New lunch menu at Uva

Chef Fernando Fidel Aracama’s cuisine, one that straddles European, Asian, Mediterranean and Filipino, is why diners often troop to Restaurant Uva. Starting today, there is another reason to make the trip.

A new power lunch menu will be introduced by chef Aracama and this he further spices up with a generous offer – each order of a main dish from the new menu will entitle guests to partake of a complimentary eat-all-you-want buffet. With prices starting at P265+, that’s for a vegetarian meal of sweet miso, pickled vegetables and furikake rice, Uva’s power lunch is simply enticing, especially since the buffet is a feast in itself.

Crisp crostini topped with a melt-in-the mouth spread of blue cheese, tomato and green mango alone is well worth it. But there’s more. Bruschettas stuffed with a delicate combination of kesong puti and spinach, smoked salmon and tangingue with just a hint of saltiness and paper thin cassava crisps with hummus dip. There’s a choice of different pasta and noodle preparations and a salad bar featuring hydrophonically grown greens and an assortment of dressings. Slices of fresh fruits in season round off the spread. While partaking of just the buffet is actually an option at P195+, one shouldn’t miss out on chef Aracama’s new culinary creations. These, he says, reflect his "metamorphosis." Meaning lately, the robust chef has shifted from eating hearty and heavy meals to lighter, healthier ones. It’s a concern we’re sure he shares with lots of others. "I’ve gone slow on rich food and beer. I now watch what I eat so I can lose weight and be healthier," he said during a recent press lunch he hosted at Uva. "I steam and grill food more often now and I’ve also gone for olive oil instead of using lots of butter," says chef Aracama of his current choice of cooking methods.

There are 16 new dishes for Restaurant Uva’s power lunch, and these run the gamut of pasta and risotto, fish, meat and chicken and vegetarian dishes.

Here’s a sampling; penne gusto with spicy Hungarian sausages, roasted red peppers and tomatoes; seafood risotto with shrimp squid and gremolata; Norwegian salmon with taba ng talangka sauce, cabbage salad and white rice; beef tenderloin with lemon grass marinade, soy fried rice and nuoc cham; pork loin with parmesan-rosemary crust, pesto pasta and sauce provençale; risotto primavera with asparagus, parmigiano and sun-dried tomatoes and spaghetti pomodori with tomato ragout, spinach and kesong puti.

There’s a choice of wines to go with each meal. Uva lives up to its name with a bar well stocked with a choice of wines from the best wine-producing countries. Fruit juices and softdrinks are available too. By the way, bottomless in-house brewed iced citrus tea comes with every order of a power lunch main course or the buffet.

Uva’s menu will continue to evolve, says chef Aracama. Just as it has in many instances now, he will always come up with new and inventive fare while retaining crowd favorites like Chilean sea bass in sake broth, pasta pobrecita with tuyo flakes and chicken chop-chop salad.

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Restaurant Uva is at the ground floor of the Century Imperial Suites, Tomas Morato Ave., Quezon City. The power lunch menu is available daily except Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m while la carte dinners are served from 6:30 to 10 p.m. For reservations, call 929-15-70.