Kitschen Television: Market to Master

I am CRAZY excited for this show! My friends, the same ones who brought you Vice Ink, are launching a new show called Market to Master in a few months.It will feature another friend, and awesome chef Hylton le Roux. Check out the trailer! (and spot me in one of the future episodes! haha!)



Chef Hylton Le Roux is Guest Chef at The Establishment until mid-July. I was lucky enough to get a DealGrocer Degustation menu deal so I get to try everything. You should make that reservation now! And if you're having a party, check out his company, Pi Catering on Facebook!

Restaurant Review: Hyphy or Hyphoeey?

When we found out there was a place called Hyphy's that served Filipino-San Francisco comfort food, our first reaction was "Whuuuuuuuut?!" We were looking forward to trying it out, especially my former Bay Area dwelling boyfriend. Finally got to go last night.

First of all, there is nothing Hyphy about the place. And the music... we wanted to make them a playlist that included E-40 and Keak da Sneak because they were playing the most random stuff. Anyway.....

The Hyphy's logo is clearly inspired by the SF Giants. Even the waiters are all wearing shirts that vaguely look like the Giants' jerseys.

I kinda like how they left the pipes and stuff exposed. You don't even really notice until you look up.

Boards, boards, boards.

Of course we had to order the clam chowder---in a bread bowl (they rarely serve it that way here- if they even have clam chowder at all) It was... ok. Margaux and I thought it should be a bit thicker. I also found it kind of sweet, which was weird.

At first, I was like Umm, there is SO much raw garlic in these fries. Wasn't bad though, actually enjoyed these, although still wished they cooked the garlic a little.

Mac n' cheese..one of my most favorite things to eat in the whole world. I had high hopes for you, but Alas, you let me down. You weren't horrible, but I was really underwhelmed.

Margaux's chicken fingers. She said they were good, but Hello, they're chicken fingers. I don't think anyone can get those wrong.

I quite liked my Sloppy Joe. I ate most of it but I was just so full already. I couldn't even save space for dessert. This was nice and messy though, with ground beef and the mustard dressing dripping all over the place. I must have used a hundred napkins.

Conclusion:Hyphy's is not a bad place to eat. The food isn't horrible. The service is good. It's just kind of Whatever.... There's nothing truly special about the stuff they serve. "Filipino-SF comfort food" is so vague. My Bay Area friends were just as confused. The only SF-related things we all saw were: The Giants logo reference (or rip off, you decide), the fact that the menu was divided into well-known places around the Bay Area. Haight had all veggie dishes (assuming it's because of the hippie-pothead stereotype) Mission was all Tacos and other Mexican dishes etc. and the fact that it was called Hyphy's.

Apart from that, it was just regular, whatever food.

I hear Chef's Table by the same chef (Bruce Lim) is significantly better. Go there instead.


Hyphy's is located at The Veranda, Robinsons Galleria, Quezon City, Philippines

Kitschen Chaos: Whatever Pizza

Whatever pizzas are my favorite ones to make. I call them that because you literally put whatever you have on hand to make them. In this case, I had a bunch of leftovers from Ananda's party last Sunday so I mixed and matched the ingredients I had to create 3 different pies.

YOU too can do this. It's super simple. Just throw in ANYTHING you want. There are no rules to pizza making.

Here are some examples from last night:

Start with the basics. Either make your own crust, or buy a ready made one. I had the latter at home. Also, pick your sauce. Since I was using leftovers, I used regular tomato based pizza sauce, but you can use other things like pesto or white sauce. At Ananda's party, she and Margaux even put a peanut butter base (and no, it wasn't a dessert pizza!)

1. Pepperoni-Mushroom Pizza

Add mushrooms to the base. I also added salt and pepper and garlic and drizzled truffle infused olive oil to the crust.

next grate Mozzarella cheese all over, covering all your sauce and whatever toppings you already threw on there. Add pepperoni and sprinkle with crumbled feta.

Volia! Pizza # 1- Finito!

2.Breakfast Pizza

Add corned beef on your base. Again, I seasoned with salt and pepper and added garlic and truffle infused olive oil. Next time, I will cook the corned beef until it's crunchy first before adding.

Top with grated Mozzarella and onion rings. Right before sticking in the oven, add an egg.

