Circle around for great value this July with your Citi card

They call him “The Tiny Chef,” but executive chef Paul Lenz of Circles Event Café in Makati Shangri-La hardly fits the profile: he’s round and jovial, and full of love for food. And he has one philosophy: “If I wouldn’t eat it, you won’t find it” at Circles.

People have been finding themselves at Circles for almost eight years now. It was the pioneer of Manila’s “theatrical dining” scene, offering a dizzying array of show kitchens and serving stations, featuring international fare and luxe desserts. And since chef Lenz came aboard in the last half year (fresh from a five-year stint at Shangri-La Singapore), that selection has grown even more, well, selective. He prides himself on Circles’ new “interactive kitchen” concept that allows guests to bring fresh fish or meat to be grilled right before their eyes, in any style they like. “Some people like their prawns Singaporean style, and we’re very happy to do so,” he says, or “Say you want garlic naan bread, the chef can prepare that for you, fresh from the oven.”

It’s important that a hugely popular restaurant like Circles remains current and fresh, while still maintaining the “signature” items that draw crowds, like US prime rib (of which Circles serves about 2.2 tons a month, chef Lenz informs me). One way the eatery is staying current is appealing to Citibank cardholders with a very special, exclusive dining offer this July: enjoy Circles’ lunch buffet for P1,000 net when you use your Citi card. That’s a savings of about P670.

Sounds tempting? It certainly is. There are a few ground rules though.  One, the promotion requires prior reservation, which is now easier than ever, especially if you reserve online — just four clicks, and you can enjoy the exclusive promotional price for lunch.  Two, you can get the delicious rate only from Mondays to Saturdays, and for the limited window of July 1 to 13.  Third, when booking, make sure to mention you will pay with a Citibank credit card, and share a contact number for confirmation.

 â€œAt Citi, we are always looking to give the best dining deals to our clients.  No one can argue that this is the best buffet value in town and we’re happy to team up with Makati Shangri-La again for this irresistible reward to our cardholders,” says Bea Teh-Tan, managing director and consumer business manager for Citi Philippines. 

Speaking of irresistible, that’s what you’re likely to say about the half dozen serving stations at Circles, which cover Asian, continental and Middle Eastern cuisine, not to mention the signature dessert station, salad bars, and even a halal-certified station for Islamic diners (one of the few offered in town).

For chef Lenz, taking over Circles is not about reinventing the wheel (no pun intended). It’s about making a delicious thing even better. “Circles is a great restaurant idea; we can’t change it, we can just enhance it, working on our products and quality standards. We really focus on product selection, freshness and quality production.”

A few other new trends are healthier cuisine options, interactive stations, and farm-to-table cooking: “We look for products locally grown, not everything is imported anymore,” says Lenz. “There are a lot of great farms here, great vegetables, nice fish farms and products in the Philippines. The produce we get is European-type quality now, so we’re engaging them more and more in our cuisine and showcasing their products as well.”

You will notice TV screens in Circles’ dining rooms showing you what’s going on, live, in the kitchen. That transparency has been expanded under Lenz to an “interactive kitchen” concept. “We wanted to really showcase Circles as the first to offer an interactive kitchen concept,” says Lesley Anne Tan, director of communications, Makati Shangri-La, “so when you come in it’s very dynamic, the chefs are very engaged; you can have anything cooked however you prefer.”

Managing such a people-pleasing kitchen is not automatic. With over 180 staff in the kitchen, it takes a team of highly skilled local chefs to make Circles work every day. “I think we’ve been lucky in our organization, we have a core team of culinarians who have been with us a long time, so they’ve established themselves as perfectionists,” notes Lenz. “We as foreigners can come in with new ideas, but we really depend on the people on the board, in the kitchen, to execute the ideas we have.”

I couldn’t help coming up with my own thought experiment: If you had both the Azkals and the Volcanoes sit down for the lunch buffet at Circles, would you then have to shut down for the rest of the day? “No, no, we’re well structured for volume,” the chef points out. “We have a strong team behind us with different culinary experiences from around the world.”

Pleasing appetites — however tiny or large — is Circles’ stock in trade. And it’s part of the reason Citi partnered with the restaurant for this Dining Privileges exclusive offer this July. “Talking to Citi, we wanted an alignment of values, and they were very generous in doing this promotion with us,” says Tan. On top of that, Makati Shangri-La area general manager Reto Klauser promises a “special treat” for all those who avail of the Circles promo from July 1 to 13. He won’t reveal what the secret treat is, but it’s definitely the icing on a very tempting cake.