Where good food and good wine do a tango

 “When you get food and wine to work together, it is like watching a graceful couple do an exciting tango,” says chef Carlo Miguel of Mezzaluna (literally, “half moon”), one of Serendra’s signature restaurants.

A special degustation night marked the first anniversary of Mezzaluna. A degustation menu consists of several courses, with each course highlighting the specialties of the house.

At Mezzaluna, a degustation or tasting menu, which changes every few weeks, is part of its regular offering of entrees heavily influenced by European cuisine and prepared with the best ingredients from the world’s food capitals. Each course in the five-course dinner was paired with selections from distinguished American vineyards.

According to chef Carlo Miguel, the degustation menu is quite popular in Sydney, which is a melting pot for the best world cuisines. Miguel tucked in 10 years of culinary training in award-winning Sydney restaurants. The tasting menu allows the diner to savor a restaurant’s full range of talent and creativity. Nevertheless, portions are limited so that the diner is able to fully savor the symphony of flavors, textures and aromas of each course.

Miguel relates that the Mezzaluna dining experience was envisioned to include wine, “a great food enhancer.” In fact, the restaurant takes great pains to store its wines — priced from P700 up to P10,000 a bottle — in a refrigerated Barrique wine cabinet. The latter mimics the conditions of an excellent European wine cellar including wooden shelves.

After dinner, wine enthusiasts are encouraged to stay on at Mezzaluna to continue sampling the vintages with unobtrusive music in the background.

In addition to the steaks and sea bass strongly preferred by Manila diners, Mezzaluna aims to expose the Filipino palette to delicacies like Kurobuta pork belly sourced from Idaho, light and silky handmade pasta and ice cream made right in its own kitchen from pure, natural ingredients.

Chef Miguel changes the menu every eight to 10 weeks inspired by the produce in season. Each course is a composition of textures and flavors with a maple and brandy glazed confit of pork belly with a refreshing orange and fennel salad and braised Tuscan white beans. Such unpredictable combinations are the basis for “superb, singular and memorable meals,” relate regular Mezzaluna patrons.

Recently, the restaurant introduced a special lunch menu which offers a preview of the dinner courses to those who may not have all that time to spend over a meal. Among the most popular lunch selections is a warm salad of USDA Angus Top Blade with roasted tomato, mushrooms and pine nuts in a red wine dressing. Also in demand is handmade safrrom capellini tossed with prawns, tomatoes and parsley and a hint of chili.

Good food and good wine. A tango under the glow of a half-moon. Can anything be more romantic?

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