Nobu Assorted Sushi At your finer Japanese restaurants, omakase is akin to a degustation or tasting menu as often found in Western restaurants. It’s a way for the chef and the kitchen to show off their creativity, and curate a “best of the best” dining experience. The concern I’ve...
HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRIPE-VINE: OUR NEW ABNORMAL Along with the irony of the Philippines having to import a dietary staple such as rice, the other sad irony would be how in a nation that’s an island archipelago, we have issues about potable, drinking water. But that is a hard fact for our...
Mingu and Marc, from Barcelona, to Siargao, and now Taguig Chef Miguel “Mingu” Marcelino and Marc Alberich may call Barcelona their place of birth, but if you ask them where’s home, they’ll both smile and immediately say it’s Siargao. The two friends are the masterminds behind Big Belly...
HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRIPE-VINE: OUR NEW ABNORMAL The song Smile, with the music composed by Charlie Chaplin, has a line about lighting up one’s face with gladness - and this has been the global mission of AS Watson, to put smiles on the faces of its customers. In the Philippines recently was...
Cold Storage is a food solutions retail brand that takes pride in its provenance as a family business. It’s now run by the second generation, by Marco and Morris Qua, and they vividly recall how the first Cold Storage stand-alone was a community store for the neighborhood, way before the brand...
HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRIPE-VINE: OUR NEW ABNORMAL What do the following academic institutions now have in common? Assumption College, De La Salle Araneta University, FEU Manila High School, La Salle Greenhills, Las Pinas Science High School, Manila Science High School, Muntinlupa Science High...
The HWAO Board: Philip Cu Unjieng, Liaa Bautista, Marga Zobel, Tang Singson, Libet Virata, Elena Coyiuto, Gina Aboitiz, Bettina Osmena, Connie Toledo, Karen Santos, Gloria Diaz, Manny Samson, and Mike Toledo A fundraiser mounted by the Helping Women and Others (HWAO) Foundation for the lobby area...
Chef Rob Pengson introduces me to the Chef start-up (not just a pop-up) that currently occupies a section of his Aleanza Multi-Arts Institute at 2257 Chino Roces, Makati. He deflects the spotlight from himself, explaining how the Chef concept is truly a community effort, embodying the “it takes a...
Cuddle at Mitsukoshi Mall There’s a food stall on the Lower Ground Floor of Mitsukoshi Mall that’s turning heads of passerby, as offerings on display are definitely unique to this Manila market. At its most basic, its Japanese-style comfort food — defined as what the Japanese in Japan, or...
HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRIPE-VINE: OUR NEW ABNORMAL The other week saw the HWAO (Helping Women & Others) Foundation mount a fund-raising evening for the Philippine General Hospital, in memory of one of HWAO’s founding members, Camille Santos-Samson. Camille passed away in June, and the...
These six novels would be categorized as Crime Fiction or Mystery Thrillers, but they also provide human drama (and comedy) in big doses. Kala by Colin Walsh Set on the west coast of Ireland, this novel serves as both a reverie of growing up and a reflection on days gone by. It also...
The Center for Culinary Arts (CCA) Manila has relocated from its renowned Katipunan address to a new home in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, nestled within the University of the Philippines BGC campus. The new site boasts state-of-the-art facilities, including a 500-sqm. main kitchen with 45...
