My Kitchen by Chef Chris

This post is not about my kitchen or someone else's kitchen, My Kitchen is the name of the restaurant Chef Chris Locher owns.   If you are a fan of the  diverse and unique Pampanga's culinary fare, C'itallian happens to belong to the list of to-go-to food establishment.    A tad bit sad I am that we have been planning to do a sort of our family's own  Pampanga food tour and one on the list is the mentioned restaurant, and we have been always postponing for some reasons.    Well, it so happened that a slice of that experience is now in Manila.
Last year, when a friend of ours got married at Paco Park Manila, we chanced upon their signage upfront the Oasis Hotel, I just shrugged and smirtted, "just another restaurant hotel."   Till I've been reading and hearing accounts from good sources.  Let me share a couple of pictures from that wedding inside the Paco Park.

Behind the tables is the old Paco Church.

The same  church taken,  this time, with my daughter and  the water fountain, giving  a romantic feel to the event.   

The swimming pool for the guests of Oasis Hotel

 Going back to My Kitchen, for those who do not know Chef Chris Locher, he is the inventor of Panizza (which C'italian was famous for) is a thin-crust rectangular pizza topped with five different cheeses, slices of  herbed chicken, smoked bacon, mushrooms, capers, calamata olive slices and herbs.    Then, cut into strips, topped with arugula and alfalfa sprouts and rolled up.   We bought  voucher at Deal Grocer for this which, hhhmmm, didn't include the famous panizza.  

We started off with freshly baked and sliced ciabatta breads and a bowl of olive oil, fresh basil leaves and a dash of parmigiano cheese.   An authentic Italian tradition and a standard to Italian welcoming diners.

This however is also not included in the voucher, and our way to test Italian authenticity is through their pasta dishes.   The simplest pasta is the Spaghetti Amatriciana, is served with  an utterly irresistible tomato sauce.  A good suggestion by our server.  The aroma full of herbs and spices married rightly with the white wine, giving us delight in every bite.   Amply served with bacon slices and mushroom slices.  You know the sauce is freshly cooked with all the tomatoes and herb adornment.    Should I say more, indeed, authentic enough for me.

Then came the Trio of Italian Sausages which was made by Chef Chris himself in his kitchen.   Three different classic traditionally prepared in every Italian homes now brought here in Manila by My Kitchen.   Italian sausages as how I know it, is not cured, it is home-made with a blend of choice meat and herbs, which is grilled and served usually on top of pasta or vegetable dishes.

The sausages varied according to the hardest taste, the Dolce, Traditional and Picante.   A popular favorite in Northern Italy, the Dolce is a subtly sweet pork sausage.   Dolce, which means sweet in Italy, has sugar components to slightly sweeten the pork and some coriander for a bit spice.

Their Traditional Italian Sausage is as true as it gets, with a medley of seasonings like ground pepper, fennel, coriander and garlic.

The Picante is also an  aromatic classic which is hot and spicy.   Take the taste of the Spanish Chorizo on this.
 All three sausages are served on a big plate of  a bed of perfectly sauteed lentils and some buttered broccoli leaves, fried potato wedges and a serving of hot  red wine reduction with whole garlic cloves

This is truly one stellar Italian meal that Bhogs and I had at par with expensive ristorante in Italy.   Now I don't have to ask my parents to send me loads of  Italian sausages in a box, we just need to drive to Paco, Manila to enjoy a good Italian meal (though coming here is a month worth of savings but mighty worth it).
Il pasto migliore Italiano di sempre!

My Kitchen by Chef Chris
The Oasis Paco Park Hotel (beside Paco Church near Old Swiss Inn)
1032-34 Belen Street, Paco, Manila
Telephone: +632 521-2371 to 75
Website: www.OasisPark.com
Facebook: My Kitchen by Chef Chris

My Entry for this week's Food Trip Friday....