Photos courtesy of Madelene Uyehara
Cross-post from MoneyDoctors Blog.
Pampanga. The birthplace of many chefs extraordinaire. So it is no wonder that there are some great restaurants in the province. But only some. Hubby and I wondered about this and surmised that because every other Kapampangan is a cook, every Kapampangan is a food critic. I mean, the standards are set so high! Before you can entice a Kapampangan to come hither to a restaurant – the cuisine has to better than what their mothers and lolas cook. And that is a tall order.
One brave soul is Araceli Timbol, a graduate of the Center for Culinary Arts, Manila, who also trained at The Blue Elephant, Bangkok and Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in Napa Valley. Tucked away in what was once the neighborhood of the rich in metro Pampanga is her The Village Chef.
We heard about The Village Chef from hubby’s sister and brother who were raving about it. It was hubby’s birthday and we thought, what a great excuse to splurge!
And so we did. (splurging is allowed some of the time)