Inspired by Provence

Agronomist Marcel Ott arrived on the shores of the Mediterranean in 1896 and found the wine area that most inspired him  Provence. Generation after generation, the Ott family developed a quality range of red, white and rosé wines and Domaines Ott became part of Louis Roederer Champagne in 2004.

To highlight these wonderful wines, Alex Lichaytoo of Bacchus International and winemaker Christophe Renard of Domaines Ott hosted a kaiseki, a traditional multi-course Japanese dinner at Inagiku restaurant of Makati Shangri-La. 

The intimate group of diners started Japanese aperitif with Louis Roederer Champagne before having the four-course dinner.  Grilled silver cod with miso paste was paired with 2013 Domaines Ott, Clos Mireille Blanc followed by grilled eggplant and roast duck, foie gras miso sauce served with 2013 Domaines Ott, Clos Mireille Rosé. 

In between courses, Christophe explained these wines and noted that there was a slight salty taste to them because of the vineyards’ nearness to the sea. It was quite an interesting treat to taste the salt in the wine. He also explained the shape of the iconic Domaines Ott bottle, which was created in the 1930s. 

Before coffee and dessert, we were served US Wagyu Usuyaki with Gyuniku Yakemesho paired with 2011 Domaines Ott, Chateau Romassan, Bandol.  I never would have imagined Japanese food perfectly paired with French wines. It was a match made in heaven! 

Domaines Ott is distributed in the country by Bacchus International Philippines.

A taste of culture

My friend and STAR food writer Cheryl Tiu visited Ethiopia and fell in love with it. She realized that there were so many misconceptions about Ethiopia because a lot of people knew little about the beautiful country. This inspired her to create Cross Cultures, an events platform under her website built on the premise that food is one of the most accessible ways of exchanging cultures.

Her love for Ethiopian cuisine made her decide to spotlight it on her first event. She partnered with Eat Ethio, a movement founded by Helina Tesega that provides a modern insight into the food, coffee, music, designs and culture of Ethiopia. Eat Ethio shares the same philosophy with Cross Cultures — that the first insight into a culture is to taste it.

Cheryl’s Cross Cultures x Eat Ethio dinner was conceptualized and held at Curve at Gallery Vask in Bonifacio Global City. After announcing about the event on Facebook and Instagram, the dinner for 90 people, which included pairings with wines from Happy Living Philippines and Remy Martin XO Excellence, sold out within 24 hours.

The evening began at Manifesto Gallerie with guests enjoying Valdivieso Sparkling Brut. They also enjoyed viewing the photos that Cheryl took during her visit to Ethiopia.

Guests were also introduced to the Africa’s beauty secret, Pure Marula Facial Oil, which is the new oil favored by Vanity Fair, Vogue, Elle, Allure and Cosmopolitan. Cold-pressed, with antioxidants and omega fatty acids, it is reportedly a superior anti-aging moisturizer that also provides fair trade wages for women in Africa. All female guests found these on their seats as special gifts. The oil is now available in SM department stores.

The six-course dinner featured Kitfo or Ethiopian steak tartare made from Mayura wagyu beef mixed in with Ethiopian spices like gomen (kale) and homemade ayib cheese, paired with Chateau St. Jean Fume Blanc 2012; Lamb Tibs (Ethiopian spicy fried lamb) paired with Beringer Founders’ Estate Pinot Noir 2013; and Ethiopian’s national dish and my favorite of the evening, Doro Wat-berbere — a spiced slow-cooked chicken served with homemade soft cheese and soft-boiled egg and gluten-free teff injera and washed down with Valdivieso Single Vineyard Malbec 2009 and St. Francis Chardonnay 2012 from Sonoma County.

Helina said that in Ethiopia, they don’t have dessert but they do have a lot of coffee — as Ethiopia is reportedly the birthplace of coffee. She also mentioned that Ethiopians eat a lot of popcorn so she created Popcorn Ice Cream, served with a shot of buna, “pour-over” single-origin Ethiopian coffee. The night ended with Remy Martin XO Excellence.

