The sweetest escape

Get ready for a sweet escape at the well-loved, all-in-one restaurant, bar and candy shop — Sugar Factory American Brasserie — now open at Shangri-La at the Fort in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. This branch is Sugar Factory’s first ever store in the Philippines and in Asia.

A night of revelry and exclusive party for the VIPs, celebrities and media formally opened the branch in Manila after four months of soft opening.

Guests of honor Vice President Leni Robredo, Fernando and Kit Zobel and Dr. Vicki Belo all walked down a unique pink carpet. Appetizing hors d’oeuvres were complemented by a wide selection of customized cocktails and sweet treats.

Diners can also savor comfort food that Sugar Factory has been serving over the years. Its signature menu offers everything from pancakes to salads and Western favorites like burgers. For adults, spiked beverages made with premium spirits are perfect choices, including the legendary and signature 36-ounce alcohol-infused smoking candy goblets.

Sugar Factory is also found in some of the world’s most cosmopolitan cities like New York, Bahrain, Chicago and Miami. It has gained worldwide fame for its celebrity-endorsed Couture Pops, turning sweet treats into a designer accessory. Britney Spears, Carmen Electra, Nicole Scherzinger and Eva Longoria have been spotted enjoying the sparkly lollipops. Other celebrities who enjoy Sugar Factory’s sweet treats include Nicki Minaj, Katy Perry, Rihanna, the Jonas Brothers, Sting, Charlie Sheen, Kim Kardashian, Kylie Jenner and Drake.

(Sugar Factory Manila is located at Unit GF5 of Shangri-La at the Fort. For more information, visit www.SugarFactory.com.)

From abuela with love

We all love a good, home-cooked meal — especially if it is cooked by the loving hands of your abuela (grandmother).

Mai Lacson Campillo and her husband, chef Marco Legasto, pay tribute to Mai’s grandmother, Eduarda Cuyugan Lacson,  by recreating her heirloom dishes with a modern twist in their aptly named restaurant — Abuela’s.

Eduarda was, first and foremost, a grandmother who doted on all her grandchildren, but she was famously known for her food. Her inherent love for cooking stemmed from her Kapampangan roots. When she got married, she settled in Bacolod. Years after her death, her food is still being celebrated by Mai and Marco.

Chef Marco Legasto graduated from the IHMES Isle of Man in the UK, where he continued to work at The Hilton. He then moved to Ocean Castle Hotel and Imperial Hotel before flying to New York where he did private catering and functions.

He came back to Manila in 2003 as a guest chef at Restaurant 12 in Greenbelt and at the (then) Westin Philippine Plaza Hotel. He then became a consultant chef for Dos Palmas Resort in Palawan and at the Via Mare Oyster Bar in Rockwell. In 2005, he returned to Westin to spearhead the prime team of Spiral Restaurant. He opened his very first restaurant, Prime 101, on Pasong Tamo, Makati in 2012. Last year, he and Mai opened Abuela’s with Mark and Vicky Tensuan and Miguel and Janice Herrera.

I enjoyed several dishes at Abuela’s like the ensaladang talong, which is eggplant salad of tomatoes and onions with adobo dressing.

A must-try is the crispy (and not oily) bagnet that goes perfectly with the chef’s Thai/kaffir lime sauce. For those who love to indulge like me, get the Wagyu bone marrow. And if you’re feeling brave enough, pair this with the bone marrow mushroom rice.

I also tried the curry prawns with crab fat. This dish surprised me because I never thought curry and taba ng talangka could go very well together!

The restaurant’s specialty is roast beef. I was told Abuela’s   received hundreds of orders of this dish last Christmas.

This month, the partners of Abuela’s will be opening a Japanese restaurant called Ikkyu-An with Japanese chef Yoshimi Igarashi, whose cooking I have long admired.

(Abuela’s is located at second floor, Somerset Millennium, 109 Aguirre St., Legaspi Village, Makati City. Call 805-2713.)

Social commitment for a sustainable tomorrow

Last year, a small group of hotels, restaurants, retailers and NGOs got together to conceptualize the “Sustainable Seafood Week.” The group aims to create public awareness on the issue of responsible seafood sourcing, and how critical it is for the seafood industry to act in response to the rapid depletion of the ocean’s resources.

Recently, the Sustainable Seafood Week 2017 was launched at the Marriott Grand Ballroom in Pasay City. With more organizations participating this year, the week-long celebration, which will be held from Feb. 20 to 26, is expected to bring a bigger and substantive learning event.

Christian Schmidradner, general manager of seafood company Meliomar and one of the lead proponents of the initiative, said, “There is a growing importance placed on the topic of responsible seafood sourcing, implemented traceability, legal fisheries, and improvement of fishery and aquaculture management.”

Marriott Hotel Manila executive chef Meik Brammer added, “This event is important to Marriott because we want to reinforce our commitment to ensure that only fresh, sustainable seafood will be served to our guests. ‘Serve Our World’ is one of Marriott’s core values; it is a guide on how we do business.”

For his part, Vince Cinches, Greenpeace Southeast Asia oceans campaigner, shared, “The government should take cue from this increasing number of Sustainable Seafood Week participating establishments to strongly and urgently implement the Amended Fisheries Code of the Philippines, and ensure that fish is sustainably provided.”

In conclusion, Rocky Sanchez Tirona of Rare Philippines, a conservation organization that works directly with local communities, added that seafood buyers, users and consumers also need to understand that how they source their seafood can create powerful incentives for fishers to do the right thing. *

(For more information, visit facebook.com/sustainableseafoodweekph.)

(Follow me on Instagram @pepperteehankee.)