Richard and KC share birthdays

I attended two birthday parties this past week. Both are noteworthy because of their delicious menus.

Richard Gomez and KC Concepcion are both April 7 born. Goma’s birthday celebration was last Sunday night at his Greenhills home. Lucy Torres took care of arranging everything and she did a fantastic job. She related that Goma just told her to have the caterers prepare for dinner. He gave no indication about how many guests there would be. Lucy played it safe and reserved for a minimum of 100 guests.

The Plaza took care of the catering. They had a very impressive salad buffet set-up. I enjoyed their pasta, especially because the spaghetti noodles were firm to the bite, and guests had a choice between pesto and pomodoro sauces. The chicken ala Kiev was very flavorful and buttery, and the grilled prawns were fresh and had a very pleasantly flavored lemon butter sauce.

For dessert, there were fresh fruit crepes filled with a generous amount of mangoes and strawberries. This was topped with a yummy chocolate sauce with chocolate shavings and whipped cream. The dessert was to die for!

Richard ordered roasted calf from his friend Zito, who owns Ellie’s Roasted Calf. Their come-on is that they can roast the calf indoors because of a special plexi-glass encasement. This was a great innovation but even more important, the beef was succulent and juicy. The dipping sauce was sweet and spicy, definitely a great recipe for a superb barbecue sauce. Richard’s dinner was relaxed and intimate, and the food suited the atmosphere and the celebration perfectly.

KC celebrated her debut twice. There was a night for the press on Monday, April 7 and a second celebration for her friends and her mom’s friends on Tuesday, April 8. Both parties were held at The Tent at The Fort. Zsa Zsa Padilla and I went together to The Fort on April 8. The place was creatively decorated, the flowers were a beautiful, vibrant red perfectly eye catching because of the white cloth draped all over the tent, from floor to ceiling. The theme must have taken its cue from KC’s passion for the environment, that’s why there were falling leaves strewn all over the Tent’s lobby, and a water well in the middle of the Tent’s ballroom.

There were strategically placed trees, and there were several stages mounted all around for the different musical and interpretative dance numbers. In between, there were very hiply produced and edited video testimonials.

Le Souffle took care of the catering and the food was unbelievably and awe-inspiringly international. Sharon said that KC had planned everything and she had specified wanting a wide array of food to choose from. I was told that the spread had a sampling of the cuisine of 10 different countries. Zsa Zsa and I did not even attempt to control our eating and we just indulged.

The sushi selection was very fresh and worthy of the best Japanese restaurants. There was Peking Duck that was crisp and had a light wrapper. The Caesar salad was freshly tossed, with a pleasant, garlicky dressing.

Zsa Zsa said that the seafood salad was mouth-wateringly satisfying. It was colorful and artfully arranged and as pleasing to the palate as it was to the eye. The roasted prime rib was marbled and tender to the bite, perfect for a meat-lover like me. For dessert, the chocolate dipped fresh strawberries were absolutely the best! I guess representing the Philippines’ delicacies were the mini banana cues and mini turon saging. Both were sugary without being overwhelming.

The best thing that KC and Sharon achieved was that despite the more than 500 guests, there was a feeling of warmth and a celebration that had something special for everybody!