Our Italian restaurant is a cozy home in the Bronx

The six-course dinner prepared by Boyet Loverita

Boyet about to toss the baby carrots into the steaming pan.

It was a small gathering that included a diplomat, a priest and a deacon. Throw in two nurses, a financial executive and a reporter (ahem!) and the odd mix of people — some of them meeting for the first time — found themselves relishing congenial company and great food and not in a mutually exclusive way.

Trust Cesar ‘Boyet’ Loverita’s Waray Connection to make this table huddle click.

Boyet, 50, known in the Filipino American community as ‘Yetbo’ the photographer is from Laoang in Northern Samar. He prepared a six-course Italian meal for his guests that included Msgr. Romualdo Sosing of Catarman, who is the first Filipino parish priest in Long Island; Deacon Adolfo Novio also of Laoang, who is awaiting his ordination in May; Consul General Mario de Leon Jr. and his wife Eleanor, who hails from Borongan; and myself. It was Msgr. Sosing’s birthday and so the intimate reception had candles on a tiramisu cake!

When Boyet is not taking pictures of community galas or caring for a young quadriplegic gentleman as a private nurse, he is in the kitchen cooking Italian dishes. Boyet lived in Italy for seven years working for a financial company owned by a Filipino. While in Florence, he became enamored with Italian cooking and came regularly to a wine bar-restaurant called Beccofino just to watch how pasta is cooked through its glass window. In time, he became friends with the owner, a gentleman by the name of Francesco Berardelli, and he got front-row seat into his hallowed kitchen.

“Everything was fresh,” he said, recalling how food was prepared in this wine bar. “They really value authenticity.”

That has been his one guiding principle in the kitchen. So on that frigid night of February 7 while much of the Bronx remained encrusted in snow, Boyet had friends over for Italian dinner. He was assisted by Lindy Rosales, his gracious Significant Other.

We began our journey into traditional Italian cuisine with gorgonzola bruschetta topped with heirloom tomato and basil. This was followed by pasta with Manila clams in white sauce. Next plate had roasted farm chicken and wild rice with porcini mushroom. Porcini is said to be hard to find and very expensive, but in New York, Boyet said, “You can find anything.”

Our fourth dish was lemon poached branzino with baby carrots and potatoes. Our branzino, also known as Mediterranean sea bass, was flaky and flavorful.

By this time, we were groaning from too much food albeit served in small plates. But how do you say ‘no’ to Italian desserts? How do you even say ‘maybe, later’?

Boyet was still torching his crème brulees and I was already watering in the mouth. The ramekins were passed around, and we all dug in as if with military precision. The caramel top had that perfect slightly-burnt taste and that crackly, glassy glaze. Boyet called our attention to the little black dots at the bottom of our ramekins.

“That’s fresh vanilla bean, and not because your dish is dirty,” he said.

Our Fat Cook is also one Funny Cook!

The conversation just flowed and continued well into midnight, with Msgr. Sosing regaling us with stories about his Long Island parish and the residents’ inordinate love for animals. Consul General De Leon dished morsels of food stories and how in some parts of the world, such as South Africa, hand-to-mouth dining is still a revered tradition.

The Warays in our table — Mrs. De Leon, Msgr. Sosing and Adolfo – reminisced about their towns and the amount of priests they produced. It was one mesmerizing evening among friends and strangers, and it was food that glued us together like we had known each other from birth.

It all depends upon your appetite. Why did I have that Billy Joel song in my head on my ride home?

The dinner party with (from left) Msgr. Romualdo Sosing, Marlyn Rosales, Consul General Mario de Leon Jr. and his wife Eleanor, consular staff, Lindy Rosales, and Rev. Adolfo Novio

The Fat Cook caramelizing our crème brulee.