Open kitchen at Nomama

Chef Him Uy de Baron of Nomama started his Open Kitchen Night series with husband-and-wife chefs Rolando and Jackie Laudico. It was a successful night that the restaurant was able to raise a considerable amount for the Shepherd of the Hills Children’s Foundation.

The second round featured STAR’s Stephanie Zubiri (of Atelier 317 and Modern Epicurean Kitchen), who infused some Filipino and Mediterranean flavors in the kitchen. Steph, who likes to call herself a “glorified cusinera,” collaborated with Nomama for a unique menu featuring comfort food favorites like sinigang, adobo and fried chicken, which were all given a global spin.

Because Stephanie advocates accessible good nutrition, her beneficiary for the night was her own special endeavor in collaboration with Habitat for Humanity. With the help of the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR), she hopes to integrate bio-intensive gardens with nutritious crops in Habitat for Humanity communities, starting with a pilot project in Malabon. The idea would be to help the communities uplift the level of nutrition and lessen household expenses by teaching the members of the community how to grow nutritious crops and cook them in a cost-effective yet creative way.

That night, guests enjoyed fig-glazed smoked bacon, red curry seafood and tofu ceviche and deep fried tawilis with Asian salsa verde for canapés. The meals included sinigang bouillabaisse “ramen” with grilled seafood, grilled teriyaki Romaine lettuce with bonito flakes and herb salad, sriracha brined tori karaage with pickled beet root and grilled baby carrots, balsamic adobo brined pork belly with orange ginger gremolata on a bed of white kimchi, sparkling sake and pomelo gelée with Pinkerton coconut sorbet (ice cream by Xandra Rocha), assorted petits fours by Park Avenue Desserts (of Buddy Trinidad) and craft beer by Global Beer Exchange (of Jim Araneta).

Chef Him also announced that night that certain dishes of Steph would stay on the menu for a month and a certain percentage of sales would continue to go to the beneficiary of her choice.

It was my first time at Nomama then, which I first heard of from Allure’s Philip Cu-Unjieng. I enjoyed the food so much that I went back three days after.

(Nomama is located on Scout Tuason corner Scout Castor streets, Quezon City. Call 542-2558 or 0917-522-8272 for reservations.)

Sophisticated and smart

The third generation of the Galaxy S series is finally here!

Designed for humans and inspired by nature, Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy S III has redefined the meaning of smartphone, showing that technology can fit naturally into one’s everyday lifestyle.

The phone’s personalized S Voice feature enables users to tell the Galaxy S III to “snooze” an alarm. It can also be used to play favorite songs, send text messages, organize schedules, browse the web or automatically launch an application.

In addition to recognizing the voice of the user, the smartphone understands your motions to offer maximized usability. If you are messaging a friend but you change your mind to call him instead, just lift your phone to your ear and “Direct call” will dial the number automatically — it is intuition at its finest.

JK Shin, president and head of IT and mobile communications says, “The phone is designed to be both effortlessly smart and intuitively simple, the Galaxy S III has been created with our human needs and capabilities in mind.”

With the innovative “Smart stay” feature, the Galaxy S III recognizes how one is using the phone — reading an e-book or browsing the web for instance — by having the front camera identify your eyes; the phone maintains a bright display for continued viewing pleasure. When the user is not around, the phone goes into idle mode. Sharing photos and videos with others has never been easier and faster with the new “S Beam.” The smartphone expands upon “Android Beam,” allowing a 1GB video file to be shared within three minutes and a 10MB audio file within two seconds by simply putting two Galaxy S III phones back to back, even without a Wi-Fi or cellular signal.

“AllShare Play” can also be used to instantly share any forms of files between Galaxy S III and your tablet, PC and television. “Pop up play” allows you to play a video anywhere on your screen while simultaneously running other tasks, eliminating the need to close and restart videos when checking new e-mails, surfing the Web, texting and chatting. Plus, with a 4.8” HD Super AMOLED display, the smartphone offers a large and vivid viewing experience in HD. Its 8MP camera features a zero-lag shutter speed that lets you capture moving objects easily without delay. The “Burst shot” function instantly captures 20 continuous shots (3.3 frames per second). 

The phone was “inspired by nature” and is available in Pebble blue and Marble white.