wedding season Archives - Between Bites - Bites of Food, Travel and Lifestyle

August 14, 2009 by Janey

Previous to the discovery of Ristras, Pasto was frequent in the call log. Bubba and I were reminiscing the other night how much we crave for Pasto before. Pasto was our favorite go-to-restaurant for DVD food. The Greenhills branch is rung ahead of time to order 2 batches of crostinis with chicken pate and pomodoro salsa dips. Grab, pay and off to home movies.

I also like eating at home since Bubba finishes most of the salsa, so I have to replicate with a homemade one. Diced tomatoes, diced red onions (nominal), fresh basil, olive oil and balsamic vinegar, (mmm-mm!) I can have as much as I want. Soon, we were pairing our Pasto “to-go” order with Sandy’s Pizza’s buffalo wings, which we also got quite akin to. Interestingly, we only order the wings (they deliver for 2 orders) and not the pizza.

Another favorite in Pasto is their Romano entrée (PHP345). Romano is crusted chicken breast with spinach and roasted mushrooms in a Gorgonzola cream sauce served with fettuccine.

On the Table

Zuppa di Pomodoro PHP 95

Pasto has the best roasted-tomato cream soup in the Metro. Its semi-smooth thickness is exactly right without making it appear like a tomato puree. There’s a hint of Parmesan and cream taste in the roasted tomato soup. Garnished with fresh basil on top that adds a minty flavor perfect for that hot soothing spoonful.

Crostini, Pasto’s famous version of Italian crostini served with your choice of “dips.” One order is equivalent to 8 pieces of crostini shaped like a pizza slice –thin, toasty and crispy. Price of crostini depends on the dip.

Chicken pate PHP 125

Pomodoro Salsa PHP 105

En Route to the Perfect Bite

Spread the chicken pate on the crostini
Put a bit of the tomato salsa on top with a drip of the balsamic olive oil dressing

First layer of taste is good enough for me.

3. Add another layer of flavor by adding grated Parmesan cheese.

4. To add some heat, add the chili flakes

Before Ristras’ burritos and nacho chips, this was our comfort food.

Ortaggi PHP 225

Spaghetti cooked with artichokes, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, and feta cheese. The usual order is Romano, Vongole or Frutti di Mare, but we took a detour and ordered a pasta dish we haven’t tried –Ortaggi. It was a tad bit on the sweet side (probably from the sun-dried tomatoes which I really love) that I wasn’t expecting. We only finished half of the pasta, partly because we needed to run off to watch GI Joe.

Pasto

Greenhills Theater Mall

Unit F&B-5, Greenhills Theater Mall

Greenhills Shopping Center, San Juan

(632) 722 4992

El Pueblo

Julio Vargas Ave cor. ADB Ave

Ortigas Center, Pasig City

(632) 634 0157

Paseo Center

3^rd Floor, 8757 Paseo de Roxas

Salcedo Village, Makati City

(632) 893 0588

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Addicted to Ristras

July 30, 2009 by Janey

I seriously cannot count how many times I’ve been to Ristras. I’ve had one too many visits since it opened. I would have gotten a loyalty card by now if they have such customer management system.

July 24, Friday night, we are back again in Ristras but not for our usual “to go” food to be gorged on a DVD night. We were there to give Butch a congratulatory pat on the back for his upcoming wedding on August 1, Saturday.

It’s already this week and just 3 days ago, I attended Didi’s wedding. I still shake my head in disbelief knowing at least 9 people who are getting married between today until mid next year. It’s the wedding season!

Butch and Marie, who I had some time to bond with during a spontaneous Tagaytay getaway, are one of the nicest and most sensible couples I know. Both are currently working at P&G and have been together since 3^rd year college.

Other than Andrew, it was Cris Darwin, Eric, Butch and Jim’s first time at Ristras. We were just here 2 nights ago (err… every 2 nights before that as well?)

The boys were a bit overwhelmed with the array of delicious ingredients in front of them. Same sentiment I had when it was my first time there not so long ago. I’m glad I was assisted during my selection of what’s going inside my burrito from Chef Rob. I was glad to give the same assistance to the berks.

Create Your Own Burrito

First: Choose Bowl or Burrito

It’s a matter of eating it in a bowl or in a wrap

Second: Choose Your Rice (Easiest!)

2 choices: Cilantro White Rice or Chorizo Brown Rice. (You can also forego if you’re on a no-rice diet)

I go for the chorizo brown rice, wonderful color, fantastic grain.

Third: Choose Your Meat (or Go Vegetarian)

Steak –good quality meat soaked in hours in Chipotle Adobo marinade and then grilled medium rare. Very tender and tasty

Chicken –grilled chicken meat in jalapeno marinade

Carnitas –free-range pork braised and seasoned with thyme, bay leave, orange juice

Barbacoa –slow braised shredded beef with cumin, cloves and other spices

You can choose 2 meats for your burrito, which will be separated on each side.

**Go Vegetarian and pack on the bell peppers, black beans and red beans or you can just add it all to your meat

Fourth: Add-ons!

Choose your add-ons: Jalapeno, pico de gallo salsa, tomatoes, tomatillo green chile salsa, roasted chili corn salsa, sour cream, grated cheddar and white cheese, guacamole or no need to choose, you can go with “all the works!”

The serving is good for a hungry one or best shared with a good friend! Now it’s time to order your nachos!

On the Table

Steak slash Barbacoa Burrito PHP 290

Bubba and I decided to split a burrito. It was steak, brown rice and all the other works on one side while it was barbacoa and brown rice on the other. Savor every mouthful

9 Layer Dip with Nachos PHP 255

I really love Rockefeller’s 7-layer nachos but being so far away in Makati, I’ve replaced it with Ristras’ 9-layer dip. 9-layer-dip is brimming with 9 colorful layers of fresh ingredients starting from 2 kinds of beans, sour cream, tomatoes, pico de gallo salsa, onion, corn, chopped olives, jalapenos and guacamole if you wish. Create a perfect bite by getting a piece of everything. We usually ran out of chips but we just grab a Tostitos Hint with Lime tortilla chips from our stash at home and it heightens eating this delicious comfort food. It’s actually more perfect with Tostitos.

Whatever you decide, the garlic sauce makes all the mix and matches come together. The white yogurt sauce suffused with loads garlic has the right consistency compared to other garlic sauces that are diluted. It gives a softer and creamier supplement to each textural bite.

(Chris said that after that Friday visit he finally hit the mark and would probably visit after a month. Newsflash: we were at Ristras last night, only 5 days after that vow.)