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ARE you
one of those who went to Conways Bar every Thursday to
sing along and shing-a-ling to the beat of the Spirit
of ’66? Did you close your eyes to the price of the
tickets to the white-haired, lip-trembling Lettermen or
the Cascades or Chad and Jeremy? Did you jump for joy
and bring out the mini-geometric shift with matching
handbag when vintage was declared in?
If you
answered yes to all of the above, man, you’re definitely
in the second half of your life—and afflicted with
“nostalgia.” Which is to say that looking back for you
is a lot more fun than anything you can look forward to.
But if
there is one thing that is hard to bring back as we
amble down memory lane, it’s the food we enjoyed and the
prices we paid those days. They were pricey enough for
our date’s allowance or our’s, but measured in today’s
currency, those gastronomic feasts were “a steal.” They
will never be as cheap again or as good. No matter how
carefully we prepare Lola Charing’s special suman
simmered slowly in a vat of coconut milk, my husband
still says Lola Charing made it better. And no one can
come close to his mother’s baked macaroni. His mother’s
really was better, but I think that no matter how hard
anyone tried, there would always be that missing
ingredient which no one will find in any specialty food
store: being doted on by mommy.
I have
my own fond memories of food. My family is lucky that
the recipes of my lola are still perfectly done by her
old cooks, Manang Linda and Manang Aurora. Except they
live with my uncle in
Davao.
We are kept happy, though, by my mom’s cook. Manang
Siring, whose kare-kare, lengua and chicken relleno—when
she’s in the mood—are nonpareil.
It must
have been that way in Katrina Limcaoco’s family. They
own Old Swiss Inn, which has retained its original
location in Paco. That one still offers lodging. And it
has two branches. One in
Makati,
down the road from the Peninsula Manila, and the other
in Alabang, Muntinlupa, in the same building as the BMW
showroom.
Not only
has Old Swiss Inn preserved good old favorites, like
fresh corned beef with boiled potato and cabbage, the
baked or boiled pork knuckles, the Hungarian, veal and
pork sausages, the pepper steak and—of course—the prime
rib, but they also offer these items at 1946 prices.
That’s right. The prime rib goes for P35.
But only
ONCE a year.
Old
Swiss Inn was started in 1946 by Emil Landert, a Swiss
national. You must give it to the Swiss. The simplicity
of their lives is more than compensated by the wealth of
their gold reserves and the lean, clean flavors of their
cuisine. The heart of their approach to food is this: if
it’s meat, bring out the meatiness with the least fuss,
and if we’re talking vegetables, bring out the fresh,
green taste.
Landert
came to the
Philippines
in World War II and stayed on. The original Swiss Inn
was on Dewey Boulevard, in the area across the American
Embassy. The area was where writers and journalists—and
the CIA from the embassy—came from their offices in
Rizal Avenue for a cup of coffee, a slice of cake and a
hint of conspiracy in those years of living dangerously.
Bankers had their business lunches at New Europe, the
Jade Vine was already a landmark, and insurance people
drank themselves silly at Nina Papagayo—or so I am told,
since this was way, way before my time.
It was
on August 1, 1946, that Emil Landert opened the Old
Swiss Inn doors to his adopted countrymen so they could
enjoy Swiss and other European foods at his tables.
Boiled corned beef went for P14 a plate, pork knuckles
at P17, pepper steak at P23. The homemade sausages went
for P11. The most expensive dish was the prime rib,
which went for an “exorbitant” P35. This was a serious
date, and much was expected in return. My husband
recalls that when a mouse ran over the feet of his date
at “a posh place” in the same area and she screamed, “Oh
my god, a mouse—I can’t eat anymore,” he screamed back,
“Why? It didn’t run over your food.” He ate her steak
and never called her again.
Not even
the corner carinderia sells food at such prices these
days. Yes, I know, it was 61 years ago! To allow us to
now enjoy what our lolos and fathers could splurge on
their families way back then, the Limcaocos thought of
bringing back the good old days every August 1. It
started last year.
I
remember my husband coming home one night completely in
seventh heaven. “I just treated a dozen people and it
cost me only P1,200. It could have been cheaper, but
someone just had to order a Coke!” He tried convincing
the waiter that there being Cokes in 1946, Cokes should
be covered by the retro pricing. Of course, I refused to
believe him. Till he showed me the receipt. It was Swiss
Inn’s 60th anniversary, and the owners celebrated it
with a price rollback. There were no newspaper
announcements. Understandably so for then there would be
a stampede outside the restaurants. As it was, just by
word of mouth, a thousand lucky diners went home with
full stomachs and nary a dent on their wallets.
Word
spread fast, many went to Old Swiss Inn the day after.
Tough luck, no more P23 steaks. There could be no
extension for a promo like that. Besides, it was also a
celebration of the Swiss National Day. You can’t have
two national days for the same country!
This
year, we were five when we made a reservation for a
table for 10. The promo is only in the evenings. There
are two seatings: between 6:30 pm and 8:30 pm, and after
8:30 pm. The Locsins eat either very early and force
their guests to eat early, too. Or very late, in which
case they eat by themselves, which is perfectly fine
with them. We booked the 6:30 pm seating. A week before
August 1, all the Old Swiss Inns in the three locations
were fully booked. We had made allowances for anyone who
happened to be with us on that day. And sure enough, we
were eight that evening.
When I
arrived at the restaurant, the place was packed.
Everyone’s back was either turned to us or they were
hunched over their plate as they gobbled away. I
overheard an apparently uninformed passerby remark,
“Hmm, must be a good restaurant, look at all the
people!” Good and cheap, I felt tempted to say.
The
place was thick with smoke from the grill. Imagine how
many steaks had been grilled in just the first hour. The
waiters, garbed in yodeling attire, were all darting
here and there bearing plate after plate of pepper steak
with roasted vegetables and wedges of potatoes, pork
knuckles, corned beef and cabbage and all sorts of
sausages with sauerkraut sidings. It felt like a food
marathon.
One must
commend the Limcaocos. The portions were the usual size.
No scrimping just because the price of the prime rib is
down to P35 pesos and the regular price is, well, only
P1,200. The only thing is that one is not allowed to
order another dish unless they finish their first order.
But that is only proper. No takaw tingin allowed! We are
all too familiar with the Filipino habit of piling up
food on a plate when there is a generous buffet. We
could actually set a Guinness Book of World Records on
the highest food pile possible on an eight-inch plate.
But finishing the food pile is another thing. Though
some manage, some do manage indeed.
It is
also cash basis only for the simple reason that there
were no credit cards in 1946. And no take-out orders.
Can’t get one up on this family, they have all fronts
covered. The Swiss in them, perhaps?
 Drinks
are not included, even if they existed in 1946, and VAT
and service charge has to be applied. You can’t have
everything.
In our
table were two ladies and six ravenously hungry men. Our
bill came to a whopping P294.02! For the curious, let me
itemize: four pork knuckles-P68; four rib eye
steak-P140.00; one schublig-P11; one pork sausage-P11;
and one hungarian-P11. The subtotal was P241; VA-P28.92
and SC-P24.10. I left a very, very big tip—in 1946
values.
To the
Limcaoco family, especially Katrina, who manages the
place, many thanks for bringing back the good memories
of those times when men were men and women didn’t take
advantage of them, life was simple and far, far more
romantic than today. To the staff of the Old Swiss Inn
in Somerset, Olympia Building, in Makati, thank you for
the warm and prompt service, and even if none of you can
yodel, we love you. Please book me a table for 12 for
August 1, 2008. |
