An August moon night

Fine dining is a combination of excellent food, great wine and enjoyable company. It is in that spirit that the Chaine des Rotissuers Cebu chapter celebrated the August Moon Fellowship at the Grand Convention Center of Cebu.

 The four-course, meticulously-planned and prepared meal was preceded by cocktails at the foyer where Michel Lhuillier, Bailli Delegue National, his wife Amparito Llamas Lhuillier, Bailli de Cebu, restaurateur-host Winglip Chang and his artistic florist wife Pinky Chang  along with members and their guests indulged in champagne, a foretaste of things to come.

Guests, in their Chinese-inspired attire and adorned with their ribbons and medallions, proceeded to the ballroom where a feast awaited.

 The ballroom was dramatically draped in black with minimal green bamboos hanging vertically. Each table setting was impeccable with dainty centerpiece and cutlery perfectly aligned.  Pinky’s creative touch was evident everywhere.

 Dinner was nothing short of spectacular. An army of efficient waiters in unison served the first seated course composed of roast Peking duck slices and deep-fried seafood spring rolls. Soup consisted of double-boiled beancurd skin with shiitake mushrooms and conpoy. This was shortly followed by the entrée of stir fried prawns with French beans and nori, pan-fried scallops with toasted pine nuts, braised pork and yam in lotus leaf wrapper, soy king noodles and Angus beef cubes in black pepper sauce.   The individual courses were served with an extraordinary selection of French wines from Honorary Consul Michel Lhuillier’s  impressive wine cellar.  

Teresin Mendezona, Annabelle Luym, Rosebud Sala, Jaime Picornell

 The dinner was superb from first course to last, rich with colors and textures and tasty contrasts. The meal was topped off by a dessert of Mandarin orange, white fungus and nuts and sesame balls.

The Ngenius Rhythms led by civic leader Wilson Ng whose passion is playing the flute and pianica together with his son Myles strumming the guitar and friends, drummer Jeriel Larano, violinist Oscar Silang and Alvin Ibañez on bass guitar provided the evening’s  entertainment with soothing Chinese musical pieces.  

Midway through the gastronomic dinner, eight multi-talented gymnasts, with the youngest all of five, performed wushu, a popular Chinese martial arts  sport that  conveys  different fighting techniques with accurate and artistic movements. The fabulous presentation perfectly suited the esteemed group of fastidious Chaine members.  

At the end of a most enjoyable evening, certificates of appreciation were presented to restaurateur par excellence Winglip Chang, chef Romy Aragon and his professional team, who ensured that the evening was one to be remembered.