Sometime last week, I found myself in western Chula Vista again for a computer training. Last time we did this, the coworkers and I ate at the Chula Vista Adult School Culinary Art Program in room 203 (see original post
here). For $8.00, you can choose between two appetizers, entrees, and desserts. Your meal also comes with two sides and a drink. The head chef of the home economics department iis Chef Ellen Baum. She and her students make a delicious lunch every Wednesday and Thursday at the Chula Vista Adult School campus. They only serve lunch from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm. You can also in the neighborhood or park on campu,s but that day I went, I was lucky to get a spot.
I got there early, around noon. My coworkers ended up running late and only one ended up joining me. This post only shows my meal since my coworker got practically the same thing as me.
I chose the Salmon Puff Pastry which came with two sides of vegetables: Roasted new potatoes and green beans with yellow squash. Also included was a bread roll, a mini tart, dessert and a drink (lemonade or iced tea)...
Here's a close up of Salmon. The other choice was a Teriyaki Pineapple Hamburger. Having had chicken teriyaki pineapple meatballs for the past week, I wanted to try something different. I didn't really like the taste of this. The fish had some sort of mushroom sauce in there but made the flaky pastry kind of soggy inside. My coworker on the other hand, really liked it; in fact she polished hers off. I only ate 1/4 of this and boxed up the rest. It was actually quite a large portion of food and I couldn't fathom even finishing even half of it.
This photo should have come before the entree photo. This was my appetizer, the Tomato Basil Tart. The other choice was a sweet potato soup garnished with sour cream and some chive snippets. I really liked this tart - the crust was nice and flaky but it was not puff pastry. Each ingredient tasted so fresh and stood out on their own. The fresh basil also went well with the tomatoes and the thin layer of mozzarella cheese. It reminded me of a tiny pizza but way better.
My dessert was the Apple Charlotte. I'd never heard of a "charlotte" before so I chose that over the Tiramisu. Ho Hum. Boring.
According to Wikipedia's entry on "Charlotte""
"
A Charlotte is a of dessert that can be served hot or cold. It can also be known as an 'ice-box cake'. Bread, sponge cake or biscuits/cookies are used to line a mould, which is then filled with a fruit puree or custard. It can also be made using layers of breadcrumbs. (more info here).
I really liked this dessert, especially the bread! It was soaked in butter and had a bit of a crispness to it. The dessert was filled with tiny chopped apples and golden raisins. It was really quite good but I ended up eating the crust!
I notice, like last time, that many of the cooks were staring at me. Specifically the older Filipina ladies. I mean, there was a mix of ethnicities working there (Hispanic, Caucasian, Filipino and Asian) as well as ages (20's up to senior citizen age). Last time I was there, I used my superawesome-equivalent-to-a-two-year-old Tagalog speaking skillz to thank the elderly Filipina cooks who served me my meal choices as well as the older Filipino man who took my payment at the end of the cafeteria line. This time, I could hear them buzzing in Tagalog about whether or not I was Filipino. I just smiled at them understanding what they were saying about me. Hey, at least they were not talking shit!
So, after I paid and sat down, I was fiddling with my camera (ha ha, I bring it with me everywhere!) and after a few seconds, noticed someone standing next to me. I looked up and saw it was one of the older Lolas who was smiling at me earlier. She was beaming and asked me excactly what I knew she was going to ask me. Man, this should be a comedy bit because it's always the SAME three questions. I am not kidding you.
Here goes:
1) Are you a Filipina?
My reply, "Opo" (which is a respectful way to say, "Yes", when you use "po" at the end of everything you say".
To which, she began to speak to me in Tagalog....which lead to the next expected question.
2) Do you speak Tagalog?
"Kaunte lang 'po" (Just a little bit, which is basically shite! In otherwords, NO!) and in English, I told her that I understood it more than could speak it. I didn't tell her that I know many of the bad words! Well, who doesn't?
After hearing my lack of Tagalog skills, she mercifully switched to English...actually I would have done all right if she kept on speaking Tagalog!
3) Where are you from?
"San Diego...but my parents are from Zaragoza, San Vicente, Nueva Ecija (in order: the town, the province, and the region of the Philippines)."
See if I just said San Diego, she would have asked me where my parents were from so I beat her to the punch by answering her ahead of time. The question, "Where are you from" really means "Where are your parents from" especially if they know you were born in the States like I am.
She said she and the other ladies were wondering what I was and she seemed happy that she was "right" in her assumption of my ethnicity. She asked how old I was. She also complimented me on my hairdo and how "young" I looked. Again, I didn't take any of her questions personally even though most people would consider it pretty personal to be nosying up to someone like that. It's a Filipino thing I guess. It was like she was my Lola or something (if my Lolas were still alive).
She told her mer kids were grown up and that they were in their fifties! "My oldest is 59!"
I told her that she looked so young to have 50 year old children to which she challenged me to "guess her age". Before I could reply, (thankfully) she proudly told me that she was 79. I tell you , she did not look that old! Proof that Filipinos age well! She seemed so spry and happy.
Anyways, that was a fun little conversation from an elderly Pinay who was quite friendly. Maybe, the workers probably don't see many Filipinos that pass through the cafeteria. Many of the people who ate there were either employees (classified and certificated). I spotted the principal of Chula Vista High eating at a solitary table.
Next time I have another computer training, I definitely plan to come here again!
Here's another look at that fritatta. When I was taking photos, I was getting wierd looks (as always) but I didn't give a fk. I even asked one of the chefs if I could take photos and they were happy to have me do so. About this fritatta, it was big and fluffy, but a bit too "eggy" for my taste.
Another side dish was steamed vegetables (string beans and zucchini)...
Oops, I skipped ahead. Here are the desserts - A Maple Apple Verrine (a French layered dish which can either be sweet or savory, in this case, it was sweet) and Orange Bundt Cake garnished with a dollop of whipped cream and a tiny bit of an orange slice.
Most of us got the same thing - the Beef and Mushroom Stroganoff served over egg noodles with steamed vegetables and the artichoke fritatta.
Here's the dining area...Most of the chefs were older adults. A few of them were older Filipinos, like almost as old as my mom. I was tempted to call them Uncle and Auntie. I thanked them in Tagalog which they seemed to appreciate. I also asked if them if the food was "Sarap sarap", and they laughed.
One co-worker got the orange bundt cake while the rest of us got this parfait like dessert which had sliced apples and a maple flavored gelative. The thinly sliced apple had an "apple shaped" cut out, with the cutout itself garnishing the top of the dessert.
Here's another co-worker's plate. She had the breaded catfish with parmesan. Her sides were the sauteed vegetables with rice pilaf and a bread roll.
Hopefully we'll have another off campus training so we can check this place out again
