BONG O. WENCESLAO:

Columnist Bong Wenceslao recalls his fond memories of two famous eateries in Cebu: Sutukil in Lapu-Lapu City and Larsian near the Fuente Osmeña rotunda. Of the two, he is more familiar with Larsian because he grew up in Sitio Kawayan in Barangay Sambag 2, which is less than a kilometer away. “Larsian was a row of rickety barbecue stalls along one of the sidewalks of Don Mariano Cui St. at a time when Cebu’s night life was limited to nightclubs that cater to the rich, Larsian became a favorite eatery of ordinary people strolling the Fuente or attending some of the night activities there, especially during Sundays.”

Ihave fond memories of two famous eateries (I prefer the term over “restaurant”), the Sutukil (sugba, tuwa, kilaw) at the Mactan Shrine in Lapu-Lapu City and Larsian near the Fuente Osmeña circle. They started as endeavors by small vendors serving the need of common folk. That changed when government tinkered with them without noting why they became popular.

I am more familiar with Larsian because I grew up in Sitio Kawayan in Barangay Sambag 2, which is less than a kilometer away. Larsian was a row of rickety barbecue stalls along one of the sidewalks of Don Mariano Cui St. At a time when Cebu’s night life was limited to nightclubs that cater to the rich, Larsian became a favorite eatery of ordinary people strolling the Fuente or attending some of the night activities there, especially during Sundays.

I ate in the old Sutukil in Mactan only a few times. What stuck in my youthful memory was eating in an on-shore structure whose floor, because it was fashioned from bamboo strips, gave me a glimpse of the sea water that crawled below it especially during high tide. What it offered was something a bit novel then, you buy the fresh sea products and had it cooked or prepared the way you wanted it while you wait. Thus, “sutukil,” a pun for the phrase “shoot-to-kill.”

Both eateries offered food relatively cheaper than in big restaurants (tourists weren’t targeted then), that’s why the lower and lower middle classes frequented them. Then came these eateries’ version of the jeepney modernization program. Larsian and Sutukil underwent renovation, and with the new setup the clientele changed. The food became expensive and the lower and lower middle classes drifted away.

Years after the renovation of Larsian and Sutukil, restaurants flourished everywhere in Metro Cebu that targeted the same clientele the two old eateries were now targeting. So it became a double whammy of sorts. It wasn’t surprising that with the lower and lower middle classes looking for other cheaper eateries and the higher classes going to classy restaurants, the popularity of Larsian and Sutukil waned.

The property where the new Larsian now stands is owned by the Provincial Government even as Larsian is within Cebu City, thus Mayor Tomas Osmeña’s interest in the viability of the said eatery. Both Capitol and City Hall have announced the plan for another renovation of the place and improving its services and management. That’s good. Or should I say, good luck!

What Capitol and City officials may not have realized is that the ordinary folk is frequenting another “Larsian” at night in the sidewalks near the intersection of Colon St. and Osmeña Blvd. The area blossoms with vendors at night offering cheap food to ordinary folks wanting to fill their stomach before hopping into any of the many passenger jeepneys that would bring them home. Grilled fish, barbecue, adobong baboy (Cebuano pork adobo), balut and even saang (spider conch)--name it and they have it and, I would stress this, cheap.

Food and the ambience are not as good as in restaurants, but that’s not the Larsian logic. Easing the pangs of hunger of the cash-strapped is.