New look, new chef, still good food at La Gondola

A new look, a new chef, and a new menu marked the makeover of La Gondola Restaurant, one of the top features in Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino’s swanky, cobbled dining zone called  Gourmet Walk.

With Cebu’s eating-out climate increasingly buzzing with energy, personality and competition, Waterfront Lahug shows that the hotel is far from resting on its laurels as a major dining destination in the metropolis.

For the past few months, visible changes have been made to raise the bar of service in its treasure trove of food and beverage outlets. For one, Waterfront Lahug has tapped the expertise of expatriate chefs to match each of the hotel’s international cuisines. The powerhouse culinary team is headed by its Swedish executive chef Anders Hallden.

Late last year, the F&B outlet Uno was upgraded into an interactive lifestyle coffeeshop boasting of more food stations in a seamless buffet spread. And this year, its Italian F&B outlet La Gondola underwent a two-month renovation and recently, came to a successful conclusion. The revamped La Gondola was formally opened last week, serving up a whole new dining experience but without foregoing its signature Italian flair.

Aesthetic-wise, La Gondola freshened up its look, inside and out. In an interview with the Waterfront group chef Nicholas Andersen and executive chef Hallden, La Gondola has fused another dimension into the dining experience with the introduction of an al fresco area that can seat 40 diners. This is in recognition of the growing preference of many diners to have their meals enjoyed outdoors—I don’t know about you, but accompanying meals with the cool night breeze, a view of the city lights and well, people watching on the side make any dining experience extra interesting.

La Gondola also says goodbye to the plush but quite heavy-to-the-eye colors and says hello to fresh and livelier interiors—beginning with the rustic ivory stone walls and pillars—which are more pronounced during daytime when sunlight streams in through the large glass windows.

But it’s not all form at La Gondola, as functionality comes into play going by its “luxurious” bar that boasts of an espresso machine that greets diners as they step into the restaurant.

Through glass windows that render a view of the kitchen, it will be fascinating to watch, like audience to a performance, the flurry of activity created by chefs at work as they prepare, flavor and cook your orders in their “culinary playground.”

Of course, these visual treats can only do so much if the gustatory offerings fall short of expectation.

While La Gondola has every good reason to stick to its tried and tested menu, it has opted for innovation, especially with the new Italian Chef, Vito Froio, at the helm of things, including personally assisting the “esteemed pilgrim of the palate” in selecting a dish and finding a suitable wine.

Its present menu is packed with brand-new items, running the gamut from salads, soups, grilled items to pastas and pizzas that are genuine Italian.

New appetizers and entrees worth noting for its flavor, presentation and fair price include the Affettato Misto della Casa, which is an assortment of Italian cold cuts served with wood-fired oven-baked bread; Fritto Misto, which is made of crispy calamari, shrimps, zucchini served with tartar sauce; Pizza Marechiaro, which is zuchinni, sea scallops, buffalo mozzarella, etc.; Sogliola Alla Mugnaia which is pan-fried sole fillet served with sautéed wild mushrooms and roasted tomatoes.

By the way, be sure to save room for dessert. Like the Toblerone, one of the few old favorites carried over from the old menu that uses warm chocolate, and croissant pudding topped with pistachio ice cream—a killer blend for the chocoholics.

So, after La Gondola, what’s next?

More revitalizing changes and other attractive touches will be in place in other F&B outlets of Waterfront Lahug—from Tin Gow to Café Madeleine—in the coming months to ensure a dining experience for its patrons that’s better than ever.