MANILA, Philippines - Christian Werdenberg, who’s Dusit Thani Manila’s red-hot chef attraction, has cooked for heads of state and crowned heads, and now, he’s cooking just for me! Enjoying a lull between meetings, chef Christian appears before us, excuses himself, and then disappears into the kitchen. Not long afterwards, he reappears with a big smile and a huge plate. It’s my favorite scallops with, si, Spanish black mussels and chorizo (two of chef Christian’s recipes are on this page). The scallops happily glide down my throat while the chorizo bits add a titillating crunch to this dish whipped up by chef Christian.
The refreshingly bracing soup is enough to rouse my drowsy taste buds and stir up my senses for this dazzling food adventure.
Having had more than a slice of Italy at Dusit Thani’s Tosca, I walk down the sweeping staircase to Basix to see what chef Christian is cooking at the hotel’s 24-hour dining outlet. Not your basic 24/7 restaurant Basix boasts, hold your breath now: an international cheese selection, cold meat selection, a hot selection of international dishes, roasting station, BBQ/live cooking, carving station, fresh salad station, oodles of homemade noodles, assorted steamed dim sim, assorted mezzeh (Middle Eastern meal), Indian station, not-your-standard Pinoy food, seafood station, crepe station, chocolate fountain, halo-halo station, assorted cakes, bread and pudding, fresh oysters, sushi, and sooo much more! And the biggest surprise is the buffet costs only P1,450 net for lunch and P1,650 net for dinner.
I am mesmerized by the assorted mezzeh and suddenly remember the food we ate during a trip to Syria not too long ago to trace the silk route before violence erupted in Homs. We were dining on hummus, tabouleh, babaganoush, and pita bread day in and day out, but they were so good nobody raised a whimper of protest. For your Syrian meal, chef Christian cooked up, yes, hummus, tabouleh, babaganoush, marinated feta, vine leaves, cucumber-yoghurt, among others.
I’m naturally drawn to Basix’s pasta-perfect offerings and go for a dreamy creamy carbonara with lots of mushroom prepared a la minute.
I’m not a big meat eater, but I’d say that this is a great meating place. The carving station is to crave for. Basix offers three cycles that consist of US prime rib of beef, rack of pork, slow roasted lamb leg, and whole roasted chicken — served with red wine sauce, Café de Paris, Dijon mustard, Pomery mustard, and horseradish.
Basix is also big on Indian food: Malabar fish curry, beef, lamb, chicken, fish, prawn tandoori, pappadum, naan, coriander naan, garlic naan, roti prata, assorted chutneys and condiments.
Hai, there’s also a Japanese selection of fresh sushi, maki rolls, and sashimi, as well as prawn, asuhos, and vegetable tempura, chowed down with a bracing hot miso soup.
Say hi to Thai food, too, with Basix’s stir-fried beef with oyster sauce, stir-fried chicken with cashew, stir-fried minced beef with chili and basil.
If your taste buds lean towards Western fare, here’s something for you: braised red wine chicken, blanquette of chicken with mango, beef stroganoff, confit of lamb shoulder rack, salmon piccata with sautéed mushrooms, smoked pork loin on lentil stew, seabass “grenobleoise.” Any way it’s cooked, this sweet, textured Atlantic fish is always a winner for me — you can say it’s to dive for!
But for those who like a taste of home amid a hotel ambience, chef Christian does not disappoint his faithful local patrons. Basix’s got Sari-Saring Lamat Dagat, Chicken Bicol Express, sinigang na hipon, Beef Caldereta Batangas, duck adobo with coconut milk.
Surely, nobody Dusit like chef Christian Werdenberg.
CHEF CHRISTIAN’S SCALLOPS WITH BLACK MUSSELS
Mussel stock
100 g Spanish black mussels
3 ml olive oil
2 g garlic
2 g shallots
1 sprig thyme
70ml white wine
Heat olive oil in a sauce pan, add chopped garlic and shallots, and let it sweat until infused and fragrant. Add the mussels, toss well, and then add the white wine. Cover with a lid and let simmer until mussels open up.
Remove the mussels from the shell and set aside. Reserve the mussel stock.
Sauce
12 ml olive oil
3 g shallots
2 g garlic
30 g lentil — pink
15 g Spanish chorizo sausage
50 ml chicken stock
50 ml mussel stock
10 ml cream
Heat olive oil in a sauce pan, add chopped garlic, shallots, and chorizo and let it sweat until infused and fragrant. Add the soaked lentil and toss well. Add the chicken stock and the mussel stock, and simmer until the lentils are soft. Add fresh cream and blend in a blender until smooth and frothy.
2 pcs. sea scallops without shell
Season the scallops with salt and pepper and dust very lightly with flour. Sear in a very hot pan and cook quickly on both sides. Place scallops and the reserved mussels in a serving dish and pour on the lentil chorizo sauce.
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SEARED SEA BASS WITH RED PEPPER COMPOTE & LEMON OIL
1 red bell pepper
5 ml olive oil
5 g garlic
5 g shallots
1 sprig thyme
Salt & pepper
Roast the red bell pepper over an open flame until the skin blisters and turns black. Remove the skin from the pepper. Slit open and remove the seeds as well. Cut the peeled and cleaned pepper in small dices. Heat the olive oil, add garlic and shallots, and let infuse. Add the diced pepper and let simmer until soft and fragrant. Season with salt and pepper.
120 g Chilean sea bass
Salt & pepper
10 ml olive oil
3 ml lemon oil
Season sea bass with salt & pepper and cook on a grill or in a frying pan with little olive oil for about five to seven minutes, depending on the thickness of the fillet. Arrange nicely on a hot serving plate, garnish with fresh herbs, and drizzle with lemon oil.