Nika Llamanzares turns 18 with first art exhibit
Nika Llamanzares is the youngest daughter of Sen. Grace Poe and Neil Llamanzares, and she turned 18 last June 5. But instead of the usual 18 roses/18 gifts cotillion, the debutante opted to have a casual party and an art exhibit to showcase the many paintings she has created, even choosing a piece from her collection to auction off for a worthy cause. Perhaps not coincidentally, the chosen piece was her favorite and is entitled The Queen and King. As you may have guessed, it is dedicated to her lola, the late Susan Roces.
Though held at the main lounge of the Manila Polo Club, Nika’s party was a relaxed and chill affair. A pair of huge, winged feathers greeted guests at the entrance and prompted many of them to whip out their cameras for a selfie or groufie. Attire was cottage core/earth tones, although Nika herself was glowing and resplendent in her Paul Cabral white ankle-length dress with a beaded bodice and a pair of white feathered wings.
As I made my way to my table, I saw a long table for 20 in the middle of the room. This was for Nika’s 19 special girlfriends, most of whom were schoolmates from Assumption Makati, where Nika just graduated senior high school. (She will be an incoming freshman at the Ateneo de Manila University.) They all looked so adorable chatting the night away… I can only imagine how excited they were to see each other face-to-face after being deprived of doing so by the two-year lockdown.
I also saw Senators Loren Legarda and Nancy Binay making their way to the Willow Root to check out the art works of Nika. I also spotted Sen. JV Ejercito enjoying the company of his high school barkada from Xavier, namely Carlo Katigbak, Jay Lopez, Brian Villanueva and lawyer Gus Montilla.
Food was abundant that evening. For the young-at-heart, there were food carts in the ante room that served corn dogs, nachos, french fries and pizza. There was also a beautiful table stacked with assorted cupcakes and cookies for sweet-toothed guests.
Gaita Fores catered the sit-down dinner, which was delectable and scrumptious, to say the least. For starters, we had the barquillos cylinders duet, cherry tomato cups, savory crepe cake squares with mushroom truffle paste, Bohol broas with prosciutto, chive mousse and salmon roe, and pecorino-crusted crisp asparagus straw. They were so tasty that I barely had room after the appetizers! Next up was the very flavorful soup, zucchini crema passato with mascarpone and prosciutto di parma crisp with thyme essence. For the main course, we were served pasta al telefono, pan-seared salmon, and braised and grilled wagyu short rib. Finally, it was panna cotta with honeycomb and pistachios for dessert.
While we were having dinner, Brian Llamanzares, Nika’s only brother, appeared on stage together with the beautiful Valeen Montenegro as hosts for the program.
An early highlight was the audio-visual presentation (AVP) prepared for Nika. It featured the debutante’s siblings, Brian and Hanah, parents Neil and Grace, her paternal grandparents Dr. Teddy and Dr. Carol Llamanzares, her yaya Judith and their family driver and other dear friends professing their love and admiration for Nika and expressing what makes her such an endearing gift of a person.
The evening’s biggest surprise was when Sen. Grace and Nika belted out their favorite song, Beer, by Itchyworms. Everyone was in awe seeing the senator belt out this popular song, and the mother-daughter duet brought the house down.
Though the event was tinged with sadness because of the recent passing of Nika’s beloved Lola Susan, Sen. Grace assured the guests that Susan knew about the plans for Nika’s birthday and would have insisted that the family push through with the celebration.
To Nika, happy 18th birthday once again from Tita Pat-P! Have an enriching, transformative experience in college and beyond.
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