Old world scents and flavors

By Carmencita Sioson

SITTING AT THE VERY QUAINT and chic Adora Café, where one drop of a coin would be almost deafening, I’ve made one particular spot my own oasis for the day—a place to silence the noises that are the countless thoughts in my head, and appreciate the things that tickle my senses. It is this moment that seems hard to come by these days.

“Everything now is big, brash, loud and in-your-face. This is the reverse,” says Margarita Fores (or Gaita, as she is fondly called). Fores, the woman behind notable restaurants Cibo, Café Bola, Pepato and Lusso, is also the culinary connoisseur behind Adora Café.

Tucked in a corner of the store, the café not only provides a hushed panorama of the shopping area, but also an ambience reminiscent of the flamboyant yet tasteful cafés in France. Soft cushioned seats and sofas in plush fabrics surround exquisite baker tables fit for a tête-à-tête under the café’s gleaming chandeliers.

Of this, Fores says, “It really was a challenge I decided to take on when Eman (Pineda) offered it to me, because I wanted to be able to capture the same experiences I’ve had in the elegant cafés of other big department stores like those in New York and in Europe.”

True to its French motif, the café serves warm tartines (open-faced sandwiches)—the Smoked Salmon with Organic Egg and Mascarpone is a must-try, by the way—fresh salads, mouth-watering desserts to go with your choice of beverage or, as it says in the menu (written in French with English translations), boisson. Unlike other cafés, not only are you able to get your caffeine fix, you can also have champagne by the glass. Both would go well with any of the café’s desserts—Mascarpone Charlotte, Pecan Tart or Chocolate & Pistachio Pot De Crème.

New additions to the menu are the tea selections of Mariage Frères Earl Grey Imperial, Jasmine Mandarin and Thé Au Sahara. The café’s future offerings include baked pastas such as Pasta Timbale, which is a vegetarian pasta, and Gaita’s very own home recipe.

“There are small nice little delicate things, but the baked pastas are a bit sinful,” says Fores.

Aside from the tableware, Gaita has also introduced Adora’s offerings to the Café’s. “Even on the menu, a lot of the flavors that we use are things that you find in the scent section of Adora—vanilla, lavender and rosemary.”

“I feel that it really should showcase the whole Adora experience … It’s that kind of experience where a mom going shopping would take her daughter and they’d sit and have something really yummy together,” she enthuses.

As Fores continues to redefine and reinvent the different kinds of cuisine she’s grown a passion for, she also hopes to remind those who have forgotten about the Old World ways of doing things that, “Time stops. You have an opportunity to appreciate scents and flavors … The Old World ways of doing things are almost lost so you need to create these places where you can bring them back.”

As times change, so should we; but should we really just settle for the fast-paced life, where everything is done in the quickest possible way as if we were running on a clock—quick meals, quick conversations, quick everything? Perhaps, once in awhile, as a good friend of mine would say, we could stop and smell the roses. Let the cozy corners of Adora Café be your reminder.