San Francesco di Assisi’s sidewalk food festival:Where East meets West

Thai Ambassador Asha Dvityananda and Signora Cosetta Fedele, wife of the Italian ambassador, were the special guests during the inauguration of the three-day St. Francis Sidewalk Food Festival held recently in front of the Ristorante La Dolce Fontana on Greenhills’ Annapolis Street. This festival is held every year in honor of the restaurant’s patron saint, San Francesco di Assisi.

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Ristorante La Dolce Fontana, the food festival featured not only cibo Italianni, but also Thai food. Culinary teacher and Philippine orchid specialist, Attavit Ungkarachun, a guest of OB Montessori Center, prepared nine authentic Thai dishes: pad thai (Thai quick fry noodles - P30), meek rob (crispy noodles - P30), kaoklook kapi (bagoong rice - P35), kiew tod (pinsec with Thai chili sauce - P20), kai nok ka ta song krung (quail eggs in molds - P15), kanom pang namoo (ground pork with bread - P10), krong krang krob (Thai pilipit - P15), tago (coconut custard - P15) and saku piak (sago in coconut milk - P10).

This festival also served as a real-world exercise for the second- year Food Service students of the OB Montessori College, who prepared Italian dishes such as pasta (carbonara, Bolognese, baked macaroni and lasagna) and pizzas. Meantime, a crepe cart offered French crepes, while another booth sold cookies and cupcakes. These on-the-job training students put into use the skills that they have learned throughout their two years in college.

Casa Y Jardin: The original bazaar

If you’ve withstood five decades and are still up and running, then you must be good.

It’s bazaar season once again and the Catholic Women’s Club (CWC) is mounting again its annual "Casa Y Jardin" (literally, "house and garden") bazaar. In the ’50s, the CWC ladies, in their effort to come up with ways to raise money for charity, came up with the novel concept of the Casa Y Jardin bazaar. The ladies didn’t realize it then, but the Casa Y Jardin went on to become one of the club’s most successful endeavors, year after year.

In fact, through the funds raised from the bazaar and other projects, the CWC was able to build three pavilions at the Elsie Gaches Village, a housing facility for the mentally handicapped. The bazaar is also a major source of funding for the club’s more than 80 other charities.

This year’s second bazaar, will be held on Oct. 22 (Sunday) at the Grand Ballroom of Hotel InterContinental from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

What sets Casa Y Jardin apart from other bazaars is its unique features. For one, the club sells limited-edition plates with reproductions of a masterpiece. Now on its 21st series, the plates’ featured work for 2006 is by National Artist Vicente Manansala. There is also the hugely popular "Gold Elephant Table," which carries various items ("white elephants," new or old items that are unused) donated by generous members that are sold at give-away prices. Of course, the bazaar also carries a wide range of items from Christmas decor, branded clothes, export over-runs, antiques, jewelry, houseware, bags, accessories, shoes and toys.

Other sought-after items are the maids’ uniforms sewn by women who were trained in sewing through CWC’s initiative. CWC also funded the building of a social hall and purchased sewing machines to provide employment to housewives living at a Gawad Kalinga community in Manila.

Chairperson for the 2006 bazaar is Nikki Valerio, with Marilen Elizalde and Ane Preysler as her co-chairpersons under the leadership of CWC president Linda Pastoral. Members of the committee are Mimi Valerio, Lulu Castañeda, Myrna Borromeo, Nene Leonor, Karen Macasaet, Rose Hugo, Carol Yao, Carmen Roxas, Sevrine Miailhe, Tess Castro, Grace Brunner, Tessie Rodrigo and Shirley Uy. CWC member and benefactor Bea Zobel has once again lent her untiring support to this endeavor.

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