A NEW haven for vegetarians in a quiet corner of Jupiter Street in Bel-Air, Makati, is now the buzz.

Corner Tree Café draws not only vegans but also resolute healthy eaters.

?It?s a true-blue vegetarian restaurant, but it?s also a place for meat eaters who want to learn to eat vegetarian food,? says owner Chiqui Mabanta, a vegetarian herself for a decade now. She?s also part-owner of Mexicali.

It?s been Mabanta?s desire to open a vegetarian restaurant despite the fact that many vegetarian places have tried and failed to sustain the concept. She?s aware that most Filipinos have a poor impression of vegetarian food ? bland and boring.

?They?re scared because it?s just vegetables, baka hindi sila mabusog [they might not be sated],? she says. ?Some have failed because I think they were ahead of their time or they were too intense in pushing it. There?s also this image that it?s too clean and monotonous.?

Mabanta is out to prove that vegetarian food can be exciting, tasty, filling and really satisfying.

Corner Tree Café?s ambiance is cool, cozy and homey. It has a bar; its food is complemented with wine or fruit smoothies.

?I?m presenting vegetarian food in a different way, that?s why I serve wine. I?m no purist but if you enjoy a meal with wine, why not? Some people have asked me why I serve wine, since it?s not healthy after all. You see, I?m not trying to tell people how to live. I?m just giving people an option to enjoy a variety of food that?s healthy and enjoyable.?

Ready

Mabanta believes Manila is now ready for her kind of food that?s rich yet nourishing.

?I think there?s a demand now, especially among the yoga people, athletes and vegetarian expatriates. They have been looking for a place like this,? she says.

Since Corner Tree Café (8970295) opened, Mabanta gets reservations every day and regular bookings for parties and meetings. Though her quaint café can fit only 26 people, with additional outdoor tables for smokers, Mabanta is ecstatic that people are beginning to accept vegetarian food as part of their gustatory adventure.

The well-thought-out menu is a good selection from starters to the main course.

For appetizers, there?s Dukka, a distinctly Egyptian snack with a blend of spices, seeds and nuts and served with extra virgin olive oil and warm chunks of whole wheat bread (dip bread in extra virgin olive oil then in dukka).

Spinach Feta Croquettes is the all-time favorite ? three tasty croquettes made with fresh spinach, feta cheese and organic rice, served with mint yogurt sauce.

Soups include Sicilian Tomato and Bread Soup and Spinach and Pechay Chowder.

Those who prefer their salads raw can try the Corner Tree Café?s Raw Organic Salad, an all-organic cornucopia of carrots, red beets and jicama (singkamas), raw walnuts with greens and a choice of tahini dressing or lemon mustard vinaigrette.

Deadly desserts

For the main course, choices include North African Vegetable Stew, vegetarian stew infused with saffron and Moroccan spices served over couscous and topped with toasted almonds and fresh coriander; Japanese Platter, six pieces of nori rolls with shiitake mushrooms, asparagus, carrots and organic red rice served with Japanese cucumber and seaweed salad and a bowl of miso soup; Broccoli Parmesan Torte, a golden baked dish with broccoli, parmesan cheese, organic red rice and eggs served with organic green salad.

For burger lovers, there?s also a healthy Baked Tofu Walnut Burger served with sweet potato fries and homemade mayonnaise and organic salad.

Oddly, the desserts are definitely not healthy. Mabanta admits her desserts are deadly, but she gives the options to her diners. Dark Chocolate Mousse with Toblerone and Cream Cheese and Chocolate Brownies are wonderful sweet endings, but she also has Fresh Fruit with Poppy Seed Yogurt for the purists.

She also serves organic wines from France. Mabanta explains an organic wine simply means the grapes used had not been sprayed with pesticides, therefore they?re much cleaner.

Personal favorites

The dishes in the menu are Mabanta?s personal favorites, which she has been cooking for years now.

?I have more than a hundred dishes in mind, but I had to trim them down. It was difficult to choose but each dish has to be different from the other,? says Mabanta.

Unlike other vegetarian restaurants, Corner Tree Café doesn?t use meat substitutes like veggie meat.

?There?s no veggie meat here because it?s not necessarily healthy. I want to celebrate vegetables and make them come out not as a side dish but as the superstar dish,? states Mabanta.

Corner Tree Café is open Tuesday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. It?s closed on Mondays.