Tableside manners
July 6, 2006 | 12:00am
Recently, Mary Ann and I found ourselves at the Mandarin Oriental, Manila because it was our church wedding anniversary. By the way, am I the only husband or are there many out there (men, unite!) who get into big trouble if they forget a special date? Do you, too, have a wife who expects you to remember so many dates? The first date, the first kiss, the first intimate moment, and there’s a civil wedding anniversary, etc., etc., etc. Oh women! The King of Siam in the The King and I must have been referring to women every time he uttered his favorite expression, "It’s a puzzlement!"
We started our anniversary date with lunch at The Tivoli, the Mandarin’s fine dining restaurant. As we stepped in, she took a look at me, judging if I was dressed appropriately for the place. (Why do wives do that?) I was about to make a loud protest when she said, "See how beautiful and classy the decor is. It is just right that we’re dressed for the occasion." Indeed, I looked around and the bright room with a view of the outside garden and water was nice and airy and gave a warm welcome. As we passed the center round buffet table, I knew I was in the right room because I saw fresh oysters on a big mound of ice. We proceeded to our table and Mary Ann noticed the beautiful fresh yellow orange rose buds and counted them.
"They are 16," she said. "That makes three ‘I Love You Very Much.’ I wonder what the extra one is for? It must be for the lady’s sweet yes." I guess when God poured romance on earth, the women were the first to catch it.
"You think all tables have 16 roses?" she asked.
"You think I am autistic that I can tell that? Let’s eat before you spoil my appetite," I added but with a smile, of course. We were, after all, celebrating our eighth wedding anniversary.
The Tivoli had a facelift nine months ago and its new brighter look, tastefully done by eminent designer Sonia Santiago Olivares, balances elegance with a modern touch. The classic latticework panels, which are the signature décor of the old Tivoli, were sensibly retained. The other existing architectural details, such as paneled walls, trellises, molded ceiling, and furniture, looked new with the neutral color schemes of golden brown, beige, and black that blend well with the upholstery and carpet patterns. Paintings of sunset and sunrise colors on the walls give the Tivoli that nice final touch.
A treat to smokers is the glass-enclosed room that can seat 20 people who can smoke to their lungs’ content and exhale tobacco-scented breaths without affecting other diners.
Always when there is major change in décor, there is a change in the menu.
"What’s new?" I asked the gentleman attending our table.
"Sir, we now have tableside cooking," he replied as he handed us a special menu.
While we could not make up our minds what with all those tempting dishes on the menu, we spread butter on freshly baked salt bread, and Mary Ann, a lover of salty food, munched on one after another like they were pretzels. I got up and helped myself to some very fresh local oysters. These were really good, a little salty and sweet, redolent of the sea. I could have just had oysters and all the tempting 12 cold appetizers on the buffet table and white wine, and I would be a very happy man.
Tableside preparations are a feast for the senses, delighting diners with this new experience, as tableside cooking also allows a direct interaction between the diners and the staff. You can always tell the chef how you’d like your dish done while it is being made. The dishes are prepared a la minute and therefore always fresh. The Tivoli’s tableside no-nonsense menu offers only four kinds of appetizers, three salads, and three main courses. Of course, there is still Tivoli’s classic specialties and grilled items in a separate menu.
Watching Tivoli assistant restaurant manager Andi Faerber and chef Leo Ambrosio prepare our orders, they seemed to be doing their work so effortlessly and with so much dexterity. We learned afterwards that all the chefs and waitstaff underwent weeks of rigid training with an industry professional flown in from the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas. The training consisted of actual food cooking on flambé carts, film showings, wine tastings, food and service training that readied the waiters in expertly preparing special dishes like scampi Pernod, classic Caesar salad, escargot, strawberry Romanoff, and other flambé dishes before the diners.
For our first course, after my half-dozen oysters, I had a few canapés of duck breast with Thai noodle, a bay scallop ceviche, and half a Caesar salad. Mary Ann and I shared a flambéed goose liver with sour cherry glaze. It was, as expected, perfectly done with the cherry glaze a foil to the buttery rich liver. As main course, I had a super tender Angus pepper steak, while Mary Ann had a gin-flambéed lobster tail with juniper berries. The two worked in tandem, serving us the two dishes exactly at the same time.
To cap our meal, we shared a strawberry Romanoff, a knockout dessert worthy of the royal Russian family it was named after. It is made of macerated fresh strawberries flambéed with Grand Marnier, Cointreau and Kirshwasser, mixed with honey, fresh orange juice, vanilla and strawberry ice cream and topped with whipped cream. If I were to be executed by the Bolsheviks, I would request it for my last dessert. It’s worth dying for.
Another new feature of the new Tivoli is the wine cellar, which offers a semi-private alcove that can seat six to eight persons. A wine pairing six-course dinner is now a special offering every last Friday of each month for P2,800++ with an unlimited serving of the featured wines.
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