By Dolly Dy-Zulueta / Photos by Rafael R. Zulueta
PAMPANGA is the culinary capital of the Philippines, and it’s for a good reason. It has a rich and vibrant cuisine that is unlike any other, making full use of ingredients that are locally available and transforming them into gourmet treats. It is home to the original sisig, and exotic dishes, such as camaru (mole crickets in crispy fried and adobo variations) and betute (frog), are part and parcel of the local cuisine. Pindang damulag (carabao’s meat), as well as deli products, like tocino, tapa and longganisa, also trace their roots back to Pampanga.
Since Pampanga is a gastronomic haven and is not too far from the Metro, a number of foodies really make an effort to head for the province and go food-tripping there every now and then. Others make it a habit to stop over in Pampanga for lunch, snacks or dinner on their drive up to Baguio and other places in the North, such as Tarlac, Pangasinan, La Union and Ilocos, and on their way back to Manila.
One of the places in Pampanga which has become a favorite stopover for a good Capampangan meal for decades now is Everybody’s Café, which is right along MacArthur Highway in San Fernando, Pampanga. Back in the days when MacArthur Highway was the main route going to provinces in the Northern part of the country, Everybody’s Café was always packed with diners. Even when the main road shifted to the Northern Luzon Expressway and MacArthur Highway became the road less taken, foodies still make that trip to Everybody’s Café to have an authentic Kapampangan meal.
Started by Benito and Carmen Santos after World War II, Everybody’s Café is now being managed by their daughter Pette Jorolan and her children. It began as a small restaurant initially serving pancit palabok and mami. The latter was much like the La Paz Batchoy but with miki bihon noodles and no lapay.
The menu evolved to offer specialty dishes, such as Camaru, Betute, Fried Hito with Buro (fried catfish eaten with fermented rice wrapped in fresh mustasa or mustard leaves); Sisig (pig’s cheeks and neck, chopped and cooked in vinegar and soy sauce); Pakô Salad (with salted egg, tomatoes, onion and sweet vinegar dressing), Morcon (local meat loaf or terrine); Tidtad (the Kapampangan version of dinuguan made with pork innards simmered in pig’s blood); and Okoy (shredded raw papaya and shrimp fritters).
These traditional Kapampangan dishes which travelers enjoyed at the original Everybody’s Café can still be found at the restaurant. Bigger and more modern now, it still serves the same delicious food prepared the authentic Kapampangan way.
While some ingredients are seasonal, such as the Camaru, or mole crickets, the restaurant manages to serve it all-year-round because, while the supply is still abundant, Pette boils a large amount in vinegar, cooks it dry adobo style, packs it in plastic containers, freezes it and, come lean season, brings out only a certain amount daily. As for the Betute or frogs, they are still native rice-field frogs, but are now sourced not just from Pampanga but from Nueva Ecija, as well. Only the Milagrosa rice which Everybody’s Café used to serve, is no longer available, because there are no more sources for this type of aromatic and delicious rice. Pette compensates for this, though, by using good-quality rice to go with the authnentic Kapampangan dishes served in the restaurant.
“We get a lot of customers who are in their senior years, and they bring their children and grandchildren to the restaurant. We hear them talk about their favorite dishes and feel happy that they still come to enjoy the same food that they grew up with. Some of them tell us they love our food because we cook with care and love. In Kapampangan, the term is makasese. While others just cook, we cook with passion,” explains Pette, whose aunts were the first cooks at Everybody’s Café.
The original restaurant closed in 2000, and Pette opened it again in 2002, bigger and more modern now but retaining the old flavors that people, travelers and Kapampangans alike have come to love about Everybody’s Café. Its loyal customers came back in troves—perhaps, even more—packing the restaurant with their respective families, especially during weekends. They love the fact that the restaurant has a turo-turo counter, where their favorites have been precooked and ready to serve, so all they have to do is order what they like and it will be served at their table in no time at all. Other dishes, understandably, have to be cooked upon order.
The old favorites, such as Camaru, Betute and Morcon, remain to be the best-sellers, but other dishes, including Sinigang na Ulang, Fried Duck and Lechon Kawali, have also become crowd favorites. Diners also come for Everybody’s Café’s Fresh Papaya Lumpia and oversized Paksiw na Bangus, among others, so travelers still make that short detour from the North Luzon Expressway to MacArthur Highway when they reach San Fernando, Pampanga, for a fully satisfying meal, which can be leisurely or quick, depending on how they like it.
Of late, Pette has also started making Everybody’s Café’s top favorites available to food lovers in Metro Manila, bringing it closer and making it more accessible with a booth at the Salcedo Weekend Market in Makati City. Every Saturday, since 2008, Pette and her team can be found at the Salcedo Market with a good selection of Everybody’s Café’s authentic Kapampangan fares.
The restaurant’s success—and the raves and good reviews about its food—is proof that no matter what the global culinary trends are and how eager Filipinos are to try them, food lovers will still always go back to the simple flavors that they have grown up with and appreciate good food at its purest, simplest form.