The tradition of Sunday lunch is something we Filipinos know all about. It is dear to us because it is something most of us grew up with. Lolo and Lola’s house on Sunday meant seeing a lot of relatives, putting on your “Sunday best,” and of course, eating all the glorious food your family could muster.
XO 46 in Makati is a restaurant concept built around this very idea. Fond memories and nostalgia for the good life of yesteryears are the driving forces that propelled Andrew and Sandee Masigan to set up shop. “The place exudes a very old world feeling, borrowed from all the memories we have of our family gatherings,” Sandee explained.
Both Sandee and Andrew come from a long line of culinary heritage. Having served a total of 21 years in the food industry, plus the fact that they come from the Siytangco and Masigan families, who are known for their culinary skills, the couple’s knowledge of good food and great service is unparalleled.
“This is truly the culmination of all the years we’ve been working,” she said. “We have an archive of recipes that we have been actively improving over a long period of time.” Their chef, CK Kalaw trained at the Le Cordon Bleu in Australia, and is the nephew of Andrew. “The response has been great so far,” said Chef CK. “We get a lot of the business people coming in, but we’re also getting a very steady following from the local expat community,” he added. The restaurant can be found along Valero Street, within Makati’s Salcedo Village. XO 46 is nothing like any other Filipino restaurant, a fact that you’d know right away from the moment you step into its little courtyard out front. The place is dressed up, not in the way that it makes you feel like you’re in a nipa-hut, but more like you’re in Lola's house on a Sunday. The servers are trained to speak in only the most formal form of Tagalog, addressing everyone by “señor” and “señorita,” and are all seemingly one step ahead when serving their guests. And lastly, the menu has items that are neither too exotic nor too parochial, but rather, it contains dishes that are familiar to us all.
“We opened up XO 46 because we feel that it is something we need,” Sandee explained. “When people have guests and they want to serve them Filipino food, chances are they’d end up entertaining them at home. And that’s great, because nothing beats a Filipino home cooked meal,” she added. “But what if you wanted to take them out to dinner?” she asked. “We don’t really have a lot of (modern) showcase places for Filipino cuisine. The turo-turo style restaurants can only go so far, and not everyone will be willing to eat with their hands. We opened up XO 46 because we wanted to have a place where you can bring your guests and you’d know that they’d enjoy the food, that they would feel welcome, and that they would be charmed."
