“It all started as my husband’s idea,” Sandie Romulo Squillantini, owner of Romulo Café, shared over an unforgettable lunch of the culinary favorites of her paternal family, the Romulos, whose fame and distinction began with the founding father, the legendary diplomat, general and writer, Carlos P. Romulo Sr. The old-world setting of this delightful repast was at Romulo Café in Bonifacio Global City, a pleasant incongruity in a place replete with 21st-century steel and glass skyscrapers.

Sandie, the daughter of General Romulo’s son, lawyer Ricardo or “Dick,” and his wife, Teresita “Tessie,” herself the daughter of the late envoy Jose Romero, the first Philippine ambassador to the Court of Saint James,  and her husband, Enzo, were dining at the Prince Albert Rotisserie of the Hotel Intercontinental Manila and were looking at the restaurant’s Romulo Room, when he remarked, “You know, it’s too bad that not everybody can see these pictures of your lolo and his life. Why don’t we put up a restaurant for other people to see and learn about his life?”

It was an idea that immediately clicked between the two of them, being familiar with the restaurant business as operators of corporate cafeterias and executive lounges. As to what food to serve, both agreed on serving the Romulos’ favorite daily and special dining fare that her grandmother,  Virginia (nee Llamas), Philippine Carnival Queen of 1922, served the family and guests, including international dignitaries.

An initial effort was to put together her Lola Virginia’s recipes, which, was not exactly difficult, “considering that the family was using it anyway. Next, they looked for a place and decided on the Tomas Morato area. “We were enamored by an old house that fit our purpose. Then, we brought our friend, interior designer Ivy Almario. We showed her pictures of our grandparents’ old house in Forbes Park called Kasiyahan, from which she took inspiration. That’s why the place is basically black and white because our dining room was black and white.”

Kasiyahan, a one-hectare property along Mckinley Road that also contained the homes of the Romulo sons and their families, has since been converted into the Kasiyahan Town Homes by the Zobel de Ayala group. It was the setting of many formal dinners hosted by the General and his wife, and its reincarnation today in Romulo Café, according to Sandie, “reflects the original elements of the storied home, including the hanging lamps and the wrought iron furniture, as well as the homey furniture. Ivy, thankfully, captured that old Filipino ambiance typical of the genteel homes of the 1950s and 1960s era.

Sandie could not help feeling nostalgic, as she recalled that “while each of the Romulo sons and their families had a place to stay, we cousins, five boys, and five girls, spent a lot of time together. We were one another’s playmates and we saw the weekly parties that our elders hosted for dignitaries including presidents, prime ministers, and royalty.

“It was our happy place as my grandparents intended it, that’s why they named it Kasiyahan. In Baguio, our home was called Kaligayahan.” Interestingly, other than the United Nations leaders and international politicians like Robert F. Kennedy, the Romulos also entertained celebrities, among them Burt Bacharach, “That’s why I have displayed his photo on the wall of Romulo Café,” Sandie said.

But if there was much merriment in the company of the Romulos, there was also great food which, of course, enhanced the overall atmosphere of conviviality.

A family signature dish is her Lola Virginia’s chicken relleno, “the recipe for which I was able to get, that’s why our relleno is still made at home and not in a restaurant. It is a Sunday dish for the family.”

Sandie was only seven years old when her Lola passed on, but earlier, she had tasted many of the family’s recipes. That she could lay claim to having “witnessed” how her Lola whipped up her dishes is due to her Lola’s cook continuing in the service of the family. “Lola taught her how to cook the dishes that the family loved and enjoyed, so she kept cooking them long after Lola was gone. From our old house, I got her,” Sandie explained.

Of course, she found out too about her Lola’s secret ingredients. “Since she was in the United States, she had to look for substitutes for stuff she couldn’t find. For example, chorizo then was not easily available, so she used Vienna sausage. So, she had to revise her recipe. She was very innovative.

“She also had to modify some dishes to suit the taste buds of her international guests. For example, many guests didn’t like their adobo oily, so she made sure to do it differently from the way we would want to enjoy the adobo that we are used to having. She used pork that was not fat but kept the vinegar, of course. Since the setting mattered,  and it had to be pleasant and all that, she opened her windows every time she cooked adobo so the house wouldn’t end up smelling like food.

Of her Lola Virginia, the little girl Sandie saw her “always in the kitchen attending to the food. So she would be in the kitchen to prepare dinner. We, grandchildren, would be around too because we all took dinner together on the dining table at seven o’clock sharp.”

Among the things she loved to cook, according to Sandie, was “steak and lots of foot stuff from her Pagsanjan hometown.”

Her Lolo Carlos, on the other hand, loved his halo-halo. “He loved sweets. He would not eat food, but he would eat the halo-halo, ice cream, and malagkit like bibingkang suman. That’s why we have lots of them at Café Romulo.”

