Food for thought: Wear your denim to the ball

MANILA, Philippines - How do you become a 2.0 version of yourself? Education is the answer. How do you address this issue knowing this can’t be adequately addressed by the government?

You throw a denim ball.

This was what advocacy events organizer Bart Guingona and Philippine Tatler’s Anton San Diego came up with when they were approached by PBEd (or Philippine Business for Education) president Chito Salazar to raise funds for 1000 teachers—for full scholarships to deserving students who choose education as a career. Better teachers equates to better education for us all, right?

No question why the country’s top businessmen trooped to Whitespace on Pasong Tamo on a Sunday to break more than just bread together. “ Chefs for Education,” PBEd’s cool and creative way of mainstreaming the education problem, brought together Margarita Fores of Pepato, Colin MacKay of Sala, Vicky Pacheco of Chateau 1771, Jessie Sincioco of Le Souffle and Myrna Segismundo of Restaurant 9501. They all joined toques for a spectacular full course dinner that climaxed with a delightful dessert installation that was too beautiful to touch! Chito Vijandre and Ricky Toledo transformed the space to look like the hall at Hogwarts, and indeed with the fusion of the mastered skills of the chefs and the charitable hearts of those who participated and attended, one could truly feel magic!

This was one occasion where I truly felt overdressed (I wore a full on tux—didn’t see the denim attire request in the invite) and marched in late, along with the event waiters who were all decked in denim. Event hosts Tessa Prieto-Valdes (not in denim) and JM Rodriguez (in a denim suit) made the night much more fun and the night’s highlight? A denim show by Bench, but of course!

Gustatory experience plus collective action plus a deep worthy cause equals an event that warms the heart, fils the stomach and enriches the soul. In two words, a denim ball.

(Food for your soul? Follow me at twitter.com/iamtimyap)