What a difference fifteen years has made in the landscape of Filipino restaurants and stores. In the 1980's and 1990's, there were very few restaurants that sold Pin@y food here in the Bay Area. Mr. Lumpia in Oakland was one, but the service was spotty. A couple of people I knew ordered 500 lumpias for a conference. When they dropped by to pick up the lumpia, they got "No." Bwahahha. They ended up cutting some ham and cold cuts and skewering them in toothpicks. New Filipinas Restaurant in the Mission area of San Francisco was pretty good during the years 1998-2000. The food was tasty and properly prepared. (Lately however, the place has gone definitely to the dumps. They even screw up adobong baboy!) And of course, Goldilock's arrival in 1997 in Richmond was a godsend.

Another stellar store is Valerio's which originally began in Los Angeles. The store was known because of the legendary pan de sal. I myself never tasted the pan de sal because I figured that it could not be that good. How ignorant I was! I finally tasted this mana and I can say that Valerio's pan de sal is worth every single sacrifice you will have to make with respect to parking, heat from the weather, or price. Actually price is not that expensive (12 pieces for <$4).

Imagine my surprise though when I realized that Valerio's can make pan de sal from wheat. Wow! I thought that wheat was a curse from god. But in a Valerio's pan de sal, wheat becomes very, very tasty. Yet, the wheat taste is blended into the pan de sal taste. How Valerio's does it, I don't know. And if someone finds out, please e-mail to the world. Not that I would go to all that trouble to bake pan de sal. It's too much work.

This past weekend, we visited because I was hearing the call of the salted bread. I was surprised to see a sign that said "Try our Buko Pie!" BUKO PIE!!! Talk about childhood memories. This was definitely in the Top 50 of my childhood. Buko pie was synonymous to the trips to the provinces that seemed to last a lifetime. Somewhere between Bulacan and the final destination, we saw the vendors of buko pie. The pie itself is made up of stringy coconut with some gelatin like substance. The Valerios version replaces the gelatin with custard. It's a double whammy of diabetes and cardiovascular disease for everyone!!! So if you are in the Northern California area, drop by Valerio's! You won't regret it.