Tables for Couples: A Never-ending Search for the Perfect Date Place

A few months after I graduated from college, I took on a corporate job, not knowing what I really want to pursue as a career. After more than two years, I'm still working for the same company. It was my safe place, and I knew that as long as I'm in that job, I can delay making the big decisions. It's not that I don't know what I want, it's just that I don't have the means and the confidence to do it yet.


I dream of becoming either a chef, a professional food critique, a restaurant owner, or maybe all three. So I took the first step, the most feasible one. Five months ago, I started my own food blog. Even before that, I have been dragging my boyfriend to different restaurants in all corners of the city. I wanted to experience different flavors and cuisines from all over the world. I was eager to learn the secrets behind food from France, Japan, Italy, Korea, China and all those other fabulous countries. Surprisingly, I learned something from the experience that I did not see coming at all.


I developed a greater love for Filipino food.

Growing up, my mother would cook for us the most delicious kare-kare, adobo, sinigang, bopis, dinuguan and other Filipino favorites. For this reason, I never bothered to eat in fancy Filipino restaurants, because I believed that whatever they have on their menu, I can get at home. But one meal in Bistro Filipino proved me wrong.

I've read a lot of great reviews about the restaurant and I thought it was about time to go check it out. Little did I know that I was in for the greatest culinary revelation of my life (yet). The dishes were modern, fresh, exciting and very different from those I grew up with. Who knew that you can make a great salad dressing from the humble sawsawan that is bagoong, or that you can take your usual vinegar and turn it into a sort of sorbet to add a twist to your ordinary lumpiang ubod. I also learned that there is so much more you can do to a tilapia than just fry or grill it.

It truly was a great learning experience that made me want to explore the different flavors of Filipino cuisine more. It's quite amazing what we can discover when we're willing to step outside our comfort zone, and beyond the boundaries we set for ourselves. If I were to be given the chance to go around the Philippines and discover all the exciting dishes and flavors that our country has, I would definitely make the most out of that experience. I have a deep passion for food, more than anything else, and I would like to share that to whoever is willing to listen.

Love,
Nats (tablesforcouples)

This serves as my official entry for Sooo Pinoy's Search for the Ultimate Food Blogger.