The recently concluded 12th National Food Showdown held at Elements in Eton Centris in Quezon City saw culinary talents from all over the country showcasing their skills in a variety of categories that highlight technique and creativity in every dish that was prepared. Eastwood Richmonde Hotel participated in this prestigious food & beverage competition for the first time and proudly won the highest recognitions in most of the events it joined. Represented by select members of the hotel’s kitchen team and coached by its Executive Chef, Victor Barangan, Eastwood Richmonde took home a total of five (5) medals.
Top winner was Pastry Chef de Partie Richelle Ann Bautista who won a gold medal in the Innobake Cookie Jar competition with her innovative display of garden-inspired cookies aptly named Flowerpot Cookie (vanilla-based choco chip cookie dough with raspberry jam, chocolate ganache, and pistachio), Dug Up Brownie (salted egg cream cheese brownie swirl with milk chocolate ganache, and chocolate custard mousse), and Charcoreo (black cocoa & charcoal cookie sandwich with salted white chocolate ganache).
Bautista was also the top winner together with Commis II Arwin Abracia with a silver medal in the Plated Desserts category for their unique creations of Yosi, a warm pili nut financier with a pili nut sauce center, fresh mango bruleé topping, whipped chocolate custard quenelle siding, chocolate crumble and dried mango bits bedding, and “cigar snow” made of pili butter maltodixtrine and white chocolate to be blown on the dessert; and Chix, a sucre tart with cashew croquant, glazed raspberry mousse, whipped ganache, and gotu kola.
The top honor was also awarded to Chef de Partie Roleo A. Comia and Commis II Bonn Marc Tudla in the Happy Hour Category with their original take on four familiar bar chow items: Cevichaw, kinilaw with tabun-tabun vin and byasong leaves from Butuan and served with red cabbage chicharon; Black Jack, black sesame seed-crusted skipjack tuna with avocado peso, rambutan salsa, and micro greens; I Have Four Eggs, takoyaki-style balut tempura with sweet soy, togarashi, anori and bonito flakes; and Tala-bang, baked oysters topped with spinach laing, kamias slivers, turmeric pearls, and cheese.
In the Pantry Chef Category, Commis II Christopher Pagas and Commis II Rowell Manahan won the silver award with their starter dishes of Compressed Watermelon Salad (pressure-packed watermelon with orange and served with almond cream cheese and tapenade) and Dapithapon (roasted peppers, black quinoa, carrot hummus smoked with cinnamon chips).
Eastwood Café+Bar’s resident bartender Winnie Lyn Estoesta was a silver medalist in the professional class of the Cocktail Mixing competition which required participants to mix original drinks within a limited amount of time.
Certificates of recognition were also issued to Sous Chef Pedro Paluga and Commis III Kynnard Sanchez for participating in the McCormick Spice Showdown.
The winning entries of Eastwood Richmonde Hotel in the 12th National Food Showdown will soon be offered at Eastwood Café+Bar. For inquiries and reservations, call (632) 570-7777.
Eastwood Café+Bar is located at the ground floor of Eastwood Richmonde Hotel, 17 Orchard Road, Eastwood City, Bagumbayan Quezon City. For more information, you may send an email to erh@richmondehotel.com.ph or log on to www.eastwoodrichmondehotel.com.ph. For the freshest updates on hotel promotions, follow us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/EastwoodRichmondeHotel), Instagram (@Richmonde_ERH) and Twitter (@Richmonde_ERH).
