Explore BGC with BGC Eats!

The first time I went to BGC some years ago, I was fascinated with the place most especially Serendra and Bonifacio High Street. When you look around, you feel like you’re in a movie (sort of). You see happy kids so carefree, playing on the grass, playing with pets, teenagers skateboarding, musicians singing without a care, and even photographers practicing their shots on anything and anyone. It made an impression on me that this was a safe place, where people can do what they want in peace. Sit on the grass, under a tree, and not worry that a guard might tell you off. Nothing but good vibes!

Slowly I saw BGC grow to be more than just a family place, but a place too where adults can unwind (The Fort Strip), where kids can learn (The Mind Museum), there’s even a soccer field for sports-minded people. Basically everything you need is in Bonifacio Global City. Hotels (F1 hotel, Seda, etc.), big malls (Market! Market!), and an awesome supermarket where you can purchase imported stuff (SNR), world-class hospital (St. Lukes), and more! In fact, my husband and I were talking about it a few days ago... that if we ever purchased another home (a condo), BGC would be our first location choice. It truly is a perfect location. Oh, and it’s a perfect place too for foodies who want to go restaurant hopping!

So in an effort to highlight all the “local” BGC restaurants (meaning restaurants that originated in BGC), BGC is holding an exciting food tour called BGC EATS, a food expedition for the passionate stomachs where you get to try some yummy dishes for free! Pickiest Eater was delighted to have received an invitation to partake in the media launch and first ever BGC Eats tour.

Food connoisseur JJ Yulo

Lead by food connoisseur JJ Yulo, we had a fun bus ride all over BGC where the stops were kept secret until the bus started heading towards the destination. Will be explaining how to get a free ticket later on so keep reading!

We all met up at 2:30pm by the “hop on, hop off” bus stop between Nike and Bo Concept in 9^th street. I think all in all we were more than 30 pax. At 3pm we were all inside the bus headed towards our first stop.

Destination # 1 : Wild Flour Cafe + Bakery

                We all hopped off at 3^rd Ave. Where Wild Flour was located. We were greeted by a band of talented ukulele players called Ukelele Manila. (They’re really good and their music is so relaxing!)

Ukelele Manila

Wild Flour served us a glass of cold Agua Fresco. It’s basically cucumber juice. It was refreshing but personally I wasn’t a really huge fan. I don’t like cucumber that much. So it was just okay for me.

The Mushroom Tarte flambé is a nice creamy pizza appetizer. It has caramelized onions, blue cheese, mushrooms and wild arugula. The taste of the blue cheese wasn’t to strong which may be the preference of most people, but because of my new found love for blue cheese, I wanted a stronger blue cheese taste. But anyway, it was a cheesy gooey pizza. And I love gooey.

                Caramelized onions, bacon, and gruyere. That’s what makes up this Bacon Tarte.  This one was more tasty for me. The sweetness of the caramelized onions were more apparent. And of course, who doesn’t love bacon? It’s generously sprinkled with crispy chopped up bacon which was the essence of this tarte.

              Since Wild Flour is really known for their baked goods (does Cronut ring a bell?), they gave us a surprise chocolate chip goodie!

Owner Anna De Campo and head chef Allen Buhay

What’s even more cool is (one of the perks of this tour is) that we all got to meet the Owner Anna De Campo and head chef Allen Buhay.

Destination # 2 : Nolita (North of Little Italy)

                Next stop was at 7^th avenue at Nolita. If  you want to know what it feels like to have Pizza ala new York, then you should deffinitely include this on your food trip list.

Managing Partner, Patrick Santos

                 We also got to meet the Managing Partner, Patrick Santos. He explains that Nolita stands for Nort of Little Italy, which is a neighborhood in New York known for their awesome New York-style pizzas.

Pizzas on display:

                After a little introduction, we were asked to move inside, fall in line, pick the pizza that we want, and grab a seat where drinks and a plate of savory pudding were already awaiting.

Savory Pudding

                The savory pudding had a kick of heat to it. It was like a Mexican savory bread pudding. It was good, but personally it's something I wouldn't order again. Why? I like my pudding sweet!

