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.
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