Restaurant makeover

CEBU, Philippines - There is a TV program that has caught my fancy. It is called "Restaurant Redemption," about upgrading Asian food, particularly Chinese, one menu at a time. Ching-He Huang is the host, and she travels across America to help struggling restaurants revitalize their dishes and makeover their mediocre establishments.

It like remodelling the house and setting the standards on the improvements - from the furniture, fixtures and equipment to the lighting, painting and plumbing and including rewiring. Everything deteriorates because of old age including electric wires, a case my electrician calls "metal fatigue." And the costing of rewiring an entire house nowadays is sure to give the house owner an electric shock!

Palermo, the Italian restaurant in Plantation Bay Resort and Spa has undergone extensive modification and my good friend, GM Efren Belarmino, personally invited me and my wife for dinner to view all these improvements and taste their new menu.

It was a top to bottom modification, from the lowered ceilings to stained glass fixtures, table lamps and other fixtures that were all sourced locally. Alternative seating options for customers are now offered, whether in regular tables or in secluded corners. Even menus are now written electronically on a gadget that looks like the popular tablet.

There are four general sections in Palermo's new menu: Tapas, Pastas, Steak Festival and the Desserts. It is clear that restaurant has evolved from a regular Italian restaurant to a dining destination that caters to what Plantation Bay Resort customers demand.

I was particularly interested in a tasting menu. Both the Jamon Serrano and the Jamon Bellota in the Tapas section were very tempting. I selected dishes that Palermo chefs would cook for diners, like the Fabada, Gambas, Calamares Fritos, Parmesan Crusted Fish Fingers and the Callos. The paired wine was the Jacob's Creek Classic Chardonnay, 2013.

The best tapa on that dinner was the Fabada, aromatic bean and sausage stew which had its origins in Spain, in the province of Asturias. It was made with large white beans and pork (bacon, sausage or ham). It seemed that Mr. Manny Gonzalez himself had to personally approve not only the restaurant renovation but also all the new dishes served in the new Palermo.

Steak Festival options were the U.S. Rib-Eye cross cut section at 220 grams (1½-inch steak cut into halves), Prime Rib, Wagyu or the Bukidnon Rib-Eye coming from American breed of cattle fattened on pineapple in the Philippines. It was simply nostalgia that egged me to order the steak from Bukidnon because a very long time ago, I was there in the feed-lot operations of Del Monte and cattle were fed pineapple pulp (core, skin). They also raised dairy cattle whose the milk had the scent of pineapple. My steak was cooked medium rare, and paired with a Spanish wine, Protos Roble, it was just great.

A wonderful finish to a lovely dinner at Palermo was the Triple B Tart - Banana, Burnt and Butterscotch. (FREEMAN)