For the sake of art
For me, it is not enough to behold an artist’s masterpiece in awe and admiration. Mere words and pictures to describe its splendor is not enough praise. The ultimate compliment one could give to a fine work of art is to eat it. Not only to eat, but to ingest and digest its entirety, to savor each bite, to whiff its aroma, consume it slowly with such passion, and embrace its essence.
That is how much admiration and respect I have for the culinary genius of Ariel Manuel. An artist in every sense of the word, his creativity and boldness is evident in his creations, and he has brought countless honors to our country.
This May, he will compete again in what some circles consider to be one of the world’s largest and biggest culinary competitions, the 2008 MLA Black Box Culinary Challenge Global Finals.
No stranger to competitions, chef Ariel heads the team of Lolo Dad’s Café the second time around in this prestigious event. Along with team manager Ruel Tiquis, the group includes Marge Villena, Jeffrey Reguindin, and Falcon Manaban as team members.
The competition is endorsed by the World Association of Chef Societies and supported locally by Les Toques Blanches Philippines. This will be held in Dubai, and the humble and quaint restaurant competes against the hotel titans, such as Savory Hotel Yangon (Myanmar), Disney Hollywood Hotel (Hong Kong), Grand Hyatt Cairo (Egypt), Crowne Plaza (Kuwait), Le Meridian Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Marina Mandarin (Singapore), Le Touessrok (Mauritius), Jumeriah Beach Hotel (United Arab Emirates), Grand International Seoul (South Korea), The Oriental Bangkok (Thailand), and The Grand Hyatt Amman (Jordan).
Visit his gourmet gallery and prepare to be awed by culinary masterpieces. The award-winning menu from Lolo Dad’s Café when they won featured lightly seared lamb with poached pear, fruit jelly, herb butter panini and roasted garlic aioli as an appetizer. For the main course, sautéed beef slivers and roasted beef rump with gremolata, potato terrine, vegetable flan and tomato confit were served. Italian meringue with chocolate and pineapple filling, strawberry coulis and mocha ice cream gave the meal a sweet finish.
I urge you to admire their work and passion for their craft. It is a gustatory adventure that can only be described as indescribable. You can see his team at work in the restaurant’s open kitchen. It is very personal for me, and one has to experience it for himself — truly a total feast for the senses. Words do not really do justice.
Patronage of his culinary creations will go a long way to help the team prepare for the global finals. His restaurant is located at
For details, contact Paul Perez of Meat Livestock Australia at www.mla.au.
Let us support our nation’s artists in whatever field they pursue. They bring us honor and make us proud of who we are. Go, Team
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E-mail the author at henysison@pacific.net.ph.
