Shangri-La Mactan's: Philippine Food Festival

A celebration of Philippine culinary arts takes place as Shangri-La's Mactan Island Resort & Spa presents the Philippine Food Festival from April 24 to May 5. Philippine cuisine takes centerstage at the Tides restaurant as renowned chefs showcase a variety of authentic Filipino dishes.

Sharing their expertise in culinary arts are Claude Tayag, Myrna Segismundo and Glenda Barretto.

Claude Tayag is an artist and writer by profession. He writes a weekly column on food and travel for the Philippine Star and is also a renowned chef who specializes in Pampango cuisine. He was the first Filipino chef invited at the Prince Albert Rotisserie of the Intercontinental Manila, together with French chef Cyrille Soenen in 2001. He runs his own art studio called Bale Dutung, where he often serves sumptuous treats to visiting friends.

Myrna Segismundo is the Managing Director of TV Food Chefs which operates the exclusive dining lounge of ABS-CBN called 9501. She was the chairman of Chefs on Parade, a national culinary competition and writes a column on Filipino classics for Food Magazine. She has authored two culinary books, the Party Cookbook published by Anvil Publishing and Philippine Cuisine published by ABS-CBN. Segismundo is an advocate in the preservation of traditional Filipino cooking through her extensive research.

Meanwhile, Glenda Barretto is the founder and driving force of the country's multi-awarded specialty restaurant Via Mare, having been awarded the Kalakbay Hall of Fame for Restaurant Operations and the Presidential Trophy for the Highest Ranking Restaurant for three (3) consecutive years. She directed the operations of Viva Manila restaurant in the Philippine Pavilion Expo '92 in Seville, Spain, the World Expo '98 in Lisbon, Portugal and at the World Expo '05 in Aichi, Japan. An author of four (4) cookbooks namely the Asean Seafood Cookbook, Flavors of the Philippines, Via Mare Seafood Cookbook and Shipshape.

Dinners will be treated to a extensive spread of Filipino dishes. From appetizers to barbecue, guests will surely have a great time helping themselves on these palate-tickling samplers: ensaladang bagnet, atcharang labanos, papaya and ampalaya, ubod and pomelo, pako salad, kilawin and many more. Savory dishes sum up the main courses such as pochero, baradibud, sisig, rellenong manok, Bicol express, bringhe, Pampango Bulanglang, burong isda with inihaw na talong, chicken inasal and other barbecue specialties. To satisfy a sweet tooth, native treats like sinukmani, leche flan, banana langka turron and halo-halo completes the menu.

One of the more unique offering is different versions of lechon, which is Cebu's famous delicacy, There is Lechon Paella, a recipe of Mrs. Barretto, Myrna Segismundo's boneless lechon and Claude's lechon five ways.

The festival will open on April 24 culminating a series of activities.

An art exhibition at the hotel lobby features the creations of artist Jay Dalumpines and some collaborative works with the children of Lapu-Lapu City. Dalumpines, who is a member of the Communications team of the hotel has had numerous exhibitions in Ayala Center Cebu, Waterfront Cebu City Hotel, Montebello Villa Hotel, University of Southern Philippines and Lapu-Lapu City Hall.

The special buffet spread is available for lunch (12:00 nn to 2:30 pm) and dinner daily (6:30 to 9:00 pm). For further information and restaurant reservations, please contact 231-0288.