Last December 12, the Confrerie de la Chaine des Rotissuers, an international gastronomic society, celebrated its 14th Anniversary Gala and Diner Amical at the Pacific Grand Ballroom of Waterfront Cebu City Hotel &Casino. It was an event which has been described as a “feast of flavors, melodies and traditional holiday elegance.”
When you have a gathering of over a hundred professionals (such as chefs, restaurant and hotel owners and managers) and plain folks (like your favorite food columnist!) from around the world (some just arrived from London, Switzerland, U.S.A.), who appreciate wine, cuisine, fine dining and camaraderie, expectations for a very fine evening can be very high, indeed.
In Cebu, there are very few hotels and restaurants that can meet the very demanding standards of a La Chaine function; and even fewer establishments that can accommodate a La Chaine formal dinner. Weeks of preparation and lots of pesos (including sleepless nights!) are required to successfully host one; this also means more work for your favorite food columnist as a member of the La Chaine Board to preview all that delicious food.
Take a look at the longest dinner table in Cebu, approximately 150 feet long. Add some lights from chandeliers, mirrors (150x3 feet) as base for table decors, elaborate candle holders, decors like the life-size toy soldiers, heavy tableware (cheap ones are usually very light, like plastic!), elegant chairs and the labor to assemble them—the cost of the ambiance amounted to a small fortune.
La Chaine dinners usually start at 8:30 p.m. and the service of the 1st wine usually sets the quality of the dinner, ordinary ba or a very fine dinner. When a Sylvain Fessy Pouilly-Fuisse 2005 is poured, signs augur excellence.
The first course was the Seared Scallops with Black Sesame Seeds on Asparagus Ravioli with green tea sabayon. I describe the taste of this dish as an “umami bomb.” If you know what an
umami is, congratulations, you have definitely been a loyal follower of this food column!
Soup was a hot and cold affair, Lobster Bisque and Cucumber Puree, accompanied by char-grilled prawn, shiitake mushroom and coriander skewer. The latter is inspired by a Vietnamese dish. Some six years ago, I cooked the original version, prawn meat coated around a stick (of sugar cane), precooked in an oven (prevents spoilage). Final cooking is by grilling over live charcoal.
The second wine was the Spy Valley Pinot Noir 2004; this was quickly followed by the Braised Duck Confit in Potato Roll with mixed berries, Port wine reduction and mint walnut jelly. Very nice combination, duck, berries and mint jelly on your palate!
La Chaine dinners usually have a sorbet that refreshes the taste buds and this time it was the Cranberry Champagne Sorbet. The big difference this time was the packaging; murag reinventing Peter Carl Faberge’s Easter egg for Russian Imperial Family. The dish was applauded by the members of La Chaine. A dish that is greeted by clapping hands, excuse me, is very rare in this international gastronomic fraternity!
The highlight of the dinner was the Slow Roasted US Tenderloin in Puff Pastry Crust, Pinot Noir reduction and salmon potato gratin with smoked tomato hollandaise and wasabi greens. This was paired with the Chateau Tour du Moulin Cuvee Particuliere 2000. The dinner could have been perfect if all the celebrants were served sufficiently hot dishes.
Vintage Cheddar Fritters on a Bed of Flowers was served next and the nice thing about this dish was the flowers itself were edible.
The last wine poured is one of my favorites, a Moet et Chandon Brut Imperial NV (After all these years as a food columnist, my palate has been acclimatized to only very expensive wines!), followed by the dessert aptly called a “Mountain of Sweets”, the Velvet Chocolate Cake with Chestnut Crème Brulee and Passion fruit Roll Tiramisu Bailey’s Ice Cream in Belgian Cookie Basket Apple Cinnamon and Feta Cheese Star Fritters.
The sophisticated presentation of the dessert like a carving by Leonardo da Vinci merited a round of applause (na pud!). Very rare indeed was the reaction of this gourmet society while I struggled to demolish (exclude the plate) this magnificent dessert while listening to Christmas songs from heaven.
Farewell reminiscences of that black and white affair while memory cells are busy encoding this superb evening of a Christmas Symphony and I count myself lucky to have participated in a dinner many people can only dream of. When the Christmas Pralines, coffee and cognac were served, the 14thChristmas Anniversary Dinner of the La Chaine came to an end.
Congratulations to GM Marco Protacio and the rest of the staff of Waterfront Cebu City Hotel for hosting this wonderful dinner.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!