Another spectacular Four Hands Dinner unfolded recently, dahlings, at The Tasting Room of Crown Towers in City of Dreams Manila.
For two evenings, Michelin-star chef William Mahi and guest chef Daniel Negreira from China Marina by DN (voted “the Best Spanish restaurant in China”) created a seven-course menu.
The dishes reflected the flavors of French and Spanish influences on modern gastronomy, with Asian ingredients and techniques. After all, palangga, both chefs hail from the Basque country—Mahi from the French side and Negreira from the Spanish side.
Not long after our group was seated, restaurant manager Damien Planchenault began pouring a magnum bottle of Ruinart champagne into our glasses, marking the beginning of a sybaritic night of exquisite wines and divine cuisine.
Under Mahi’s culinary direction, The Tasting Room was chosen one of Top 20 Best Restaurants 2016 by Philippine Tatler.
Milestone
Each time I celebrate my birthday, I always suffer the “socializing fatigue syndrome” from the number of treats I receive.
From lunch to dinner, various groups help celebrate my special day. Certainly, there’s always a night reserved for carousing for each set of my pals.
This year my birthday was marked with a merienda cena at the stylish garden of the Forbes Park home of my longtime friend Nini Licaros.
The party was also initiated by another close friend, the illustrious party hostess Nene Lenor, along with my other pals Mellie Ablaza, Chit Salud, Mabel Abano, Agnes Huibonhoa, head-turner May Neri, Yoly Ayson, Elaine Villar, Karen Macasaet and Letty Hahn.
Guests included Fe Rodriguez, Dr. Elenita Binay, Ambassador Victor Garcia and Connie Garcia, Josie Razon, Cindy Velez, Nene Pe Lim, Tina Cuevas, fashionable Linda Ley and Agile Zamora, Evie Costa, Nonie Basilio, Diana Santos, Nena Mewshaw, Naty Pappas, Olga Martel, Monet Guevara, Helen Ong, Estella Lopez, Chona Lopez, Emily Lopez and Mimi Valerio. You name the social damsels and they were accounted for.
They all enjoyed the scrumptious food served by Millie Reyes of The Plaza and the oh-so-pricey wines that flowed.
“Expect the parties to continue in the next months as Maurice always has the energy for more after his official birthday. Happy birthday and cheers, our palangga!” Nini told everyone.
Outstanding engineer
Debonaire Juanito “Nitoy” Rosales received an Outstanding Thomasian Engineer Award from Faculty of Engineering of University of Santo Tomas (UST).
From humble beginnings when he worked with his father in their farm at the age of five, Rosales went on to acquire an MBA after getting his degree at UST. He worked his way up the ladder in various companies, starting as engineer trainee until he retired from Ayala Land Inc. as vice president procurement in logistics.
“One of my challenging assignments was the construction of the US embassy in Manila from 2008 to 2013,” Juanito said.
He recently celebrated his birthday with close friends, family and guests such as Australian Ambassador Amanda Gorely and Sam Spearing.
Despite all his accomplishments, Juanito’s greatest pride and joy is his famille starting with his wife, Dr. Libertad Nazareno Rosales, who heads the Kidney Center of UST; his eldest, Carmela, director of the newest dialysis center in San José, California; son John Paul, a doctor and a diplomate in internal medicine and currently finishing his fellowship at University of Florida; son Allan, managing director of the family’s Jollibee franchise at Ayala Terraces in Fairview; and his youngest, Michael, marketing manager of Pepsi International.
Today, Nitoy is still doing consulting jobs and is running a small family business. For him, this is his way of giving back by providing jobs to others. He hopes to open more franchises.
From a young boy who wished to buy a car for his parents to a big gun in the purchasing and procurement field, Nitoy has definitely gone places and showed the world the value of hard work and discipline.
