Maido’s Mitsuharu Tsumura and Central’s Virgilio Martinez.
Photos by Pepper Teehankee
Shangri-La at the Fort invited food lovers to join internationally acclaimed chef Mitsuharu Tsumura at Samba, the hotel’s newly opened Peruvian restaurant on Level 8.
Tsumura is one of the 12 celebrated chefs who headlined the Shangri-La International Festival of Gastronomy, a culinary event that was simultaneously launched in 11 Shangri-La hotels in 10 cities: Beijing, Hong Kong, Jakarta, London, Manila, Paris, Taipei, Tokyo, Shanghai and Singapore. The 12 chefs — three of whom have restaurants listed in Restaurant magazine’s The World’s 50 Best Restaurants — hold a total of 20 Michelin Stars among them.
Born in Lima, Peru, Tsumura is the owner and chef at Maido — the restaurant that took the No. 13 spot in this year’s World’s 50 Best Restaurants. Gifted at magically merging Peruvian and Japanese influences, Tsumura is a perfectionist at heart and applies a contemporary approach while making traditional food.
As an added treat for just one (sold-out) night, Tsumura cooked with celebrated chef Virgilio Martinez in a special dinner. Martinez, owner and chef of Central restaurant in Lima, Peru, ranked fourth in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list in 2016 and first in Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants. He was in Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore also as part of the Shangri-La International Festival of Gastronomy. He flew to Manila to introduce his new book, Central, published by Phaidon and is available through The Kitchen Bookstore (www.thekitchenbookstore.com), a specialty online bookstore in the Philippines.
Dishes served at Samba that night included abalone ceviche, tamales stuffed with river prawns, 50-hour cooked beef and edible clay as dessert. It was indeed a treat to have an unforgettable Peruvian dinner prepared by the No. 1 (Martinez) and No. 2 (Tsumura) chefs of South America.
(Information on the menus, prices, chefs and culinary destinations are available at www.ShangriLaLovesFood.com. Watch out for more of Shangri-La’s food festivals.)
Jim Murray, author of the Whisky Bible Series; and Frank Shrope, host of the Whisky Society Podcast.
Whisky Live debuts at the Fort
Whisky Live, the world’s premier whisky tasting show, held its debut in Manila at the Shangri-La at the Fort in Bonifacio Global City recently.
The event was well attended by the growing number of whisky enthusiasts and newcomers. The world’s leading whisky brands came in as exhibitors.
One of the most popular and most visited booths during the event was the Hebridean masterpiece Bruichladdich, (pronounced as BRUC-LAH-DI). The world-famous Islay Scotch Whisky is trickle distilled and non-chill filtered to offer clean, exceptionally fresh and lively flavors with both oak and barley in perfect harmony. The Classic Laddie is unpeated Islay Single Malt Whisky matured in American and French oak casks. It is floral, elegant, crisp and vanilla sweet in character.
Port Charlotte, on the other hand, is heavily peated Islay Single Malt Whisky matured in American oak casks with a balance of peat, smoke and creamy caramel with hints of pear, citrus and sea salt. My favorite, the very heavily peated Octomore Edition 07.1, is matured in American oak with a flavor profile reminiscent of vanilla, honey, citrus, sea spray, leather, smoked mussels mixed with autumn bracken and crème brulee. All three are made from 100-percent Scottish-grown barley.
The iconic Islay dry gin called The Botanist also made its presence felt and wowed the crowd. It is an exceptional gin of layered complexity infused with 22 hand-foraged rare botanicals that delicately augment nine berries, barks, seeds and peels during a slow distillation.
Part of the many wonderful activities at Whisky Live was a cocktail competition. The concoction made by ABV’s Lester Egurrola Ligon won the competition. Ligon described his cocktail: “It is somewhat nutty and Christmassy. A refreshing drink made with Bruichladdich Port Charlotte. I wanted it to be bursting with flavors similar to each other, so that the drink would come together in one stretch.”
Chef Bruce Ricketts of Mecha Uma.
Mecha Uma listed in ‘50 Best Discovery Series’
Mecha Uma, a privately-run chef’s table by The Moment Group and chef Bruce Ricketts, has been on countless lists of Manila’s must-try restaurants since it opened in 2014.
Now, this celebrated restaurant has made it to the world stage as part of the Diners Club 50 Best Discovery Series, a selection of premier restaurants that have not yet received prior recognition in the 50 Best lists. These restaurants are voted in by this year’s Diners Club 50 Best Restaurants Academy.
Located on the ground floor of RCBC Building at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig, Mecha Uma is a collaboration between Ricketts and The Moment Group restaurateurs Eliza Antonino, Abba Napa and Jon Syjuco.
The restaurant has a menu that turns to the world’s gastronomic diversity for inspiration while peppering its affairs with Japanese influence. This is perhaps the first establishment in the city to offer a true seasonal tasting menu, boasting local organic produce and fresh fare flown in regularly from Japan.
Congratulations, Bruce and The Moment Group! This is something to be very proud of!
(From left) Rustan Commercial Corp. member of the board Maritess Tantoco-Enriquez and chairman and CEO Zenaida Tantoco, Italian Ambassador Massimo Roscigno, Hidetoshi Nakata, Damiani Group CEO Giorgio Damiani and Rustan Commercial Corp. president Donnie Tantoco.
The Metropolitan Dream
Rustan’s celebrated the exclusive collaboration of an internationally renowned Italian luxury jeweler Damiani and Japanese football great, trendsetter and model Hidetoshi Nakata with the sporty and elegant collection — the Metropolitan Dream by H. Nakata.
The collection consists of 21 references of necklaces, bangles and bracelets in pink gold and black gold versions, both with diamonds. The bracelets are with a strap in woven leather with one or two spirals around the wrist.
Nakata donates part of the proceeds from the collection to “Home For All,” a project created by Japanese architects in 2011 with the aim of finding a way to help earthquake victims in the reconstruction of the cities concerned and improve the daily life of the community in Japan.
In Africa, the Metropolitan Dream by H. Nakata collection supports Damiani’s humanitarian mission, the “Clean Water Project,” which helps clean and build water wells.
(Damiani is available at Rustan’s Department Stores.)
(From left) Charmaine Palermo, Melo Esguerra, Lucio Pua and Em Lingao.
‘Dance with the dead’
The final stretch of October has always marked a time to remember the dead, to embrace the macabre. But in true human spirit, this week is really a celebration of life. A time when man can stare death in the eye and laugh! And that’s exactly what we did at Jose Cuervo’s Day of the Dead Party at the Eye at Green Sun in Makati City.
Sold out just days after its announcement, the Day of the Dead Party proved itself to be the hottest party of the season. Costumed party goers packed the Eye. Ghouls and heroes of all kinds danced the night away to the beat of Manila’s hottest DJs, a line-up that included Spectrum K, Jay Santos, Toy Armanda, Brian Cua, Kat DJ, Khai Lim and Mike Lavet.
Jose Cuervo supported a full bar that included a special, one-night-only cocktail, the Cuervo Marigold, a tribute to the Aztec flower for death. It was a taste celebrated by everyone who attended the party!
(For updates on anything Jose Cuervo, visit www.facebook.com/cuervopilipinas and @cuervopilipinas on Twitter and Instagram.)