I’ve written before that a child’s smile can make a world of difference.

 

My sister Joyce will forever have a child’s smile.  And that makes me lucky.  She makes me look differently at the world.

 

There are hundreds/thousands of children out in the street.  How can WE make a difference to their world?

 

Children’s Month draws to a close in the Philippines and we’re reminded of the importance of education in the lives of the country’s children. Virlanie Foundation, Inc and eight high-end restaurants in Serendra and along Bonifacio High Street in Global City, Taguig have partnered on a new campaign to highlight education for those who perhaps need it the most: street children.

 

 

From now until December 31st, 2009, eating at any one of the eight participating restaurants will help educate a street child. Arama, Cav, Chelsea, Cupcakes by Sonja, Fu, Healthy Kitchen, Sentro 1771 and Xocolat will make a donation to Virlanie for every designated menu item ordered. Eager to participate in the campaign, the staff of each restaurant has been learning about Virlanie and its eight educational initiatives.

 

Chelsea’s Mac and Cheese

 

Fu’s Dimsum Platter

 

Sentro 1771’s Chicken

 

Sentro 1771’s Catfish Adobo Flakes

 

 

Xocolat’s Organic Cacao Drink

 

I personally like Sentro 1771, Fu and Chelsea and will definitely visit these places, dine there and order the food listed to help them donate.

 

 

Virlanie and its campaign partners are keen that concern for education extends beyond mealtimes and they’ve made it easy for patrons to support the education of a street child from only PHP800 per month. 

 

 

Virlanie Foundation is a private non-sectarian child-caring institution in Manila. Its cares for street children who are abandoned, abused, made to work and are found living in the streets. They’re welcomed into its homes. Annually it cares for more than 300 children in its 12 homes and last year cared for 700 more through its outreach programs. 

 

 

Support for Virlanie’s cause comes from many quarters. For a year already, world famous singer Billy Crawford, has been the foundation’s Goodwill Ambassador. Recruited by founder Dominique Lemay, Billy has seen Virlanie’s work up close: “I visited the homes and it’s really impressive how these kids are being taken care of. It’s all year round, not just for the Christmas season.” Billy freely admits that “I wouldn’t be who I am today if I hadn’t been ‘in need’ at some point in my life… and it’s on those crucial times when any helping hand is always a blessing.” Billy understands the importance of education and backs Virlanie on its newest campaign to come to the aid of the city’s most vulnerable children.

 

 

Album

RSCC Orphanage Feeding Program

06 1223- Goody Bag Project

Hospicio de San Jose Album

 

Related Post:

A Child’s Smile

A Child’s Smile Part Deux

Hospicio de San Jose 

Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf and 12 Cups of Advocacy

Madz and Project Brave Kids

Sharing on Your Birthday

  

  

–

 

I haven’t seen my friend Kenny Flake (I love his name) in 8 months!!!  Good thing he called me up two weeks ago to schedule a dinner date with me, courtesy of him.  Is Bubba tagging along?  As Kenny said, “of course that’s expected!” 

It was a late dinner since Bubba and I came from the Star World American Idol event at Eastwood Plaza, Libis.  Adel sent two invites so Bubba and I went to support her event.  We arrived just in time at around 730pm and it had a good sufficient crowd.  I saw Abe and Jason (colleagues of mine) sitting at the judges’ table.  The hosts of the event were Slick Rick, Sam YG and Tony Tony of Magic 89.9.  One woman from the first batch was able to get 2 answers right.  Same story goes for the 2^nd batch where one guy answered two questions to proceed to the next round.  The 3^rd batch was a different story as one guy got three correct answers and he answered all the questions without a flinch.  He must be quite an American Idol fanatic or he must have that American Idol Trivia game on DVD that you can conveniently buy from Hobbes or Landes.  Anyway, we stayed until they announced the last three finalists at 920pm.  I wanted to catch who won it but I didn’t want to be late for my dinner plans with Kenny.

