Dinner at 8

Had an amazing, amazing dinner tonight. It wasn't at a restaurant but it might as well have been. It was at the home of Dr. Teyet Pascual.

He is an unassuming old man. When you first meet him, you wouldn't think he was a multi-millionaire. Apparently he owns one if not THE most reputable art collection in the country. His home is a gallery, with paintings even on the ceiling and in the toilet. All artists here are Filipino. His international art collection is housed elsewhere.

Upon our arrival, Dr. Pascual's butler cum chef Edwin offered us some wine while waiting for our host to arrive. I passed on the wine but took on the offer of fresh orange juice.

We were then given a tour of the house. His library also boasts of an amazing collection of antique books and his room might as well be called the Luna Room.

While viewing the original sketches of Juan Luna himself, we were called to dinner.


Dinner began with an amazing soup, similar to a molo soup but instead with prawn balls and quail eggs. This was followed by an amazing salad that mixed olives, bacon and tuyo. This was very interesting, similar to lumpiang hubad but with a tartiness to it because of the olives, a saltiness because of the tuyo, a crunch because of the bacon. Another appetizer was the mushroom cannoli. This is supposedly Marti's favorite dish here. (Marti was the one who introduced me to Dr. Pascual. He is also into art, has his own collection.) After this, which I thought was heavy enough as it were, we were served baby back ribs. Then I had an amazing coffee poured from an antique french press. What amazed me about Dr. Pascual's home was the very tasteful and first rate quality of everything. This is a man of truly great taste. I'm not talking just about the paintings. On the table was fine china. Really fine. Dr. Pascual has such an amazing collection that he had an artist sketch each one and drawings of each are now neatly archived in an album. Other plates are traced with mother of pearl beads.

The conversation, however, was the best part of dinner. The eclectic group (there were 6 of us, with 3 authentic art lovers) brought to the table stories and discussions that ranged from art to politics to the latest DJ Montano blog (who is apparently a relation of Dr. Pascual, although he says they have not really met). A debate ensued as to whether or not Rizal was guy and who should truly be considered our national hero; recommendations for the best voice and piano teachers were made; and discussions on Malang filled the air. We left at 1 a.m. and it didn't even feel like it. Time really flies when you're having fun!