WHEN I was in grade school and my dad held office on Pasay Road, he would take us for lunch at Milky Way. While my memories are hazy, I do remember the cafeteria-style setting and appreciating their ice cream. (What else would a kid remember?)

A whole other generation (probably now boasting of their senior citizen cards, hehe!) has better memories. My Nana talks fondly of Milky Way?s famous chicken asparagus sandwich. Or for dessert, their halo-halo or buco lychee sherbet. She recalls that Milky Way was a favorite haunt of the San Beda and Holy Spirit students, Manila?s high society and even the President?s family since Malacañang was only a stone?s throw away.

In an interview, I found out that Milky Way first opened in the early 1950s as a dairy bar in Old San Miguel and was owned by Doña Maria Cartagena de Tomas. When Doña Maria migrated to the United States, the Araullo sisters bought the rights to the restaurant and started adding selections of their own like dinuguan, halo-halo, chicken asparagus sandwich, home-made cakes, and other Pampango specialties. The food was so well received that from the 1970s to the 1990s, Julie Araullo-Gamboa operated 11 Milky Way branches in fast food centers, one-stop restaurants, office cafeterias, and executive dining outlets. The family proudly shared that the menu then consisted of 350 entrees, 220 soups/salads, 180 desserts and 72 sandwiches.

For a while, people thought that Milky Way had disappeared but it has since regained its presence by opening outlets at the Concourse (food) level of the Power Plant in Rockwell, Makati; at the V-Mall in the Greenhills Shopping Center and, the most well-known of them all, on A. Arnaiz Avenue (Pasay Road) in Makati. It is comforting to know that they still serve homestyle comfort food and is still run by Julie Gamboa, but now with her children.

I think another secret to the comforting recipes is that Mrs. Gamboa has maintained not only her recipes but also 10 cooks and staff who have been with the family since they opened their doors in 1962. Like the lolas in the provinces who put their signature in their dishes (?wala talagang kayang kumopya ng dinuguan ni Ka Tage? or ?walang tatalo sa ube halaya ni Aling Belen?) and pass these secrets on only to their most loved children or apos, the cooks at Milky Way carry on the traditions imparted to them by Julie Gamboa.

Another lucky one to inherit the Milky Way tradition is Julie?s son J Gamboa. J Gamboa has made a name for himself, aside from the amazing comeback of Cirkulo, by winning the Hong Kong Food Expo cooking competitions with Chef Ariel Manuel and the prestigious Bonlac Great Chefs of Asia Competition with Chef Jay Roces, where they bested nine other more experienced local and expat chefs and more established restaurants and hotels. That and the fact that he?s h-h-hot (with one lucky misis, sorry girls). You might also recognize him from that Selecta ice cream ad.

Which brings me to why this story is current.

Possibly inspired by the ad, Milky Way has just relaunched it?s own ice cream line. Called... The Ice Cream Line (bow!). The concept is a resurrection of Milky Way ice cream flavors with improvements by Chef J. It is unique because, aside from the quality of Milky Way ice cream that our lolas grew up with (?Iba talaga ang ice cream nung araw,? I would always hear.), they also have uniquely Filipino flavors like avocado, cheese and ube (purple yam).

Oldies like Nana say that the dishes, ice creams and sherbets taste just as they did when they were younger. (Her favorite, though, is the new flavor avocado.) I guess we attribute this to the fact that Chef J Gamboa and his family have strived to maintain the same level of quality of homegrown cuisine that they grew up with. And hopefully, their family will continue this so that many more generations will have a taste of it. ?

Milky Way Café. Milky Way Building, 2/F, 900 A. Arnaiz Avenue, Makati. V-Mall, Greenhills Shopping Center, San Juan. Concourse, Power Plant, Rockwell. Major credit cards accepted. Wheelchair accessible. No reservations required.