Kenny, who I fondly call Kennykins or Kinster, used to be a colleague of mine in PS.  Interestingly, we grew closer when I resigned from that company.  Five years later, who knew we’d be this close.  I remember he used to drag me to Fluxxe nights at MDC (Manila DJ Club) when it was still open at the Fort a couple of years ago.  We used to have a lot of lunches together when the IT company I worked for before was still located in RCBC. 

He hasn’t shown much of himself since he started his new work at Henkel, which is some big shot international leader in Finance and Consultancy.  He’s been traveling since he came on board going to New York, Arizona, Philadelphia, etc.  The last time I saw him was when he attended the Nokia Soul of Manila Awards Night in Ayala Museum.  After that, it was only some messages and calls in between.  I was really happy that I’m seeing again after 8 long months! We took that road somewhere in Ortigas that leads directly to Fort which only took less than 15 minutes.  We got there before he did since he was strolling around Bonifacio High Street working up an appetite probably.  I got my favorite seats in the house.  5 minutes after, the Kinster is standing in front of us, a statuesque of magnificence, with black kicks that had orange shoelaces. 

I was so excited to bring him to Chelsea, since it was his first time to eat here.  He wanted to eat some place else but I insisted on Chelsea.  He knew he wasn’t going to win this.  After all, he had to make up for being an absentee in my life.  He obliged.  Unfortunately though, Chelsea was a total let down that night.   I don’t know if we went so late at 945pm that the cook was ready to pack his bags and go home but the food was significantly different from the last time I dined here (Link: http://www.janedchua.com/2008/04/22/chelsea-as-good-as-ny/).  Since we were so hungry and excited to talk, I came up ordering the same dishes I ordered last time.  Not much thinking involved right?  Squash soup with goat cheese, four-cheese pizza with Arugula salad, and whole rosemary lemon chicken.   

Four-Cheese Pizza with Arugula salad PHP395++

The crust was not as crunchy and there were barely any mushrooms on the pizza.  But this was way better than the chicken letdown.

Whole Rosemary Lemon Chicken PHP495++

There were lesser vegetables for sure on the plate than last time.  I didn’t taste the rosemary and lemon at all (unless you actually eat the julienne cuts of lemon –but that’s bitter instead of tangy) and the vegetables didn’t integrate its flavor with the chicken.  The veggies were soggy and didn’t have a bite at all.  The worst part was, the chicken looked overcooked because it was dry.

Squash Soup with Goat Cheese

It never arrived.  We were halfway through our pizza and chicken when I remembered the soup.  I asked one waiter where it was and he said it wasn’t in the order list.  I checked with the waiter I ordered it too and he gave me a sheepish grin.  I said it was okay since we were almost done.

It was really a disappointment to bring Kenny here and get this kind of service even from the wait staff.  Wait time for the food was longer.  We enjoyed catching up but it would’ve been a total experience if the food were cooperative.  Before saying that Chelsea’s performance is inconsistent, I have to go back and give it a shot again.  Everyone has at least one bad day anyway.  Even the strongest person has their weakest moment –I’d apply the same respect to restaurants.  I hope to prove on my next visit that inconsistency is not consistent in Chelsea  

Album: http://cushee.multiply.com/photos/album/423/08_0426-_Chelsea_Dinner_Treat_of_Kenny   

Star World Album: http://cushee.multiply.com/photos/album/421/08_0426-_Star_World_American_Idol_Contest

 

This restaurant has definitely become a landmark in Serendra.  Quite takes the spotlight in the strip of dining places with its deli type restaurant, Chelsea invites you for a comfortable sit down with its plush sofa which plays as the waiting area.  Wait staff are quick on their feet and pleasantly obliging (Not to mention, they kind of look alike).  They anticipate the patrons’ needs and are as accommodating as possible. 

Chelsea has a myriad of ingredients/produce they are selling in the restaurant.  They sell different types of salt (I didn’t know there were so many kinds!) among dried oregano and other spices.  You can also buy bottled fish products.  I guess this feature of the resto makes up for the name, as the element of market is present resembling the Chelsea market in New Yawk.

