Once a New Minstrel, always a New Minstrel

Once a New Minstrel, always a New Minstrel. Once a good cook and baker, always a good cook and baker.

These describe lawyer Rene Puno and his wife Ann every time they host in their art-accented home. Guests inevitably ask the lawyer, who was a member of the famous New Minstrels (the band that became the music landmark of the ‘70s onwards), to sing—sometimes he would oblige, other times he’d give way to guests such as the irrepressible Philippine Star columnist Bum Tenorio who’d easily turn us guests into a captive audience, both by his singing and soliloquy.

The music and the merrymaking follow a much-awaited trip to the groaning dining table of sumptuous dishes prepared by Ann’s Ann Puno’s Kitchen, from cochinillo so Instragrammable when being sliced with plates, to paella. Ann Puno’s kitchen also has bottled goodies, from dulong to cassava—her cassava pudding in a bottle is to die for; she’s been known for her cakes and baked goodies.

It’s the hard-to-resist combo of music, merry chats and family specialties that makes a dinner with the Punos always something to look forward to.

So when Rene marked his 70^th birthday last June, his few invited friends made the trip all the way to the south, at Palms Country Club, to join the celebration. They helped themselves to the Continental restaurant buffet, and after dinner, again they couldn’t help themselves to ask Rene to sing. This time, there were surprise guest singers, namely Ding Mercado of the New Minstrels—who still could enthrall with his songs—and actor Ricky Davao.

In the end, after blowing the candles on his birthday cake and making his birthday wish surrounded by family, Rene gave in to the guests’ clamor for him to sing—a Stevie Wonder, For Once In My Life. Then you realized, music beats age, any time.