Sante!

Manila’s most popular restaurant-bar Nuvo at Greenbelt 2 celebrated its fourth anniversary. The celebration had a distinct French theme as the party was called Sante, a French toast to celebrate four years of great food, drinks and service, and fantastic music.

Elian Habayeb provided his distinct soul music for the evening. Proprietor Louie Ysmael said: "There is no place like this in town, where you can have all of the above and see the best crowd in Manila in a typical European indoor and outdoor setting. We are looking forward to many more years of Nuvo, thanks to our loyal and very discriminating clientele." Major sponsors for that night included ADP Industries Corp., Diageo, Maxxium Philippines and Premier Wine & Spirits, Inc. Other sponsors included BBB (Best World Beverage), Bottle Zone Wines & Liquors, Future Trade Int’l, Inc., Pernod Ricard, Philippine Wine Merchants, Titania, Werdenberg International Corp. and Zen Asia, Inc.

The place was as packed as one would expect it on a normal night. As usual, the party ended very late. Among those seen enjoying that night were Dick Chiongbian, Star’s DJ Montano, designer Rhett Eala, Embassy’s Tim Yap, Vicki and Peng Perez de Tagle, Absinth’s Christine San Diego, PR princess Ginggay Joven Dela-Merced, model Annette Coronel, Anton Barretto, TV host Phoemela Baranda, Juliet and Mimi Tan, Olga Azarcon, Ines Cabarrus, Chris Parker, Nuvo manager Edwin Macapagal, Hyatt chef Hubertus Cramer and NU107’s Atom Henares.

Racing with Johnnie Walker

World’s number one whisky brand Johnnie Walker celebrated its participation in the world of Formula One in an event at Roxas Boulevard’s PICC Forum. Over a thousand of Manila’s party people attended to partake in a party that only Johnnie Walker could throw. Impressive stage setups, spectacular racing video game booths and Mercedes Benz displays delighted the guests. Johnnie Walker was served all night! Electronica group Drip’s performance led to hosts Rovilson Fernandez and Reema Chanco’s unveiling the evening’s highlight, which was an exact replica of Kimi Raikkonen’s Formula One Car flown in from Europe especially for this event.

Johnnie Walker then gave away hip gadgets and other prizes. One lucky winner even brought home an all-expense paid trip to the Shanghai Grand Prix this October. DJ Manolet Dario played his signature house music grooves followed by hot UK female DJ, Miss Behavin! The Johnnie Walker people promised that this was only the beginning. Watch out for even more exciting events coming soon.

Color unleashed

Lancôme unleashed Color Fever lipstick at Citrus with guests decked out in their favorite dance outfits. They also witnessed a show by Ginajane Grey Dance and Art Center as inspired by the effects of the lipstick: Gia Apelo revealed a passionate flamenco performance for the lipstick’s satin effect as Sheila Viesca did a belly dance for the metallic effect and Jessica Kienle danced a flapper dance for the shimmer sparkle effect.

Guests enjoyed Rene Barbier and Le Cellier wines, Freixenet champagne, Artic vodka and Bailey’s. Seen were L’Oreal country manager David Ennes, L’Oreal luxury division GM Vicky Encarnacion, Angel Jacob, Amanda and Leica Carpo, Ciara Marasigan, Vicky Montenegro, GP Reyes, Chicho Suarez, House of Laurel’s Venisse Laurel-Hermano, Yoya Gueco, Criselle Panlilo, Le Cellier Wine’s Bernard Flour, Sari Yap and Lancôme’s Zerl Chan with chief makeup artist Gela Laurel.

A pink power rally

A lot of pink was seen to emphasize the color of beauty and power at the launch of Cream Silk Conditioner’s new advocacy campaign. The launch was attended by Marikina City Mayor Marides Fernando. Presented at the launch were examples of young women who ventured into male-dominated fields such as Asian Formula 3 car racer Gaby de la Merced, singer Lougee of Mojofly, architect Roanna Reyes, wakeboarder Rainey Sta. Maria and equestrienne Toni Leviste. The female guests included host Akiko Thompson, Pauline Suaco Juan, Ianne Evangelista, Claire Samson, Vicky Tensuan, Beverly Dalton, Melanie Cuevas, Dedet Panabi and Ethel Timbol.

(E-mail me at peppertstar@yahoo.com)