30 years of success

In celebration of its 30th anniversary, SM Supermalls feted its top partners to an elegant and memorable Gala Awards Night at the SMX Convention Center recently. Some of the country’s top retailers, food merchants and business leaders attended the event.

The Gala Awards Night was the second day of the SM Partners’ Summit, the first day of which included a Retail Forum.

Spotted at the event were Edu Manzano, Kenneth Yang of McDonald’s, KFC’s Mauro Agustines, Project Pie’s Chukri Prieto, XO 46 Heritage Bistro’s Andrew Masigan, Penshoppe’s Brandon and Edmun Liu, Conti’s Quintin and Carole Sumulong, chef JP Anglo of Sarsa, Marissa Florete-Gorriceta of Sbarro and Dulcinea, and Felix Gorriceta III of Karat World.

Halal Guys now in Manila!

The Halal Guys, an iconic foodie destination in New York City, has finally arrived in Manila.

The restaurant is a quintessential part of the Big Apple where people are seen braving long lines and bad weather just to enjoy a large platter from the famous American halal food cart. In the Philippines, it is located at the fifth level of the Mega Food Hall of SM Megamall.

The Halal Guys has steadily become the largest and most beloved American Halal street food concept in the world since founding partners Muhammed Abouelenein, Ahmed Elsaka and Abdelbaset Elsayed opened their first food cart in 1990.

The restaurant has opened branches around the United States since the start of its expansion. The Philippines is its very first international franchise, brought to our shores by entrepreneur Jaime Daez of Fully Booked, now also the managing director of The Halal Guys Philippines.

The founding partners, who flew in for the launch, were joined by director of brand development Hesham Hegazy, US Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Michael Klecheski and SM Prime Holdings Inc. president Hans Sy for the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Also seen at the event were members of the Halal Development Institute of the Philippines (HDIP) Glenn Sinsuat, Binirando Villanueva, Amal Mamariong and Yael Ancheta. HDIP is the globally-recognized certifying body that provided The Halal Guys Philippines its prized halal accreditation.

(For more information, visit The Halal Guys Philippines on Facebook and @thehalalguysph on Instagram and Twitter.)

Design with Heart

Students from the University of Santo Tomas (UST) were declared big winners at the Nippon Paint Young Designer Award  (NPYDA) 2015, a regional competition across 12 Asia Pacific countries organized by Nippon Paint (Coatings) Philippines.

For following this year’s platform “Design with Heart,” Jose Augustine Ricarte was declared the Gold winner for the Architecture category with his entry “Marikina Link.” While Martha Joyce Tomas — who also bagged the Best Green Innovation award — won the Gold award for the Interior Design category with her entry “Biojet.” Each of the Gold winners received P50,000 cash prize, a six-month internship at Lor Calma & Partners (for Interior Design) and Casas+Architects (for Architecture).

Michael Chung, Nippon Paint (Coatings) Philippines general manager, said, “This year, we were all witnesses to how NPYDA has grown bolder and more promising. We are very confident on how this year’s entries can strongly compete with its Asian counterparts.” Architect and interior designer Eduardo Calma remarked that it is a privilege for professionals like himself to welcome outstanding, young talents and help them sharpen their eye for design even more. 

Other awardees for Architecture category were UST’s Marko Alab Adviento, Silver; Far Eastern University’s Ruben Felizarte, Best Colour Choice; and UST’s Kae Ann Aguila, Best Green Innovation.

For the Interior Design category, other awardees were University of the Philippines’ Courtney Gatus, Silver and Best Colour Choice. The University of Santo Tomas was hailed as the Best Supporting College/University for both Architecture and Interior Design categories.

The NPYDA 2015 was presented in collaboration with the Philippine Institute of Interior Designers (PIID), Council of Interior Design Educators (CIDE), United Architects of the Philippines (UAP) and Council of Deans and Heads in Architecture Schools in the Philippines (CODHASP), Lor Calma and Partners, Casas+ Architects and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).

(For more information, visit www.youngdesigneraward.ph.)

‘Hell in Paradis’

Paradis Manila’s “Inferno” Halloween party was a night to remember with everyone coming in costumes to an event that featured the music of French DJ/producer Alchemic Storm. This event was inspired by Dante’s Divine Comedy. 

The club was transformed into burning flames with state-of-the-art lighting techniques. Ghost holograms were also put in place in certain areas of the club. Champagne bottles were served in almost all of the VIP tables the entire night.

The crowd danced all night to the beats of DJ Alchemic Storm. This record producer and DJ has been a household name in parties in Ibiza and around the world. His sets blew the dance floor of Paradis Manila.

 Paradis Manila is the renovated former nightspot Palladium at the basement of New World Makati Hotel.

(For upcoming events, visit Paradis Manila on Facebook and @ParadisManila on Instagram and Twitter. For reservations, call 0917-5813572 during daytime and 0917-8604929 during nighttime.)(Follow me on Instagram @pepperteehankee.)