Gastropubbing at the new WineBar 1771

The brutal reality of the business climate these days is that no shop survives for a long period by only serving fine wine, excellent beer, and other alcoholic beverages alongside a slew of pica-pica, a slab or cheese, or slices of prosciutto. Serious drinking establishments that once made decent profits from peddling anything laced with alcohol and small bowls of native dishes such as “papaitan" or “calderetang kambing," colorfully called “pulutan," are long dead. One of my old haunts as a young journalist was the iconic and sprawling Grand Inihaw Beer Garden, near my three-storey house, in the Quezon City Welcome Rotunda. The Grand Inihaw has been demolished and replaced with a condominium. As a struggling correspondent paid by the column inch back then, I spent a considerable sum of my stringer’s fees at Grand Inihaw every payday, barely making it home as I staggered severely drunk back to my place. These are tough times, however. Gone are the days when genuine alcohol lovers wantonly availed of the “Happy Hour Specials" in a bar or pub in droves, moved to dine in another place in throngs, and/or eventually settled down again in a bar or pub to drink more booze. In this era of calamities, disasters, and global economic recession, perhaps a significant number of these sincere drinkers simply go home after one shot or two tipples in their favorite watering hole. Long before the fancy terms “gastropub" or “gastrolounge" were coined in 1991, some Filipino captains of the dining and drinking industry had already discovered the not-so-secret formula of raking in profit by tearing down the divide in running a bar and a restaurant. Establishments serving hot food, pulutan, rice, and all brands of beer and gin under one roof have always been there. This simple formula still works today. A place for dinner with drinks Early last month, over at the Ortigas business district, the newly renovated WineBar 1771: steaks, burgers, oyster quietly opened. Adapting to the changing clienteles’ spending habits, the original WineBar 1771 has become a “restaurant-bar" or “a place to have dinner with drinks." “The new WineBar 1771 is a full-service restaurant. The food is straight to the point. We highlight our steaks, burgers and oysters," said Marx Cyrus C. Cruz, group marketing manager for the Chateau 1771 Group of Restaurants. Launched in July 2010, the original WineBar 1771 was thoroughly lovable, oozing British pub culture with its heavy wooden furniture and rich black leather upholstery. A number of bookshelves lined the brick walls, giving the original WineBar 1771 the decidedly “common room" atmosphere of a centuries-old English university. The spacious high-ceilinged Winebar occupies the second floor of the Café 1771 at El Pueblo. It had a main room tastefully accented by an arresting chandelier and two smaller rooms that can be booked as meeting rooms. The renovated lounge looks a little different now. “The best way to describe the WineBar 1771: Steaks, burgers, oyster is that it has a swanky gentlemen’s lounge vibe," Cruz said. “We have a dramatic bar area, with comfortable nooks for lounging. There are private rooms for those who want privacy while enjoying their drinks."

