Taza Joins List of Top Dining Destinations in Tagaytay

By: Margaux Salcedo, Philippie Daily Inquirer

OLIVE oil ice cream and French toast with bacon are popular items on Taza’s menu

How do you make a restaurant stand out when you are in a high density, much sought-after location like Tagaytay?

For Chef Jayme Natividad of Taza Fresh Table, it’s simple. You just have to keep improving the menu.

Natividad drew raves last year when Taza opened with his alugbati salad with the signature dalandan and lemon vinaigrette and salted egg dressing; a papardelle inspired by a 100-year-old recipe shared by one of his mentors; and his medley of sourdough pizzas.

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For the longest time, though, Taza was open only for dinner, serving breakfast only on weekends.

Finally, Taza now serves breakfast starting at 7 a.m. every day.

I’m actually surprised they did not do this earlier, knowing the success of breakfast places in Tagaytay such as Antonio’s Breakfast and Bag of Beans. I surmise it is because the hotel has a breakfast buffet, making breakfast at Taza redundant.

But the standalone gourmet restaurant in the sprawling Taal Vista Hotel has its own charm. I’m just glad it now has its own breakfast menu, too.

Breakfast at Taza

Natividad, who lived in New York for 13 years, is serving his favorite New York brunch dishes: The usual suspects—eggs benedict and salmon —but with the rustic touch that New York brasseries offer.

He did work at Balthazar, after all.

Start your breakfast with four thick slices of French toast served with a pile of perfectly crisp bacon.

The kind of toast you need after a sleepless night due to partying or buddy bonding. Call it the Hangover Special.

Then have a piece of Southern fried chicken.

Just a piece because Taza literally just serves one piece per order, hehe! But it is quite a hefty chunk that is flavorful on the crisp outside and juicy on the inside.

They also have homemade corned beef—slices of lovingly cured Batangas beef. But the best item on the menu is the homemade smoked bacon.

A thick slab of probiotic pork belly marinated for at least 12 days before being smoked for 4 to 6 hours.

When I visited six months ago, this was already one of the best items on the menu. Today, it remains as delicious as I remember it to be.

French toast with bacon

Organic

Health-conscious eaters will be pleased to know that Taza is committed to sourcing locally-produced organic produce. The chicken, for instance, is organic chicken from a farm in Laguna. They also have sole from Quezon, beef from both Batangas and Bukidnon, prawns from Iloilo, and greens from their own garden.

“The biggest challenge is consistency,” Natividad admits, “Whether it be beef, tomatoes, or herbs, it is still difficult to find consistency from suppliers and farmers. That is why I’ve made it a point to develop relationships with our local farmers. With constant communication and feedback on the products we get, we are able to maintain our desired quality consistently.”

In fact, 95 percent of Taza’s menu is sourced from local farmers or suppliers and the vegetables are sourced from within a 15 to 20 kilometer radius.

Like Tagaytay institutions Antonio’s and Sonya’s Garden, Taza at Taal Vista Hotel also has its own garden for a steady supply of greens, herbs and organic vegetables.

This is in fact one of the reasons behind the success of restaurants in Tagaytay: Not only is the weather great, the salads are also superb because of the freshness of the greens on the menu and every dish is given an extra oomph with the fresh herbs from their gardens.

The view

Of course, Taza has the advantage of the unbeatable view of the volcano that only Taal Vista can offer. So make sure to get a window seat facing the volcano when you visit.

Then take a stroll on the grand terrace of the hotel after your meal to get the obligatory “day off” shot, with or without the fog. It is, after all, Tagaytay.

Taza Fresh Table. Taal Vista Hotel, Kilometer 60, Aguinaldo Highway, Tagaytay City. Call +6329178225 for reservations. Wheelchair accessible. Now open daily for breakfast starting at 7 a.m. Major credit cards accepted. Visit taalvistahotel.com or Facebook.com/TaalVistaHotel.

Follow the author @margauxsalcedo on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter. Visit margauxsalcedo.com.

Going For a Swim in Tagaytay Won't Give you Chills

By: Pocholo Concepcion, Philippine Daily Inquirer

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PIANIST Florencio Fijer accompanies singing couple, Monticello chair Ambrosio Valdez and wife Nini, at the hotel’s Roma Piano Bar.

In a couple of months the hot season will set in, even as a cold spell is currently being felt in the metropolis and its environs—particularly in Cavite where the wind blows as cold as an air-conditioner.

And when the heat gets really oppressive in Metro Manila sometime in March, everyone wants to go to Baguio. But the thought of thousands of city folks swarming all over the country’s summer capital is discouraging, especially if you factor in the travel time.

There is, however, an alternative destination—Tagaytay, whose main attractions are its year-round cool weather and proximity.

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Families wanting to stay overnight or for a few days in Tagaytay now have lots of options, as the number of new hotels and bed-and-breakfasts have risen.

‘Little mountain’

Hotel Monticello is among those offering a luxurious ambiance and first-class facilities at reasonable rates.

Formally opened only recently, Monticello—whose name, “little mountain” in Italian, was inspired by the owners’ travels abroad—is a boutique hotel with 41 rooms and 10 types of lodging. The biggest, Penthouse Firenze, measures 52 square meters with one master and two single beds, good for six adults and two children. The Superior Quad is 48 sq m with four single beds, good for five adults and two children.

But the De Luxe King, which goes for P4,000 a night, is quite spacious at 26 sq m with a king bed for a couple with one or two kids.

A fruit platter, which is brought by the hotel staff to your room upon checking in, boasts the sweetest pineapples in recent memory (most probably grown in nearby Silang, Cavite), never mind if the mangoes taste a bit sour.

The comfortable bed makes napping irresistible; after one or two hours you are refreshed and ready to take the family out to enjoy the nippy Tagaytay climate.

But first, dinner beckons at Monticello’s Café Mercedes—whose menu, though limited due to the observation that guests prefer to eat out, has a good enough entrée like Norwegian salmon.

Piano bar

After a few hours enjoying the rides in Sky Ranch beside Taal Vista, you must go back to catch the performer at Monticello’s Roma Piano Bar. Florencio Fijer, a seasoned pianist who has had stints in clubs and lounges in the city, particularly Manila Hotel, is playing on a baby grand, accompanying Monticello’s patriarch, lawyer Ambrosio Valdez, who is heartily singing Sinatra classics. His wife Nini sings beside him.

The Valdez clan is hosting friends and relatives, one of whom has come home from Italy with her husband. Monticello’s general manager, Dondi Valdez, sits at the bar, sipping red wine. For the next few hours he engages in animated conversation about two things: Why the family decided to build a hotel on a property owned by PATTS (Philippine Air Transport and Training Services) College of Aeronautics, which the Valdezes also operate; and the different kinds of Japanese whisky, which he dreams of making available at Monticello.

After a restful sleep, the most exciting thing to do after breakfast is go for a swim in the pool beside the hotel’s garden. Swimming in Monticello amid Tagaytay’s cool winds won’t give you the chills because both its adult and kiddie pools are temperature-controlled.

Back in your room, take the opportunity to laze around the balcony, which may not offer a good view of Taal Lake and Volcano, but is nonetheless a refreshing spot to clear your mind.

A day or two is enough to recharge body and soul without spending too much.

Hotel Monticello, Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo Highway (past km 60, a few meters off Taal Vista Hotel), Barangay Kaybagal South Tagaytay City, Cavite; tel. (046) 4131111.