Chocolate & Wine Festival now on-going in Newport Mall, Resorts World Manila

PRESS RELEASE

Newport City celebrates chocolate & wine with a decadent month-long festival

Megaworld Lifestyle Malls and Newport Mall is celebrating the decadent duo of chocolate & wine with delicious pairings, chocolate carvings and more at its Chocolate & Wine Festival this October.

Bar 180's limited time offer for the Chocolate Creations is a trio of delicious desserts, each with their own special wine pairing.

Chocolate Creations, paired with wine

Newport Mall’s Chocolate Creations are even more delectable when paired with wine! Available from October 1 to 31, 2015 this collection of chocolate desserts can be enjoyed with a glass of vino at participating establishments. The list is posted at the Chocolate & Wine Gallery at the ground floor of Newport Mall from Oct. 1 – 12

Deconstructed Peanut Butter Praline, paired with a Montes Late Harvest Riesling.

Among the not to be missed pairings this year is a trio of chocolate desserts and wines from Bar 180 – there’s a Deconstructed Peanut Butter Praline, paired with a Montes Late Harvest Riesling, the Mary Jane Cake, which has Raspberry Jelly and a Dark Chocolate Ganache, to be enjoyed with a glass of Montes Alpha Syrah and the interesting Chocolate Soup (a rich combination of dark and milk chocolate) topped with walnuts and pistachios, which is paired with a Montes Alpha Cabernet Sauvignon.

Mary Jane Cake with Raspberry Jelly and Dark Chocolate Ganache, paired with a Montes Alpha Syrah.

Other chocolate desserts one can try at the festival is Crisostomo’s Madrid, a ChocoMani cake garnished with chocnut candy, drizzled with fondue and topped with mint leaves and their GatoNegro Cabernet Sauvignon. Johnny Kahuku’s Hawaiian Volcano Lava Cake is a luscious spiced dark chocolate cake with raspberry that one can have with a glass of their Barefoot Sauvignon Blanc White Wine.

Chocolate Soup with Walnut Croquant and Pistachio Nuts, paired with Montes Alpha Cabernet Sauvignon.

For a twist on the typical buchi, Johnny Chow is offering an orange marmalade infused dark chocolate buchi and their Alexis Lichine & Co Cabernet Souvignon or Merlot.

Peanut butter and chocolate fans should definitely stop by The Italian Market for their Humble Pie, a peanut butter and dark chocolate pie made even yummier with vanilla ice cream and a glass of Fantini Farnese Montepulciano D'abruzzo.

Chocolate ice cream is also represented through Mr. Kurosawa’s Chocolate Jelly with Cream, chocolate ice cream mixed with anglaise and chocolate coffee jelly topped with whipped cream, chocolate powder and syrup. Mr. Kurosawa also offers a Yellow Tail Australian Wine Merlot.
 

Other delish chocolate dishes include TWG’s Chocolate Macaron, Villa Del Conte’s Praline Balls (choose from nine delectable flavors!), FIC’s Tsokolate, a rich full-flavored ice cream inspired by the tsokolate eh and Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf’s cakes.

Chocoholics can also enjoy an indulgent chocolate buffet and Chocolate & Wine Pairing Night on Oct. 22, 6PM at Impressions in Resorts World Manila. Guests can purchase tickets for P1,500 and enjoy a wide selection of chocolate desserts, cakes, dark and white chocolate fountains and more.

 

Chocolate & Wine Market

From Oct. 1 – 4 and 15-18, chocolate and wine lovers should get their wallets ready as Newport Mall’s Plaza at the second floor transforms into a Chocolate & Wine Market.

Guests can check out chocolate treats from Nestle Kitkat and enjoy eating them at the Kitkat benches scattered all over Newport City. Chocoholics can also satisfy their sweet tooth with chocolate desserts and wine from Café Maxims, indulge in pralines from Villa Del Conte and try chocolatey caramel apples at American Caramel Apples.

