

The lengua, callos and caldereta are part of TDF’s heritage food offerings. “These are recipes we inherited from our colonial past,” Tan explains. Also included on the menu are duck adobo; beef mechado; fabada, a Spanish dish with beans, chorizo de bilbao and spices; pork estofado; bottarga, a dish with fish roe, olive oil, and herbs; pork afritada; dried squid; and dried beef tapa.

There are also pastas – mushroom, pesto, puttanesca, vongole and bolognese; and made-to-order salads, which are a fresh steal at only P50 each.

“We try to keep it healthy in line with our herbal food,” says Tan, highlighting the Carica herbal products, which have now grown from the first fermented papaya to a wide variety of items from malunggay to noni juice.

Finally, the highlight of TDF is their Bicol specialties. “My friend from San Francisco calls it farm to table food,” Tan says. Though it is a popular new concept that is a fad in the US, “farm to table” is only natural for TDF.

“Most of our ingredients come from our farm in Quezon province,” Tan says. “That way, we don’t have to scrimp on the ingredients.”

The freshness of their ingredients is evident in Bicol specialties like tinumok, a kind of laing; atsarang ubod, which gives a unique and refreshing twist on the usual atsarang papaya; ginataang santol; and of course Bicol express.

“The chairs and tables here are more for decoration,” Tan says, reiterating that TDF is mainly a take-out store. “But, if you want, you can buy a pack and eat it here. We will heat it up for you and serve it with rice.”

Folks who eat at TDF are as homey and chummy as the place; when we had lunch there, the two ladies at the other table offered to let us try their bottarga to help us decide if we would order it.

She adds, “You can even bring your own wine without corkage. It’s like your own private dining room.”

Lately, Tan has also started hosting intimate dinner parties for small groups at TDF. She says she really enjoys putting together special menus for these occasions and is thinking of coming up with packages for different menus centered around the TDF specialties – heritage food and Bicol and Quezon specialties.

Tan, however, has no plans to turn the store into a full-blown restaurant. “The take-out store is a simple concept and I want to keep it that way,” she says – fresh and healthy farm to table ingredients, cherished recipes and food that is, simply, to die for.