It’s with some pride that I can say that I knew Conti’s Restaurant long before they became ultra-popular. Conti’s started out as Dates and Nuts Restaurant in BF Homes Paranaque way back in the early 80’s. I remember my parents taking us there for dinner after Mass. It was such a treat.
The diminutive restaurant was a venture-in-the wall of seven 4-seater tables, one cake freezer, and a lot of yummy, home-cooked goodies. Though their signature baked item was the namesake Dates and Nuts bar,the most popular item was their to-die-for Peach Walnut Torte. With heavenly baked-meringue base topped with an ethereal puffy crown of white cream, bejeweled with shiny peach slices and walnuts, it was truly a most coveted treat that we looked forward to after every meal. I even recall Sharon Cuneta would bring a then 5-year old KC Concepcion there to take a bite out of the sweet yummies.
I remember too the Conti sisters–Angie, Carol and a third sister whose name now escapes me–were passionate about their food as they were about ensuring that their catering services enhanced the memorable occasion. Yes, they do catering, til this day. My mom got them for my debut bash at home. I recall that my guests raved about the great dishes–especially the lengua, the baked salmon, the roast beef, the pasta, and of course, the to-die-for dessert table. And Angie and Carol, with their eternally gracious demeanor, were there attentive to every detail. I recall too one time Angie explained to me that they try to teach this posture of service to their staff by example. I believe they’ve succeeded to this day. The Conti’s waiters are consistently solicitous and gracious.
After the old logo and image morphed into the now familiar green-and-yellow symbol that is Conti’s, the addition of a food take out service counter in the last 5 years really set off a boom in the business. It’s only in Conti’s outlets wherever I visit–whether in the old BF Homes outlet, Serendra, or Trinoma–that I see queues of people waiting for their turn to grab a box of desserts, order for food for a quick party, or select yummy savory and sweet pies for the daily baon of the kids. Christmas time at Conti’s is like lining up for enrollment in UP or Ateneo. The now familiar lines of customers wait for what seems like hours under white tents set up outside the restaurant to place their orders, or claim their pre-ordered dishes. They’ve also recently opened an outlet in exciting Nuvali, Sta. Rosa, Laguna. Good that the genteel Southerners will not have to treck all the way to BF or Fort for their heavenly food.
The draw of Conti’s is on the whole because of their food, but in part because of the resto’s ambiance. It’s bright, tastefully done, and comfy. It’s a family restaurant with leather-feel seats, warm white lighting, zen-style common toilets, always-fresh news dailies, fresh flowers on the table, a never-empty glass of water, and of course freshly cooked, piping hot food on trays constantly floating over to a customer’s table. Food is artfully arranged (though I wish the food portions were a tad bigger like before!). Definitely a couple of notches higher than a fast food burger or chicken restaurant’s functional interiors.
Conti’s managed to evolved into a bakeshop-restaurant whose owners have gotten the food pulse of the upscale, urban Pinoy’s quickening lifestyle. Food has to be served hot, fast and nutritious. So when you select dishes from their take-out counter freezers, you’ll see that frozen foods that are simply blast frozen versions of their good ‘ole menu items. They also added pates (artichoke dips and chicken liver pate are my FAVORITE) that go well with the crisp, dry bruschetta. Tasty dips, salad dressings, and spreads add savoury counterpoint to the beautifully made sweets: cakes such as Mango Bravo, Strawberry Shortcake, Sans Rival, Mango Creme Cake and the classic Peach Walnut Torte; handy treats such as cheese turnovers, the classic Date bars, lemon squares, brownies, lenguas de gato. You’ll see party favourites in their brochure, in various permutations of menus: laing, siomai, roastbeef, rellenong bangus, russian potato salad, lasagna for baking –the list is endless. As long as the line of people that wait for their turn of a slice of goodness.
So whether you’re throwing an intimate family reunion, just too lazy to cook, or need to bring a gift of goodness to a friend, Conti’s has plenty to offer for food for the stomach, as well as kindness for the soul.
(Note: This writer wrote the above article review independent of Conti’s invitation. We do this as a service to our blog readers who are interested to know of good places around the communities that Residences Manila hangs around in).
