UP Ibalon Bicol: New York City's dining lesson for GMA: Le Cirque versus Elvie’s Turo-Turo

New York City's dining lesson for GMA: Le Cirque versus Elvie’s Turo-Turo

8/11/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post

Elvie (L) is the lady culinary genius behind Elvie's Turo-Turo.

If Pres. Gloria Arroyo or her sponsor Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez didn’t want to spend hefty---$20,000 for a dinner in Le Cirque, they could have learned from Elvie, the owner of the Filipino Turo-Turo near 12th Street in First Avenue. The cooking expert had served New Yorkers for decades. The last time I talked with her, Elvie said her foodhouse was visited by Pres. Fidel Ramos when he came during a US official visit years ago.

I pass by Elvie’s to savor home cooking right at the center of New York City. While many of the Filipino eateries have folded up, this humble eating hole survives with the usual fare----pinakbet, tinola, laing, tocino, lechon kawali, sinigang, daing na bangus, longanisa, itlog na pula, lumpia, turon, ukoy, and lots of steamy white rice. The fragrant barbecue is good and so is gulaman at sago. Passers-by in the Eastside section of Manhattan drop by into the small food palace where every diner's hungry stomach almost always get satisfied.

ELVIE'S DELECTABLE FILIPINO FOOD

Sen. Miriam D. Santiago was right to say Le Cirque---the French restaurant where Arroyo dined in her last NY sojourn was “outlandish” for the Filipino budget. The classy food house was not just valued for the gastronomic delights it served, but for the people who patronized the place.

So, if one is a hungry visitor of the Big Apple with a huge entourage, in a late night dinner--- Le Cirque could not be as good as Elvie's Turo-Turo.

Not all will agree. There are those who worry about the protocols of dignitaries. But GMA and friends might have liked to be with the Pinoy restaurant proprietor and her team who serve hot delicious food promptly. Without pretenses, affable Elvie entertains with a wide engaging smile. In a mix of Tagalog, Bicol, and Visayan, she stands behind a steel enclosure teeming with Pinoy food, making her customers happy.

Elvie hails from a small village between Bicol and Leyte, bringing with her traditional Filipino hospitality to the dinner table. The Bayan Muna protesters who are averse to pomp and excesses will not complain if they eat in her plebeian enclave. The food she serves is basic and nutritious---at low price of less than $20 for two including soda.

If our Filipino guests from Manila demand to be classy, let them be. They can dine in a restaurant better than Elvie’s---like the Le Cirque. But then, look at the censure they receive when they go back home. A dinner price tag of $20,000 (P 1,000,000) from New York creates an uproar against over-spending and sparks accusations of "insensitivity" --- a source of embarrassment and national shame. (Photo Credit: gianuy; buddhadrinksfanta; chldrevolt; dennis and luba x4 )AFM) =0=

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Labels: cuisine, Elvie's Turo-Turo, Filipino, food, GMA, Manhattan, Miriam Defensor Santiago, New York City, Rep. Martin Romualdez, restaurant, Totie Mesia

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New York City's dining lesson for GMA: Le Cirque versus Elvie’s Turo-Turo

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