RESTAURANTS IN DUMAGUETE and Valentine's

The Restaurants in Dumaguete have never seen the kind of Valentine's celebration as it happened extemporaneously last Monday. Dumaguetenos have always been known to be reserved and at the very least frugal in their spending. And when it comes to food, dining in a restaurant somewhere in the city is always at the bottom of the list. This resulted to a closure of a lot of Food Establishments in Dumaguete over the last two decades.

But that notion of dining out in Dumaguete seems to be out of existence already. Because in the last part of the decade the most number of establishments that opened in Dumaguete came from the Food Sector - or generally Restaurants. This is a welcome sign that Dumaguete has embraced the culinary culture that the world has to offer.

Last Valentine's day was a living proof that indeed Dumaguete Restaurants are now back in business. The Valentine's craze was more than what a Restaurateur or in house Chef was expecting. The people were really madly in love! Dumaguete locals and tourists alike literally flooded all the specialty food houses in Dumaguete - and the Restaurants that were not frequented much on regular days - took their share of the pie in this love fest.

Chef Ritchie Armogenia who owns both KRI Dumaguete and Likha Tapas Bar shared to me that in his decades of cooking for Dumaguete never has he ever experienced such frenzy as the recent Valentine's. He has to add additional chairs and tables outside the Restaurant to accomodate lovebirds and friends alike. His Negrense Fried Rice, Fish of the Week and the famous KRI Burger were sold out that night. At his Likha Restaurant, Chef Ritchie pulled off a fabulous 6-course menu to all the guests delight.

Hanger Steak at Likha (Photo by Greg Morales)

My brother, Rochris Pinero, who is the in-house cook and the brains behind Cafe Antonio Coffee and Resto also shared the same Valentine's view with Ritchie. All the restaurant tables were filled up with reservations and there were a lot of walk-ins that the Cafe had to politely decline. This year was the first time that Cafe Antonio re-packaged itself to become a full-fledged Restaurant. The Cafe served a Valentine treat which included their now famous Baby Back Ribs, a glass of red wine, Antonio's treasure muffins ala mode and as a freebie a long stemmed red rose was given to every dining couple that night.

Cafe Antonio Baby Back Ribs (photo by Urich Calumpang)

Carlos Palanca awardee, Ian Casocot, spends Valentine's at the Cafe.

At the south border of Dumaguete, Moon Cafe a Mexican inspired Restaurant in the al fresco area of Robinson's Place Dumaguete made the evening special with Rhythm Avenue serenading their diners. As they sliced through their special Pizza or Steak the music did its magic to the couples. And like the previously mentioned restaurants, they also were fully-booked.

With the myriad of choices of Restaurants in Dumaguete, Valentine's day or whatever dining occasion for that matter will never be the same again