Private dining space in Greenhills is all about the details
Putting up a business during the pandemic was a sign of nerve or, at the very least, hope that things would improve in time. That’s exactly what Paolo Bustamante did when he opened Five Private Dining in Greenhills two years ago.
The country was still reeling from the effects of the restrictions and lockdowns but was slowly getting back on its feet. Bustamante wanted something new to busy himself with. In the past, he was a member of the all-male singing group Men and Music, and used to manage talents, including model Brad Turvey and actor Ian Veneracion, before joining the A-Team, the managing company led by singer Ogie Alcasid. He also used to run and operate a restaurant, Petra, before he went into catering.
The pandemic put a halt to all forms of public entertainment and enforced strict social distancing. “I needed to do something with my time. I’ve always wanted to put up a private dining place so I turned the space on the third floor of our building into one that offered exactly that,” he told Lifestyle earlier this week.
Since he already knows his way around the kitchen and has ample experience entertaining family and friends, it was just a matter of figuring out the menu for Five, which can comfortably accommodate anywhere from six to 28 people at a time.
“My dishes are mainly Spanish, Italian, and American. I used to offer Chinese and Japanese items but for some reason, very few people ordered them.” Now, potential clients are given a menu where they can choose a soup or salad, one pasta, and three main courses. Depending on the client’s choices, the price per person can range from P1,300 to P1,800.
Bustamante also includes an appetizer of sirloin beef tapa, dessert of panna cotta served in ramekins and iced tea and sodas.
“Our bestsellers are the Seafood Paella, Baked Salmon, slow-roasted Beef Belly, Pork Shoulder Pineapple Ham, and the Iberian Chicken, all of which are served buffet-style on heating plates,” Bustamante said. “No old-style chafing dishes here.”
Iberian Chicken
On the afternoon we visited, he had prepared Iberian Chicken (baked chicken in white wine with garlic sausage), creamy Blue Marlin with garlic and capers and sirloin beef tapa with a side of pillowy scrambled eggs. The chicken was as good as the first time I tasted it a year ago. It remained juicy after being marinated in wine, and savory because of the crumbly garlic sausage and the whole garlic cloves. The chicken cuts are huge—entire thighs, breasts and drumsticks—but the small parts that break off are the best.
“Nagpapasobra talaga ako (I intentionally put more) for each order. If there’s food left over, the staff already knows to pack them up for the guests in microwaveable containers that we provide. We also don’t charge corkage for outside items. If they want, they can bring in cake, lechon or their own drinks.”
He has thought about almost everything clients might require or—in the case of the Karaoke set-up—take delight in. Do people actually use it? “Oh yes, 90 percent of them do, and we have an overhead projector they can use as well.”
Each set of guests is given a generous five hours for their lunch or dinner reservation. After the lunch group exits by 4 or 5 p.m., his team goes about cleaning and sanitizing the space for the incoming dinner group. At the far corner is a small sitting area with a coffee table and several board games.
Aside from doing all the cooking with one assistant, Bustamante also took charge of the look of Five. His older brother Pablo “Boy” Bustamante III made many of the wooden items, including the sturdy tables with Machuca tile tabletops, the coffeetable and side tables made from discarded wood and even some of the picture frames.
“Everything else you see on display, I bought from Facebook Marketplace. I wanted a laid-back, bohemian look so there’s a gallery wall displaying an assortment of plates. The plates used for dining are mismatched, and so are the chairs. My brother turned an old aparador I saw on FB into a cabinet with a glass front for additional plates, cups and saucers.”
Bustamante recalled a time when he would head to the Dapitan Arcade in Quezon City and stock up on plates and water goblets for use during family get-togethers at home. “We were 23 in the family, but I always bought extra in case of breakage.”
He now has dozens of plates and glasses in rotation. Dining at Five is like eating at a friend’s house. The food is plentiful and you don’t feel the need to rush through the meal. “It’s really like the extension of our house,” he said.
Five Private Dining is at 3/F BLK 113 Bldg., 53 Connecticut St., Greenhills, San Juan; tel. 0920-9592576.
