The restaurant row then was a quiet area exclusively for dining in a more bohemian or even nonchalant fashion. I miss those days of the small quaint restaurants, the jolly family meals, frequent cordial business meetings, and the romantic trysts in the coziness of the tamarind tree-laden avenue or the silent side street cafes.

Now, Morato is monopolized by the bigger players, giant names who can afford the rent with their maximum turnovers. So it is always welcome to find a "spot" or some new discovery.

It’s been over six months and I’ve seen a new star about to rise in the Morato area – Chef’s Bistro. I went to its early days of opening and tried out the crepes in its very small and limited menu then. Little did I know that it was Paul Tee, a chef and crepe specialist from Davao, who was at the helm of this five-table café. The place has now grown with a full second floor, and the menu, aside from the luscious crepes I have always loved, has also grown into a wider selection. Chef Paul has given his crepe diners a reason to not just to come for dessert, but also to have a full meal with good value and price. The menu is a combination of favorite bistro fare and his comfort dishes.

On one visit, I started with Assault and Battery Shrimp. This was prawn tempura with a light crisp coating served with mango wasabi mayonnaise that gave it a sweet-sour, creamy appeal and fruity tinges while I enjoyed the light crunch that came with biting into the smoking and freshly fried prawn. The next assault came from the traditional tentsuyu or tempura sauce that presented two exciting flavors for this dish.

One of the bestsellers, a salmon fillet, was served with pistachios pureed into beurre blanc on a generous bed of mashed potatoes. Another fish dish worth mentioning is Chef Bistro’s Pan-fried Bangus Belly. The well-marinated milkfish, choice-cut, served smothered in crunchy garlic (good enough to drive any vampire away), is great with salted egg and fresh tomato.

One of Paul’s signature pastas are the Bistro’s Red Pasta with sautéed shrimp and fresh tomato on a spicy olive oil sauce. This is a brilliant reddish pasta given an orange red patina from paprika oil during its sauté.

Another noodle dish I’ve come back for as a primera piatti or first course, and even once as merienda fare, was their Smoked Fish Pasta with slices of salted egg, leeks, parmesan

washed down with a Benningham Cabernet merlot that segued well with the fragrant thin-crust mushroom and truffle pizza.

A consoling deviation from the regular and almost stereotypical hickory type of ribs is this restaurant’s baby back ribs that has an onion herb character of thyme and rosemary in its tomato basting sauce. I just love the side dish of creamy potatoes sprinkled with dried anchovies (dilis) and baked cinnamon apple.

One dish that will raise a few brows is Pommes and Chops. Grilled porkchops are given a fancy saucing of long simmered demiglace and topped with slices of grilled apples and a curiously juvenile side dish of salad made with warm broccoli, carrots, and melting marshmallows.

I suppose taking its cue from yam with marshmallow casserole with roast turkey, the combination and texture seem to work. It even gave the very rustic Chateau des Tuilieres 2006 I had ordered, with its very barnyard, black olive, dark chocolate, and earthy horse stable characters, a great lift in terms of a successful marriage.

Dessert is probably the no-fail section in this restaurant’s menu, from the simplest butter and sugar crepe combination to our favorite Filipiniana (a freshly made crepe with mango and chocolate sauce).

So, what’s the chef going to prepare for Valentine’s Day? Well, I’m starting to slobber at the list of Pan-Seared Halibut with Crustacean Sauce, US Ribeye with Truffle Demiglace, Foie Gras with Raspberry Vinaigrette, Salmon with Pistachio Beurre Blanc, and Strawberry Crepes Romanoff. With this luscious list, it looks like I’m taking off from my kitchen the minute I can to comfort this lonely heart’s stomach!

Chef's Bistro is located at 94 Scout Gandia Street corner Tomas Morato, Quezon City (414-4515).

I came to Tomas Morato about 24 years ago as a young restaurateur with all the hopes and dreams of getting a slice of what was a newly rising market.