Stella: Wood Fired Bistro

We were welcomed by Stella’s inviting interiors that reflect their cooking technique – making use of natural wood.

Chef Arghie, Stella’s Executive Chef, prepared a variety of light yet flavourful dishes for us - mostly seafood.

We started with their Calamari Frito (275php) which is the best we have tasted yet. Unlike the other Calamari that requires a mayo dip, Stella’s is served with squid ink aioli and fresh lime which makes it savoury.

New on Stella’s menu is another best selling appetizer – Piri Piri Chilean Mussels (550php). I must say this is my favorite because of its perfect blend of ingredients.

Ancient Four Grain (320php) is another newbie in their menu but it’s also a best seller. It doesn’t taste like your ordinary salad. It’s sweet because of the passion fruit yogurt vinaigrette in it so it doesn't feel like you're eating greens.

We also tried one of their famous wood-fired pizzas – Garlic Bianca (350php). If you love garlic as much as I do, you should try this.

Stella’s Roasted Seafood “Firecracker” Fussili (395php) is also our favourite. For me, this pasta is a complete package – perfect flavour, perfect toppings, with that kick of spiciness.

Chef Arghie served us with an unusual main dish – Sesame & Herb Crusted Tuna Loin (495php). It is served medium rare yet crispy on the outside. It reminds me of my favourite tuna sashimi but this time, there’s a big twist in it. It’s served with red pepper humus which made it perfectly flavourful.

The dessert they served us is the biggest surprise we got. Looking at their Warm Chocolate Raspberry Cake (295php), it just looks like an ordinary chocolate cupcake served with chocolate ice cream and caramel crumble. But I was wrong. It isn’t caramel but fish sauce crumble! Have you ever imagined fish sauce in your dessert? Well, I didn’t. All the elements in this dish made it taste wonderful.

For their drinks, Stella serves a variety of wine and champagnes by the bottle or glass.

Stella is a great place to dine with your family and friends. I would also recommend it as a dating place. What’s good about its location is that it’s just beside Rocket Room which is an ideal place to have good drinks and good music. So, if you want to switch from a casual dining to a chill evening, you just have to hop across the other room.

Stella is located at the Ground Floor Level of Bonifacio High Street Central, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.

OPERATING HOURS: 11:00am to 12:00mn daily
LOCATION: Ground Floor Level, Bonifacio High Street Central, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig

Contact No.: +632-621-3222
Facebook: www.facebook.com/stella.rocketroom 
Twitter: @stellarocket

Photo credits: John Edward Amar

PGA TOUR teams up with Twitter for the live streaming coverage of the 2016-17 competition

PGA TOUR continues to transform the experience of fans as they partner with Twitter for the free live streaming coverage of the remainder of the competition.  

Twitter will be the only social media platform to air the tournaments live. The streaming begins on January 19 for the CareerBuilder Challenge and concludes on the season-ending TOUR Championship.  Likewise, it includes the pre-game analysis, interviews, range coverage, and live competition from the first two holes of each day's PGA TOUR LIVE Marquee Groups.

Watch over 30 PGA TOUR events on your desktop or mobile device. It will be accessible whether the audience is logged-in or logged-out on Twitter. The users just have to go to PGATourLive.twitter.com or on @PGATour. 

Is Filipino cuisine an endangered heritage?

Tamales

Like our indigenous fabrics and oral chants and literature, Filipino cuisine is a cultural heritage that needs protection and preservation.

Kapampangan chef José Antonio Miguel Melchor is advocating the preservation of the wealth of recipes, resources and skills to be passed on to the next generations.

“If you ask millennials what’s their favorite cuisine, they usually cite Italian or Japanese because it’s sosyal,” said Melchor. “For them Filipino cuisine is equivalent to Jollibee. They don’t know what’s galantina (stuffed chicken), tamales (steamed rice cakes with chicken) or pianggang (Tausug chicken dish).”

The chef’s crusade began in 2014 when he was commissioned by the Department of Agriculture (DA) to handle the Filipino section of the Asean food festivals at the Shangri-La hotels in Jakarta, Indonesia; Yangon, Myanmar; Phnom Penh and Vietnam. The buffet of adobo, kare-kare, sisig, suckling pig and other classics was well received by international guests.

“I taught the local chefs how to make our food from scratch using the DA’s produce,” said Melchor. “It dawned on me that the government markets our cuisine abroad while there is not enough promotion of our own cuisine here. Many are still not aware what Filipino food is.”

He then formed a group that would take up this cause. Some proponents of Filipino cuisine, celebrity chefs and food journalists supported him while others said that it had been done.

