Town & Country Philippines had the city buzzing when it celebrated the seventh anniversary of its Fabulous Food Affair, dahlings.
The event featured six high-caliber chefs and six celebrated dining establishments.
Guests gathered at the foyer and ballroom of Fairmont Makati for cocktails, while sampling a selection of delicious cheese and Asian street food-inspired canapés prepared by Christine Zarandin, senior chef de cuisine of the hotel.
In the foyer as well were a kitchen showcase presented by Smeg, a Smart Infinity lounge raffling off the telecom giant’s offerings, and a Volvo. The Swedish car firm also had its own cocktail drinks ready for all.
Greeting guests in front of the hotel was a Volvo XC90 SUV.
Inside the ballroom, interior design consultant Andy Vazquez Prada of W/17 set up the six dining establishments into a “global street café,” which the guests widely admired.
Supplying the flowers was society florist Patricia Pastelero.
Down an aisle in the center of the room, booths from the top chefs and restaurant establishments offered a variety of dishes from around the world.
Cooking with his signature West Coast flair was chef Walter Manzke, best known in Manille for being a partner in Wildflour Café + Bakery.
From the night’s hosts, Raffles and Fairmont, were three outstanding chefs: Xavier Castello, Christine Zarandin and Miko Aspiras.
Indian cuisine was also represented by Kashmir.
Chef Marcus Gfeller’s Gaucho had a Latin-American feast. Suzy Lee’s restaurant, Spring by Ha Yuan, paid tribute to her grandparents’ famous Binondo eatery.
Chefs were provided high-quality beef from Mayura Station, the Australian producer of Wagyu beef. Excellent wines came from McGuigan from New South Wales, Australia.
Tatler anniversary
Philippine Tatler’s September issue is the magazine’s anniversary issue, palangga, with three different covers—businessman Manny Velez Pangilinan, Hong Kong high-society diva Bonnae Gokson, and moi.
In the issue, Gokson shows Tatler around her fabulous home with her incredible collection of art.
Asean food fair
SMX Convention Center at SM Aura recently hosted recently Asean Culinary Delights, dahlings.
The gastronomic fair was a project of the Asean Ladies Foundation and featured the cuisines of the 10 member countries—Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam—which were highlighted in the cookbook “Asean Culinary Delights.”
Proceeds of the fair went to the relief fund for the rehabilitation of the typhoon-ravaged Visayas.
No less than Asean Ladies Foundation chairperson Gretchen del Rosario and president Mano Hirubalan led the ribbon-snipping ceremony.
Assisting them were Food Fair committee chair Julie Heidemann; Neevia Kurup, second secretary of the Malaysian embassy; and SM SVP for marketing Millie Dizon.
During the event, mall-goers had the rare opportunity to taste incredible authentic culinary specialties from Southeast Asian countries that have become global foodie favorites: sate pentul from Indonesia; onde onde from Malaysia; laksa and chicken rice from Singapore; chicken relleno from the Philippines; and beef noodle soup from Vietnam.
Bertotto, Sheila Ramos
Also featured were delightful but rarely sampled regional specialties: rempeyek and keripit from Brunei; kuih bakar or baked custard from Malaysia; ohn-nho- khauk swe Soup from Myanmar; and other exotic dishes.
Cultural performances were made by the Indonesian Little Children Group, Laotian Cultural Dancers, and Angklung Ensemble from the Philippines, palangga.