Recess Resto Cafe: A No-Nonsense Gourmet Experience For The Cool And Hip

Baguio’s cold and serene weather beckons strung out individuals, perhaps particularly the millennials, to relax and take a break. So, if you happen to be taking a stroll along lower Session Road, you might want to trust your gut and make a stop at Recess Resto Cafe.

At any time of the day (yes, Recess Resto Cafe will welcome you 24/7), this spot is definitely a place that any 21st Century foodie or yuppie ought to visit not only because of how awesomely hip the place looks and feels like, but all the more because of its no-nonsense food that advocates locally sourced ingredients prepared with the skilled art of gastronomy. Hands down, hats off, getting cultured by such a joint has never been this cool, not to mention, delicious!

Alright, let’s let the grub at Recess Resto Cafe do the talking, shall we?

There is always that certain edge-of-your-seat thrill whenever good food from the kitchen is brought to the table. Everything falls into silence and what you see happening around appears to be in slow motion. This sort of mishmash easily turns any grown up into a giddy kid in a toy store. So when we started seeing plates being served, we were all psyched! Let’s get acquainted with the Compress Salad, the Crispy Pork Belly Kare Kare, the Pulled Pork and Bacon Roll, Miss Daisy, Cotton Candy Ice Cream, the Ice Cream Burrito, and the Chili Vigan Longanisa Pasta. (Hungry yet? You should be!)

The Compress Salad is like a party in your mouth and it takes minutes before you figure out what’s going on. The sensation you get from the various flavors and textures is surreal. The root crops are infused with some zesty flavors. The homemade dressing is mayo-based and is a light and airy cream sauce making it the perfect drizzle for the salad’s baby beets, baby parsley, and baby broccoli. Of course, in all its brilliance, the salad is topped with some crunchy parmesan chips. Having a mini-heart attack is most possible, mind you.

The Crispy Pork Belly Kare Kare infuses the pakbet of the Ilocanos with the ratatouille of the French. This creative dish highlights Narvacan’s bagnet and uses coconut jam as its sauce instead of peanut butter. This surely is what others call “soul food,” especially with the homemade ravioli.

For certified carnivores out there, the Pulled Pork and Bacon Roll is your new best friend! Just imagine the classic embutido with an inner layer of ground meat and cheese, rolled in homemade bacon that is cured for seven days and served with pickled cucumber and honey mustard! This is meaty goodness at its finest!

Sort-of-health-nuts, rejoice! Recess loves you very much because of Miss Daisy (the sandwich). Its house bun particularly uses important herbs, so you get all the healthy stuff from there straight up. The patty, on the other hand, is a chicken chiffonade that is spiced just right and goes very well with the fresh lettuce, tomatoes, eggs and of course, melted cheese! It is served with a siding of, take note, some potato chips that have been dehydrated for three days and then fried to achieve the perfect light crisp. Healthy? Sort of. Yummy? Definitely. Miss D is a munchie’s dream come true!

The Cotton Candy Ice Cream is to die for! If the words “cotton candy with vanilla ice cream topped with a mango and strawberry chocolate ganache” doesn’t get you to dig in, I don’t know what else will. I mean, really? Just look at it! It’s ridiculously scrumptious!

Let us not forget this showstopper. This is traditionally called the Baked Alaska from 18th century France but Recess did their own twist on it by putting a layer of cotton candy on top of the meringue. The meringue is quite different, too. They bent the rules and instead of using egg whites, Recess uses any liquid that highlights preferred flavors. Inside the meringue is the creamiest vanilla ice cream. The Baked Alaska’s got some swag when served. The waiters would set the cotton candy aflame by using a blowtorch for that bittersweet caramel brûlée. This delightful texture is unforgettable! Things are then evened out with some strawberry and mango chocolate ganache. Heaven exists on a plate, you see. So savor the moment! Deep breaths, people.

