Vicki Belo's Cebuano affair

My title may have the reader think that Vicki Belo had an affair in Cebu... well, it was more of an event! Vicki was born in Cebu and what better city to put her first clinic outside Metro Manila than her birthplace!

Belo led the opening of the Belo Medical Group (BMG) clinic at The Terraces in Ayala Center Cebu. Leah Salterio arranged a series of events for the day starting with the formal blessing of the clinic by Monsignor Achilles Dakay followed by the summer garden party in the evening. Corporate imaging and branding specialist Joji Dingcong and Vicki’s daughter Cristalle Henares produced and conceptualized the event. Cristalle handles Belo Essentials and is the marketing head of the BMG.

Pink Flora, headed by Pinky Chang, transformed the walkways of Marriott Hotel and the parking lot of the adjacent Ayala Center into a garden promenade of sorts with huge floral-decked lamps and flower-covered pillars. This seeming parade of floral installations led up to the BMG clinic at The Terraces. Landscape artist Jaime Chua, on the other hand, turned the event’s stage into another floral wonder.

Cebu’s Peace Philharmonic Orchestra provided music with balladeer Christian Bautista headlining the evening’s performances. Other performers included Christopher de Leon and Janno Gibbs with Donita Rose as host in a show directed by Garlic Garcia. Cebuano group Lupon Anduyo drummed in fun beats and French-Moroccan performer Moise kept the guests entertained. Cebu’s Teresin Mendezona executed the floral plan of the party as well as the menu for the night catered by Laguna Garden Café. Chef Raki Urbina created a buffet that was a mix of Asian and Filipino food such as Vietnamese spring rolls, fresh lumpia in ube wrapper, puto with adobo flakes, lechon in kua pao buns, chicken satay and Korean glass noodles with chicken and mushroom. As expected in a Joji production, Moet & Chandon was free flowing throughout the night!

The evening’s highlight was the butterfly release ceremony to signify a new beginning. Vicki and Cristalle joined Cebu’s furniture designer Kenneth Cobonpue and son Andre, Mary Ann Aboitiz Arculli and daughter Jasmine, Elvira Lu Ym and daughter Kaye, Mark Cancio and son Matthew, STAR columnist Honey Jarque Loop and son Eduard, and Eleanor Hayco and daughter Edelaine to release a thousand butterflies from the Jumalon butterfly farm.

It was truly a memorable evening and the party was a tremendous success. The party was simple and elegant... just the way Belo is.

Sam’s Japanese moment

Samantha Lopez-Edwards flew in from New York for a brief visit in Manila. She met up with all her friends before flying back to the Big Apple. She has a series of dinners in Toki, a new Japanese restaurant in the Fort. She insisted that I come on her last night and join her (with Jessica Guevara, Ruffa Gutierrez and Bebe Gandanghari among others) for dinner to try this up-and-coming Japanese restaurant.

Her friends own Toki (Japanese for “moment”), built by food loving people with materials all the way from Japan. I entered the quaint and cozy place as Sam bragged about the food; there were several Japanese staples and some with a twist. As I looked at the menu, I was quite shocked with the very reasonable prices.

I saw chutoro, labeled as “fatty tuna belly” in the menu for P350 for five pieces. I said there must be something wrong as this was 1/10 the price of chutoro in other Japanese restaurants. I was told that the tuna used for this dish was actually not imported but local. That explained why the restaurant could sell it at that price. I had never tried local chutoro before so I went for it. Its taste was almost the same as the Japanese chutoro. Though it was paler in color and its texture slightly sinewy, I must say that the melt-in-your-mouth factor and the savory fish fat taste were still there. I went for another order after that. With that very reasonable price, I’d rather get this than the imported variety. 

Sam also made me try the sanshu sashimi no carpaccio Toki style tuna, salmon and white fish drizzled with a special sauce and cashew nuts. Reasonably priced, too, were the imported salmon sashimi and the mouthwatering Wagyu sirloin (around 40 percent less than other Japanese restaurants).

One may think that these reasonable prices compromise the quality of the food. At Toki, that’s not the case. That’s why I think this place will be a big hit once word gets around.

Toki’s Aster Amoyo made me try several other dishes which were quite interesting, particularly the ebi kawari age — five kinds of special fried shrimp. Other specialties included Wagyu tataki (lamb with citrus) and the umaki tamago (eel omelet).

I was told of the guests who frequent the restaurant and I was shocked to find out that I know so many of them yet they never mentioned this restaurant to me! Maybe they wanted it to remain a secret. Sam, you were right — the food was great, the service fantastic and the prices were even better!

Sam’s farewell dinner became a night of discovery for me.

(Check out Toki at the second floor of 32nd and Fifth Building, 32nd Street corner 5th Avenue, Global City, Taguig. Call 856-7295.)

Two Davids in Manila

American Idol Season 7 winner David Cook and runner-up David Archuleta will be performing live in Manila! The two famous Davids are set to take Manila by storm as they stage a one-night concert David Cook and David Archuleta: Live in Manila at the SM Mall of Asia concert grounds this Saturday, May 16 at 8 p.m.

As Archuleta’s (David James in real life) album has been distributed in the UK, Cook (David Roland in real life) has been doing the rounds of the US with his guitar. While in Washington, DC last weekend for the “Race for Hope 5K” where he served as a grand marshal, Cook announced to his millions of fans that he lost his brother Adam to a brain tumor. The reason why Cook had to cancel two shows in March was to be by Adam’s side, described to be his greatest influence in pursuing to audition for American Idol, being his number one fan.

Archuleta, on the other hand, apart from busying himself with his music, has started to embark on an acting career with a cameo appearance in Nickelodeon’s iCarly in an episode titled iRocked the Vote. He also made a special guest appearance in Season 3 of the Disney Channel show Hannah Montana in the episode Promma Mia as himself doing a duet with Miley Cyrus.

Both Davids are arriving in Manila today. David Cook and David Archuleta: Live in Manila! is produced by Fearless Productions and presented by the Metrocard Club in cooperation with GMA 7 and SM Mall of Asia.