The British embassy in Manila launched a week-long Great British Festival at The Cabin of the Pig and Palm restaurant. It may have been the fifth in the Philippines, but it was the first time for Cebu.
Here for the occasion were Mike Moon, the British embassy’s director for trade and investment; Vicki Bates, second secretary for political and strategic communications; and trade manager April Chang.
Guests enjoyed the special dishes prepared by head chef Karl Emsen, with beef sourced all the way from East Anglia—though, for sure, there was more than just beef on the evening’s menu.
Honorary Consul of the United Kingdom Tamsin Booth attended the event, as did Carla and Chris McKowen who own Pig and Palm, and their parents Mariquita and Carlos Yeung who own the building.
Jaja Chiongbian Rama was happy with the success of the event, handled by her firm, Big Seed, and she hopes the Great British Festival comes to Cebu once more next year.
Wine-pairing dinner
Speaking of gastronomy, Casino Español de Cebu held a wine-pairing dinner at Al Comedor. Featured were Vitral Reserva wines from Viña Maipo in Chile.
From Quinta de Maipo had come two personable gentlemen to explain the wines—regional manager Francesco Cartoni and sales director Jose David Gonzalez.
They were introduced by Raymond Lim Joseph, director of sales and marketing of Philippine Wine Merchants. With him were members of his staff: trade head Dawn Rosary Ignacio and area sales managers Arvin Caballo and Ana Liza Cajatol.
Casino Español de Cebu president Paco Jarque was present with his pretty wife Monique, along with the Department of Tourism’s new regional director Chalimar Hofer Tamano, US consular agent Glenn Loop with his wife Honey, and honorary consul of Sweden Jose Sala with his wife Susan.
Also present were Rosebud Sala, Margie Taylor and her son Hans Eulenhoefer of Bibendum Wines, Bess and Oscar Zanoria, Lisette Garcia, Mayen Tan, Dr. Vivina Yrastorza with her son Dr. Pocholo Yrastorza, Dr. Pamela Fernandez, Irene Santos, and Jeronne Lazo.
General manager May Ocaba presented the service and kitchen brigade, to a round of applause. Among them were service manager Lito Kapalac and head chef Rico Villarante, who thanked everyone for their presence and appreciation.
New Seda hotel
For 20 years, that tall building at Cebu Business Park was home to the Cebu City Marriott Hotel. Now it is going to be the Seda Ayala Center Cebu Hotel.
Intense work is ongoing to make it even more plush than it used to be. Plans are for it to open by the third quarter of 2018.
This we learned from Frances Alfafara, the hotel’s director for sales and marketing, a position she held previously at the Cebu City Marriott.
Frances organized a large gathering of friends from media and the corporate world to tell them all about the Seda developments in Cebu.
The venue chosen was the Pig and Palm, for a truly epicurean experience only that restaurant can do. It was a degustation dinner, which means a spoonful of this, a slice of that, and a bite of one more delight.
And so it went on as we listened to the pertinent info from Andrea Mastellone, senior group general manager of Seda all over the Philippines. With him had come two pretties—Genny Puno, who is group communications manager, and Melissa Carlos, group director for sales and marketing.
Also in Cebu for this important event were various top Seda executives from all over the Philippines, namely: Carol Valdez (Cagayan de Oro), Karen Valencia (Quezon City), Rabby Nuevo (Bacolod), Erin Songalia (Laguna), Nalhun Guion (Iloilo) and Kathy Namuag (Davao).
What’s it going to be like? We asked Frances about the Cebu Seda, almost twisting her arm to give us a preview. She laughed and said, “You’ll see. There will be artwork by Filipino artists, and that includes photography by Jaime Zobel de Ayala and pieces by sculptress Ann Pamintuan.”
One can hardly wait. The day will come.