Gone are the heavy book cases propped against the walls, and red leather accents have appeared in some of the upholstery. Comfortable couches were placed in cozy corners, and paintings by Onib Olmeda and Phyllis Zaballero now grace the walls. The original WineBar 1771 had the ambience of an understatedly chic Bethesda Row watering hole, where corporate executives and Congressional staffers working in Washington D.C. but living in the Bethesda district of Maryland would have some wine served in Riedel Vinum Bordeaux Cabernet wine glasses or sipped gin and dry vermouth Martini before sitting down elsewhere for a proper dinner complete with serviette and shiny cutlery. The new WineBar 1771 leans toward the aura of a diner, to match perhaps the casual ambience of Café 1771 downstairs that has been refurbished to present a more modern look. Burgers with bone marrow During the opening night around mid-October, the new “WineBar 1771: Steaks, burgers, oyster" invited friends and media foodies to sample its menu and alcoholic offerings. Cruz said the new WineBar 1771 specializes in WineBar Burgers, which are 200 grams of certified Angus beef patty nestled in a home-made brioche bun and served with lettuce, roasted Baguio tomato, grilled onions, a giant house pickle, French fries, and a side of bone marrow. “We grind the Angus beef ourselves following a strict 20/80 ratio. Our pastry chef makes the brioche bun downstairs. Instead of mayonnaise, the marrow is spread on the bread," Cruz said. For its Thursday Special, the gastropub offers Porchetta, rolled up pork belly stuffed with herbs that’s tender and juicy inside and crispy on the outside, served with cabbage and sweet-potato mash. “Mussels in a Bowl" is the Friday Special – 500 grams of Roxas mussels cooked in spicy Thai-inspired coconut gravy and served with homemade focaccia. A serious meat-lover must try the grilled Angus ribeye, a 300-gram of pure certified Angus beef served with a choice of either béarnaise sauce or mushroom gravy and a side of salad greens. The steak could be topped with melted gruyere, melted raclette, caramelized onions, or roasted garlic. The sweet potato-pumpkin mash tasted well as a side dish to the grilled Angus ribeye. Slices of Salbacho pizza, a Café 1771 staple, topped with salami, bacon, and chorizo and small servings of crunchy Calamari pasta followed the steak course. We also sampled the Oyster Rockefeller, fresh and sweet Aklan oysters topped with creamy spinach, bacon, and cheese, and the Prawn Cocktail, poached prawns laced with spicy horseradish cocktail sauce. The chorizo in olive and pig’s ears pepperoncino were washed down by Yamada Nishiki sake. One notable feature of the Winebar is the several Enomatic wine dispensers, which allow customers to sample various wines by the glass for as low as 60 pesos to as high as 1,500 pesos. “We recommend wines according to the preferences of our guests and not according to the popularity of a bottle or a brand. This explains why the bottles of wines at the Enomatic wine dispensers are arranged progressively from light, to medium, to full-bodied. This allows the guests to know the profiles of the wines well," Cruz said. The Winebar has two Filipino sommeliers that will assist guests in selecting wines from 11 countries, with the newest coming from France, Spain, New Zealand, Chile, Australia, and South Africa. “Depending on the price of wine ordered, sometimes the high-quality crystal wine glasses manufactured by Riedel are used," Cruz said. Down at the Sidebar Unfortunately for nicotine addicts, the Winebar 1771 is a no-smoking venue, but there’s always The Sidebar literally along the side of café and wine bar for those who can’t enjoy their alcohol fix without a puff. Back in the late 1980s, when Corazon C. Aquino had just become president and a thicker haired Noynoy Aquino was barely out of college, the Sidebar in Malate was the proper place to appreciate the bouquet of full-bodied wines, or just to enjoy a tipple or two concocted by its bohemian bartenders who were very much well versed in current events. In 1994, owner Ricky Gutierrez re- introduced the Sidebar, which used to be a pasilyo (passageway) at the El Pueblo compound. Seats are limited as the venue is narrow, but it has just the right ambience for a cold swig of local or imported beer, as well as “handcrafted" cocktails concocted by its bar-tenders, after long hours spent sitting in front of a computer. “Sidebar cocktails are called handcrafted because all base liquors used in the cocktails are premium. The mixers used are fresh ingredients. Cocktails are made according to the preferences of the guests," Cruz said. Some of the handcrafted cocktails at the Sidebar are “Coldplay," a blend of vodka, tonic, and crushed strawberries; “Hendrix Experience," a mixture of vodka, native basi, lime juice, and syrup; and “Mr. Miyagi," a fusion of Midori, Cointreau, lime juices, and kalamansi slices. – YA, GMA News WineBar 1771: Steaks, burgers, oysters is located at 2F Café 1771, El Pueblo Real de Manila, corner Julia Vargas Ave. and ADB Ave. Ortigas Center, Pasig City, Tel. 631-7340 or 631-7339. All photos courtesy of WineBar 1771