Despite the naysayers, Melchor established the Philippine Culinary Heritage Movement, composed of industry stalwarts and people with influence. For its launch, a gala was held at the National Museum honoring the people who popularized Filipino food such as Glenda Barretto, Engracia Reyes of Aristocrat Restaurant, Lorenzo J. Cruz, Nora Daza and the late Inquirer food columnist Doreen Fernandez. For its second anniversary, the movement held a fiesta at Kabisera restaurant.

Melchor also collaborated with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) for government legislation.  NCCA chair Felipe de Leon Jr. suggested that April be proclaimed Buwan ng Pagkaing Filipino.

Melchor said he hopes the proposed Filipino Cuisine Month would make people more aware of the unique cultural and social characteristics of Filipino food.

Melchor seeks to create a center of Filipino cuisine with the DA. He said the Agribusiness Development Center has a showroom which could be used as showcase of Filipino products. He said the center could also advise suppliers how to make their products marketable.

Food culture

Growing up in Pampanga, the Philippines’ food capital, Melchor was always surrounded by good food. His parents loved to entertain while his great grandfather was a chef for the Americans in Clark Air Base. He lauded the resourcefulness of Filipinos as they recycled airplane body parts into cooking pots and pans.

Melchor owns and manages a catering service, Healthy Eats, which delivers food to people who want to eat nutritionally balanced meals.

But his repertoire of Filipino food is a diet buster. Melchor said he cooks such classics as kare-kare using tripe and fresh sauce. It comes with fish paste from Pangasinan which is washed to reduce the saltiness and spiked with onions, garlic and fresh tomatoes.He also makes pastel de lengua and morcon with beef.

Melchor recently participated at the Terra Madre Salon del Gustilo in Italy where he showcased Filipino dishes. He said the international network aims to protect ingredients that are endangered because of the lack of demand.

He said Filipinos are no longer familiar with purple yam, turmeric or yellow ginger, tinawon and adlai or pearl barley.  “Filipinos don’t know these crops, they only know of chili flakes,” he said. “They are also unaware of the varieties of heirloom rice around the country like tinawon or white rice from Ifugao, and Cordillera red rice which we put on top of adobo.”

Melchor acknowledged that Filipino cuisine is evolving. “We don’t have to cook in the palayok and serve on banana leaves,” he said.

But he observed how puto would be compromised with flour for convenience instead of the traditional galapong or rice dough, or how it would take several hours to stir boiled ube with fresh coconut cream until it thickens. Today, people cook with  powdered ube and canned milk, he added.

In the end, it is important to maintain the defining features of Filipino food, Melchor declared.

Source: http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/249618/filipino-cuisine-endangered-heritage/#ixzz4V1uNFDdk

Blackberry returns this 2017

It’s 2017 and I think you have to refine your BBM skills because Blackberry is coming back. Yes, you read that right.

A giant Chinese tech branch called TCL will be releasing the BlackBerry smartphone this year which will be called Mercury.

It will surely be different from the ones we used to own but guess what? It will still have the QWERTY keyboard we all miss from all these touchscreen devices we have now.

The new BlackBerry “Mercury” will concentrate on three things: security, productivity and reliability.

However, Blackberry Mercury’s date of release and price are still yet to be announced by the company.

With this unit’s new features, would you consider saying goodbye to your iPhone this 2017?

Transportify expands service areas to help PH businesses grow

Each business yearns for growth and expansion in their companies but there are millions to consider. Even Henry Sy says that “There is no such thing as overnight success or easy money”. There are cost implications in various business aspects including manpower, land, machines, and more. Basically, to grow, you need additional capital investment. If you have the additional money, the next question is, where is the best place to invest it? It could be in hr, production & marketing. Is it also best to put your money in vehicles for your deliveries?

The down payments and monthly amortization of vehicles are crazy low right now and many of us think that yes, just buy a car and hire your own driver, right? But not all entrepreneurs realize the headache and expenses of vehicle maintenance. We can run down all the possible expenses but perhaps, that will be another article. So the question is, will you still put your capital to your own delivery vans or would you prefer to just give that part to the delivery experts and place your money for more stocks?

Transportify can do the delivery for you, but many businesses asks, can they pick up and deliver outside Metro Manila? YES!

Transportify understands your needs and is expanding to more service areas outside of Metro Manila such as San Pedro, Laguna, home to many industrial hubs, and in Angono, the Art Capital of the Philippines. In addition, Bacoor, Cavite and Marilao, Bulacan are also added in the list. 

This move is seen to help address a common problem for businesses so they can focus more on their real product. With this, businesses can allocate their resources to other business aspects. Add more machines, raw materials and manpower to produce more products to sell. Increase profits through investing on your business strength.

With roughly 5 months’ worth of operations here in Manila, Transportify is working closely with clients and driver-partners to expand the coverage area and cater to the special delivery needs of more businesses.

