One of the city of Manila’s best hidden secrets, a restaurant that serves an old family’s heirloom recipes in a 1937-built Art Deco house, is sadly closing its doors after 15 years. Don’t expect an elaborate send-off, it will be “regular operations” at La Cocina de Tita Moning on May 31 until the last guest steps out of its doors.
“The family needs to reasses the future of the ancestral home and of the property,” owner Suzette Montinola tells Coconuts Manila. “There is a big possibility that La Cocina de Tita Moning will continue selling the heirloom recipes in the future from a new location. However, on May 31, the business will be closed and will need to go dormant for awhile.”
Located on 315 San Rafael Street, in the heart of San Miguel district, La Cocina started as a food business in 1999, a year after the death of her grandmother, Doña Ramona Hernandez, aka Tita Moning.
“My aunts encouraged me to come up with a shortlist of food items [Tita Moning] was especially known for. Being unemployed, and ‘searching for myself,’ I said, ‘Why not?’ To my own amazement, people ordered. Turning the old house into a restaurant was never really an idea, but for some reason, the dinners began.”
The dining experience at La Cocina starts with a walk through of the Legarda Mansion’s rooms, which have been faithfully preserved, some used to display the memorabilia of Tita Moning and her husband, Dr Alejandro Legarda. Guests are then presented with 19 different set menus, starting at PHP1,000 for a four-course meal that includes lengua cooked in white wine, paella Valenciana and its famous bread-and-butter pudding.
Since it opened its doors, La Cocina has been a go-to place for tourists, celebrities, foreign chefs and expats who like to experience firsthand the old Manila lifestyle. It is also popular place to wine and dine important guests from overseas. But it also looked kindly on those with a lesser budget, via walking tours organized by Old Manila Walks in the afternoons.
Despite the number of loyal patrons, however, La Cocina still faces the same challenges as bigger restaurants, “from slim margins to staff training, retention, innovation, keeping up with the competition, consistency and staying relevant.”
Maintaining a sizable property, she adds, is one challenge unique to La Cocina. “Our location was also not very ideal,” Montinola admits.
Still, she thinks there’s hope for destination restaurants like hers, especially now that there’s so much global interest in Philippine cuisine.
“Filipinos and foreigners are very appreciative of seeing heritage preserved and shared. I still believe there is a very receptive market for this type of dining experience. Moreover, it is important to preserve our recipes. They are part of our identity. As the world gets smaller, people that visit us do not want to eat what they can find in any big city. They want to experience a true Filipino experience,” she says.
According to Montinola, the heirs will be the ones deciding on the future of the house, furniture and Legarda memorabilia. In the meantime, she’s thankful for the last 15 years that “have been nothing short of wondrous.”
“We only feel gratitude to the amazing family that allowed its conception and continued existence for such a a long period of time,” says Montinola. “We are also extremely grateful to the public that supported us and allowed us to share our sliver of Filipino heritage and social culture for as long as we could,” she says.
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