USUALLY, when you are craving for a slice of cake to go with a cup of freshly brewed coffee to end a good meal with, you go to a coffee shop or desserts place to satisfy your craving. But there is this highly unlikely place on Level 2 of Greenbelt 5 (in Ayala Center, Makati City) that dessert lovers must check out.
It is called Restaurante Pia Y Damaso, and it serves what is called “subversive Filipino cuisine”, or classic Filipino dishes whose twists are inspired by the Philippine National Hero Dr. Jose Rizal’s sublime novels Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo.
The extensive menu features really interesting dishes—from appetizers, salads and soups to main dishes, rice and noodles to desserts and drinks—most of which are even named after characters in the two novels. Quite a number of these dishes even figured in certain chapters in the novels, during social gatherings held in the homes of prominent characters. The truth is that the restaurant itself has been named after two key characters in Noli Me Tangere—Pia Alba, the mother of Maria Clara; and Padre Damaso, the Spanish friar who is believed to have raped Pia Alba and fathered Maria Clara.
Going back to the food, Restaurante Pia y Damaso offers an equally extensive desserts menu. This is understandable, considering that the owner, Chef Bambi Sy-Gobio, is also an excellent pastry chef. Before Pia y Damaso came along, she used to own and run a specialty dessert shop called Kooky & Luscious in Greenhills. So, now that she has a full-fledged restaurant, she drew up a really impressive dessert menu.
On top of the list is Sisa’s Dementia (P240 per slice), Chef Bambi’s signature cake. It’s an indulgent truffle cake with Belgian white-chocolate almond pastille, dark-chocolate mousse and ganache. It is so good that a number of other cafés and bakeshops have tried to copy but have failed to replicate it. Sisa’s Dementia is named after Narcisa, or simply Sisa, the character in Rizal’s novel who grew mad when her sons Basilio and Crispin went missing. The demented mother who went around town looking for her children is the epitome of a mother’s pure love for her children. Sisa’s Dementia is named after her because it is so good that it might make you forget who you are.
Chef Bambi is also known for her Bibingka Waffle (P150). It is bibingka batter cooked into waffles and served with Malagos’s goat’s cheese, quezo de bola, salted egg and coco jam. Familiar taste, different presentation, an explosion of flavors in the mouth!
Brazo ni Doña Vicki (P100) is a must-try at Restaurante Pia y Damaso. It is an interpretation of the classic Brazo de Mercedes, executed in a chewy meringue roulade with fresh butter curd as filling. It is named after Doña Victorina de los Reyes de Espadaña, the full-blooded “indio” who passed herself off as a mestiza (of Spanish descent but born in the Philippines) and married Don Tiburcio only because she has always dreamt of having a Spanish husband.
Another interesting cake that Chef Bambi named after Doña Victorina is De Espadaña Quezo de Bola Cheesecake (P220), baked cheesecake with santol, prune and fig compote. The topping is not the usual pie filling that we got used to, and the cheesecake itself is more flavorful than the usual cheesecake because of the quezo de bola.
Then there is Salvi’s Canonigo (P100), a single-serving Canonigo, or baked caramel lined meringue served with vanilla crème and fresh mangoes for that perfect soft bite with subtle creaminess and sweetness. It got its name from Padre Salvi, who replaced Padre Damaso as curate for the parish church of San Diego in Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere.
Other must-tries, though not necessarily named after characters in Rizal’s novels, are Ube Macapuno Cake (P100), purple-yam sponge cake with macapuno or freak coconut strips and mousseline cream; Sapin-Sapin (P100), homemade steamed layers of ground glutinous rice flavored with coconut, pumpkin and purple yam; Cassava Cake with Homemade Coco Jam (P125), baked cassava pudding with jackfruit, macapuno and coco jam; Toasted Yema Parfait (P125), special toasted yema on a frozen creamy parfait with cookie crumbs; Ube Langka SansRival; and Salted Butter Tart.
More exciting dessert items can be found on the menu of Restaurante Pia y Damaso, making it an unusual but highly frequented place of diners who want to have good dessert.
■ Restaurante Pia y Damaso can be found on the 2nd Floor, Greenbelt 5, Ayala Center, Makati City; with telephone number 729-5511.