It was only a couple of years ago that my interest in wines came about. Am not really a drinker, just a social drinker who is unfazed with Tequila. But of course, I can't have Tequila during dinner parties and so wine came to fore.
With wine tasting events here and there, I found out that I'm more of a white wine and rose wine person, which is good because I don't eat meat anymore and fish goes well with white wine. Also, white wine is cool to the body unlike the red counterpart which heats us up.
Vinos de Arzuaga at Makati Shangri-La's Red, was a night of delectable food and wine pairings with Spanish winemaker Ignacio Arzuaga. Featuring wines from Bodegas Arzuaga: Fan D’Oro White Chardonnay- La Planta RED Tempranillo, Pago Florentino RED Cencibel, Arzuaga Crianza RED Tempranillo- Cabernet- Merlot, Arzuaga Reserva Especial RED Tempranillo; and special menu prepared by Red's Chef Thomas Linke. I've avoided eating meat of any kind for the past two years but for this event, I had to just eat a slice of the meat dishes served to get a feel of the food and wine pairings.
First on the menu was ceviche of tuna with micro herbs (right) paired with Fan D'Oro, 2007; cocoa dusted seared foie gras with pomegranate and vanilla syrup, pata negra crisps (left) paired with La Planta, 2008. I could really taste the herbs and tuna chunks of the ceviche, perfect for Fan D'Oro's surprising burst of flavors - slightly salty that turns to sweetness before ending with a spicy kick. On the other hand, it was my first time to try foie gras and this one was so well cooked that it simply melted in the mouth. The La Planta's good mix of sweet and spicy brought out the exotic flavor of the foie gras.
Next was the star anise braised pork belly, chorizo tamales with thyme and oregano paired with Pago Florentino. The pork belly was lean, soft and tasty while the red Cencibel (with strong coffee-like aroma) is salty and dries out in the throat almost immediately, giving a feeling of absorbing the oil of the paired pork belly.
My favorite was the olive oil poached wild salmon fillet with blackberry reduction, warm sambuca jelly, shellfish veloute (the best salmon I've ever tasted -- melts in your mouth!) paired with Crianza, 2006. The salmon had soft buttery texture and has none of the lingering "fishy" taste of other salmon dishes I've tried. The blackberry reduction gives a nice twist to the salmon while the shellfish veloute gives it a good seafood flavor, much like eating soft-shell crab. The red Tempranillo- Cabernet- Merlot's strong bitter taste and smoky flavor was just right for this special dish of Chef Linke (too bad the salmon won't be in the regular RED menu).
The fourth pairing is the bone marrow crusted organic beef tenderloin, minted apple puree, truffle mashed potatoes in balsamic jus and bitter-then-spicy Reserva Especial. The flavorful crunchy crust was a contrast to the tender beef -- simply sinful! The smooth mashed potato was a good compliment to the dish and cleanses the palate for the next bite of beef. Of all the meat dishes I tasted for the evening, it was this one that I felt remorseful for not finishing as I had to stick with my lifestyle change.
For dessert, we were served warm flourless dark chocolate cake (super good!), berry jelly (not good, sorry!) and red port wine sabayon. It was a heavenly chocolate cake with sweetness just right. The berry jelly was a disaster however -- the red jelly tasted okay but the berries (except for the strawberry) inside tasted bitter if not sour.
That's me in the middle, seated beside Ignacio Arzuaga
Overall, the night was splendid. Thanks to Lia Bernardo of Wine Depot for the invitation.
When I got the invitation to join the press conference of Martin Nievera and Pops Fernandez, I was thrilled. This was my first time to see them up close again, the last time being some 20 years ago, back in high school when I watched their mini concert at Robinson Galleria's parking lot.
When I learned where it was going to be held, I was excited. I've heard about 7107 Island Cruises but I've never been on board one. So on February 5, my companion and I braved the North Harbor area to get to Pier 6 where the cruise ship is docked for the press conference. We made it just in time, in fact we were one of the early birds.
Martin was already there being interviewed one on one by various TV networks. To while away the time, I took photos of the make-believe wedding cake on top of a piano in front of the room. I was guessing the theme for the press con was a wedding. On top of the cocktail tables, there was a programme which indicated portions of a wedding reception -- song numbers, eating of the cake, toasts and well wishes from guests (press people) and parlor games. The press con proper started an hour after, when Pops arrived.
As they were being interviewed in front, the two seemed playful and sweet with one another, evidence that they have become really good friends over the years. Martin even shared Pops' birthday gift to him -- a printed photo album of their sons' picture as they were growing up.
When the press con ended an hour after, we were secretly led to another function room for Martin's surprise birthday (and they said that he hates surprise, ha!). As we entered a dark room, lit only by the lights from other vessels in Manila Bay, I saw that the room was decorated with balloons and the food buffet is ready. Then the door opens, in comes Martin and Pops, and everyone yells "Surprise! Happy birthday, Martin!" And he was indeed taken by surprise, happily laughing and shaking hands or hugging friends in the room as he was led to where his red and black birthday cake stood. Pops and Martin's son Ram was there to join the celebration.
Seeing them together made me wish they can be together again as a couple. But for now, I and the other fans who wish the same, will have to be content with watching them re-create the fantasy of "togetherness" and weave once again the magic that made them the undisputed Concert Royalties.
As Rem explained, Repertory Philippines' Valentine offering is Mark Saltzman's musical comedy ROMEO & BERNADETTE which is a creative spin-off of the famous pair’s story brought on by a guy who was trying to seduce his date, who unfortunately felt sad and depressed after watching a “Romeo and Juliet” play. And so the guy starts off by telling the girl that Romeo really didn’t die from the poison he drank and instead slept for 500 years (channeling Sleeping Beauty here). When Romeo wakes up, he found himself in modern day Verona and chanced upon a modern Italian-American girl (yes, Bernadette) who looks exactly like his long-lost love Juliet. The chase brought Romeo to Brooklyn where he was caught in-between warring mafia families on top of the bad fortune that Bernadette was set to marry someone else.
