The Pedestrian Foodista Goes to The Philippine Fashion Week

Imagine the feel of a fashion runway. Hear the pulsating music coinciding with sashaying models, strutting their clothes with their confident walk. Notice the oohs and aahs from an audience, mouths almost agape, their collective attention transfixed onto that long, narrow catwalk.

If you would say that this sight belongs only to the rarefied fashion capitals of New York, Paris or Milan, think again.



This sight actually belongs to the Philippine Fashion Week.


We were very fortunate to have witnessed these sights and more, as we got premiere invitations to one of the shows of the Philippine Fashion Week, a weeklong festivity of Filipino flair and talent. Held at the SMX Convention Center at the SM Mall of Asia, we got some invites to the show of the Marlon Rivera, ad executive par excellance, top stylist of Propaganda Salon, fashion designer, professor of Visual Communication in UP Diliman, among others. (Truly, the word “jack of all trades” applies to him. What's better though is, he masters everything.)

Before the show, we actually waited in line for almost an hour. Nonetheless, it was all worth it as we were treated to a spectacle, as we saw the Marlon N Rivera collection. While the dominant palette were shades of gray and black, amidst occasional sprinklings of color, the construction of his collection was just superb. It was classy, elegant, and down-to-earth. In fact, his clothes weren’t just the usual high fashion fare, which you couldn’t exactly wear to the office or to a real party; his clothes featured pieces that you can actually wear.

The fashion show was just half of it. Of course, being your Pedestrian Foodista (with friends), the night would not be complete without eating! That said, we decided to have dinner after the show. Completely ravenous after watching, we thought of going to a place that boasted of food in humongous portions, washed down by bottomless drinks. (In short, we just wanted to pig out.)

(Pictures from top to bottom: grilled chicken with rosemary, chicken crispers with shredded corn, penne with chicken, and grilled fish)

We then decided to go to Chili’s at Greenbelt 5 for some good American-style food. Famished, we ordered their best-sellers right away – chicken crispers with a side dish of corn, crisp, bottomless nachos in spicy salsa, chicken in a tart tomato sauce, topped over penne pasta, as well as grilled chicken and fish.

Over conversation about the Philippine Fashion Week and some gossip (with the current ado about indecent videos), we wolfed down the Chili’s food right away. At that moment, we just abandoned our promise never to eat shortly before sleeping, and just leveled down the food served to us. Coupled with cold, refreshing glasses of lemonade, it was heaven. Chili’s served food that was not just big, but very satisfying. In fact, most of their fare would qualify for comfort food, just like their delicious, juicy chicken crispers. (If you would count how hungry we were, as we ate at 10 pm, just imagine the comfort level it just gave us.)

Emerging from that Chili’s branch full and satisfied, we went our separate ways, of course, after dinner. Nonetheless, we went our separate ways very fulfilled, having seen a spectacle for the eyes and ears, as well as a feast for the tummy. It was indeed a night of sensory satisfaction, something that we will be looking forward to for the next Philippine Fashion Week.

Do you have any good restaurant experiences with friends? Share it with us! Email your food stories at thepedestrianfoodista@gmail.com. The best entries would be published in our next posts.