BANKERS Emilio Pilar and wife Redemcion wanted to spend their retirement running a restaurant and bed-and-breakfast in Quezon, so they transformed a part of the six-hectare property inherited from Pilar?s in-laws, Catalino Javierto and Dionisia Villa. They put up Villa Javierto.

In their younger days, the couple sold estate jewelry such as lockets and tamburins to augment their income. The buy-and-sell business evolved into Pilar?s Antiques, a place famous in Southern Luzon for simple but elegant Filipino period furniture and home ware.

The couple designed the Prayer Walk for his prayer group, which starts with a fountain and archway leading to quiet corners for meditation and contemplation.

Visitors walk through trellises of millionaire?s vines and plots of tropical plants. Coconut trees, yuccas and anahaw trees decked with bird?s nest ferns line the walkways. The grounds are covered with kutsarita, yellowbell vines, interspersed with weathered railroad tiles and pavers etched with imprints of elephant?s ears.

Lush garden

The garden is lush with flowering bushes, stargazers and dahlias. Vigan jars, two-seat antique carriages and horse-drawn carriage from Batangas and Binondo, rustic molave tables and stone benches serve as accents. At night, the garden is lit with floor lamps made from old grills and cathedral window panes.

The walk winds up in the chapel, a pastiche of architecture fragments and florid wrought-iron grillwork, its altar made of balayong. Devotees soak in the peaceful atmosphere as they sit on modest molave and kamagong benches.

Pilar?s newest venture is the outdoor restaurant, Catalino?s, named after his father-in-law. Antique shop clients enjoy the native specialties as they scrutinize the merchandise.

The restaurant specializing in local cuisine fills a void in Lucena where most of the dining places offer Chinese food and cater to the Chinese-Filipino community.

Pilar built a covered deck by the cliff overlooking the Alitaoo River and the mist-covered Mt. Banahaw. The place is lined with molave planks from the coastal fishing town of Gumaca.

The Art Nouveau railings from old houses in Quezon wrap around the place.

Like the composite architecture, the furniture is a medley of batibot and wooden chairs from Batangas, Quezon and Marinduque that match the molave and balayong tables, covered with vintage crochet tablecloths. The table is laden with plates and glasses from the ?20s and ?30s, and potted orchids.

Fresh cuisine

Catalino?s specializes in Southern Luzon cuisine which uses a lot of fresh coconut and freshwater (not cultured) shrimps.

Sinigang na hipong ilog is stewed from shrimps from the river, cooked with coconut meat and water. The alang-ang is another dish of freshwater shrimps with toasted, young grated coconut. Pinais is shrimps with grated coconut, wrapped in banana leaves, steamed and boiled in coconut water.

Pilar takes pride in using native chicken for tinolang manok Tagalog with lemongrass. ?It?s organic and you don?t taste the feeds,? he says. Sinaing na tulingan or tuna is flat, dried fish served with pajo, a variety of small mangoes which smells like dill. It goes with cherry tomatoes.

Karajo, a fish dried under the sun for a long time, is crisp and meaty, and even the scales are delectable.

The halo-halo uses frozen coconut puree instead of milk ? no need for sugar. Fragrant and fine-grained rice called sinandoming accompanies the dishes.

The place has been attracting visitors by word of mouth. Some even stay at the bed-and-breakfast cottages which cost only P1,800 a night.

The gushing sounds of water from the river and the symphony of the crickets soothe the senses and make dining more enjoyable.

Villa Javierto is at 2497 Gulang-gulang, Lucena, Quezon. Call 042-7105753 or 0917-7434127.