By Ruel S. De Vera, Associate Editor
Sunday Inquirer Magazine

OF all the relationships that end, it’s the ones we have with food which seem hardest to forget completely. Maybe it’s because food activates a sensory aspect, one that is more visceral and thus more difficult to simply erase. A sniff of a similar aroma will suddenly flood the senses with nostalgia.

The most poignant thing to lose is the favorite restaurant. It’s particularly difficult when the waiters know you, and even know what you without asking. “The usual.” Places move, chefs transfer, and customers will just have to accept the fact that their favorite haunt is gone. I have dealt with this particular situation twice. My first favorite restaurant was Café Intermezzo in Greenbelt. I would be there every Wednesday, and inevitably I would meet friends there because they knew I’d be there at that day every week. Their lamb chops were my regular meal and once Intermezzo left, replaced by a Burger King, I never found another place quite like it.

The second place I really liked going to was a friend’s joint. Clinton Palanca is both a wicked fictionist and an impressive chef. Prospero’s was his place, and I loved both its incarnations, in Katipunan and Greenbelt. The tenderloin was amazing and the iced tea remains the best anywhere. Clinton eventually decided to move on, Prospero’s gone with the tide, but its memories remain.

And though I never ate there often enough, Full House on Katipunan Avenue was always a great place for merienda. The spaghetti was tasty, but the chicken crepe was sublime. Full House was only one of the many places along Katipunan that, due to the ebb and flow of students in schools fronting it, came and went. We remember fondly Puzzle Point and Anne’s, but are joyful that Café Sweet Inspirations endures with the best Mongolian Barbecue setup in Quezon City. Of all the institutions close to Ateneo’s campus itself, it is the eatery inside Ateneo that impresses with its longevity. Last semester, the Comm Dept. moved to the mainland, but Manang’s remains where it has always been, dispensing inihaw na liempo to a crowd of students and an ever-increasing stream of alumni.

Inevitably, favorite products vanish as well, driven to extinction. I know many friends who remember Choco Vim fondly. I know I am not alone when I speak of missing the original Magnolia Chocolait in those awesome glass bottles. The small ones were really cute and the big ones inhabited fridges for years as water bottles. I miss the original Jack N Jill Munchies (the cheese ones!) as well as Carol-Ann’s Potato Sticks. Nothing has the same spicy crunch as Granny Goose Hot Stix. Despite was seemed to be a complete disappearing act, Serg’s Chocolate is reported to be back. If true, that is great news.

In fact, I am happy to note that not all our favorite snacks have been exterminated. Some thrive in their natural settings: the school canteen and in student’s pockets. Haw Flakes were perfect for pretend communion, while the amazing Clover Bits were perfect for eating undetected in the classroom. They’re not easy to find, but they are still very much around. Long live Haw Flakes and Clover Bits!

Read about other winning tastes in the November 9, 2008 issue of the Sunday Inquirer Magazine.