Raising Boys

Fine dining at the Waterfront September 20, 2005

I was at the Waterfront Hotel in Cebu City last night for a “fine dining” experience. The dinner was in line with the Cebu Press Freedom Week Celebration and was “by invitation only”. I did not have any invitation–I’m a journalist in a medium that has still to gain acceptance in a third world country like the Philippines–but my husband, a newspaperman, had one and he gave it to me because he was busy with work and was unsure if he could make it.

So off I went. What was I thinking? I almost starved in the midst of all that food. My taste buds, so used to the uncomplicated taste of the bland and ordinary, protested at the riot of sensations from the night’s six-course haute cuisine.

For salad, we had spiced beef tenderloin marinated in lemon juice, shoyu sauce, olive oil and made into rolls with ripe mango, celery, oven dried tomatoes, mushrooms, and green peas as filling. One ingredient at a time, please, I almost begged. The only thing complicated I ever had to eat before this was pizza.

Oh, and we had Red Chilean to go with the salad. Too bad I’m also not a wine girl. But I think the wine parade was absolutely perfect.

I don’t think fine dining is my thing. First of all, I’m not a food person. And second, I have so perfected the meal-on-the-go craft, I could probably write a thesis about it.

For the soup, we had roasted squash with red bell peppers, onion leeks, celery, tomatoes sauteed in butter, simmered in chicken stock, seasoned with thyme leaves, cinnamon, and fresh basilikum, and mixed with flavored whipping cream. This was not so bad and the bread that went with it was very filling.

We had vegetable linguine with pan-fried tiger prawn and pesto aioli next with Bordeaux white wine. I managed to eat about three mouthfuls.

Sweets are always a delight so I had no problem finishing off the mangosteen sorbet. Layers of thin black and white chocolate shaped into a swan made up desert. I did not have a problem with that either.

For entree we had chicken but don’t let my simple description of the food fool you. It was definitely more than just chicken; only I lost my copy of the menu so I could not describe it as well as the other dishes.

So that was that. It was defintely not my typical five-minute meal but it was an experience in eating worth having.