World to Table

photo: Regina Belmonte

This is going to be my third time in Van Gogh Is Bipolar in the span of three weeks. My cousin Ashley introduced me to this small, beautiful hole in the wall when I was down in the dumps some two weeks ago, and the cafe’s pebbly courtyard, the violet fairy lights and a perfect cup of tea was the best defiance to a thoroughly rough day.

photo: Regina Belmonte

photo: Regina Belmonte

Located in 154 Maginhawa St. (a lovely street dotted with interesting cafes, antique shops, kitschy stores and small eateries), Van Gogh Is Bipolar is the brainchild – or in this case, the love child of Jetro – photographer, artist, and now cook and restaurant owner. Lovely how this amalgamation of things root themselves in the heart of the person- art and food, they are sensual things, but more importantly they are essential things.

The cafe is not meant for big crowds or loud crowds, for that matter. While it presents itself in a casual, laid back way (one must slip off their shoes at the doorway and pad around in their socked or bare feet) you can tell that this is a place where the gleam and glint of life come to nestle themselves between potent conversations.

Amidst art-work laden walls (this month it is Jason Moss’ figurations from the period before “he killed his passion for hate”), warm wooden floors, and a shamelessly ornate chandelier, there are stories to be told. It was just some time ago when a man proposed to a woman within the walls of the place.

So why ‘Van Gogh Is Bipolar’? It is undeniable how suggestive a title like this can be. Drawing from art and the psychological, one could go on for hours and hours sifting through the principle and philosophies (because there are things to be talked about) behind cerebral, sometimes abstract, things and their power to put more meaning into the concrete and simple, in this case, food.

The menu of Van Gogh is perplexing yet magnetic, there are little blurbs and stories to be read about the principle behind being bipolar, and the names of the dishes are a delight to read. Interestingly, all the names used to title Van Gogh’s dishes are bipolar people in real life.

I recently got to taste the President Clinton’s Manic Depressive Meal (Australian Lamb Chops with Black Mountain Rice and a garden salad for 255 PHP, roughly 6 USD ). Jetro had put in a special chili-kick when he asked me if I liked things ma-anghang (translation: spicy- I love anything spicy). The lamb was served atop a mound of black rice which was on top lettuce leaves, apple and tomato discs with chili powder. On the side were two sauces, a fish sauce to flavor the rice if desired, and a sweet, dark salty sauce to accompany the lamb. The salad was drizzled with honey and really brought the kaleidoscope of flavors together.

The lamb was nicely cooked and my favorite part was that the fat was not bland, and was in fact very very flavorful. I also liked that despite possessing a number of flavor layers in the dish (spicy, salty, sweet), it did not overwhelm the taste of the lamb – I like biting into a piece of lamb and actually tasting lamb and not just the seasonings and marinades used. The dish was satisfying in every sense, however I could not get enough of that sweet sauce and the black mountain rice!

It is good to end a meal at Van Gogh with a dessert (Mel Gibson’s Darkest Sin- a vodka shooter w honey, dark chocolate, an almond and other yummy, sexy things or sinful homemade silvanas). BUT. It is also highly recommendable to end it with a cup of tea. I find that a trip to Van Gogh is never complete without a hot cup of tea.

photo: Regina Belmonte

photo: Regina Belmonte

Van Gogh’s gem (amidst other gems) are their teas – at least it is the thing that most attracted me, being a self professed tea fiend. There’s something seductive and clandestine about tea. Perhaps it is in the slowness of the process, the steeping and extraction of things we can’t see with a naked eye and then allowing such mystery to enter into our bodies and interact with our make up.

The teas served revolve around the same idea the cafe is built upon – moods. The ingredients (which are all organic!) used in every dish on the menu is made to balance out the chemicals in the body to translate the individual’s mood into something positive through a dash of dopamine, serotonin or perhaps a teaspoon or two of endorphins? The teas (which are all locally grown in a farm in Isabel) are prime illustrations of this.

Each tea in the Van Gogh collection falls into a certain mood category- extra upper (my favorite), upper, light chill, happy chill, soothing and extra calming. I am partial to excitability and giddiness, so I have always chosen the Spanish Plum tea which is sour and pungent in a gorgeous amber color. In addition to the personalization of your tea, you get to pick a teapot of your choice. I am bad with choosing from a plethora of pretty things – I could take hours looking at Jethro’s teapots and examining them one by one, waiting for a certain teapot to spark out at me. But I don’t do this, I figure Van Gogh is a place I will frequent enough that perhaps I will be able to share some time with each one of them.

Once Jetro and the rest of the Van Gogh staff finish steeping your tea, it is brought out to you (whether you are in the courtyard or inside the cafe), complete with a miniscule goblet of wild golden Palawan honey (to eliminate anxiety!) and inside the cup is a singular, perfect fresh mint leaf, grown especially in Jethro’s herb garden. The Spanish Plum tea is a beautiful complement to the dark sweetness of the honey and the slight cool surprise of the mint leaf. Next time, I am hoping to try their Banana tea. I have long had a penchant for a good banana smoothie and I think it is high-time I try the counterpart.

Bringing together a contemporary Filipino conscience to gourmet food and art, Van Gogh poses a stark innovative streak in Filipino cuisine and the concept of a space for creative dynamics to move in different tangible yet intimate ways:

it is through the steam rising from a hot cup of tea, the secret messages written on that lit red wall, the sketches of somber old men, the purple fairy lights by the window, the silent cat that ambles Van Gogh’s floors, and you — drinking it all in.

Van Gogh is Bipolar
154 H Maginhawa Street
Sikatuna Village, Quezon City
The Philippines
(02) 394.0188
0922.824.3051
0922.824.3052

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photo: Triccie Baquiran