Dolce vita at the Sheraton Macau

MANILA, Philippines - The Sheraton Macau is one of the very few places where I can sleep eight hours or more straight. It must be the patented Sheraton Sweet Sleeper bed and the room design that is so conducive to relaxation.

Opened just a few months ago, Sheraton Macau has the distinction of being the biggest Sheraton hotel in the world and also Macau’s biggest. Back in the ’80s and ’90s when I traveled extensively, the Sheraton chain was always my hotel choice whether in the US, Europe or Asia.

When I started my daily radio grind in the millennium on RJ100.3 FM, I traveled much less and lost my coveted top-tier status on Sheraton’s (now Starwood) Loyalty program. I rediscovered Sheraton December last year when I got room nights for free by just playing slots at Sands casino complex in the Cotai area of Macau. There is stiff competition with next-door neighbor City of Dreams that also offers free rooms at Hard Rock Hotel and Grand Hyatt.

Sheraton Macau is located at the Sands Cotai Central complex in the Taipa area of Macau and houses two other luxury hotels — the Holiday Inn and Conrad. Also within the complex are a hundred high-end retail stores including Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Zara, Ralph Lauren, Rolex, Omega and the like, two casinos (Pacifica and Himalaya), a food court that spotlights diversified Chinese and Asian cuisine, and 20 restaurants and cafes, one of which named Bene is now a new favorite. Across the street accessible by an air-conditioned bridge are sister hotels Venetian and Four Seasons.

Bene was the Italian Trattoria that caught my eye back in December when I first stayed at Sheraton Macau. I had reluctance to try it because I’d had enough of clip or pseudo Italian restaurants in Manila and Macau that were big disappointments. I finally gave in three months later and tried it upon recommendation of a friend.

Bene is an Italian word generally meaning “good” or “well,” and is an apt description of the food at this establishment. Bene’s size is big when compared to typical Italian restaurants but is well-designed, emulating a very homey and intimate atmosphere. Although I didn’t indulge in any of their wines from their cavernous semi-wine cellar near the entrance filled with hundreds of bottles of wines neatly stacked from floor to ceiling, I would safely assume that they serve reliably good wines. I felt a little stiff upon entering the restaurant but immediately got comfy upon being welcomed by Pinoy waiter Noel. The menu offers “mama-style” Italian cuisine or the home-cooking you come home to mama for.

There were only four salads on the menu to choose from and I opted for the Insalata di Pere, which is a pear salad with cherry tomatoes, baby mesclun, walnuts and gorgonzola with a mustard-honey dressing. The salad was indescribably delicious. The sweet pear slices complemented the semi-bitter mesclun. The semi-soft gorgonzola flavor lingered in my mouth as I crunched on the walnuts. There were several layers of flavor — sweet, tart, salty and slightly bitter. I wanted to order another serving but controlled my urge since more food was coming. My pasta dish was simple — Linguini with Black Truffle Sauce. Although black truffles were not in season and the chef utilized bottled black truffles, it tasted almost fresh. The pasta was al dente and the black truffle sauce was just right. There was no creamy overpowering taste.

For the main course, I ordered two entrees — Fried Cod and Foie Gras on a bed of greens. The Foie Gras was top-notch and tasted velvety-smooth but the fried cod won all my praises. It was golden brown, crispy on the outside and delicately melty soft and flavorful inside sans any fishy taste. After the yummy (burp) dinner I was privileged to chat with the busy chef from Modena, Italy who intimated that the secret of her cod is the canola oil she fries it in. Canola oil is derived from rapeseed, which is related to cabbage, turnips and mustard.

Chef Simonetta Garelli from Modena, Italy has been all over the world, from London to Shanghai, managing Italian restaurants with Michelin stars and cooking her classic Italian dishes. We talked about her recent stint at the Sheraton Shanghai where she won several accolades including Tattler Magazine’s Best Restaurant for three years straight.

Chef Simonetta spends most of her waking hours at Bene not only cooking and supervising but innovating her Italian dishes as well. Over a yummy dessert sampler she whipped up for our little conversation, she told me that on the rare occasions she has free time, she immerses herself in wellness, yoga and cleansing.

Recently, Chef Simonetta took two weeks off and went through a cleansing program sans any solid food at a wellness spa in Phuket, Thailand. Beaming with pride, she ticked off all of the benefits she reaped from the two-week cleansing like weight loss, stamina and elimination of body toxicity. I honestly informed her that I doubt if I can even go without solid food for a day or two, to which she gave out a hearty laugh and encouraged me to try cleansing even for a week. Fat chance, I said to myself.