Hot meals at San Francisco Consulate

There are a thousand and one reasons to be in any public office where waiting is the name of the game, and food tripping isn’t one of them.

Some of these ‘straightforward’ offices barely have snack counters or vending machines, and most, if not all, do not allow food and drinks at the waiting area.  And so any hungry client caught in the waiting game at lunch hour will just have to crave just a little bit more, and chill.  Unless, the person is at the Philippine Consulate General – San Francisco on Sutter Street, where a reasonable wait for a transaction to be completed is now a far more pleasant, if not filling, experience.

“We thought of asking a private concessionaire to lease a room and set up a small cafeteria to serve the consulate’s clients and building tenants,” said Bobby de Lara, who manages the Philippine Center that houses the consulate as well as dozens of private offices.  “It’s an extension of the service to the public that the consulate, under the leadership of Consul General Marciano Paynor, Jr.,  always strives to improve.”

According to Bobby, the availability of food at the Philippine Center is a most welcome feature to seniors, who find it burdensome  to leave the building and walk a few blocks to have lunch, especially during winter.

“The consulate also receives clients who are diabetics and who cannot miss a snack or a meal, so having a food outlet a few steps away from the processing center is certainly convenient,” he added.

Finding an able, willing and qualified contractor was almost a no-brainer.  Adin Martin Villanueva, who is prouder to be called a successful foodie than a former practicing architect, had been distributing packed lunches to mostly Filipino offices in the area with husband Jojo, until she was invited to turn in a proposal.

At the close of the first quarter this year, Pak Kain (to mean, packed meal/lunch) was already fully operational, serving Filipino fare that appeals to palates of both the kababayan and non-Filipino alike.  Not only does Pak Kain offer tasty and delicious meals, either to-go or on site, but it also boasts utmost affordability.

“For just $5, one gets a modest serving of a viand and rice,” beams Adin.  “Now, with a little sweet talk and a smile, the viand can consist of a portion of the main dish and a helping of vegetables.”

On the day FilAm Star spoke to Adin and Jojo—over lunch, of course—we opted for ‘binagoongang baboy’ and ‘laing.’  For dessert, we were served good ‘ol ‘turon’ with ‘langka,’ washed down with authentic ‘kapeng barako.’

“This early, we have tracked our customers’ favorites – ‘adobo’ and all its regional variations, pancit …. bihon, canton, miki …. you name it …. palabok, and the other everyday ‘lutong-bahay’ dishes,” Adin confided.  “’Everything is home cooking.”

And they are, literally.

Since the building is not fitted for cooking, Adin prepares everything at the Villanuevas’ home kitchen.  She goes to bed early, say before 8 p.m., and gets some sleep for a little more than two hours while the rest of the Villanueva household prepares, slices, chops, dices, grinds, or marinates the ingredients.  Then like clockwork, she rises shortly before 11 p.m. and starts whipping up the sumptuous spread that one finds at the consulate the following day.  She could go back to bed before 3 a.m. when she finishes, but not when she needs to do paperwork to make sure the little enterprise stays in the black, or to write her food column for an online magazine.

“It’s a lot of work,” says Adin.  “I treat it as a passion, and that’s what keeps us going.  Otherwise, if this is just plain business, it would be very tiresome and exasperating.”

That bodes well for our kababayan, who now catches up on the idea that convenience in doing business at the Philippine Consulate means being able to wait for valuable documents, without hunger pangs gnawing at one’s patience.