On the road

Today is All Saints Day and many of my beloved readers are on the road to pay homage to their dearly departed relatives and friends. Some have only a short distance to travel while the rest have to take a plane, ride a boat or drive a hundred kilometers to be able to pay visit their loved ones. Roman Catholic tradition calls those faithful who have reached heaven as Church Triumphant. Those who are being purified in purgatory are called Church Penitent and tomorrow is their special day (All Soul’s Day).

We, the living are the Church Militant and we have our duty to keep on living. And there will be a time when, according to the late Steve Paul Jobs, we could no longer meet our “duties and responsibilities”. For the moment and hopefully for a much longer period of time, your favorite food columnist will continue to inform and entertain his readers.

I joined my colleagues for food tasting at the La Gondola, Waterfront Cebu City Hotel & Casino (Salinas Drive, Lahug phone 232-6888 local 8200, www.waterfronthotels.com.ph) to celebrate Restaurant Week (October 3-9, 2011). And it was Italian Executive Chef Alessio Loddo who, excuse me, personally prepared his hometown specialties.

Opening the lunch was a green entry, an insalate, the Caesar Salad with Prawn and the Primi piatti was Tortellini with Cream and Prosciutto (Homemade pasta with chicken and ham in cream sauce). The taste of this particular tortellini was simply exquisite.

For the Secondi piatti, we had the Pan fried Breaded Sole Fillet, Polenta and Vegetables in Spicy Pineapple-Butter Sauce and the Baked Pork Cutlet Pizzaiola. The latter dish has a very complex flavor with all those tomatoes, olives, bell pepper, mozzarella cheese and anchovies.

What was unique in this lunch at the Waterfront Cebu City was the fact that the Dolci or dessert was not served. Maebelle G. Varron, Marketing and Communications Manager said that it will be served at an appropriate time and that happened nearly two weeks later.

It began with a friendly pastry cooking competition with Executive Pastry Chef Daniel Lajoux, AVP for Waterfront Food Concept and CDN’s Aissa de la Cruz on one side and Waterfront General Manager Alfred Portenschlager with SunStar’s Jigs Arquiza on the opposing side. I tasted both crêpe creations and with finality declared, it was a draw. My expertise with dessert is very limited and both sides are my friends, so draw na lang.

An hour later, all the sinful decadent desserts, La Patisserie du Daniel were displayed. Unfortunately, Jigs Arquiza and I had to leave because we both accepted another food tasting event and we had to be on time for the appointment. Basic good business manners but certainly, I left the room with much hesitation. It is not every day that you can encounter such wonderful desserts!