EATING in fancy restaurants is usually a rather self-indulgent activity, especially in these financially trying times. To assuage this guilt, the trend now is to find means to give back without losing the fun in going out.

The Miele Guide, a reliable guide to the best restaurants in Asia, has found a way to give back while eating out. Its latest gimmick is Restaurant Month, which will start this coming August. The idea is for 50 of the best restaurants in Asia to offer special set menus wherein 15 percent of the revenue will go to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). According to representatives of the Miele Guide, proceeds have been earmarked for WFP?s activities in East Timor, one of the poorest countries in Asia.

?Our intention is to bring together like-minded partners who share the same passion for food and have a similar desire to contribute back to society,? says Aun Koh, Director of Ate Media, the Singapore-based media firm that publishes The Miele Guide. ?While many may be fortunate enough to be able to dine in Asia?s best restaurants and eat beautifully prepared, delicious food on a regular basis, we should be aware that many more people are unable to afford or gain access to nutritious food. The Miele Guide Restaurant Month, which we hope will become an annual initiative, is our way of making a difference in alleviating hunger and poverty in Asia.?

The give-back will be in no small amount. ?Our goal is to raise US$200,000 with the support of 57 participating restaurants and our official media partners in the region,? says Koh. According to WFP, it takes only US$50 to feed one child for a year. The target amount of US$200,000 raised will therefore be able to feed 4,000 children a year.

Why the initiative? Mario Miranda, Managing Director of Miele Pte Ltd., says with conviction, ?We hope that through The Miele Guide Restaurant Month, more people will be made aware of the realities of hunger and poverty in our part of the world.?

From the Philippines, our very own Chef Jessie Sincioco of Le Soufflé will be one of the participants. As of the moment, no menu has been set yet but it is sure to be a delicious and guilt-free meal.

In the meantime, Chef Jessie has been busy promoting not only Le Soufflé but also the book ?Kulinarya? abroad. If you will recall, ?Kulinarya? is a cookbook of Philippine dishes that aims to set a standard of Filipino cooking while promoting Filipino cuisine.

Chef Jessie has just come home from Macau, where the ?Kulinarya World Tour? kicked off. In Macau, Chef Jessie demo?d over a hundred Filipino dishes to overseas Filipinos and foreigners alike in a weeklong Filipino food festival.

She was very happy to share that Filipino food was well-received not only by our homesick OFWs but also by non-Filipinos. The favorite was the lechon de leche (why is that not a surprise?). One of the participants, a foreigner who had been to the Philippines twice in the past, was overheard to say, ?I?ve never tasted Filipino food this good.? Another foreign participant reportedly became addicted to the kare-kare but insisted on having it without bagoong, to my consternation ? because to me kare-kare without bagoong is not kare-kare. Oh well, to each his own.

What?s amazing is how Chef Jessie even survived Macau. The ?Kulinarya? festival lasted five days and every day she had to prepare a fresh menu of eight salads, eight main courses and eight desserts. The good news, though, is that by word of mouth, the venue got more packed as each day passed. By the last day, the room was too full; they had to turn people away.

Bringing ?Kulinarya? around the world is a great idea. But I would also suggest patterning our food marketing on Singapore?s program. Instead of bringing their food out, Singapore brings people in. I remember attending an all-expense-paid press junket to Singapore at the invitation of the Singapore Tourism Board a couple of years back. All major dailies and food magazines were represented. We all came back with a better appreciation not only of Singaporean food but of Singapore restaurants, clubs and hotels; and we were only too happy to encourage our friends to take a Uniquely Singapore trip, sleep at the Majestic, party at Zouk and have breakfast at Ya Kun.

In fact, Singapore?s campaign to recognize food as part of a country?s culture and make restaurants in one?s country not only a by-the-way but a destination in themselves is brilliant. Now if only we could market our food and restaurants ? who can resist flying to the Philippines for Cebu lechon in Pino? ? and bring food lovers from all over the world into the Philippines instead of making Chef Jessie slave away from country to country promoting a book.

If we do that and incorporate a give-back program like that of the Miele Guide?s Restaurant Month, we may, in our small way in the food community, find a way to feed the over 60 million Filipinos living on less than $2 a day while guiltlessly devouring fine food. Who knows, Tourism Secretary Ace Durano may just find something up his sleeve and make this all happen! After all, eating out and giving back is not a bad combination at all! ?

"Kulinarya? and The Miele Guide are available in major bookstores.