Good friends, great food and family gatherings

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September 30, 2026 | 12:00am

Good friends, good food and lively conversation are surely among life’s greatest pleasures. And if studies are right that staying socially connected helps keep us mentally fit, our decades-long friendship with the Lopez family is certainly doing us good!

We have been fortunate to regularly get together with our compadres Jun and Menchu Lopez. We learned that Jun, my hubby Ramon Jacinto’s Ateneo classmate, first became smitten with Menchu when, as teenagers, he would hang out with her only brother, Rico Tantoco, another Ateneo classmate. Fifty-nine years later, their lasting romance continues.

We recently joined them for an intimate belated anniversary dinner in their Forbes Park home, surrounded by Jun’s fascinating menagerie of animals and reptiles and Menchu’s beautiful chinaware. Among the treasures on display was a lovely European porcelain set that belonged to her mother, Glecy Tantoco, that once graced their home in Franklin Lakes.

True to form, Menchu created a table setting perfectly matched to the Japanese-themed dinner, complete with Japanese plates and Wagyu flown in from Japan. The delicious feast was prepared by the family’s Gourmet Garage chef, Jerold Cruz, who cooked for both of our Lopez dinners and previously worked at Jean-Georges in New York.

Conversation took an interesting turn when Fr. Julian Mazana of Colegio San Agustin shared how a young Alex Eala once played tennis on the school courts and how he, a tennis enthusiast himself, recommended her to the Rafa Nadal Academy. The rest is tennis history.

And happily, we got together with the Lopez family soon after when our neighbors Quito and Pam Lopez welcomed us into their art-filled home for another wonderful dinner by Jerold. Quito was actually the first in the couple to develop a serious interest in art and began collecting and buying works, with Pam happily following his lead. Their home has since evolved into a veritable mini art museum of local and international artists — particularly fitting for Pam, the creative director of the family’s Floret stores.

Quito also has a keen eye for design in his professional life as Starbucks Philippines’ vice president for store development. He is part of the family business behind the Philippine Starbucks story, which began with the first store in 1997 and has since grown to more than 500 outlets nationwide.

As always, conversation flowed. The women compared notes on the latest addictive K-dramas, while the men shared their viewing interests, medical updates and international politics.

Two memorable dinners, one cherished family friendship — and plenty more stories to share around the table.