And there you go- Breakfast Pizza! I got this idea from my friend's annual pizza making contest in Sydney. I think my sister actually made something like this. Long live SILOGS--- So should this be called PI-LOG? lol.

3. 3 cheese Pizza

Add pepperoni around the edge of your base, circling the whole thing. This is optional of course, but like I said...I had a lot of left overs! Leave the middle empty and add 3 kinds of whatever cheese you have lying around. In my case, I had Mozzarella, Parmesan and Feta. And yay, I also found fresh thyme in the fridge.

The yumminess of a home-made pizza! Bon Apetit!

Your turn to try! Send me photos !of your WHATEVER Pizzas!

Birthday Kitschen: Ice Cream, Pizza and Flashing Lights

My little girl is turning 7 tomorrow and we had an advanced party for her yesterday. Thank you to everyone who came through. It was an awesome party and I think everyone young and old had fun!

Pre-party...The two besties wanted to eat the cake already before the guests even came!

Taste of my childhood. Hotdog on a stick- with marshmallows!Every pinoy kiddie party has to have it!

Figured kids wouldn't eat whole, regular sized burgers so prepared some mini-versions using dinner rolls as buns!

Who doesn't love French Fries? Especially when tossed in truffle oil and parmesan :)

No sweet spaghetti in Casa Paredes. I prefer this baked spaghetti from my childhood. It's my favorite and I ask our cook to make this every time I return home from a long trip!

Pizza making contest! The winning pizza was seemingly ordinary, with pepperoni, pizza sauce and cheese, but made special by the addition of...Peanut Butter!!!

Build your own sundae station. Vanilla, Strawberry and Chocolate ice cream, 8 toppings, 2 kinds of sauces. I forgot to bring out the whipped cream! Sayang!

The kids doing a photo shoot with wigs and hats and stuff. So hard to get them all to keep still, so instead of doing that, we just chased their movements instead.

We got jealous and wanted a turn!

Happy Birthday babycakes! I hope you know how much we all love you!

Birthday Cake by Annette Sison

Guest Kitschen: Fajitas!

I love eating at other people's homes as much as I love cooking for them, so when the lovely Rachel Le Roux once again invited me over for dinner, I ran, not walked to her house (actually, we drove lol)

On the menu--Fajitas! Yummo!

They grow their own arugula in the backyard! Also tarragon and some other herbs. I want!

As usually, I was too much in a hurry to eat, I forgot to take a photo once I put my meal together. But let me tell you, the fajitas were lovely! Thanks Rae!!!

Maison de Le Roux is located at....just kidding! But find out where you can get a taste of Chef Hylton Le Roux's cooking in my next post!

Out of the Kitschen: Living Lovely from Manila to DC

To Live Lovely - living life lovely inside and out: Friends are Lovely - Happy Birthday, Erica!

To Live Lovely - living life lovely inside and out: Friends are Lovely - Happy Birthday, Erica!: "A good laugh, a good cry, a pig out session, or a bitch session and a comfortable silence… all these things are good for the soul especial..."

One of my best friend's since high school blogged about me on my birthday. Check out the vintage photo from 1996 or 97. OMG! Revlon Colorstay in Raisin ftw!

Divine Desserts: Sweet Bella

I'm not a very big fan of the name of the place, but I've heard about it before, finally got the chance to go there after my "Jusko Thai" dinner with Jigs. We were supposed to go somewhere else but made a detour into this spot because it was raining! Turned out to be a blessing!

Their display of desserts. What to order?

I'm usually a sucker for macarons. I didn't get to try any so next time, these babies will be mine!

ananda and jigs fighting over what cake to get. lol

This was a really good chocolate cake. It was nice and super moist inside and Ananda said it was "the best cake she's ever" tried. Bear in mind though, that she says that at least once a week, but all in all, it was good. She just didn't like the butterfly because she said it tasted funny.

This is what I liked. Yummy guava mousse still a bit gritty from the fresh guava they used. I love guava flavored anything- but I don't like the actual fruit. Go figure!Inside it were slices of fresh mango. I was so full but we ate most of it.

I still like home-made desserts better. Or maybe I'm just such a critic because my lola, my mom and some of my titas are so good in the kitchen. The Guava Mousse though...MUST TRY!


Sweet Bella is located at Burgos Circle, Fort Bonifacio