Story & photos by Bernard L. Supetran
FATHER’S Day in the Philippines is an annual ritual to go on a gastronomic feast, with Dad himself and his big appetite as the biggest excuse. But what if Dad is no longer around and had gone to the great beyond?
For the Foo family of the Olongapo-Subic enclave, everyday is just like Fathers’ Day even if Benson, the patriarch, has been absent in the flesh for more than a decade now.
Thanks to the mouthwatering Chinese food he has been serving for decades as a restaurateur, Ben has been able to hand down to his family a culinary heritage that will keep his memories alive in the years to come.
A few years after his demise, the Foo family put up in 2003 Xtremely Xpresso Café (XXC), a full-service restaurant which is easily among the most recognizable homegrown brands in Subic Bay Freeport. Stategically situated at the central business district, it is a café, restaurant, deli and watering hole rolled into one.
According to Vanessa Chanfoo, the café’s manager, his father envisioned offering visitors of Subic and residents of Olongapo a dining place at par with Manila’s restaurants when the free port was just starting to flourish as food-trip haven.
Named after the jazzed-up name of the gourmet coffee, XXC serves the sought-after popular Italian brand Lavazza. Its exterior exudes a warm country-style motif that beckons passersby, and a spacious area for al-fresco dining.
“We added the word ‘Xtremely’ to denote that we go the extreme to give our clients a food trip worth coming back to,” Chanfoo explains.
Like Manila’s ubiquitous coffee shops, it started with espressos, frappes, teas, pastries and short orders. But as patronage grew, its menu expanded to include pizzas, soups and salads, pastas and sandwiches, and then later to char-broiled steaks, grilled meat dishes, breakfasts and ribs.
Despite the presence two big malls almost a stone’s throw away, the restaurant is almost always jampacked and getting a seat during meal time is challenging. One of the main reasons is their 22-inch, piping hot 16-slice pizza which was, at one time, the country’s biggest. Dubbed Big Ben Pizza, it is loaded with pepperoni, sausage, bacon and beef on veggies, garlic, onions, peppers, mushrooms, black olives and two kinds of cheese.
The health-conscious can opt for the vegetarian pizza, or the herb tuna melt, composed of chunky tuna on top of white creamy sauce covered with onion rings, mushroom slices, and a dash of parsley.
As a treat to diners, they can even have two flavors in one pizza and enjoy the best of both worlds. And yes, you guessed it right. It was made in the name of the father, Ben Foo.
Another mainstay in the menu named after the patriarch is the 10-inch Ben’s Delight Burger, a burger lover’s dream come true, with its rich beef patty and garnishings. Good for two to four persons, depending on the diner’s appetite, it is designed to shock and awe every meat lover. This, too, was made in the name of the father
Propelled by the good market response, Xtremely Xpresso Café branched out at the SM City Clark and the Ayala Marquee Mall in Angeles City, Pampanga, to cater to the growing tourists in the former US air base and the sophisticating taste of the communities around it.
Their XXC Clark branch has an adjoining wine bar, The 1953 Wine Lab, to offer meat lovers a chance to pair pasta and pizza with their choice of white or red wine sourced from various wine-producing countries around the world. 1953 represents the year Ben, a wine connoisseur in his own right, was born.
After carving a niche in Subic, Chanfoo said they felt the need to create a sub-brand which will offer a similar but distinct dining experience. Thus, Ben’s Kitchen was born at the Harbor Point Mall, named after the big daddy who seemed to have achieved immorality in the food the family has been dishing out.
This chic, bistro-style restaurant serves American- and Euopean-style dishes which blends with its light-colored themed interiors, enhanced by vintage pieces and collectibles from the family’s collection.
Ben’s Kitchen’s delightful and wide array of food includes pizza, pasta, burgers, soup, salad, sandwiches, steaks, cakes and pastries. Rosemary Lamb with Pineapple Mint Coulis, Baby Back Ribs and Baked Salmon are the juiciest meats you can sink your teeth into.
A bowl full of free, freshly popped popcorn is served to diners while their food is being prepared. For dessert, try out their giant brownie with multiple scoops of ice cream flanked by sticks of crispy chocolate wafers.
They also serve American breakfast (waffles, omelettes, hash browns, etc.). Cap a good meal with a cup of freshly brewed Lavazza at almost half the price in the popular cafes.
And if you can’t find a seat at Xtremely Xpresso Café a few hundred meters away, Ben’s Kitchen has more than enough space for you and feast on their signature dishes.
But despite being a sub-brand of XXC, it has stepped out of the shadow its parent restaurant and has built its own following.
Fathers’ Day or not, daddy is virtually there around the corner with the good food the Foo family has made part of their lives and of the people who walk in and out of their restaurant door.
Image credits: Bernard L. Supetran