So very green, so Verbena
MANILA, Philippines - Green and red are the colors of Christmas. Green — like the lush view from the veranda of Discovery Country Suites’ Restaurant Verbena, and red — like our refreshing goblets of sangria. Green — like the foliage of the violet-flowered verbena plant. And red — like the blood that vampires love to drink. Verbena, it is said, can ward off vampires. We secretly chortled at the convoluted and not necessarily Christmas-sy associations going through our minds, as we waited for what we were certain was the next superlative course from the kitchen of Chef David Pardo de Ayala.
“The name of the game is consistency,” says Chef David on Restaurant Verbena’s inclusion in the prestigious Miele Guide, considered by many as the most authoritative restaurant guide in Asia. “Proving yourself worthy of the award every day is the difficult thing.” But as we devoured the excellent house-cured salmon that came with an avocado, pickled onion and cilantro crème fraiche, we were confident that consistent excellence was really the standard in this Tagaytay restaurant. An initial roasted vegetable terrine of eggplant, zucchini, roasted yellow bell pepper, shiitake mushroom and lettuce — neatly rolled and carefully put together to make the individual flavors of each vegetable stand out, yet meld into a harmonious whole — already won us over. So did a dish of seared duck foie gras with California crimson grapes that came with a sweet, sticky savory sauce of reduced Pedro Ximenez sherry vinegar.
We were so infatuated with what chef David calls “contemporary country cuisine” that the insipid pale yellow of the sweet potato veloute did not deter us. The first sip convinced us that the thick soup with smoked bacon, onions, apple and rosemary was good. Besides, we remembered, veloute is a blonde sauce, so we shouldn’t complain about color.
“Local ingredients have terrific flavor,” says Chef David and to prove his point, a seared barramundi fillet found its way to our table. Locally known as apahap, the fresh, firm and tasty fish lay on a Christmas-green festive leek risotto with ginger-thyme cream. “I feel that this (apahap) will be the next Chilean sea bass,” he says, and the statement should be good news for gourmands. Specimens harvested from Philippine waters are just as good as those obtained from abroad, and local sourcing would mean that dishes using apahap will not cost an arm and a leg. The addition of ginger, soy sauce and vinegar in the barramundi-risotto combination lent a nice Asian flavor to the course.
Flavor associations are important and holiday meals for this season are “supposed to taste like Christmas.” To fulfill this requirement was a Christmas Duo of Beef — a hefty serving of braised short ribs and pan-seared US Angus “bistro” steak. This was served with a creamy potato gratin, baby carrots and red cabbage made pleasantly tart by vinegar. The festive touch was the addition of chestnuts, and we found on our plate three perfectly peeled brown chestnuts camouflaged by the beef. “The inspiration for all cuisine is the seasons,” explains Chef David. We concur that that chestnuts were a nice touch because of strong Christmas associations — they are even mentioned in the first line of a popular Christmas song.
Dessert was a gingerbread spice cookie shaped and decorated like a Christmas tree that was almost too pretty to eat, and panna cotta with calamansi curd. And what is Christmas without a little eggnog? Chef David sent out shot glasses of the festive stuff to cap our excellent meal.
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The New Year’s Eve menu includes an eight-course Chef’s Menu for P1,950+ per person or P2,400 inclusive of suggested wines. Restaurant Verbena is at of Discovery Country Suites, 300 Calamba Road, San Jose, Tagaytay City with telephone (46) 413-4567 or log on to www.discoverycountrysuites.com. Call Manila reservations at 683-8383.
