Cantinetta ♥ ♥

Yvette is my friend from the good old elementary days. We lived in the same village and slept over at each other’s houses, staying up until the first rays of the morning sun, talking about petty stuff that seem so trivial now, but meant the whole world to the callow and naive little girls that we were back then.

Then high school came, we made different sets of friends, then we’re off to different colleges, went through different relationships, moved to different countries… We lost touch for years, and then next thing I know, my grade school friend Yvette is now a wife to a wonderful man named Alex, and a doting mother to their two beautiful daughters. And as for me, well, my civil status still says a simple and jolly “S.”

Cantinetta Rockwell

 

Bread basket with liver pate and tomato salsa – the secret is to spread an inch thick layer of liver pate on the bread, then top with heaping spoonfuls of salsa. Yumminess.

 

Carpaccio di Manzo alla Cantinetta. Paper thin raw beef with shaved parmesan and olive oil – Alex and Yvette’s

 

Pesce. Fresh seafood in light tomato soup – Alex and Yvette’s

 

Zuppa di Granchio con Gamberetti. Prawns and crabmeat soup – generous with seafood and rich in flavor

 

Costolette di Agnello. Chargrilled lamb chops – dry and a bit overcooked, but we still finish it anyway

 

Tartufo. Truffle cream sauce with parmesan cheese – the cream shouts cholesterol and the angel hair screams carbs, but I pretend to hear none of them warnings. One whiff of the tartufo’s powerful scent and I know my 30-min cardio workout this morning is in vain. One taste of its earthiness and creaminess and I lose every ounce of restraint in me. Oh, Tartufo, you are the devil, and I, a sinner.

 

I used to be a bigger fan of pasta when I was younger. I would eat nothing but carbonara, lasagna, and spaghetti Filipino style – sweet, topped with hotdog slices, and covered with a whole block of grated quickmelt cheese. Then came weight problems, anorexic celebritiy idols, and my love affair with Atkins… Pasta slowly disappeared from my life.

I have grown and matured a lot since then. Grown in size and matured in the sense that I’ve finally accepted that I will never be thin even if I banish carbs forever. I learned to love myself as I am – bloated during certain days of the month, disgustingly fat during and after trips, totally unrecognizable during Christmas season, and chubby, round, bulky, flabby all year long. 

I still crave good creamy pasta every once in a while. Despite life’s many changes, it’s comforting to know that some things remain the same, like my relationship with pasta and my friendship with Yvette. We don’t see each other much now, but when we do, it feels like grade school was just yesterday.

 

Alex, Yvette, Me, Nelson

 

Cantinetta: Block 9, Rockwell Info Center, Rockwell Drive, Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines Tel: +632-4030145