The Linden Suites cooks up Mesclun

MANILA, Philippines - No more.

Today, the Pasig locale is as bustling as its Makati City counterpart that is the Central Business District — a choice address of places of work, play, and everything in between.

Within this now-thriving area lies The Linden Suites, a 168-room hotel that boasts close proximity to key destinations such as malls, schools, and offices.

“We are primarily a business hotel, but enjoy a good mix of business and leisure travelers,” says Kathy Manuel-Salenga, Linden Suites director of sales and marketing. On weekdays, she continues, the hotel caters mainly to corporate travelers, but weekends see the arrival of “friends and families who gather for a ‘staycation.’”

The folks of Linden Suites now proudly report that there is even more reason to visit the hotel, with the recent opening of Mesclun Restaurant and Café. The outlet named after a French salad mix from the Provence region of France indeed accurately reflects the gastronomic philosophy.

In the kitchen of the rebranded, repackaged house outlet is Katrina Kuhn-Alcantara, a Fil-Swiss chef who formally acquired her culinary skills in France, and honed it through a further four years of work there — specifically in Paris, Nice, and Corsica. These days, she also operates a catering service, Kuhn Kitchen.

“We offer a mix of local and international cuisine in Mesclun,” she says, “creations inspired by my own personal experience and travels, as well as collaborations with my chefs.”

Kuhn-Alcantara adds that the menu is marked by “what makes old world classic, and the new world refreshing. It’s not typical hotel food, which can be super in the box, (made with) no love. It’s not like that.”

She insists that there are not too many restaurants in the area that offer this sort of vision for cuisine. “So we hope to bring to the business community here, as well as the residents, this level of dining. You need not go to Makati or Taguig anymore,” she says.

As Mesclun is primarily (though not solely) dedicated to Linden Suites guests, Kuhn-Alcantara knows she cannot go overboard with the creativity. Many hotel inhabitants, after all, also crave for familiar tastes that resonate in the belly and palate. That means the tried and tested will have their place. In-room guests, for instance, can order good ol’ fashioned sinigang, sisig or bulalo — favorites among Linden’s balikbayan occupants.

Mesclun opens for breakfast at six with an expected buffet spread. Kuhn-Alcantara underscores that this is an occasion for the expected. “When you are doing a breakfast buffet, you don’t want to surprise too much,” she says. Expect de rigueur choices at the omelet station, or pancakes, bacon, tapa, and longganisa, although the chef promises a couple of new dishes “here and there.”

But browse Mesclun’s a la carte menu for some off-the-beaten-track action, such as Filipino Sisig Pasta, Buffalo Balls (a re-imagination of Buffalo Wings), Ginger Chicken, Guava Adobo, and Sourdough Pizza.

As you may have noticed, Mesclun goes this way and that. There are more familiar items, too — Manuel-Salenga swears by the French Onion Soup. “Again, it lives up to its name — different cuisine found in different places,” stresses the sales and marketing director.

“And we are able to play; the creativity’s not limited,” says Chef Katrina. Still, while grateful for the creative latitude afforded her by the hotel, she will not do something just for the sake of pushing tastebud thresholds.

“It’s not about turning in something for shock value; it has to be good,” she points out.

A hotel, after all, should be primarily about pleasing guests. That means offering lunch specials for executives and office workers on the run, even as Mesclun affords these same people a time to relax and unwind in the evening via cocktails or a great dinner.

Good experience with good company, good food, and good service. That certainly never gets old.

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The Linden Suites is at 37 San Miguel Avenue, Ortigas Center, Pasig City.

For more information, visit www.lindensuites.com. Mesclun Restaurant and Café is open from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. For particulars, follow it on Twitter at @MesclunResto or call 638-7878.