Her Lolo, she shared, “loved to eat. He belonged to the Chain de Rotisseurs. That was his thing. He loved restaurants. He would take us to dinner every week, whoever wanted to come. These were usually in his favorite restaurants like Hyatt Hotel’s Japanese restaurant, Tempura Misono, Au Bon Vivant, Las Conchas, and Prince Albert  And when someone was celebrating a birthday, he would tell the celebrator, ‘0kay choose what restaurant you want to eat in.’ Then he would take us. But every week, he’d take us out to dinner, whoever wanted to come. So, he really loved food.”

But if the general loved food, there was one big caveat. “He was very much a stickler for dining manners,” Sandie said. “He was not uptight, though,  because he could be relaxed and good-humored, but he was very strict about time. If he told you, you be in dinner at seven, you better be standing already or going close to the kitchen by 10 to seven. Because if you were not there,  especially if you were a journalist, he’d tell you you’re late. He was also very strict about the dress code. If he told you, it’s black tie, you better be in black tie and the girls better be in long gown. One time an ambassador came in a suit. And he said to an ambassador when he was saying hello, “Oh, Mr. Ambassador. I’m glad you’re early. You have time to go home and change into your black tie.'”

These are but a few of the stories and anecdotes about General Carlos P. Romulo and how he regarded food and the art of eating, especially fine dining. It is in the same vein of propriety and pleasantry that the great old man espoused, along with his wife’s insistence on preparing and serving food at their best, that Sandie and Enzo Squillantini have created Café Romulo. You are cordially invited to enjoy the specialties that were once prepared by the grand lady of the Romulo home in this beautiful restaurant reminiscent of the glory days of yore. Just make sure you are properly dressed, you know your manners, and you know how to engage in polite conversation.

The general and his lady may no longer be around but they are in every detail that makes fine dining in this iconic restaurant indeed an epicurean pleasure and an exercise in charm and refinement.

Another family favorite is kare-kare, which the family calls Tito Greg’s kare-kare “because it was to him, her second son, that our lola passed on her recipes and he has made her kare-kare his specialty, too.”

Sandie was only seven years old when her lola passed on, but earlier, she had tasted many of the family’s favorite dishes. That she could lay claim to having “witnessed” how her lola whipped up her dishes is due to her lola’s cook continuing in the service of the family. “Lola taught her how to cook the dishes that the family loved and enjoyed, so she kept cooking them long after lola was gone. From our old house, I got her,” Sandie explained.

Of course, she found out too her lola’s secret ingredients. “Since she was in the United States, she had to look for substitutes for stuff she couldn’t find. For example, chorizo then was not easily available, so she used Vienna sausage. So, she had to revise her recipe. She was very innovative.

“She also had to modify some dishes to suit the palate of her international guests. For example, many guests didn’t like their adobo oily, so she made sure to do it differently from the way we would want to enjoy the adobo that we are used to having. She used pork that was not fat but kept the vinegar, of course. Since the setting mattered, it had to be pleasant and all that. She opened her windows every time she cooked adobo so the house won’t end up smelling like food.

Of her lola Virginia, the little girl Sandie saw her “being always in the kitchen attending to the food. So she would be in the kitchen to prepare dinner. We grandchildren would be around, too because we all took dinner together on the dining table at seven o’clock sharp.”

Among the things she loved to cook, according to Sandie, was “steak and lots of food stuff from her Pagsanjan hometown.”

Her lolo Carlos, on the other hand, loved his halo-halo. “He loved sweets. He would not eat food, but  he would eat halo-halo, ice cream and malagkit like bibingkang suman. That’s why we have lots of that at Café Romulo.”

Her lolo, she shares, “loved to eat. He belonged to the Chain de Rotisseurs. That was his thing. He loved restaurants. He would take us to dinner every week, whoever wanted to come. These were usually in his favorite restaurants like Hyatt Hotel’s Japanese restaurant, Tempura Misono, Au Bon Vivant, Las Conchas and Prince Albert. And when someone was celebrating a birthday, he would tell the celebrator, Okay choose what restaurant you want to eat in. Then he would take us. But every week, he’d take us out to dinner, whoever wanted to come. So, he really loves food.”

But if the general loved food, there was one big caveat. “He was very much a stickler for dining manners,” Sandie said. “He was not uptight, though, because he could be relaxed and good-homored, but he was very strict about time. If he tells you, you come to dinner at seven, you better be standing already or going close to the kitchen by 10 to seven. Because if you’re not there, especially if you’re a journalist, he’ll tell you you’re late. He was also very strict about dress code. If he tells you, it’s black tie, you better be in black tie and the girls better be in long gown. One time an ambassador came in a suit. And he said to an ambassador, when he was saying hello, “Oh, Mr. Ambassador. I’m glad you’re early. You have time to go home and change into your black tie.”

It is in the same vein of propriety and pleasantry that the great old man espoused, along with his wife’s insistence on preparing and serving food at their best, that Sandie and Enzo Squillantini have created Café Romulo. You are cordially invited to enjoy the specialties that were once prepared by the grand lady of the Romulo home in this beautiful restaurant reminiscent of the glory days of yore.

The general and his lady may no longer be around but they are in every detail that makes fine dining in this iconic restaurant indeed an epicurean pleasure and an exercise in charm and refinement.