              

                I had the Shrimp Carbonara Pizza. At that time it was the only slice of pizza with an egg on top. I couldn’t help it. The egg was staring at me! And for some reason I was in the mood for seafood.

                My friend Rowena ordered the Chicken Parmesan...

  

             ...and Richard ordered the Spinach and Artichoke. Both best sellers. The pizzas given were half the usual size, which was okay. Because we had a lot more food to eat!

Destination # 3: 2^nd’s. Comfort Food Revisited

                From Nolita, we walked to the other side of the block back to 9^th ave where a little place served classy-meets-comfort food type of dishes. We went up two flights of stairs to the 2^nd floor where 2^nd’s was located.

Marketing and Operations Manager Ms. Nadine Howell

Obviously, they named it 2^nd’s  because it was on the 2^nd floor, but the Marketing and Operations Manager Ms. Nadine Howell (who’s so pretty by the way! She could be a commercial model! Maybe she is and I just don’t know it) explained that they also named it 2^nd’s because they want it to be everybody’s 2^nd home. And you’ll be coming back for more seconds. Hence their slogan, “Comfort Food Revisited”. Smart! And also, their menu is composed of all the comfort food they have known and loved from their own home.

The theme “comfort food” would not be complete with a Bacon dish. In this case, it was a bacon appetizer... a BACON CHICHARON! ALL CAPS! They serve it with muscovado mustard dip and spiced vinegar (P315). It’s crunchy. It’s bacon. What more can you ask for? It was fantastic!

Then we were served the Benedict Burger (P575). I’m not sure how big the normal serving is but for the tour, they made a mini version. It’s a cross between Eggs Benedict and a burger (duh). It’s made of 200g USDA choice chuck patty, fried egg (in this case, fried quail egg), wild arugula, thyme hollandaise, and spam. Winner!!! They also mentioned that everything from their ketchup to their mayo are made from scratch.

On our way out they gave us another surprise... a cute bottle of sangria! This is already surprise number 2 from the tour!

Final Destination: Sweet Endings with Cupcakes by Sonja

What a perfect way to end a food-filled tour by devouring some pretty and yummy cupcakes from the person who started the cupcake craze in the Philippines: Chef Sonja Ocampo!

Owner and Chef Sonja Ocampo

To tell you honestly, her shop is one of the first shops I visited when I came to know about Serendra. Their Red Velvet Cupcakes are to die for! Super moist and creamy! And of course, Chef Sonja was there to welcome us with a cart full of cupcakes and also a goodie bag each for all the tour members!

So that ends our BGC Eats tour! And now I’m excited to share with you on how YOU can join the public launch of this food tour this coming Saturday! Here are the details:

• Food tour takes place every weekend.
• No tour is the same! Different stops per tour date!
•  It will be launched this Saturday, June 29
•  Open to the public!

How to claim tickets:

Shop and claim – Get 2 free tickets for every purchase worth P1,500 (single or accumulated receipts) from shops /restaurants from any of the following:

           -Bonifacio High Street        

           -The Fort Entertainment Center

           -Crossroads

           -Bonifacio Stop Over

           -One & Two Parkade

           -The Mind Museum

• -Purchased receipts must be dated June 24 to July 21, 2013.
• -You can only claim a maximum of 2 tickets per day

Where to claim? : Bonifacio High Street Central Concierge (inside C1 building) from 11:00 AM to 8:00 PM daily starting June 24 to July 20.

Choose from the following food tour dates:

• -June 29
• -July 6
• -July 13
• -July 20

What if the date you selected is full?:

          You will be booked on the next available tour. Once date is chosen and tickets are claimed, tour date is final and not subject to change.

• Time of tour: 3:00 PM (latecomers will forfeit their tickets)
• Duration: Approximately 2 hours and a half to 3 hours
• Hop on point: 9^th street between Nike and Bo Concept
• Number of participants: maximum of 34

Reminder:

• No over-the-phone reservations.
• Tickets must be claimed in person (first come, first serve)
• Promo is from June 24 to July 20, 2013.

For inquiries, call:

Martha Asuncion

martha.asuncion@artsatbgc.org

tel no. 818-3601 loc. 3207

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bonifacioglobalcityph?fref=ts

And https://www.facebook.com/ARTSatBGC?fref=ts