Gastronomic Adventure, Day 2

For day 2 of our Venice Piazza Food Adventure, we continued the game plan and started with appetizers, had our fill of the main courses, and ended with dessert. From the original 14 restaurants/establishments, we were down to half or 7 yummy treats to complete the challenge.

KBOP, a Korean fast food, offered a choice of either ChapChae (Glass Noodles) or Seafood & Vegetable Pancake. Both were delicious but I preferred the glass noodles.

ChapChae

Seafood & Vegetable Pancake

Little Asia Symphony of Flavors served a choice of either battered Shrimp Curls with Mango Dip or Vietnamese Spring Rolls with ground pork and sotanghon noodles which are both winners.

Shrimp Curls with Mango Dip

Vietnamese Spring Rolls

Old Vine Grille (which I wrote about here previously) had as front runners for the Food Adventure their Grilled Fish Fillet with Lemon Butter Sauce, served with garlic rice and a side salad, and Chicken Barbecue with Fries and Red Beans.

Grilled Fish Fillet with Lemon Butter Sauce

Chicken Barbecue with Fries and Red Beans

As a breather, we claimed from The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf our 8 oz. Hot Chai Tea Latte. Other flavors to choose from are English Breakfast, Tropical Passion, Moroccan Mint, Matcha Green Tea and Apple Pie.

Ramen Bar offered an uber-filling dish composed of Karaage and Kakuni Buns. The Karaage is fried chicken cuts while the Kakuni Buns is Japanese braised pork belly in white buns similar to pork asado siopao.

Karaage and Kakuni Buns

Figaro Coffee Company gave a choice of either a 12 oz. Iced Coffee or 8 oz. Brewed Coffee, available in decaf.

To end the night, we savored sweet but healthy treats from YoSwirls by BTC -- Original Mango Yogurt and Vanilla Chocolate Yogurt.

Vanilla Chocolate and Original Mango Yogurt

What an adventure...a real Food Adventure! From now on, we'll keep our eyes peeled for the next run of Venice Piazza Food Adventure.

The Venice Piazza Food Adventure is until March 31. Try this heavenly promo now or wait for next Food Adventure run.

Related Posts:

Gastronomic Adventure, Day 1

My First Time at Old Vine Grille

Filed under FLAVORS

Gastronomic Adventure, Day 1

My family and I are always looking for good food and exciting adventure that's the Venice Piazza Food Adventure was the perfect deal for us. Friends from Megaworld introduced me to the gastronomic adventure and I, on the other hand, shared it to my family the following weekend. The Food Adventure will let you sample yummy dishes from 14 restaurants/establishments in Venice Piazza, all of which can be availed within two consecutive weekend days from 4 pm - 9 pm, at a super reasonable price of P600 per person. Mechanics are fairly simple -- just wear the Food Adventure band, present the passport to the establishment upon ordering the designated dish/es, and enjoy!

Food Adventure wrist bands and passport

Since this is an adventure, we first studied the featured establishments and devised a game plan that will have the four of us finish everything within two consecutive weekend days, with each day allowing us to try equal number of appetizers, main courses, drinks and desserts. For those restaurants that offered two choices, we agreed that two will order dish #1 and the other two will order dish #2. We started on a Saturday so we continued the following Sunday.

Happy bunch on a food adventure

PHO HOA VIETNAMESE NOODLE HOUSE had their best seller Pomelo Salad -- fresh greens, julienne-cut cucumber, red bell pepper and carrots, pomelo chunks, shrimp and nuts with a generous serving of their sweet-sour vinaigrette -- as front runner for the Food Adventure.

Pomelo Salad

EMPIRE DELI & RESTAURANT offered healthy and delectable salads. The Empire Signature Salad is a simple one made of fresh green, cherry tomato, black olives, boiled egg and slices of grilled chicken. On the other hand, the Grilled Tuna Salad is a refreshing mix of greens, julienne-cut green mango, grilled tuna slices and sesame seeds.

Signature Salad

Grilled Tuna Salad

PINCHOS RESTAURANT & BAR, a fairly new establishment from the same owner as Blackwood Bistro, served a Duo of Buffalo Chicken Fillet with (Nacho) Chips and Salsa, a perfect combination.

Duo of Buffalo Chicken Fillet with Chips and Salsa

BLACKWOOD BISTRO offered their Penne Puttanesca made with tomato sauce, black olives and grated parmesan cheese, a rather heavy dish for an appetizer.

Penne Puttanesca

RED CRAB served specially created dishes for the Food Adventure -- buttery soft Dory Fillet with Honey Mustard Sauce and Fried Stuffed Bean Curd with Crab Relleno served with Garlic Chili Sauce. So yummy! Unfortunately, they're not part of the regular menu.

Dory Fillet with Honey Mustard Sauce

Fried Stuffed Bean Curd with Crab Relleno with Garlic Chili Sauce

KUSE TRADITIONAL FILIPINO CUISINE provided a choice between Lechong Kawali (with plain rice and atchara) and Chicken Relleno (with garlic rice and atchara), two dishes that were so filling that we had to rest for a few minutes before going to our next stop.

