When thinking of affordable and accessible fine dining with lots of ambience, Cafe Juanita in Bgy. Kapitolyo in Pasig City has always been one of the favorite restos to go to.
And so it was indeed a pleasant surprise when the affable Dan Arriola, inspite of the odds was able to pull through, and with flying colors at that, the indomitable task of arranging a saturday afternoon of portrait sketching cum dining for Pasig Art Club with the cafe owner himself - the genteel and charming Dr. Efren Vazquez. Dan met the good doctor while both of them were doing regular swimming workouts at the Pasig Ultra.
The clubmembers assembled at Kainan Au Gusto which used to be Cafe Juanita before the latter was relocated along the main entrance drive to this upper middle class enclave. Lunch was modest but sumptuous filipino "turo-turo" style. By two o'clock in the afternoon, the portrait sketching session began at Cafe Juanita which is just a block away from Kainan Au Gusto.
Cafe Juanita is housed in a vintage 60's two storey structure sandwiched between a Japanese resto and a unisex salon, all owned by Dr. Vazquez. While the contiguous white facade are all done in simple contemporary lines, the interiors are a treasure trove of asian furnitures and accent pieces that bespeaks of Dr. Vazquez's fine taste and travels.
Impressive portrait renderings in graphite, charcoal, pen and ink and pastels were turned in by clubmembers - Pres. Lhen Perez- Cruzat, VP/Sec Elwin de Jesus, VP/Treas Chiqui Eusebio-Ocinar, PP Jun Montifar, Melba and Nito Tiongco, Tess Dimanlig-Torda, Tupe Peralta, Alfred Morales, Nasser Zulueta, Jo Roxas, Gelo Domingo, Eden Gail Tendencia, Dan Arriola and PP Ace Dimanlig (who graciously acceded to Dr. Vazquez's request to tinker on the keyboards of his two grands and vintage upright pianos).
Completing the cast of attendees were artists Anita del Rosario and Ely Tablizo, and Joey Reyes, Franco Merjudio, and Ritchie del Rosario who photo documented the event. Pancit canton and halo-halo delighted the artists who left the place with wonderful and fond memories.