MALATE : A Matter of Taste (The Food and People Who Define A Lifestyle, With Recipes of Famous Cafe Adriatico Dishes)

This book is not just the history of a restaurant chain that has become a Philippine institution. It is not just a compiliation of recipes of favorite dishes. And it is not just about the denizens of Adriatico. It is about a place that has come to stand for a lifestyle -- and a lifestyle that, in turn, has become a landmark in Filipino culture. All this evolved without a master plan, and it continue to evolve in ways no one person or institution can chart alone. In this way is Malate unique in Philippine society. A tourist in the Philippines for the first time only has to spend a night in Malate to see and feel a microcosm of this urban life and psyche. The experience of course starts with dining and discovering the many dishes served, many of them classics and favorites by now, some popping up as culinary unpredicatabilities. But the experience doesn't end there -- it builds up into a trove of memories. In here are narratives tracing the growth of the Malate way of life -- which defies definitive description to this day -- historical accounts of how Cafe Adriatico was, quite accidentally, born out of an antiques shop put up by the food and art connoisseur father-and-son tandem of E. Aguilar Cruz, an eminent diplomat, writer and artist, and lorenzo "Larry" J. Cruz, a journalist, bureaucrat and restauranteur. Going beyond the data, it has essays born out of the feelings, memories and discerning tastes of people who have been touched by the Malate way of life. While other spots in the city rise and fall with trends and "in" and "out" dicates of style, Malate, through two decades, has withstood the fleeting standards of lifestyle. It has reinvented itself through time. And unlike other culture landmarks, Malate trives pretty mcuh on its own -- without grand design from government or business. Also , it must be the only spot in the country where the urban poor -- they who live in the vicinity -- can co-exist with elite, artists.