Stars and scribes at Diamond Hotel's Constellation

MANILA, Philippines - We were starstruck as we whizzed through the dazzling corridors of the Constellation, Diamond Hotel’s hottest and newest venue towering at the 27th floor. By day and by night, Constellation shimmers with its whole galaxy of attractions: a snack center, an avant-garde culinary studio/show kitchen, a luxurious executive boardroom, and assorted function rooms.

But the brightest star at Constellation is Diamond Hotel’s executive chef Nickolai Stoyanov and his 24-carat cuisine.

For this star-spangled lunch hosted by Diamond Hotel GM Vanessa Ledesma Suatengco for the metro’s news scribes, chef Nick conspired with the heavens to come up with a most divine menu that’s worth every calorie.

Bean there, done that: Pastry Chef Daniel Lee Back’s Tahitian vanilla bean panna cotta

I’m starry-eyed as soon as the first item on the menu is laid down in front of me: truffle-scented foie gras torchon, caramelized apples and frisee salad. Surely, this fatty duck liver marinated in wine, salt, pepper, and sugar is a decadent culinary experience like no other!

Having roused our drowsy taste buds, we welcome a most refreshing, bracing serving of summer squash and basil soup perked up by sun-dried tomatoes and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Ahhh! We slurp down our soup in a jiffy.

And now comes this lunch’s star attraction: potato-crusted black sea bass with melted leeks, pan-seared forest mushrooms, tomato, and sherry vinaigrette. But before we bask in our sea bass, chef Nick shows us, in his state-of-the art show kitchen, how it’s done. He lightly oils a shallow baking pan, takes a small bowl, tosses in some mayonnaise, capers, anchovies, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and egg yolk, and stirs them together. He pats the sea bass steaks dry and seasons them with salt and pepper. He spreads the mayonnaise mixture evenly on top of the steaks. He then peels some potatoes, cuts them quarter-lengthwise, grates the potatoes coarse, and pats a heaping 1/4 cup potato evenly on the mayonnaise mixture on each steak. Then he proceeds to cook. By then, our mouths are watering and our salivary glands are threatening to run amok.

The latest bass: Potato-crusted black sea bass with melted leeks, pan-seared forest mushrooms, tomato, and sherry vinaigrette

Of course, we’re instantly appeased as soon as we lay our eyes on a most fabulous platter of sea bass. The fish is oh-so delicate and succulent, it simply glides from my mouth all the way to my tummy. I polish off every morsel of my big fat fish, and proudly show off my clean plate.

After all that, would you believe there’s still a lot of room in my tummy for dessert? But before that, we’re introduced to Daniel Lee Back, the new pastry chef of Diamond Hotel (and a Daniel Radcliffe aka Harry Potter look-alike but a lot taller — why, he’s English, too!) whose main passion is chocolates and pralines). For this lunch, chef Daniel demonstrates how to make Tahitian vanilla bean panna cotta. He whisks, whisks, and whisks (he says the more you whisk, the more flavor comes out of the vanilla), and whets our appetites more and more and more.

Sun-sational: Summer squash and basil soup with sun-dried tomatoes and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

To cleanse our palate is a light and lovely lemon sorbet.

At Constellation, you really don’t have to wish upon a star because all your gustatory wishes will surely come true.

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Diamond Hotel is located at Roxas Boulevard corner Dr. J Quintos St., Manila. For inquiries/reservations, call 528-3000/305-3000 or e-mail bizcenter@diamondhotel.com. For more information, visit www.diamondhotel.com.