Frenz Fries: Dolce Vita Steakhouse

“One should love beyond emotions, in the harmony of art works, in the enchanted order. We should learn to love each other so much, to live outside of time... detached.”

- La Dolce Vita, 1960

In the world peppered with debauchery and spiced with uncertainty, some of the good things we have and hope for aren’t always meant to last. We envy people who have everything. We fall out of love. We search life’s meaning through seemingly meaningless engagements. Death is inevitable but for those who believe, oh the sweetness of life, remains just the same. Forgive me for the sentiments, silly me and still hung up after watching La Dolce Vita.

Just a friendly reminder though, it’s better you watch the movie first before visiting the eponymous restaurant. It’s like getting acquainted with the mother before meeting the child. The movie tells a story of a journalist’s week in Rome, interacting with the members of the high society, taking pleasure in whirlwind romances, but really searching for both happiness and love, which he soon will discover as elusive as time. I guess the movie made such a huge impression in the owner’s life (that or he got smitten with the feisty Yvonne Furneaux) that he decided to name the restaurant after one of the most widely seen and acclaimed European movies by Italian film legend Federico Fellini in the 1960s.

The movie’s good, realistic and sad at times, but quite honestly I thoroughly enjoyed my Dolce Vita Steakhouse experience more hehe. Thanks to the man behind the good food, Chef Tiziano Cavallini of Modena, Italy, home of the first balsamic vinegar, Pavarotti and Ferrari. He makes life a little sweeter for Filipinos, especially in Ermita area. Try visiting between 2-6 pm, and you’ll exclaim la dolce vita… you’ll see life is full surprises.