InterCon's Café Jeepney serves GenSan dishes

MANILA, Philippines - InterContinental Manila’s Café Jeepney continues with its Filipino regional and provincial culinary promotions.

Until Oct. 31, popular dishes of General Santos City in South Cotabato are part of the restaurant’s daily lunch and dinner buffets. Ensuring their authenticity is guest hometown chef, Chriselda “Kring” Macion of Marasa Grill.

Located in the southern part of the Philippines, General Santos City, also widely referred to as GenSan, is one of the country’s most populous cities.

Its economy is primarily agro-industrial. Blessed with a rich soil, good rainfall and typhoon-free climate, the city is one of the leading producers of corn, coconuts, copra, pineapples, asparagus and rice.

It also produces other high-value crops such as exotic fruits, potatoes, vegetables, cutflowers and okra. It accounts for the largest daily total of fish landings in the country and is the leading producer of sashimi-grade tuna, thus earning the title of “tuna capital of the Philippines.” Residents boast that fish and seafood do not come fresher than in their city.

The freshly caught seafood and newly harvested agricultural products combine to make a sumptuous and delicious array of dishes. Chef Kring promises to prepare GenSan sashimi and other grilled seafood delights during the special food promotion at Café Jeepney.

“I can say that almost all kinds of food are found in our city and they are cooked in different ways since GenSan is a melting pot of all the regional tribes in the country,” she says. “In GenSan you will find your comfort food since its residents come from Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao.”

Chef Kring holds a B.S. Hotel and Restaurant Management degree from St. Paul College, Quezon City. After graduation, she went home to GenSan where she worked for eight years in the hotel industry before deciding to start her own carinderia (native eatery) in her family’s garage.

From a mere 24-seater, the place can now accommodate 60 guests in addition to 50 in the adjacent air-conditioned function room. She has attended the Pinoy Chefs Trainors Training Program of TESDA and takes an active hand in organizing the yearly Tuna Culinary Competitions in GenSan.

Presently, she is the president of the General Santos City Tourism Association Inc. and occasionally appears in ABS-CBN’s Magandang Umaga Socksargen television program. 

Café Jeepney offers a free buffet meal for a fifth person for every group of four buffet-paying adults. Diners get a chance to participate in the hotel’s 40th anniversary grand raffle for every P4,000 in a single receipt at the restaurant.

Prizes at stake are a Princess Cruise trip for two to Alaska, the Mexican Riviera or the Caribbean and two round-trip tickets from Manila to any European destination of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.

Call 793-7000 for reservations.