Brunch with Bocelli

The day after Andrea Bocelli’s concert at the Mall of Asia Arena, a special brunch was held at Caruso Ristorante Italiano in Makati City in honor of the world’s most beloved tenor.

Italian Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ICCP) president Sergio Boero and Caruso’s Emilio Mina wanted some of the members of the Italian community in the Philippines to meet the Italian tenor. They arranged a lunch with Martin McCarthy, who is in charge of Bocelli Wines’ international development and sales.

Several bottles of Bocelli Wines, which Andrea runs with his brother, were served together with the authentic and delicious Caruso dishes.

Bocelli arrived with his wife Veronica. He spoke a few words and hoped people enjoyed his wine. He sang a few lines on an Italian song the community was singing (which I was not familiar with).  Even Italian Ambassador Massimo Roscigno was in attendance.

Some lucky guests were able to get a photo with the maestro and some had CDs signed. It was a brief brunch but to see Andrea Bocelli up close was enough for a lot of the guests.

(Caruso Ristorante Italiano is located at 210 Nicanor Garcia St., Bel-Air Village, Makati City. For inquiries and reservations, call 895-2451 or 0905-5537409.)

Global Views opens at the Fort

Global Views began in 1997 with a vision to produce a unique collection of home accessories and accent pieces. The founders drew upon their strong retail buying experience as well as their product development and marketing expertise to bring about a line of home accessories that is individualistic, as well as a great value. The collection blends pieces that are elegant, exotic, refined and casual. The company creates items that will work in any decor and will accommodate a wide array of design sensibilities.

The home accessories company currently offers over 5,000 items made by skilled artisans from all corners of the globe. The company attracts buyers from over 10,000 retailers, ranging in size from nationally known multi-store chains, the finest of specialty stores, well known national and regional interior designers, all the way down to individually owned businesses. It has hand-blown glass from Poland, ceramic from Italy and Portugal, exotic wood from Vietnam and India, Indian handmade textiles and nickel products and Vietnamese artisan-crafted metal.

The company emphasizes the importance of excellent customer service, beautiful consumer-friendly catalogs, regular trade publication advertising, and an exciting, constantly evolving website.

The Global Views store that just opened at Shangri-La at the Fort offers accessories, furniture, lighting, textiles and wall décor from The Roger Thomas Collection, Studio A, Dwell Studio, Williamsburg Collection, Julia Buckingham, MCFCHAN Collections and Barbara Barry. Global Views has showrooms in New York, Las Vegas, Dallas, Atlanta, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Riyadh.

(Visit Global Views at Unit 2F at the Shangri-La at the Fort, 30th St. corner 5th Avenue, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.)

100 days of Appetite

Food magazine Appetite launched its first ever cookbook, Cooking with appetite, with 100 recipes every Filipino cook would want to try at home.

The launch, led by Appetite editor-in-chief Nina Daza-Puyat and her team, was held at Casa Real in Acacia Estates, Taguig City.

The evening began with refreshments from a spiced up cocktail bar presented by McCormick. Publisher Maite Uy was on hand to welcome the guests and formally open the night’s festivities.

Nina said, “If you love to eat, you must know how to cook and it is my goal for you to discover the simple but profound joy that comes from being able to transform random ingredients into a tasty and satisfying dish.”

A buffet with recipes from the cookbook was prepared by the chefs of CCA while Rachel Alejandro entertained the crowd over dinner. McCormick also treated lucky guests to exciting prizes who participated in the “Guess the Spice” game before copies of the cookbook were given away to those in attendance.

Each dish found in the cookbook was kitchen-tested for everyday and special occasion cooking with recipes curated from Nina’s own personal recipe collection, Appetite columnists, and guest contributors.

Nina added, “I chose recipes that range from Filipino favorites to Pinoy food with a twist, as well as recipes from various cuisines that appeal to our collective taste buds.”

The back-to-back cookbook features 50 Filipino recipes on one side and 50 global recipes on the other.

(Grab your copy of Cooking with appetite now available in all leading bookstores.)

Unbounded 3.0 by Rax Bautista

Rax Bautista has exhibited a large body of work from her nude and body paint photography to abstract paintings.

Bautista is a photographer, fashion stylist, creative director and painter. She has a degree in Fine Arts at the College of the Holy Spirit and the Academy of Arts in San Francisco.

Her recent Unbounded 3.0 is her third collection installment, which followed her Unbounded in 2012 that delved into social dark issues.

The collection is Bautista’s expression of her unbounded inner self. Each artwork draws you into distinct and varying sentiments of the soul.

Guests had a private viewing of the collection at Casa Ligna on Nicanor Garcia St. in Makati City as they sipped Robert Mondavi’s Woodbridge wines.

During the affair, Casa Ligna presented the innovative creations of Designs Ligna, a world-class manufacturer of finest quality crafted furniture. The furniture brand develops and markets its own designs to high-end retailers and supplies exclusive products to 17 countries in four continents.

This affair was made possible by the Activation Agency, Eventechnique Inc. and through the support of Forth & Tay’s Eric Kahn.

(Unbounded 3.0 Collection is on display at Casa Ligna until June 30.)

(Follow me on Instagram @pepperteehankee.)