“FOR the last stop of its culinary journey, Ariel Manuel and JC de Terry have created a menu that not only honors the flavors and ingredients of the many provinces stroked by the Mediterranean, but also deconstructs classic fare in order to reconstruct culinary artistry. Sabores de la España Mediterránea is the third act of a wonderful play, where flavors from around the country have taken center stage. But as it happens, there is only so much detail that can be conveyed when trying to recount a story, an experience, a philosophy; the attempts to faithfully narrate or recreate these oftentimes result in a mere synopsis. In the same way, it would be impossible to truly describe tales, efforts, passion, history and tradition hidden in the broths, wrapped in the layers or cradled by the sauces of tonight’s dinner.”  So said the menu card that looked good enough to eat. The dinner at Segundo Piso was indeed the last, but not the least of the series of dinners organized by La Camara, the Spanish Chamber of Commerce. “Don’t forget dinner on November 15—it will be different.” The invitation had come as early as September. But “different” was an understatement. “Extraordinary” was more like it. Orchestrated by chef patrons Ariel Manuel of Lolo Dad’s and Juan Carlos de Terry of Terry’s Bistro. Their pooled talents were formidable. But so were the ingredients they worked with, most with the DO (Denominacion de Origen) status, the coveted seal of quality. The wines were as carefully chosen as the Schott Zwiesel glasses which would hold them; the preparations as rigorous as training for a marathon (Juan Carlos must’ve lost 15 pounds).

It was against this backdrop that dinner unfolded. Like a play in four acts. Act One teased and cajoled the taste buds: wine-cured goat cheese truffles/air-dried beef/pine nuts; heart of artichoke/crema de queso and longaniza catalana; codfish and shrimp churros with chocolate aioli; brochettes of butifarra flambéed then dipped in its piquant sun-dried pepper sauce. There was whimsy in the little paper cones that held the churros; patient detail in the twine-wrapped skewer ends. Hot and cold. Crisp and creamy. Spicy, savory and borderline sweet. All washed down with fizzy chilled cava brut.

Rice was the backdrop for Act Two. Cold—as a rice roll with the tuna belly escabeche in cava aspic, grilled cuttlefish and black olive sauce. Not quite a garnish, but a gentle bed for a portion of suckling pig and a wedge of caramelized melocotón de calanda, a peach so special that it merited its own DO. As a star on its own was arroz bomba—warm and slow-cooked, its creaminess set off with crisped jamon ibérico-bellota and jamon de teruel. How can cochinillo cooked for seven hours until the meat falls off the bone, have skin this crisp? And the peach, so firm and fresh, like it was just picked off a tree. The applause hadn’t subsided when Act Three made its entrance, marked by bold, brash flavors that marched across the tongue. The youthful wines—a fresh minerally viognier and a juicy monastrell made way for the hefty, powerful wines that would match equally strong flavors: “Casa de la Ermita” petit verdot, Jumilla DO and the deeply colored, powerful “Les Terrases,” the pure grenache creation of Alvaro Palacios, one of the major players in the Priorat wine scene. Lamb sauced with wine. Sobrassada-stuffed piquillo pepper. A pleasantly pungent salsa de queso. Yellow pepper slush—a cool reconstruction of the piquancy of pepper. When dessert did come, it was a calming reprieve for sated taste buds. Sweet, but just so: a rice croquette, a chocolate marquise and orange ice cream (a treasured recipe from Juan Carlos’s mother). It was clear—the chefs had full mastery of their ingredients, allowing the full range of textures and flavors to come into play. (That Mr. Manuel had never been to Spain and yet knew what the ingredients were capable of, was a tribute to his “genius,” Mr. de Terry said of his cochef.)

And when the curtain finally came down on dinner, we applauded with our hearts—and our stomachs. A kitchen graffiti quote says it all: “Cooking is like love—one enters into it with full abandon, or not at all.”

Enchantingly Real

ALREADY one of the most hotly anticipated films of the year, Walt Disney Pictures’ Enchanted is a romantic comedy that tells the story of Giselle, a fairy-tale princess who is thrown down a wishing well by her evil stepmother. When she emerges in present-day New York, Giselle soon discovers that the course of true love rarely runs as smoothly as it does in the world of make-believe.

Gab Fab: Catch Carlo

Eighteen-year-old Carlo Guevarra bested hundreds and hundreds of hopefuls in the Be Bench model search. In the process, he won hundreds of thousands worth of prizes, including a much-coveted Bench contract. Now, his face is plastered in major thoroughfares in the country as the newest male muse of the clothing company.

Sofitel Magic

IT’S that time of the year again when one’s social life goes full-speed. December is a favorite month for weddings, sociocivic club anniversary celebrations, product events—in fact, it is the ideal time for any event held indoors or in the open air because the rainy season is behind us.

Cooks: Will the Philippine national adobo please stand up?

OVER a few months we attended two major cooking events dedicated solely to adobo...of all kinds, colors, textures and flavors.

Fermentations: ‘Sabores de la España Mediterránea’

“FOR the last stop of its culinary journey, Ariel Manuel and JC de Terry have created a menu that not only honors the flavors and ingredients of the many provinces stroked by the Mediterranean, but also deconstructs classic fare in order to reconstruct culinary artistry.

Spa Time, the Japanese Way

FIRST, there’s a breathtaking view of the Manila Bay, which to some romantics is relaxing enough. But there’s more in store from where we’re seated one recent afternoon at the Networld Hotel on Roxas Boulevard.

Visions and good vibrations

BESIDES being good Christians and singers of world-class caliber, what do Christian Bautista, Sam Concepcion and Reymond Sajor have in common?

Something Like Life: a family affair

RETURNING from a four-day vacation in Boracay, where I had a fabulous stay at the newly built resort Two Seasons (more on that in a future travel story), I find that things haven’t changed much in Metro Manila.