Lechon Kawali

Chicken Relleno

SOL GELATO was our sweet ending for day 1 of the Food Adventure and each of us savored a serving of any two Gelato flavors of our choice. Mine was a Ferrero-Coffee Crunch tandem and it left me with a smile on my lips.

Two Gelato Flavors -- Ferrero and Coffee Crunch for me!

Being full from our first day of yummy treats, we spent the rest of the evening strolling around Venice Piazza, burning the calories while relaxing under the stars.

The Venice Piazza Food Adventure is until March 31. Try this heavenly promo now or wait for next Food Adventure run.

Related post: Gastronomic Adventure, Day 2

Filed under FLAVORS

A Memorable Eventure

This post is not about the event itself (although the photos are) but more of a recounting of the behind-the-scene adventures of organizing a big and important event (or what I like to term as eventure for event adventure). Just wanted to share, even vaguely, this kind of experience, not to brag about, but to learn from.

Host Issa Litton and BW president Anthony Cuaycong

talking about the countdown to the silver anniversary

BusinessWorld (BW) traditionally throws the big parties every 5-year increments of their anniversary. With that in mind, we were set on getting busy for the 25th anniversary next year in 2012. But since silver anniversaries are special, management wanted to hype it a year earlier and do a party to announce the countdown towards the 25th anniversary.

The reveal of the 25th anniversary logo

My Marcom group was tasked to put together a cocktail party for the company's friends and clients with barely a month from the date of the company anniversary and it wasn't until a week after that the venue has been fully secured. What ensued after are days filled with coordinating with the venue's events team plus the F&B people through phone, sms, emails and face-to-face meetings.

Ceremonial toast led by BW officers and board members,

with vice chairman Cesar Virata

Resorts World Manila (RWM) became my alternative work place, together with a staff of mine, as we discussed details for BusinessWorld's 24th anniversary party. Met with the events group, the theater group plus the tech group to give our requirements and also to know the restrictions of the venue. I can say that it was a breeze working with the RWM people because they are all professional and really made us feel that we are in good hands.

Clem Castro of Camerawalls rendered acoustic songs

The main venue was the 3rd floor Vestibule of the Newport Theater while the cozier 2nd floor Vestibule was to be the reception hall for guest registration and the photo wall. We were told that all they have was a simple wooden platform for a stage, basic sound system and lights. That had me worried because we had to stage a party good enough for the VIPs attending, without creating a big dent in the company's pocket. Maybe the guests can just focus on the delectable food that RWM will prepare for us.

The Company made the guests sing along and dance

Come ingress day, I was delighted to see the stage set-up. the plain platform I expected was instead a classy see-through acrylic stage that lights up beautifully. OMG! The guys in-charge surprised me to tears (well, almost to tears). Now, all we needed were the balloon pillars we ordered and the extra stage sound monitors we rented then we are good to go...for the main venue, that is.

A well-attended event despite the far venue and stormy weather

At the reception area, staff were propped down on the carpet with their hands busy cutting paper and tape, and piecing together a simple photo exhibit depicted "a day in a newspaper publishing company." At least, the RWM events team took care of installing the photo wall tarp on the steel frame...the minute they found out where the frame was relocated because it was used for another event. News of the frame's disappearance earlier that afternoon almost gave me a heart attack but since my blood pressure and heart is good, I got a terrible migraine attack instead which lasted until the party started. And I almost went to the event dressed as I was during ingress because I no longer had the energy to dress up for the occasion. I thank my joyful sparing partner for the event for pushing me to relax and take an energizing shower and prepare for the party.

Colorful musical excerpt of Repertory Philippines' Seussical

(currently showing at Onstage Greenbelt until Dec. 2011)

So the purpose of the gathering was to start the countdown to the silver anniversary, now what will we do for the programme? Where to source the entertainment? What else can we offer the more than 600 invited guests who will be coming from areas far from RWM? Its a good thing we have cultivated deep partnerships with the entertainment industry in terms of theater and music. With my able team, who did not give up on the follow-ups, we were able to invite artists who provided great entertainment for the night.

Saxophonist Michael Young from Manila Chamber Orchestra

Of course, my team did not accomplish the feat on our own. On the event night itself, the NTM group took charge of the programme implementation and tech stuff, and did a soft launch of BusinessWorld's mobile application; the creative group also pitched in for areas where art requirements were needed; the advertising group took care of the invitations, RSVPs and the event registration; and management and editorial supported the event.

Thanks to Resorts World Manila and our partners Lilystars Records, Viva Entertainment, Repertory Philippines and Manila Chamber Orchestra Foundation that the event was a success and everyone was happy. We are the happier bunch to see that the efforts paid off nicely. Now on to the next eventure as we prepare for the big 2-5 for 2012.

Filed under EVENTS