More chocolates will also be available from Food Bin, Pipers Pan, Yellow Sprinkles, Picole, Unit 16 Sweets, MedChef, Mio Gelati, Choco Atbp., Coldstone, Kimbee, Snack Box, Hattendo, Frost & Fill, Barris Chocolate and Momilo Mio.

Chocolate & Wine Gallery

This year’s Chocolate & Wine Festival also allows guests to enjoy the fusion of food and art. At the Chocolate & Wine Gallery open from Oct. 1 -12, guests can check out beautiful chocolate paintings and sculptures from Marriot Hotel and Resorts World Manila Food & Beverage, see wine selections from the Philippine Wine Merchants and learn all about wine & chocolate pairing from the pairing guide.

Guests can also enjoy their chocolate and wine with wonderful performances at the Chocolate, Wine and the Arts showcase, happening 6:00 PM on October 2 to 3, 2015 and on October 16 to 17, 2015.

The Chocolate & Wine Festival was created by Megaworld Lifestyle Malls and Resorts World Manila, and sponsored by Nestle Kitkat, the Philippine Wine Merchants, Villa Del Conte and Gallo Wines.

For more information on Newport Mall’s Chocolate Festival, please call the Megaworld Lifestyle Malls Concierge at 709-0888, 709-9888 or 09178380111 or Resorts World Manila at 836-6333 and 908-8833 or visit www.megaworldlifestylemalls.com

Sampling the fresh flavors of Italian cuisine at Tratorria Poggio Antico - An Awesome Secret Foodies Tour



A plate of Prosciutto con Melone (ham and melon on pizza crust), Crespella del Poggio (crepe stuffed with ham and cheese, and mushroom in truffle oil), Promodoro e mozarella crostini and assorted pizzetas (mozarella crostini), and Oyster sur pate dei fegato (oyster on liver pate).

Our second stop in the sneak preview of An Awesome Secret Foodies Tour in Tuscany, McKinley Hill, BGC was at the Trattoria Poggio Antico.

The rustic ambiance of the restaurant is very relaxing and homey for dining customers. Despite the sudden surge of big group of food bloggers entering the restaurant, these diners still enjoy the privacy of their meals in one corner of the resto.     

 

The place has a rustic interiors reminiscent of street side cafes in classic Italy. It is one-of-a-kind  of resto that combines passion for cooking with the love for travel.   The name of this rustic resto, Trattoria Poggio Antico,  is of Italian words that literally mean "old tavern on the knoll," which incidentally connote the hilly terrain of McKinley hill where you can find Tuscany Private Estate and the food strip. It is however, a misnomer to call the place as antico (old) being that everything here is new to us. Ah, the owner here is obviously trying to immortalize and share us his wonderful travel experiences in the rolling hills of Italy.
  

Fellow foodie bloggers squeezing together for a souvenir photo shoot with the hosts of Trattoria Poggio Antico



The restaurant is owned by Mr. Roland M. Lorilla whose inspiration to operate it originated from a memorable family vacation to the farms and meadows of Italy. 

The owner, Mr. Roland M. Lorilla, generously offers and serves foods and drinks to his dining gang of food bloggers in the sneak preview of An Awesome Secret Foodies Tour in Tuscany, McKinley Hill, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City.   

He wanted to bring home with him the fresh flavors of Italian cuisine that urged him to hire a chef with 15 years of training and experience of Italian specialty and make sure to use all organic ingredients and homemade breads and pasta for his dining customers to enjoy with. 

The Trattoria Poggio Antico also served us free imported wines. 

The red and white wines we sampled in the tour.

Among the gourmet foods that we sampled with the white and red wines are the following appetizers:  Prosciutto con Melone (ham and melon on pizza crust), Crespella del Poggio (crepe stuffed with ham and cheese, and mushroom in truffle oil), , Promodoro e mozarella crostini and assorted pizzetas (mozarella crostini), Oyster sur pate dei fegato (oyster on liver pate).

If your find this place interesting, you can contact Mr. Lorilla at (02) 551-1962 or at (0917) 847-2265. You can also email him at poggioanticocorp@gmail.com.

