EVOO

WITH several culinary schools in Cebu City, there is growing number of culinary graduates who are venturing into the restaurant business.

Ms. Libia Chavez, and I actually met in Cebu when she assumed her post as chairperson of the Phil. School of Culinary Arts, (PSCA). Over the years, we discovered along the way that we have common friends from UP Diliman where we both studied. She takes pride in the PSCA graduates who have opened their own restaurants in the city. And she never fails to update me, the latest of which recently opened along Gov. M. Cuenco Avenue, not too far from Crossroads. The name is eye catching—EVOO that actually stands for “extra virgin olive oil.” Libia explained that the dishes use EVOO. The partners/owners are Lyndon Geraldizo and Donabel Mantos. Both took up the two-year Diploma in Culinary Arts.

Lyndon is only 20 years old and presents himself as a cheerful, happy person who grew up in Cebu City. In between his infectious laughter, Lyndon claims he had to cook as a boy since he loves to eat and nobody cooked for him. Donabel, on the other hand, is in her early 30s, hails from Daan Bantayan and is more experienced between the two. Both claim to come from families who love to cook. Donabel who took up pharmacy at the behest of her mom is not happy with her profession. She prefers to cook, she says. She worked at the Imperial Palace Waterpark Resort & Spa’s Korean restaurant, Maru, for a year after her OJT in between her two-year course that explains her fascination for Korean food. Donabel also does private dinners for Cebu’s prominent families, which allows her to refine her cookery.

The cozy, Mediterranean-inspired 2-story EVOO Resto Café has a bar on the 2nd floor well stocked with wines where we had a late lunch with Libia. The menu was interestingly eclectic. For openers, we picked on Chicken Quesadillas—tortillas filled with spicy grilled chicken breast with balsamic-onion marmalade, cheddar, Gruyere and mozzarella. The Kimbap, a popular Korean dish made from steamed rice rolled in gim (seaweed sheet) is stuffed with ham, crabstick, cucumber, carrots and egg and eaten with kimchi. The appetizer is similar to Japanese sushi.

The main courses started with one of their best sellers, the sizzling Bulgogi—Korean dish of beef strips in BBQ sauce. Grilled Prawns in Chermoula was light and spicy I enjoyed with steamed rice. Chermoula is a marinade used in Moroccan cooking consisting of herbs, lemon juice, olive oil, pickled lemons, garlic, cumin, onion, coriander and chili peppers. Another best seller, Braised Pork Belly, looked sinful with the layered fat in between but tasted good since the slices of pork were simmered slowly in mango-mustard sauce. A classic American dish, the Salisbury Steak topped with creamy mushroom sauce is a minced beef dish shaped like a steak named after an American physician who was a proponent of low-carbohydrate diet.

For a taste of Italian, we had Seafood Arrabiata—a rich pasta dish with shrimp, scallop and

bacon in tomatoes, olive oil and chili pepper sauce. Arrabiata in Italian means angry—hence the dish is red and hot. The Creamy Dory in Lemon sauce, lightly crusted with corn meal and pan fried in olive oil was delightfully gentle to our palates after the spicy Arrabiata. With a full lunch, we skipped dessert and settled for freshly brewed coffee to keep us alert for the rest of the day.

The culinary landscape in Cebu has certainly grown by leaps and bounds.

The growth of the restaurant business in the city is phenomenal. New restaurants seem to be sprouting overnight and I, somehow, cannot seem to keep track of the new ones. While majority of the mid and upscale ones are branches or franchisees from Metro Manila, there are a number of local restaurants that are getting into the culinary scene.