Shouts & Murmurs

Because of recent news saying direct flights between PH and...

Fri, 24 May 2013 23:56:18 +0800

Because of recent news saying direct flights between PH and Brazil may start soon after both countries ink an air agreement, I am now including Peru in my must-see places in the next two years.

Who’s with me? :D

Machu Picchu by Anna Newman on Flickr.

Looking forward to seeing this in two weeks! :) Angkor wat by...

Fri, 24 May 2013 23:03:46 +0800

Looking forward to seeing this in two weeks! :)

Angkor wat by alfieianni on Flickr.

I'll shift your paradigm

Thu, 23 May 2013 22:10:00 +0800

I’ve been attending this writing workshop for several weeks now, and we are approaching the...

This is amazing. <3

Thu, 23 May 2013 21:08:49 +0800

This is amazing. <3

My life is currently an Arkarna song. Chos.

Tue, 21 May 2013 17:27:06 +0800

My life is currently an Arkarna song.

Chos.

Finally experienced #Fader LIVE! #wild #crazygood #wanderland...

Tue, 21 May 2013 00:40:22 +0800

Finally experienced #Fader LIVE! #wild #crazygood #wanderland @thetempertrap

Saturday's alliteration: A wicked weekend in Wanderland

Mon, 20 May 2013 19:39:00 +0800

I come from a family of audiophiles. If there was only one thing my siblings and I share...

Tokyo at its most Tokyoesque

Thu, 16 May 2013 20:57:00 +0800

Ah, Tokyo. Where do I even begin? It’s a city...

Before a new chapter is begun, the old one has to be finished:...

Thu, 16 May 2013 18:11:00 +0800

Before a new chapter is begun, the old one has to be finished: tell yourself that what has passed will never come back. Remember that there was a time when you could live without that thing or that person - nothing is irreplaceable, a habit is not a need. This may sound so obvious, it may even be difficult, but it is very important. Closing cycles. Not because of pride, incapacity or arrogance, but simply because that no longer fits your life. Shut the door, change the record, clean the house, shake off the dust. Stop being who you were, and change into who you are.—Paolo Coelho

Having a Coke with You

Wed, 15 May 2013 15:07:14 +0800

is even more fun than going to San Sebastian, Irún, Hendaye, Biarritz, Bayonne or being sick to my...

#LookingUp Taipei 101 #taiwan

Sun, 12 May 2013 08:19:59 +0800

#LookingUp Taipei 101 #taiwan

To my mom, who did a fantastic job of raising (and taming) four...

Sat, 11 May 2013 23:46:26 +0800

To my mom, who did a fantastic job of raising (and taming) four wayward “brats” while my dad was away on different assignments early in his career—it couldn’t have been easy!!!—happy happy mother’s day! :D we love you sooo much! Wish I were there to give you a biiiig hug. I miss you! :)

Got a really lovely text earlier this week from a person I...

Fri, 10 May 2013 22:19:22 +0800

Got a really lovely text earlier this week from a person I interviewed for an article—the owner of a TexMex restaurant called Chihuahua.

Thought I’d share the story here :D

Ay, Chihuahua!
Tex-Mex restaurant Chihuahua adds a refreshing kick to Manila’s highly competitive dining scene

By Tricia V. Morente

Published: April 15, 2013

The formula for success in Manila’s highly competitive restaurant industry, according to Elian Habayeb, is actually quite simplistic: take a fantastic idea that’s really popular in the United States—or any country, for that matter—and apply it here.

But, the former DJ-turned-restaurateur clarifies, there has to be a real subculture behind it. “It can’t be something that you saw on TV once; you have to have lived it. It has to be part of your DNA—you either have to be born into it, in the country where the cuisine comes from, or you’ve lived so long in that country that it’s already ingrained in your system. And then you capture that same spirit and bring it here,” he says.

In the case of Chihuahua—the restaurant he co-owns with wine expert and Sugi General Manager Ines Cabarrus—it’s bringing the whole Tex-Mex culture he’s grown into while living in Houston, Texas. “The number one cuisine I know by heart, more than anything else, is Tex-Mex. Tacos, burritos, fajitas, enchiladas—all that stuff. Ines, who used to teach English to Mexican immigrants in Chicago, also lived in the Latino district for a while. She was eating this food for years so it’s a cuisine she knows very well. She’s immersed in it,” he says.

‘Not Mexican’

One thing Chihuahua does immediately off the bat is to inform their customers that they do not serve Mexican food. “We always say it’s Tex-Mex. It’s Americanized Mexican food. If you go to any of the border states in the U.S.—California, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas—you walk into a ‘Mexican’ restaurant but it’s really Tex-Mex. That means burritos, tacos, nachos and margaritas. One would think that’s Mexican food, but the truth is it isn’t. Most of these dishes,” he informs, “were invented in the U.S.”

