Basking in delight at Vask

His resume lists the names of the restaurants where he was once affiliated: Arzak, El Bulli, Noma, Mugaritz, El Celler de Can Roca. Those restaurants make a foodie like me drool. And now, he has Vask right here in Manila.

Jose Luis Gonzalez, fondly known as Chele, was born in Santander, Spain and found an affinity for cooking at a very early age. He wanted to cook professionally but his family strongly disagreed with the idea. So, he studied Business Management and Marketing. Following his graduation from college, he opened up his own business — a lounge/club that he successfully ran for three years.

Chele later enrolled and paid for his culinary education and degree from Artxanda, Bilbao. During the first two years of his college, he spent his summers working in a hotel where he became starter chef de partie. He was one of the best in his class and finished his college culinary practice at the Michelin-starred restaurant Andra Mari.

After graduation, he was rewarded with a position with Arzak in San Sebastian where he was assigned to the Arzak Laboratory. There, he developed and facilitated upcoming menus and conceptions. After Arzak, he continued his career at Mugaritz in Errentia, Spain where he was chef de partie of fish. He also worked behind the scenes in the laboratory. 

He then transferred to El Bulli, the No. 1 restaurant in the world at that time, located in Roses, Spain. He was one of 35 chefs accepted amongst thousands of applicants.  After finishing a season at El Bulli, he decided to take a tour of restaurants in southern France where he had the privilege of experiencing Brass, which was helmed by chef Michel Brass. After this tour, he spent a few months at yet another world famous location, El Cellar de Can Roca in Girona, Spain (which dislodged Noma as the world’s No.1 restaurant) before obtaining a position at the Nerua restaurant at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. He started as chef de partie of meats, then pastries and starters, and then became head chef of events and catering as well as sous chef for the fine dining and gastronomy restaurant. 

Chele was a friend of the sous chef of Noma in Copenhagen, Denmark, the No. 1 one restaurant in the world at that time, and was able to become an intern at the restaurant to experience its new technologies and concepts of cooking. With the knowledge he gained, Chele was able to help Nerua-Guggenheim maintain its reputation as one of the most important restaurants in the world with regards to various styles of cooking vegetables. 

After almost three years at Guggenheim, Chele moved to the Philippines to occupy the position of chef de cuisine for Sofitel and Shangri-La where his culinary skills were utilized to run multiple kitchens and increase the food quality of both establishments. 

Recently, Chele joined forces with partners Jerico and Jean Fernando, Paula Cortez, Tessa Prieto-Valdes and Carlo Calma to produce Vask, which he refers to as “his baby.” 

People can have a glass of wine and their choice of Pintxos all ready in the bar. Of course, a lot opt to go for the full dining experience. Major hits in this place include the Huevos, hongos y cebola, a 62-degree sous-vide (under vacuum) egg with porcini mushroom, garlic, breadcrumbs, port wine sauce and onion foam. The Pulpo a la Gallega is also much talked about.  One can have the octopus boiled, grilled or smoked. 

I personally liked the wagyu with several mushroom textures in the form of mash, foam, sautée and sauce.  I am still going back to taste what I missed out like the Kurobota Cheeks, Mejillones Tigre (spicy crispy mussels), and a lot more interesting dishes!

I think, at this point, people are already thinking that this place is one of those “molecular gastronomy” dining venues. Well, true and not true. Yes, it serves modern tapas. The new Basque cuisine of the restaurant has definitely the influences of French cuisine but utilizes Spanish innovative techniques as mentioned on the menu.  On the flip side of the menu are traditional Spanish tapas and main courses including the very popular Txuleton US Angus Prime Rib Eye, which is dry-aged for 28 days.

At Vask, there is something traditional for those who want it and something innovative for those who want something out of the ordinary. Why not check it out yourself? 

Oh, and the restaurant has an al fresco area for pre- or post-dinner drinks as well.

(Vask is located at the 5th floor of the Clipp Building, 11th Avenue corner 39th Street, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. 

For reservations, call 0908-191-2702 or 0915-507-7047.)

Mobile milestone

Here’s a mobile milestone story.

Nokia Philippines launched the Asha 310 to fulfill its promise of connecting the next billion users to the Internet through a range of fast and affordable smartphones. 

The event was held at the Bizu Patisserie in Greenbelt 2 where guests were entertained with henna tattoo services, a balloon artist and other games to promote the features of the Asha 310.

Nokia general manager Karel Holub said, “The launch is not just about the Asha 310, it is also a celebration of the 14th Asha phone that Nokia has launched in the Philippines. We strive to bring affordable yet feature-packed devices to the next billion users as part of our strategy. We want to continue building on our reputation as a global leader in mobile communications technology.”

The Nokia Asha 310 helps transition users to next-generation smartphone technology. This is the first Asha phone with both dual SIM and Wi-Fi functionality. It also comes with the Nokia Xpress Browser, which compresses data by up to 90 percent to deliver a fast browsing experience and to save on download costs.

Guests were invited to play some EA premium games, which come free with the Asha 310. They also got to try out the Nokia Xpress Browser and won prizes from Nokia.

Photos by Pepper Teehankee on a Canon Power Shot

(Check out www.nokia.com.ph.)