quick ice cream by moi
I had kiddie stars Gabby and Bea of Lovely Day visit me to get their hands on a little food styling. We did fake ice cream, roasted chicken and a sandwich. It was a pretty fun shoot.
Bea did some painting to make the chicken look perfectly roasted.
And Gab did a little kneading and scooping to try his luck on the fake ice cream.
I’ve finally had time to play around with my ice cream formula during bobby chinn’s shoot, and even he seemed pretty impressed. I also found a nice substitute to vanilla bean hehe.
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me and chef
There is something weird about this month, we’ve been having international food icons dine at Cafe Ysabel! Our house restoration must’ve opened up some sort of magnet and I’m just loving it. Last Tuesday, World Cafe Asia’s host, Chef Bobby Chinn came over to Cafe Ysabel to film, eat and have a few crazy drinks with the students and chefs (he also came over the night before). Yes, Chef Bobby Chinn is also in Manila, and I think he’s having a book signing on Friday.
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anthony bourdain came to our restaurant!
YES. Yes and yes. These pictures are real. Anthony Bourdain is in Manila. I still feel a little light headed from what happened. The big secret was — Anthony Bourdain…pure inspiration, was coming over to Cafe Ysabel to try out some Filipino dishes by Dad. Even Juday was star-struck (and to think she’s already a huge star to begin with)! I mean who wouldn’t be?!
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“Chef Gene Gonzalez”, that’s what dad opted to be called rather than his whole name like all the others. It was really cool to see dad stand out from all the awardees. One, he was the only one wearing a chefs uniform and two, he was the youngest among all the awardees. Last Friday, we all went to DLSU to be with dad when he received his award.
dad-happily-receiving-award
Well, it has been my dad’s obsesssion to put the Philippines in the gastronomic map of the world along with our more popular Asian neighbors…and why not, masarap naman talaga pagkain natin. Here are some pics.
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dad in a billboard ad
Hehehe, I haven’t actually seen the billboard, but I’ve seen the commercial. My dad will be receiving a Lasallian Excellence award on Friday so this month has been pretty cool for him! I’m proud so of him! 
And it was only a few years ago when we’d be walking at a mall and people would walk up to him and talk to him…then he’d look at me and say, “Did they actually call me Chef Gene?” hehhe. Dad’s always down-to-earth. Heheh anyway, I just felt like writing it down. And sticking the picture on the page.
And yes, mas masarap and corned beef with RICE!
After our food trippin’ at Izakaya Kikufuji last Friday. My brother, China, Mig and I headed over to rockwell to try out their FIC Ice Cream Parlor for dessert. I wished I saved more room. The ice creams all looked so good!
closer-look-at-bananasplit
This wengue and cream place combines some fun and funk in their interiors and decor. The ice cream parlor actually looks like a modern italian coffee place like Segafredo. Well anyway, enough of the interiors.
china-and-the-2-towers
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Last February, I took a long study leave to eat and study my way through Chiang Mai. Well mostly to eat. Dad, my brother and Chefs Toto and Lawrence of Cafe Ysabel headed to Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand. The weather was nice and cool, the food is cheap, the beer was good. Here is a summary of my top 5 experiences:
Gotta love their Dunkel at O\'Malleys Irish Bar
1. The Dunkel Beer on Tap in O’Malley’s at the Night Bazaar. On our first night, I learned how beer temperature does wonders to the beer’s taste. That night, temperature, mix and companions were all perfect. I love dark beer, and this dunkel, wasn’t that dark (like black, more of chocolate brown), but it had that significant fruit taste (of raspberries) I’ve been looking for in dark beers. Why, i could drink a liter of it if our beer drinking sessions weren’t pre-laden with tons of Thai food. I heard there was another microbrewery somewhere in Chiang Mai, but we just couldn’t help but come back every single night for the fresh beer on tap. I love this BEEER!
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Appetite Magazine Aug-Sept Issue
For this month’s issue of Appetite Mag, I got featured in the section called “Chef du Jour”. Well, they made a mistake in the name of the school, but other than that…it was a nice article! Wonderful job Rache! It was a pleasure working with you guys.
apettite-mag online
waiting-for-the-shrimps
Wow! A crab and shrimp boil!
dad-cookin-the-shrimps
freshly-boiled-shrimps
Despite being semi-allergic to shrimps, I ate like they were the last shrimps on earth. Our crab and shrimp boil is one of my favorite sunday dinner themes. A few years ago, we had a crab and shrimp boil and i had to be rushed to the ER for a benadryl shot a day after because my body had an over-supply of histamines. So with the claritin at hand, I had no fear hehe.
still-breathing
closer-look-at-shrimps
Our shrimps were still jumping from the bowl before we boiled them. We get our live shrimps from SM Hypermart, where they have a nice aquarium filled with live, good-sized live shrimps (i hate peeling those tiny shrimps because you get cuts in your hand for morsels of flesh) ready to jump into the boiling water.
live-crabs
freshly-boiled-crabs
Dad also had a few live crabs for boiling. He prepared a special mix in the stock so the the flavors of these crustaceans will be enhanced. I love live seafood, they have a sweet taste compared to those frozen and dead ones you find in the supermarket.
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It is funny how I remember the name Shin Ton Yon…They used to have a store at the ultra-80’s Virramall, where the stairs and escalators crisscross in the middle of the building. I used to get their dried beef there, they used to have it in sealed plastic packs, it was a nice alternative to the 80’s snack “Happy Cow” which actually USED to have respectable sized-pieces of beef in each foil pack…That was then…this is now.
the-lumpia-and-roast-station
Shin Ton Yon is now located the the side of the NEW virramall, behind the store DEC, which cannot be accessed in Virramall itself. It now has 3 main food stations…The heater, the soup & lumpia station and the roast station.
adobo
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