Chihuahua’s menu is pretty straightforward: nachos, tacos, salads, burritos, and burrito bowls. They have different kinds of meat that you can put into your burrito—steak, chicken, carnitas (slow-cooked pulled pork that tastes as good as it sounds) and picadillo (spicy ground beef). There are also veggie options for vegetarian diners, and everything is prepared “fresh, healthy and fast,” says Habayeb. “We don’t have a fryer. Everything is grilled, and we use light sour cream and USDA-certified beef. We also try to serve your food in three minutes,” he adds.

A “hot sauce library” that features four shelves’ worth of hot sauce bottles from all over the world is available for diners to try, and an eat-all-you-can salsa bar injects a variety of flavors to the restaurant’s already tangy dishes. Margaritas, of course, are a staple in every Tex-Mex restaurant and Chihuahua’s Chihuarita, with spiced salt and real Mexican tequila, is among the best in town.

According to Habayeb, what really prompted him and Cabarrus to put up Chihuahua is that they felt Manila was missing a good Tex-Mex restaurant. “Since I moved here in ’98, one thing I craved all the time that Ines and I lament does not exist in Manila is a good Tex-Mex place. There are a couple of good tries, but they’re disappointing in my opinion. So every time Ines and I would go to Houston and visit my family, that’s all we’d eat every day. Lunch, dinner, fast casual, fine dining—it doesn’t matter as long as it’s Tex-Mex,” he jokes.

Manila’s Best Kept Restaurant Secrets

Chihuahua, Habayeb shares, is actually part of the evolution of the book he co-wrote with Cabarrus called “Manila’s Best Kept Restaurant Secrets.” Launched in 2007, the book features a list of Manila’s best dining destinations. “A few years back, Ines and I were having dinner in Alabang somewhere…this restaurant was underneath a bank, and it was impossible to find it because there were no signs. I never would’ve found it on my own, and I said I bet you there so many great places like this all over Manila. There should be a book that features all these places,” he says.

The idea behind the book is “to serve as a guide for tourists, or a way for people to rediscover their city,” Habayeb says. “In every neighborhood, there would be restaurants that are hidden. So we started asking ourselves what are the restaurants that would make it inside this book, and the list started growing,” he shares.

Two years later, in 2007, the two had already published “Manila’s Best Kept Restaurant Secrets,” which is stocked in all the different bookstores, as well as selling in Europe and the U.S. through Amazon.com. A year later, the book eventually led the duo to organize the MBKRS Awards. The last one, held last November 2012, attracted over 150 restaurant nominees, as well as the participation of an academy of around 150 judges that consist of movers and shakers in Manila’s restaurant industry.

The MBKRS Awards are currently held biannually, informs Habayeb, and it was in gathering the restaurant industry’s most distinguished leaders that they decided to put all the knowledge they acquired to good use and opened Chihuahua. “We said, since we’ve already seen what works, and we learned so much from all these chefs and restaurant owners, and we know we have good taste and know how to detect a winner from a non-winner, then why don’t we open our own restaurant?,” Habayeb shares.

Today, Chihuahua has two branches, both of which are attracting a growing number of diners because of its great food and festive ambience—the Makati Avenue branch has also become known for its Salsa Night every Saturday. And the fact that both are located in prime Makati property doesn’t hurt either. But Habayeb says that “location is only one-third of the equation. You also have to have great food, and great food isn’t just a concept—it’s a daily struggle to get it right every day. Consistency. It’s making sure that people don’t develop short cuts. It’s you being on top of your people, making sure that the food during the first six months is the same as the food three years later.”

#14: Explore Kyoto's most stunning destinations—CHECK!

Wed, 01 May 2013 11:31:00 +0800

We got lost on our first night in Kyoto. Our flight had arrived an hour late and it took us...

A very valid point :) hahaha #regram

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 14:05:07 +0800

A very valid point :) hahaha #regram

Check out our artfully plated lunch today. :D #taiwan...

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 13:51:00 +0800

Check out our artfully plated lunch today. :D #taiwan #healthyeats #lunch #InstaSize

I’m going to miss this place! Check out the view from the...

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 08:56:49 +0800

I’m going to miss this place! Check out the view from the deck :) (at Roll In Farm)

I am so loving Taiwan…the people here are so nice and I am...

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 00:10:05 +0800

I am so loving Taiwan…the people here are so nice and I am so amazed by their agriculture. Really hope we can replicate it in the Philippines.

Photo taken earlier today at a tea plantation in Alishan. :)

Finally seeing Taipei tomorrow..I’ll know by then if I will come back to the country for a second visit. Hehe. Good night, y’all :)

Meet hungry Yuki 😂😍😂😍😍 sooo cuuuuuute!!!!

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 23:01:52 +0800

Meet hungry Yuki 😂😍😂😍😍 sooo cuuuuuute!!!!

My mom and lola would love this :) @aidalui @minamorente (at...

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 12:03:58 +0800

My mom and lola would love this :) @aidalui @minamorente (at Alishan Train Station)