When in Cebu, getting invited to dinners hosted or styled by Teresin Mendezona always yields delightful surprises. There’s the good mix of company, of course, but other than that, there’s Mendezona’s distinctive way of creating elegant ambiance, even at a moment’s notice.

The woman has taste—that much is acknowledged in Cebu and elsewhere. That’s why, given all the major events (including Apec) and weddings she has styled in the southern province, she’s called, with affection, the “Martha Stewart of Cebu”—a tag that merely makes her throw her glance skyward, as if in disbelief, and also smile.

She didn’t formally train for styling—who did among today’s leading stylists?—but her background has more than aptly prepared her for this most interesting hobby or unplanned career. Married to a high-ranking oil firm executive, she was a stay-at-home wife preoccupied with hosting dinners for her husband.

The couple was assigned in Davao for a good many years, then finally in Cebu. Those provincial postings taught her to be ingenious and tap whatever food and materials were available to make home entertaining special and memorable. She also became a formidably good cook.

In styling dinners, she can go huge, in terms of logistics, or very simple, modest and practical, as we’ve seen in the almost impromptu dinners we’ve had in her home.

She always creates unique visual experiences—and often, a good, home-cooked meal.

For a recent birthday of a friend at Radisson Blu, for instance, she used a high-chic mix of silver, crystal and phalaenopsis. Everything was all clean, clear and white. The touch of color? All the guests came in fuchsia—the birthday motif.

At one intimate dinner she prepared in her house for friends, she used plants and blooms from her garden and displayed them in green glassware, including bottles, from her storage.

Backdropped by the oriental mural in her dining room, the table arrangement came out natural, lush and chic orientalia, a perfect setting for her house specialties of mildly cooked prawns, lamb, Middle Eastern rice, and of course, her signature “biko” for dessert— “malagkit” rice topped with coconut, also known as Teresin’s coconut bibingka.

Mendezona’s garden is a work of art and love. Cultivated (in huge pots) on her terrace overlooking the city skyline, it spreads out like an extension of her living room and dining room. It’s a natural mix of ferns, vines with blooms, bougainvillea and other ornamentals. It’s so lush and alive that it’s obvious how Mendezona tends to it every day—and talks to those plants every morning as she has her morning coffee.