If you are ready for the adventurous side of desserts, then you are definitely in for a treat with one of Recess’ best sellers – the Ice Cream Burrito. Priced at just a hundred pesos, this fried, cold, oily, sweet, and creamy combination of a dessert is just heavenly. What’s in it, you ask? First up, you have some chiffon cake and some homemade ice cream wrapped in a really complex cotton candy wrap that is altogether deep fried. Mmmhmmm, deep fried!

That wrap, my friend, went through a tricky process involving the phrase “compressed in a vacuum” which is an example of the “progressive American modern approach” to cooking, as explained by the executive chef. Put simply, it is classic cooking with a modern approach. So, yes, welcome to the 21st century! All you need to know is that everything about this dessert works, so the experience you will have from trying it on your very first visit will always be a trusty conversation starter! (Getting cultured, remember?)

Any pasta lovers in the house? The Chili Vigan Longanisa Pasta promises to satisfy that in-and-out-again craving that lasts forever! This all-time patriotic dish is made special with Vigan’s very own longanisa and juicy tomatoes. The baguette that goes along with it is homemade and is not toasted, but dehydrated for that interior crunch. Everything about it feels like a perfect marriage – comforting with just the right amount of spice.

Recess Resto Cafe: An Essential Baguio Culinary Experience

Passion, dedication, and love – these are the three words that Chef Miko Dy mentioned when we asked how he best describes food. Chef Miko is the executive chef of the corporation’s chain of restaurants and has been in the culinary world for 10 years. He is a pastry chef by profession but is currently venturing towards the savory side of food. Interestingly enough, he said that food keeps him up all night, so he never actually sleeps.

When we asked him why he chose Baguio for his culinary creations, he says that it is mainly because he wants to highlight the food of the Cordilleras, most especially its beautiful ingredients. As a Baguio Boy by heart, he is passionate about letting “masa” students have a taste of the food that only the rich seem to enjoy at very affordable prices. (We are talking about prices being anywhere between P100-P240 on the average. Seriously, this is not bad at all, if we say so ourselves). So, you know, thank you, Chef Miko, and of course, Recess Resto Cafe, for thinking about Baguio’s out-and-about yuppies!

Everything in Recess Resto Cafe is made by hand and are either sourced from Baguio and nearby regions. Every essential element in Recess Resto Cafe’s dishes are locally sourced. Their cream and milk, for example, are from Baguio Dairy Farm and the salad greens are from Buguias. Their tomatoes and longanisa are from Ilocos. The strawberries they use are from Benguet while their mangoes are from Sablan. The buns and baguette are homemade, as well as the ice cream and mayonnaise. Where else can you get the best of honest-to-goodness, most of all, REAL food, right? Talk about TLC!

Freshly farmed micro-greens take the limelight in Recess’ dishes. Head Chef Tony Nazaret was nothing but loud and proud when he brought before us various micro greens that they use to give their dishes that extra oomph when it comes to presentation and flavor. Among these are the red and green amaranths, and pea shoots. The amaranth, Chef Tony says, are used for Asian dishes while pea shoots are used for main courses. All of the good stuff is freshly farmed in Luntian Farms located at Sampaloc, Manila.

So, what do we really think about Recess?

Recess was setup by the corporation with Baguio’s young adults in mind. Their creative foresight is definitely the sugar and spice of what Recess is becoming known for. From the resto’s aesthetic down to its menu, it was the young and hip that mattered most. True enough, any observant bloke would easily see that everyone who seated themselves by the tables were either collegians or 20-somethings who seemed to enjoy their time off from their respective class hours, 9-5’s or graveyard shifts. In other words, Recess has established itself to be the go-to place for that well-deserved down time while having to feel what it is like to live the high life without being pricey. Everything about Recess is just spot on – the music, the lay out, the food, the people, most of all, the vibe.

The next time you need to kill time, take your mind off things, bust off some stress, or impress a certain someone, visit Recess Resto Cafe. They are easily located at Lower Session Road, Baguio City (former Star Cafe, just on the second floor of Dane’s). By the way, Recess Resto Cafe is open 24/7. (I know, awesome right?)