Trining's Is A Fine Tribute to An Ilocano Lola's Cooking

(SPOT.ph) There are plenty of reasons why living in Marikina is a good thing: the clean streets, the trees, the parks, the cooler weather at certain months of the year, the overall small town feel. And then a good Filipino restaurant just opened recently in the quieter side of Mayor Gil Fernando Avenue, and things just got even better. The menu leans towards Ilocano flavors, rooted in family traditions but also able to introduce modern twists to comfort dishes without overdoing it.

The place is called Trining’s Kitchen Stories and it has a killer pinakbet, an addictive bopis with gata, and an authentic Ilocano miki that’s been likened to a warm hug.  

Located in a stretch where other purveyors of comfort fare can be found—JT’s Manukan is a few steps away, Pancake House is down the corner, and Marikina-born Filipino restaurant Comedor is just across—Trining’s may not be the easiest to spot. Its unpainted facade easily suggests construction is still ongoing but peek through the glass windows and the dining action is already in full swing.  

Trining's serves memories on a plate  

Popular personalities such as Aiza Seguerra, Agot Isidro, Pasig Vice Mayor Dodot Jaworski and wife Mikee Cojuangco, even the late playright Floy Quintos and former Vice President Leni Robredo, have visited Trining's and raved about the food here. All have obviously gone out of their way to make it to this corner of the metro and get a taste of Trining's “memories on a plate,” as the restaurant’s tagline promises.  

“My dad’s a good cook, my mom’s a really good cook also but my own influences sa food is largely from my grandparents growing up,” shares Trining’s owner and chef, Jayson Maulit. He named the restaurant after his paternal grandmother whom he fondly calls Mama Trining. A tailor and a farmer, she was the hardworking matriarch who mostly raised her four children alone since her husband was away most of the time. “Parang single parent siya for the longest time. She’s the decision maker and best cook in the family,” describes Jayson.  

When Trining died from COVID-19 in 2021, just a few days after her own mother (a lady Jayson calls Ina Dalling) passed away also from Covid, it sparked in Jayson the idea to revive his college dream of putting up a restaurant. Building the menu and the concept became a part of his grieving process, he says. This was going to be the way to keep the memories of the two women alive by creating joy in the kitchen just as his Mama Trining had done.  

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“Death stirred both a different kind of sad and a different kind of fire inside me,” says the chef, sounding emotional. “That was the tipping point. Six months after they died, my everyday thinking was how not to forget them. Eventually, it pointed towards a restaurant--which is a lifelong dream but I didn’t think I had the courage to do it before.”    

The menu, curated by Jayson himself, allowed him to sift through rich memories in their family kitchens over the years, specifically those times spent cooking in his hometown of Banna, Ilocos with his Mama Trining. “Nung seven years old ako first time kong pasahan ng empty na bote ng suka (slathered) with mantika para sa pag-gawa ng miki noodles. The next year, kasama na ako sa pag-gawa ng tupig (roasted glutinous rice cake wrapped in banana leaf). The year after, kasama na ako sa pagkatay ng manok. Ang trabaho ko taga-tanggal ng balahibo after mabanlian yung manok ng mainit na tubig.”  

Dishes on the Trining’s menu like Trining's Miki (P260), Dinengdeng Good Job (P320), and Trining's Pakbet Ilocano (P360) stayed true to his Mama Trining’s style and taste. The pakbet, for example, does not include kalabasa, alamang or onion, just the way Trining cooked it for the family. Their noodles for the Ilocano miki, just like the family had it in Ilocos, are made from scratch. While a few dishes were modified, most of the Ilocano fare, which includes the Glorious Dinakdakan (P370), are prepared with reverence to the Ilocano style, wherein the dominant flavor profile is bitter. “Ilocano cuisine lang ang may dishes na unashamedly uses ampalaya or bile as base,” the young chef explains.  

The reverence extends to not-exactly-Ilocano dishes, too, such as the Tinola, or Ina's Tinola (P470) where they use ampalaya leaves instead of sili or malunggay leaves. The use of bugnay wine for their mustasa salad dressing and basi for their bagnet vinegar dip stay true to how the Ilocanos prefer the tanginess in their ulam.  

Kimchi Binagoongan Fried Rice, anyone?  

It is in the non-Ilocano dishes, however, where Jayson allowed himself room for “crazy and creative renditions.” Apart from their bopis with gata, Bopis Be With U (P350), they also have Rey's Will-To-Live Kimchi Binagoongan Fried Rice (P140), Nono's Poqui Poqui (P270) which is served as a dip for fried molo wrappers rather than as a side dish, and St. Anthony Crispy Tintadong Pusit which is thin, soft squid meat fried to a crisp covered in its own ink (it's great with beer or as ulam). They also serve not just one but three versions of Kare-Kare, or Judith's Kare-Kare With Szechuan Alamang. All have the same roasted peanut base (as opposed to peanut butter) but different meats: one has only tripe and ox tail, the second has Bagnet (his father’s version, priced at P700), and the third has Crispy Pata (his mom’s version, priced at P1750). All are paired with the restaurant’s signature Szechuan alamang that give each subo a pleasantly numbing kick.  

Combining the family’s well-loved family recipes and applying modern takes on classic Filipinos dishes is how Jayson is able to accommodate food from his past and showcase it in the present.  “We look at Filipino food in the context of memories and at the same time vision, like 'Where are we going with our cuisine?' It’s an interpretation of Filipino dishes because tinuruan kaming maging creative sa kitchen. We were allowed to experiment with flavors in our home especially with spices,” he says.  

Trining’s also features a bar with crafted cocktails that have interesting flavors and garnishes. Forgive Me Father is a Sampaguita-infused sake drink with house-made arnibal, kalamansi, and torched egg whites, while the Wh*rechata is a Cacao-infused whisky with Frangelico, house horchata, Giffard vanilla with pinipig ampaw as garnish. A Trining’s signature cocktail is Pa Litaw which is horchata that captures the taste of Mama Trining’s signature palitaw. 

Cooking from the heart in Marikina  

Jayson emphasizes that their kitchen staff, just like himself, his parents (former restaurateurs) and grandparents are mostly self-taught cooks. “They have been in the industry for more than decade,” says Jayson. “but they are not formally trained cooks. I want to show our customers that you can create a professional kitchen with people who got the skills through heart and not through a technical formal education.”  
  
Cooking from the heart is also the best way to tell stories through food and bring out its amazing ability to transport us to the past. We operate on memory, Jayson says, and Trining’s is not only his way of celebrating his grandmother’s memory through food but a medium through which his diners will also know the kind of human being that Trining was. “If she lived in this generation, feeling ko she’s a go-getter, warm but at the same time self-assured,” Jayson muses. “Si Trining, as a person, gusto niya lahat na pumapasok sa kusina walang nagugutom, ayaw niya nang may hindi nakakakin at hindi mabubusog.” 

Trining's Kitchen Stories is at Centre De, L12, B3, G. Fernando Avenue, C. Buenviaje, Marikina, Metro Manila. For reservations, call 0917-8831369. Open Monday to Sunday from 11AM to 10PM. Their Instagram is Trining's Kitchen Stories. 

Also read: Things To Do, Where to Eat in Marikina