Noel Abelardo, Transportify’s Demand Head and Co-country Manager said, “Transportify believes in providing quality and superb customer experience. This expansion of our service areas is an answer to the increasing demand from our business clients. They regularly ask us to launch new service areas, and we are very much listening. We take the concerns of our customers seriously, and we are working hard to address those needs. ”

He explained that before they launch a service area, they ensure that they have enough well-trained drivers who could fulfill customers’ delivery needs in that location.

To know whether your location is within Transportify’s coverage area, click on https://www.transportify.com.ph/servicearea/ or you may also email your queries and requests to support@transportify.com.ph.

Download the Transportify app now on Apple Store for iOS devices and on Google Play Store for Android devices.  Book your immediate and scheduled delivery needs via the mobile app and experience worry-free delivery services.

The 80s will be the biggest trend of 2017. For Better or Worse

80s Chic, anyone?

Marc Jacobs was on to something when he threw a recent party in Brooklyn with a wildly specific dress code that started with the mandate of "Chic '80s." Apparently, in 2017 we'll all be wearing 1980s-inspired clothing, at least according to two of the latest analytical forecasts of next year's trends.

It all sort of makes a bit of sense. We'll have a controversial celebrity turned Republican politician in the White House. Popular music is as synth-heavy as it's ever been since that decade. People are actually excited about new Star Wars movies. Stranger Things is the most buzzed about show of the year. Makeup on men is an even bigger trend than it was during the glam rock heyday. Heck, Hollywood is even rebooting Dynasty.

According to Pinterest's in-house analytic team, the '80s trend isn't about to die down. The team has analyzed the trends that have seen the most year-over-year pinning growth over the past year and that seem primed to peak in 2017. Among their forecasts is the belle sleeve top silhouette taking over the off-the-shoulder look, an even more heated interest in flair (as in things like stickers and pins), and of course, more '80s.

"Other big shifts were in political Ts (no surprise there), backless shoes—and not just the mule—and multiple earrings," writes WWD. "That goes hand-in-hand with the popularity of Eighties-style trends, such as high-tops, peg legs and denim skirts."

________________________________________

'80s trends that are making a comeback:

1. ‘80s and ‘90s Perfumes are Coming Back in a Major Way

2. '80s Beauty Trends You'd Never Try Today

3. 10 Pieces You Need to Bring Some '80s Glam to Your Style

________________________________________

Meanwhile, retail analytic firm Edited is also forecasting trend temperatures in the '80s as well.

"The 1980s will be huge—everything from power suits and slouchy tailored trousers for office wear, through to off-the-shoulder looks, activewear and [over-the-top] ruffles," the report stated.

So, while there are some disagreements as to the fate of off-the-shoulder tops, both agree that '80s are in.

Which isn't a surprise. Designers have packed recent collections with '80s details. Hedi Slimane's last collection for Saint Laurent saw more dramatic shoulders since the series finale of Dynasty, and other designers followed suit with Reagan-era stylings in their spring 2017 collections.

Li Edelkoort, the Danish consultant widely regarded as the master of all fashion trend prognosticators, also sees fashion's increasing obsession with trends of the past as well, but she's not happy about it. In a recent talk in London, Edelkoort decided to forgo a traditional trend-setting talk, and instead delivered a stern chiding of fashion's recent practices.

According to Business of Fashion, she pointed out that designers of the past made their names by creating radically new silhouettes and types of clothing, while too many today rely on simply reinventing old ideas from the past.

“These categories of designers are working on clothes and are no longer concerned or interested in change for change’s sake – unanimously declaring newness a thing of the past," Edelkoort said. “With this lack of conceptual innovation, the world is losing the idea of fashion.”

Which does make a certain amount of sense. Why head to the department store to find the latest trend when you can just as easily find it in the thrift store?

Source:  http://www.allure.com/story/80s-fashion-trend-for-2017?mbid=social_cp_facebook_vf

Filipino cuisine included in Bloomberg’s Top Food Trends in 2017

Photographer: encrier/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Bloomberg predicts that Filipino cuisine will be among the food trends that will dominate 2017.

In their article “Eleven Fancy Food Trends You’ll Face in 2017”, Bloomberg mentioned that this year, there will be an “explosion of Filipino food”.

Many might not be aware but Filipino dishes have already reached the west because of Filipino chefs such as Mission Chinese Food resto’s Angela Dimayuga who serves lumpia egg rolls and pork belly with pork liver sauce in the busy streets of Manhattan.

In Miami, Fil-Am Chef Dale Talde serves the all-famous pork adobo to the beachgoers. Soon, he will be opening his new restaurant “Rice & Gold” where arroz caldo or Filipino rice porridge will be available.

Other than Filipino food, vegetable dishes, cereals, and cocktails are also among the 2017 food trends according to Bloomberg.

Read full article here: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-12-22/11-food-trends-for-2017-chilled-red-wine-to-charcoal-cocktails