• See the other restaurants we raided in An Awesome Secret Foodies Tour 

• Planet Grapes

• B&T Mexican Kitchen

• L.E.S. (Lower East Side) Bagels

• Sauceria

• Marciano’s

• Main Street

• Sophie’s Mom Bakery Cafe

Pairing wines at Planet Grapes - An Awesome Secret Foodies Tour

Planet Grapes introduces their concept of pairing wine with Pinoy street foods themed as "wine meets street food."

Ian Madera of Mercato Centrale models the  last serving of imported red wines we sampled.

In the sneak preview of the Awesome Secret Foodies Tour we toured the upscale dining places of Tuscany in McKinely Hill, BGC.  I was with the gang of local food bloggers covering the food sampling marathon. The first door that swung open in the tour was that of Planet Grapes. 

These glass goblets are awaiting the next lucky group of An Awesome Secret Foodies Tour this December.  Hurry up, call now and get your chance to have the limited slots. For inquiries and reservations, dial these numbers:  709-0888 / 709-9888  / 0917-838-0111 (Globe Telecom). Did I say "hurry up now!"?

It was all about wine and wine pairing. For me, the wines served became my second set of conditioning, after my first conditioning of a kilometer body warming walk from Lawton Avenue to the Tuscany.

RJ Ledesma, co-founder of Mercato Centrale with representative of Planet Grapes introduces to the selected few foodie bloggers the concept of  Planet Grapes' "wine meets street food." Everybody  aimed their lenses at the dimly lite table laid with the pulutan of the night. 

It cleansed my palate and reconditioned my guts for the rest of the tour that I never thought would be a marathon of sampling plenty of gourmet foods from eight different restaurants just in a span of about 4 hours.  It was first of a kind and so great!

The quirky wine vending machine is operated by inserting a wallet-size card so you could dispense the precious wine.    

The place is something that wine connoisseurs in Manila worth checking out. Planet Grapes features a quirky wine vending machine operated by inserting a wallet-size card and pressing a soft touch button for a desired amount of wine to dispense with into your goblet. 

If you take a closer look at the prices for each fill, you're assured that you will get seven times seven the value of your joining fee in the tour. That's why it's called An Awesome Secret Foodies Tour! 

It has a wide selection of great tasting wine all over the world, some of which are sourced directly from the country that manufactures distinctive wine. Its extensive roster of choices will surely delight wine drinking customers. 

Don’t worry if you are not expert about wines.  Wine connoisseur is on standby to help or guide you through and answer any question about their wines. They are very much eager to talk with you and tell you about the art of drinking wine. 

Mr. Benjamin Bailleux, the Operations and Business Development Director of the Planet Grapes (photo left) explained to us the best kind of wine to pair with oily or fatty-riched pulutan.  He recommended the "refreshing wines" or the ones that are quite sour or simply sip juice extract  of freshly squeezed calamansi or lime.  

Edgie with Ian Madera of Mercato Centrale

The pulutan of the night is influenced by traditional Pinoy street foods  

We sampled first the wines and it was perfect for the street foods they served – the pairing was dubbed as “wine meets street food.”  To finish our stay and to set as ready for the next door, we sampled the red wines with must degustation.

The galore of "wine meets Pinoy street foods" - you can have the popular Metro Manila sidewalk delicacies of balut sa puti, siomai, and kekiam 

The famed balut sa puti is in the center stage among the pulutan (food served with the wines)  

What looks like cheese fondue and a bowl of chicharon baboy (pork crackling)

Planet Grapes can be contacted at (02) 551-3731. You can also send a message to info@planetgrapes.com.ph.  Visit also its website at www.planetgrapes.com.ph. 

• See the other restaurants we raided in An Awesome Secret Foodies Tour 
  

• B&T Mexican Kitchen
• Tratorria Poggio Antico

• L.E.S. (Lower East Side) Bagels

• Sauceria

• Marciano’s

• Main Street

• Sophie’s Mom Bakery Cafe