chelitadventures

[chelitadventures]

I once said to myself, I’d like to travel the world and taste all kinds of food from different cultures.

And included on my list is to experience authentic Italian food. I’m so glad to have been invited by Verace Ristorante Italiano, wherein Verace means genuine (as what the owner informed us) on April 6th to take feast in genuine and authentic Italian food prepared by an Italian chef, Master Chef Giovanni. I brought my cousin Andrea to join me for the “A night in Italia” dinner. When we arrived, Ms. Rachel welcomed us so gleefully. We were also welcomed by the owner, Ms. Monet. And exchanged greetings with the lovely people from Zomato, as well as CJ and her boyfriend who were also invited in the event. The place has this home-y vibe. It is really cozy and comfortable with nice interiors, although they are still making changes with regards to this as they continually improve the design to meet their desired ambiance.

Andrea, my one and only fab personal photographer, and I took portraits in the garden of Verace while they prepare the food. Verace takes pride in preparing fresh food, they are not frozen or on queue for “reheating” they inform the customers that there is really a waiting time of around 20 minutes as Master Chef Giovanni prepares the sumptuous dishes on the spot. 

First, they served the appetizers which include Melanzanie Ripiene (Rolled eggplant, cheese, and fresh tomato sauce), Parmigiano Fritto (Deep fried italian cheese), and Calamari Fritti (Fried Calamari). My senses and taste buds were exploding; it was truly a delight of different flavours inside my mouth. And upon writing this blog post, my tummy rumbles and I wish I could go back immediately to Verace! I’ve already tasted a lot of Calamari but theirs was different, it ’s 100% fresh. Also, their DIP is SUPERB. It’s a different take from the usual mayo. You should try it out! I also used the dip for a mix and match with the Melanzanie Ripiene. I love eggplants! I like frying them and using soy sauce with chili, so I was delighted to know that cheese and eggplant could be a delicious combo. I’ll definitely order this at Verace on my next visit.

While we were eating, we were talking about how we Filipinos already have a distorted notion of what “Italian food” is. Basta pasta, Italian food na. We were enlightened that day. A lot of restaurants claiming that they are “Italian” were sort of a dismay to the what an authentic Italian restaurant is. Many of us know large scale Italian resto’s (I won’t be mentioning names but I believe you already know), they are American-Italian, French-Italian, and/or Spanish-Italian. So that left us wondering, what now? What truly is the authentic Italian restaurant? Verace claims that it is the authentic and genuine Italian restaurant in the South. Need not to go far, we have a true Italian restaurant here with a Master Chef born and raised in Italy. Ms. Monet mentioned, how can a restaurant claim that they are an Italian restaurant but if the chef isn’t even Italian? She says that, she can cook Italian dishes but of course, her taste is Filipino so the way she cooks Italian food will be biased and will have alterations. But her husband, Master Chef Giovanni, cooks EVERYTHING. I am amazed by their passion. He has had offers before  in big-time restaurants but  at the cost of altering his cooking. He wanted to stay true to his passion, to cook authentic Italian dishes. We all are aware that most food chains only show photogenic food with big portions but disappoint us once served in real life. I am not afraid to claim that Verace Ristorante will not disappoint.  As a food junkie and for the love for food, you will be shocked at how affordable their prices are whilst serving superior dishes.

Next, we were served my all time favorite, PIZZA!!! Hear, hear, my taste buds are already tainted by main stream pizza. But upon tasting their Tartufata, Four Cheese, and Pizza Insalata, my pizza prowess was refreshed.

Also did you know that the true Carbonara isn’t served with cream? It’s just eggs and parmesan mixed with the pasta?

Okay maybe some of you already do know but I upon knowing that, it seems like I haven’t had a real carbonara ever. I’m glad they served something different, Spaghetti Alla Norcia and Linguini Allo Scoglio. Take a look at the photos! Isn’t t just super inviting? After the pasta course, we were served Risotto Parmigiano (Italian rice with Parmigiano cheese, garlic, and white wine). Something you should order if you’d like to have rice!

And for the main course, we had Pollo Alla Verace (Roasted chicken with herbs served with a bucket of potatoes), Ahhh, we were already full by then but I couldn’t help it. The chicken was extra juicy and tasteful. It was kinda drizzled by herbs and a bit of pepper.

We paused for a bit before the dessert arrived, we were all raving about how affordable the prices are! It was an awesome experience, getting to converse with people who already has a lot of experience in life and has traveled to foreign lands. The people from Zomato were really kind and awesome! Which brings me to make a Zomato account. Yay! Stay tuned for more food raves! Finally, the dessert arrived. If you’ve followed by Verace foodventure on my snapchat: alvarez.pauline, you’d catch the snaps and vids of the food! Their Panna Cotta is PERFECT. After all the different flavors from the Italian feast, the dessert wasn’t too sweet, and as we Filipinos say it hindi siya nakakaumay. My favourite is the strawberry Panna Cotta, then the chocolate and last but not the least is the caramel Panna Cotta, I will definitely try them out once I go back to Verace. I don’t go around promoting something I don’t believe in. And I’m inspired by the passion of the people that make up Verace. I’m happy to have been invited, til our next meeting! Thank you Ms. Rachel, Ms. Monet, Chef Giovanni, and Verace as a whole for having us! Experience authentic Italian dining! Relax and enjoy sumptuous dishes, Visit Verace Ristorante Italiano at 43 Rose Ave. Pilar, Las Pinas, 1740, Metro Manila Photographed and post-processed by Andrea Genota

[chelitadventures]

My new fave milktea place 📍Bel air 1 🖤

Worth the price ‼️

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📸Rex Alarcon America

📍Festival Mall, Alabang, Muntinlupa

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Home 💕

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Binondo Food trip 🤤

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📸Mark Berris

🖤4026 Media Productions

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📸 Patrick Corpuz

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My Bonabies 💕

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Treasure Mountain, Tanay, Rizal

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La Chinesca, Parañaque 🇲🇽

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📸Mark Berris

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Hahahahahahahahahaha

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My 5th mountain, Mt. Mapalad in Tanay Rizal 💚🍃

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“Travel and tell no one. Live a true love story and tell no one. Live happily and tell no one. People ruin beautiful things.”

– Khalil Gibran.

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I remember in my Arabic class we were going over the alphabet and the teacher was like there’s no ‘P’ etc and this white girl was like wait what but my names Paige and my teacher was like lol then we’d pronounce it as beige and she was so offended I’m crying thinking about it

[chelitadventures]

New fave 👌🏼🥛

[chelitadventures]

Buscalan Village, Tinglayan, Kalinga 💚