World Class Chefs
-
Ramilo (Ram) Villaluna
Ram is a budding chef from Iloilo City (Molo). He gained his training in Culinary Arts at the Center for Asian Culinary Studies under food guru Gene Gonzalez, Institute of Culinary Education (formerly Peter Kumpps) in New York. He took up bread making, and he studied food styling under Delores Custer of the Culinary Institute of America. It all started in Antique where his father owned a restaurant many Antiquenos learned to love. He continued the culinary legacy of his father and now, Ram owns a catering business, Cindy\'s Catering. Food is Ram\'s life, seriously speaking. I am short in saying that he is married to the food industry that, he spends most of his time teaching and mentoring at the Department of Culinary Arts at the University of San Agustin in Iloilo. If one cannot find him in the classroom, Ram will be on the road crisscrossing Iloilo and Antique having first hand in the management of his thriving businesses from both provinces. He also has a once-a-week TV show in GMA 7 \"Food Trip\". I met with Ram once before and he exudes perfectionism, the character that will beam him up to the limelight of culinary arts. At present time, Ram is extremely busy in Manila. I believe he is one of the finalists in The National Food Showdown 2010 sponsored by ABS-CBN. We wish you all the luck, Ram! Maybe, after this showdown, Ram will have the opportunity share favorite recipe here at ILONGGO LIVING.
SUBSCRIBE TO MY BLOG
Seed Newsvine
Archive for February, 2009
Final Chapter of My Philippine trip – Luzon
Before the memory of my trip to the Philippines become oblivious , as it may seem as days goes by, I’ll post the remainder of the pictures I’ve taken during the trip. I will start off with native kakanins my cousins brought upon my arrival in MANILA. They know exactly my weakness, nothing hidden, the suman and bibingkang sapin-sapin. Boy, did it even pacified me of my separation anxiety! They got it from Taytay, Rizal.
Next stop, Baguio City! After a gruelling 7 hours trip from Manila, not to mention the unimaginable hustle of getting a ticket at Victory Liner in Cubao, we finally arrived to our destination! BAGUIO CITY! As we entered the city in the evening, pine-scented cool breeze welcomed us and familiar fixtures by the surrounding areas instantly brought back memories of my 5 years stay in that city. AH! Yes St. Louis University years… gone and now it’s back, haunting me! Former friends and acquaintances dropped by one after the other that night. Before I knew it, was already 2:00 A.M. Time to catch some few zzz for in just few hours I would be treading Baguio by foot.
On our way to Mines View Park, we spotted a food vendor selling boiled sweet corn just like the ones we enjoy back here during summertime. For 12 pesos a piece, it's a bargain. I devoured 2 of them! It's a shame, I did not take as much food pics as I should have been for I was overtaken by the sceneries of Baguio and the memories that went with it. Quite frankly, food was the last thing in my mind that time. SURPRISED!
FONTANA RESORT, Angeles City
Different kinds of bibingkas and kakanins one could imagine!
SUBIC BAY, Zambalez
Beautiful sunset by Subic Bay
If there's any consolation at all, I got to brush elbows with high ranking government officials during the weddings. Deputy National Security Advisor Luis "Chavit" Singson for one and Congressman Eric Singon of Ilocos Sur, Governors of Ilocos Sur & Baguio City, mother of the groom Undersecretary of Agrarian Reform Rose L. Bistoyong, were among the "big shots" of the day. All of them are my kumpare and kumare! What a previledge indeed! Who knows, one of these days they might come in handy! That's what I get from marrying a politically-inclined family!
Family Day
Today, in Ontario and Alberta, people celebrates Family Day. It is a national holiday for the family to go out and enjoy each other’s company. This is the second year since it was recognized as a holiday. For those people who work at the hospital, this is not an extra holiday but hospital administrators renamed one of their “float holidays” as such. No big deal about it! So, that means, restaurant time again after Valentine’s day a few days ago.
We got a $50 gift certificate to Vicar’s Vice Restaurant & Bar from a close acquaintance last Christmas. Vicar’s Vice Restaurant & Bar is located at the corner of Rymal Road & Upper Centennial Parkway. The building used to be a church that was abandoned about a decade back and was occupied previouly by two different restos before Vicar’s. Interestingly enough, the building itself is quite historic as it was built in 1858 and rebuilt in 1881.
This restaurant has an English flair but foods served are fused with North American dishes. So, nothing is authentic in this restaurant. The usual order for starters is nachos. Then followed with Goliath burger, Chicken curry, Montreal smoked meat sandwich and the venerated Haddock fish & chips.
Valentine’s Day 2009
Valentine’s Day culminated at Boston Pizza in Upper Centennial Parkway. We heard earlier that they serve heart-shaped pizza and they donate a $1 per order to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada. So, it’s a good cause ordering such kind of a pizza. Boston Pizza is one of our favourite restos here in Hamilton. So, we ordered the heart-SHAPED Greek Zorba pizza, pepperoni pizza, Jambalaya fetuccini for my queen and Buffalo-styled hot chicken wings.
Of course, Valentine’s Day won’t be complete without flowers and chocolate!
Trip to Manila and Surrounding areas
Freska in Tiendesitas
Ube Cheesecake
Ube cheesecake by Lia’s is the best ube cheesecake I have ever tasted! It lives up to it’s name, being a real cheesecake and with REAL ube in it! Bauhinia resto in Iloilo should learn from Lia’s. Presentation is not as fancy compared to Bauhinia, but the taste is heaven! I’m an avid “ube seaker” and a “cheesecake connoisseur” at the same time. So, Bauhinia’s supposedly ube cheesecake didn’t pass my scrutiny.
MALL OF ASIA – New Year’s Day!
I have been reading a lot of good reviews from food magazines about Via Mare. They have published a few recipe books as well, so, with that premise, I was confident enough Via Mare won’t disappoint me. Well, guess what, they did disappoint my son as his order for batchoy turned out to be fruitless. We were told they run out of it and substituted it with beef mami instead. As for me, I ordered pansit loglog, though I’m not crazy about it but I was assured that it’s their specialty. So be it! I added fresh lumpia, kare-kare and, again, I was informed that their puto bongbong is also good. Well, what can I say, after devouring all the foods, I was not impressed at all. But mind you, I didn’t let my cousins know about my evaluation as I don’t want them to get disappointed . Not to mention they paid the tab!
Pansit Loglog
Kare-Kare
Fresh Lumpia - Tagalog style
Puto Bongbong
The disappointment was compensated by the fireworks at the Manila Bay. It was a good 15-minutes of display of spectacular lights and sounds. We watched it in the middle of our dinner at Cafe Via Mare by the veranda. Please watch the video in the gallery and don’t forget to turn up your volume.
Recent Comments