CHRIS Yam of LuxAsia; Marielle Santos-Po, Cinderella merchandising manager for Ladies Local Brands; Gretchen Fullido of TV Patrol; and Amira Aranaz Alunan, president of School of Fashion and the Arts
MANILA, Philippines—It was my discovery of the week, dahlings. It’s been there for a couple of months now and I’ve heard nothing but raves about it, so when moi was invited for a wine dinner evening at one of the few authentic Italian restaurants in the country, Maurizio Ristorante, I had to go.
To start the ball rolling, that super talented chef Maurizio Gibillini (We even share the same name—Maurice is Maurizio in Italian, natch!) served the divine appetizer trio of Bresaola (air-dried beef), Caprese Mozzarela Buffala and Insalata di Polpo (Octopus Salad), served with a crisp and fruity Frescobaldi Pomino Bianco. Absolutely yummy.
This was followed by the to-die-for Tagliatelle Cinghiale (wild boar sauce!) and Risotto with Porcini Mushroom, served with Hardys Oomoo GSM, a classic Cotes-du-Rhone blend from Australia that blew my socks off. It was excellent.
The main dish was everyone’s favorite—Angus Rib-eye with Peppercorn sauce, served with Frescobaldi Nippozzano Riserva, a fabulous Chianti Rufina. To cap this excellently prepared dinner, Chef Maurizio served his homemade Gelato, paired with Nederburg Noble Late Harvest.
Ah, what else could I say but “Bravo!”
Totally enjoying this feast of food and superb wines were Amy and Bay Loste; Mauro Agustines; Hannah Yulo; Herdi Hernandez; hostess of the dinner Keika Ozaeta; Toshi and Karla Fukui and the articulate Stewart Dovey with his team from Future Trade International, the fantastic wine sponsor for the evening.
Here’s to our host with the most, restaurant entrepreneur and totally charmant good-looker Mike Ozaeta, who made sure everyone had a great time. Hey, we sure did!
Maurizio Ristorante is open daily for lunch and dinner, and is located at 138 HV Dela Costa St., Salcedo Village, Makati. For reservations, call 7507817. You’ll definitely not regret it, palanggas.
60 years of Cinderella
To celebrate 60 fantastic years of success, Cinderella recently launched its “Designer’s Competition: Innovative, Global and Fashionably Summer 2009” at the Esprit basement in Glorietta 3.
Cinderella’s design competition is meant to be the event to end all design competitions this year, palanggas. With the School of Fashion and the Arts as a partner, its prizes include a one-year scholarship in Fashion Design at the school, plus the chance to have the winning designs produced and sold in Cinderella stores.
The winning designer will sign a work contract with Cinderella Marketing Corp—proof of how CMC is such a staunch believer in fresh talent, palanggas.
The first and second runners-up will receive P15,000 and P10,000 worth of gift certificates, respectively. The finale competition will be held this October, with the six finalists getting their creations showcased on the catwalk before a distinguished panel of judges from the fashion industry, dahlings.
The launch was hosted by exotic model Rissa Mananquil, who welcomed style hotshots like Loralee Baron-Soong and Bryanne Valenzuela of Sofa; Cinderella Marketing Corp. executives and my palanggas Therese Coronel-Santos, EVP; eye-catching Malou Coronel-De Venecia, marketing director; and brilliant bachelor Richie Coronel-Santos; Sari Yap, president of Mega Publishing; Gretchen Fulido of TV Patrol; Liza Illarde of Travelife magazine; April Marquez of Shiseido; and Leo Po, director of Century Pacific Group, plus others like them, palanggas.
Canon Digital Ixus in Boracay
Over 50,000 tourists flocked to Boracay during the last Christmas-New Year season, would you believe?
As of last week, moi was there again for three super happenings, with different resorts and bars dangling attractive carrots to attract the crowd to their spots. Lots of parties were also organized to launch different sorts of products.
Among them, The Beach House ’08, presented by Studio 23 and Canon, was definitely a smashing success.
“Canon redefines the concept of dazzling colors in Boracay by launching the new Digital Ixus 80 IS,” announced Canon’s young assistant marketing manager, Katrina Tioseco. “Five sophisticated metallic colors are available to match this generation. It’s what taking a photo is all about.”
Three huge bashes were organized to everyone’s dancing delight, palanggas. There were tons—and moi mean tons!—of beach lovers all over. The attendance was absolutely spectacular.
Naturellement, moi couldn’t miss spotting MTV VJ Kat Alano; Myx VJ JC Buendia; Fil-Am model Rich Herrera; and pretty actress Michelle Madrigal, dahlings.
After I left, moi was told that four models—three male and one female—dashed to the cool water to “chill out” from all the hot and wild dancing that was going on. Wow!
Four lucky pairs got to take home the plum role of “new couples” during the speed-dating game. The winning participants each received a package from Canon and luxe goodies from Gucci and Ray-Ban.
Yeah, that kind of partying is best captured in living color by Canon Ixus, with its thrust of delighting consumers with nothing but the best features. Congratulations to Thinlines’ hot, young president Frank Briones for a good job.
Copyright 2009 Philippine Daily Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
To
subscribe to the Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper in the Philippines,
call +63 2 896-6000 for Metro Manila and Metro Cebu or email your subscription request here.
Factual errors? Contact the
Philippine Daily Inquirer's day desk.
Believe this article violates journalistic ethics?
Contact the
Inquirer's Reader's Advocate.
Or write The Readers' Advocate:
c/o
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Chino RocesAvenue corner Yague and Mascardo Streets,
Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines
Or fax nos. +63 2 8974793 to 94
![Zoom Image](javascript:popwin("http://images.inquirer.net/media/showbizandstyle/lifestyle/lifestyle/images/pic-08120112460002.jpg", 640, 480))
Zoom
![Zoom Image](javascript:popwin("http://images.inquirer.net/media/showbizandstyle/lifestyle/lifestyle/images/pic-08120114200832.jpg", 640, 480))
Zoom
![Zoom Image](javascript:popwin("http://images.inquirer.net/media/showbizandstyle/lifestyle/lifestyle/images/pic-08120114540269.jpg", 410, 565))
Zoom
