Trish Panlilio opens the door to luxe comfort food
Following the success of her three-year-old a la carte food service and custom catering business NawwTy’s Kitchen and the Gourmand Market, Trish Panlilio now opens the door to luxe comfort food to the max via her first restaurant venture — Mulberry Door by NawwTy’s Kitchen on Forbestown Road, Burgos Circle, Bonifacio Global City.
The former supermodel and super mom to three boys — Quintin, 25; Matteo, 22, and Luca Cu-Unjieng, 18 — is all set to launch her new “baby” this Sunday in BGC’s smoking-hot foodie district. Enter Mulberry Door and be prepared to unravel a whole new world of gourmet comfort dining amid a relaxed and fun family atmosphere, just like what Trish grew up in back in her Pampanga hometown where every kitchen was forever brimming with the aroma of good food and every day was an occasion to binge.
“Being Kapampangan, we’re a family of food lovers,” says a beaming Trish. “I believe that my passion for food is innate and clearly inborn because of my exposure at a young age as well as my food adventures during frequent travels.”
Delicious Memories
Trish’s family simply loves creating memories around the dining table as they share their love for food. “With either Mom (the late jeweler Fe Sarmiento-Panlilio) or Dad (the late lawyer Jose Panlilio), family bonding, more often than not, always involved a current favorite comfort dish craving or excitedly tasting something new.”
She adds, “My most distinct and vivid memory of really enjoying it was cooking for my boys when they were small and later on for Daddy when I lived with him after my mom passed away. There were also Sunday lunches that would find me in the kitchen creating some kind of a dish or something I knew the boys and Daddy would love.”
Amid hearty laughter and chatter, Sunday lunches and dinners would have the Panlilio family table groaning with Kapampangan and Filipino specialties like nilaga, inihaw na liempo, ginataang alimango, taba ng talangka, and chicharon, among other decadent delights. Special occasions, like Christmas Day, call for Pancit Malabon, luglug, lengua, and, says Trish, “We never fail to be without the delicious lechon by the tens and inihaw na baka roasting on the pit. An absolute feast!”
A Pinch Of Salt, A Dash Of Humor
As Trish dips her toes into the restaurant business, she carries with her precious sparkling lessons from her mom, Fe Panlilio. “What was the best lesson I learned from Mommy? This question makes me miss her so much,” Trish replies. “There were endless lessons she shared with me that to this day play vital roles in my everyday life and in raising my boys — passion, diligence, kindness, true humility ... and, not to forget, laughter and a good sense of humor. These embody the woman and kind of person that she was and which I continue to and always will emulate.”
She hastens to add, “Perhaps it’s what I practice along the journey that can be attributed to Mommy and her wise words — that of hard work, integrity, and having prayer as a constant powerhouse. Also, having a ‘survivor instinct,’ standing when you falter and soldiering on through life regardless of what comes your way, always with your head held up high.”
Nawwty And Nice
Trish tells us the story behind Mulberry Door: “It all began when NawwTy’s Kitchen turned three last year and the boys and I felt it was time to take a leap of faith. Before that, there were offers, alongside the constant prodding of friends to open a resto and further share the food by NawwTy’s Kitchen (“Nawwty” is what Trish’s friends endearingly call her, just because she’s quite naughty but totally nice!). Coincidentally, in early 2016, there happened to be spaces available on the market, all of which resounded with plans we had already laid out. We all saw it as a sign.”
The indefatigable Trish is busy as the proverbial queen bee putting her personal finishing touches on her new resto and putting up the signage with her equally hardworking partners — her sons Quintin, Matteo, and Luca. “The boys were involved from the onset of conceptualizing the restaurant — from choosing the name (a late-blooming flower, mulberry is ecologically important as it’s the sole food source of silkworms in making silk) to deciding on the look (cozy, homey), general aesthetics, and menu development, they have all been active contributors. Today, they take shifts on duties at the restaurant and are all involved in daily and weekly decision making on all matters of concern.”
So, what’s cooking at Mulberry Door?
The menu, says Trish, boasts a compilation of comfort food dishes popular at NawwTy’s Kitchen and there are several that are her sons’ favorites.
Trish elaborates, “The dishes here are an elevated and more stylized version of the dishes at NawwTy’s Kitchen. Mulberry Door specializes in easy and low-key gourmet comfort food, which guests can enjoy in a family and relaxed atmosphere reminiscent of their own homes. Nothing hifalutin, intimidating or pretentious.”
Berry Cozy
From the hanging plants and lights to the cozy couches, Mulberry Door’s warm and welcoming ambience perfectly captures NawwTy’s Kitchen’s no-frills (just all-thrills) luxury cooking experience. Guests can enjoy their fave dishes and cocktails in picture-perfect locations throughout the resto, like the Mulberry Corner for couples on a date and the Mulberry Lounge where you can enjoy the company of family or friends around elegant wooden tables. For additional seating, there’s the al fresco area with tables leading to the Forbes Town Mall. Berry pretty!
Trish’s boys will certainly love hanging out with their friends at the restaurant. Before Mulberry Door, their friends would come to the house, chill out, and enjoy Trish’s cooking — it was like a clubhouse. “Mom loves feeding our friends so they always come and stay,” the boys chorus.
What’s trish cooking?
At Mulberry Door, foodies will most certainly enjoy Trish’s gourmet comfort food, a lot of which are her own recipes as well as creative cocktails — the paella blanca and paella negra (which will not stain your teeth because of a secret ingredient that Trish guards with her life) with homemade aioli, crab-fat paella, crab-fat linguine, bulalo, foie gras salad, Matteo’s Lamb Burger, the Nawwty rib-eye, Apple and Q-rizo Salpicao (the Q stands for Quintin, who’s fondly called Q by friends), Luca’s Mango Elixir, and Mulberry Ginger Mojito.
“There is something definitely comforting in having a hearty meal that truly satisfies,” Trish declares. “We also serve healthy options, such as salads and vegetarian dishes.”
Having received a heartwarming, positive response upon the resto’s soft opening, Trish foresees Mulberry Door to be in full bloom. “We have set monthly marketing plans to host trunk shows, product launches, and mostly have a place where friends dine or a venue for family gatherings and special occasions. We want it to be a place that people frequent to hang out and read by themselves; we’re developing reading materials. We want it to feel like a home away from home so we expect our regulars often as well as to continuously serve new clients and patrons. After all, we serve luxe comfort food at its finest!
The door is now open.
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For more information on Mulberry Door and for reservations, call 810-5427, 0918-998-7474, 0906-496-3745. For bookings and private events, email MulberryDoor@gmail.com; Instagram @MulberryDoor.
NawwTy’s Kitchen offers a la carte food orders and custom catering services for private and corporate dining for all occasions. For reservations, call 0918-998-7474, 0906-496-3745; email nawwtyskitchen@gmail.com; FB: nawwTy’s kitchen; Instagram: #nawwTyskitchen.