(For information on Eat Ethio, visit eatethio.com or e-mail [email protected]. Check out cheryltiu.com, www.facebook.com/crossculturesbycheryltiu and @cross.cultures on Instagram. E-mail [email protected].)

‘Joy Will Take You Further’

Happiness has fueled and driven the success of people.  The philosophy behind that claim is what Johnnie Walker now champions, as presented during “The Way I Walk,” the brand’s media launch event held at The Eye at Green Sun in Makati City.

During the event, the whisky brand’s latest campaign “Joy Will Take You Further” was unveiled and faces behind the movement were introduced.

Mountaineer Romi Garduce and musician, actress and blogger Saab Magalona are among a growing number of people who epitomize a way of thinking that challenges the conventional wisdom that success leads to happiness. Instead, these remarkable personalities celebrate the fact that happiness actually helps people achieve more.

These two proud Filipinos have recently jumped on board this new global campaign of Johnnie Walker, joining a global roster of other extraordinary people from all walks of life. Garduce, the Philippines’ first global ambassador for Johnnie Walker, is notably presented in the global campaign, which features the likes of Formula One World Champion and McLaren Honda driver Jenson Button and award-winning actor Jude Law.

US-based psychologist and scientist Dr. Matt Killingsworth, who studies human happiness, acted as a consultant for the campaign. He said, “People sometimes think of happiness as a far-off, distant prize only to be won by their years of hard work or when they achieve conventional markers of success, like a higher income or a bigger house. But there is a growing body of evidence that enjoying happiness along the way makes success more likely.”

Diageo Philippines general manager Jon Good added, “As a brand, Johnnie Walker has always stood for progress — it’s been the story of our whisky since our founder John Walker started it all nearly 200 years ago. What two centuries of experience have taught us is that progress doesn’t have to be an endless uphill journey — we can enjoy the steps we take and the more happiness we find in them the more likely we are to achieve our goal.”

For his part, Garduce, who has scaled the seven highest summits on all continents, said, “Mountaineering is at least 80 percent mental approach. You don’t entertain doubt — it’s the instinct of believing you can do this. It’s positive thinking. Most of the time, climbing is challenging but afterwards there is what I call undefined fulfillment — a memory that is there forever.”

More fun & exciting adventures in Philippine tourism

Hundreds of international travel and tourism professionals gathered at the Marriott Hotel Manila Grand Ballroom to take part in the country’s biggest annual tourism marketing assembly — the 14th Philippine Travel Exchange (PHITEX).

Organized by the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB), PHITEX 2015 integrated two important travel and tourism events into one major gathering: the Philippine Meetings, Incentive Travel, Conventions and Exhibitions/Events Conference (MICECON) and the Travel Exchange (TRAVEX).

The three-day event was participated by over 400 Department of Tourism-accredited Philippine MICE suppliers and over 200 foreign buyers from 30 countries from North America, Europe, Middle East, Asia and Australia/New Zealand.

TPB COO Domingo Ramon Enerio III welcomed guests and acknowledged the unrelenting support of the local MICE industry practitioners and foreign buyers in the country’s tourism initiatives. He said, “Our world-class travel accommodations and wide selection of travel packages, which will be showcased in this event, will surely captivate tourists even more as they return to the country next year. With our magnificent attractions and the smiling faces of the Filipinos, the Philippines is definitely worth visiting over and over again.”

The highlight of PHITEX 2015 was the launch of the newest tourism marketing campaign — Visit the Philippines Again (VPA) 2016, which aims to drive urgency and excitement among foreign travelers to visit the Philippines and return to the country for more fun and exciting adventures in 2016. The launch featured performances by Apl.de.Ap, who presented a music video of his original song It’s More Fun in the Philippines.

VPA 2016 aims to sustain the successful Visit the Philippines (VPY) 2015 campaign, which impressively attracted a total of 3.11 million international visitors from January to July 2015 alone and has a total earning of P130.22 billion from tourism activities for the first seven months of 2015.

(Follow me on Instagram @pepperteehankee.)