I’ve always wanted to try Chelsea but it’s always full during dinnertime that we end up going somewhere else.  I’ve eaten in Duo, Polu Kai, Zao, Conti’s, Xocolat, Abe, etc but Chelsea was really top priority for me to dine in.  That and Mamou.  Good thing that we started out early this Saturday evening and were ready to eat dinner at 630pm.

We decided to eat outside so we can also go people watching while eating.  We were able to secure the couch area near the entrance door.  I looked at the menu and find that the menu wasn’t complicated.  There were so many that I wanted to order, all a bit familiar but not so.  Owner Martin Wisniewski knows his food as I can imagine that everything was made in house, including the desserts.  Each dish is prepared to order using the finest ingredients. 

We were served with an amuse bouche of buttered focaccia bread and a clove of buttery soft garlic.  Bubba was eyeing me nervously as I place one whole pod of garlic on my bread where he had to half his.  He couldn’t help but ask, “are you really gonna use that much garlic on your bread?”  I gave him a confident grin and nodded yes.  I’d go for taste anytime over comfort.  On second thought, he has the right to be concerned because it is the companion who’d get the brunt of garlicky breath.  Quite surprisingly (and his lucky star was in the sky that night), this specific garlic didn’t leave an aftertaste nor did it leave a garlic odor in the mouth.

I wish the garlic had a stronger taste though, but I guess it being stronger applies to all including stench.

 On the Table: 

Cream Squash with Goat Cheese PHP 150

The waiter asked if we wanted to split it into two.  I hesitated.  Not because it was sweeter to eat from one bowl but in Katre, they charge extra if you split the dish into two.  I asked the waiter if there was an extra charge, and he said there was none.  Good, so we had it in two separate white soup bowls.  You’d think it would be a smaller serving but each bowl was good enough for one hungry person.

We just had squash soup the night before at Mogwai, which was really good, but for the money and taste, Chelsea became my favorite place for Squash soup.  The soup had the right thickness without making it taste like a puree or a mushy chunk.  The volume had the right consistency and the generous bits of goat cheese blended well with the sweet taste of pumpkin.  It was served with a dollop of cream, which I can only wish was crème fresh.  A soup cannot be anymore perfect than this.  I wish I didn’t ask it to be split into two so I could have cheated 2-3 more spoonfuls. 

Grilled Whole Rosemary Lemon Chicken PHP 495

Let me note that most of the dishes are served in a big cutting board, which is a distinctive idea.  I have tried this at my condo early 2007, because it looked so presentable (and because I lacked serving dishes at my small unit).  A whole medium sized roasted chicken was resting on top of the board with glistening vegetables –a mixed of green and red bell peppers, olives, onions and carrots. 

I’ve never had a soft moist fall off the bone chicken meat.  Bubba pointed out that different parts of chicken were infused with certain flavors.  One part, you can taste the rosemary lemon, other part you can taste the carrots on the meat of the chicken.  It was a delicious surprise to get all different flavors from one chicken.  The meat was so tender and cooked just right.  Four can easily share the chicken, which makes it so worth the buck. 

5 Cheese Pizza Thin Crust PHP 395

Bubba kept insisting that I ask what five cheeses are included in the pizza.  I was so hungry that I didn’t bother to ask.  I remember at this point, I stopped jotting down on my little notebook and gave my full concentration to chomping.  Mushroom in the pizza tasted like it was soaked in wine because it was flavorful.  Arugula leaves and apple slices garnished the crunchy pizza.  The Arugula made such a difference in the pizza.  It balances the saltiness of the cheese and clears the palate for another bite. 

Chic dining and great gourmet food rolled into my budding favorite place in Serendra, Chelsea Market and Café.  Contact 9097011 for reservations.  My only complaint with Chelsea is the small white plate which doesn’t give much room to maneuver.  Although we weren’t able to get desserts since we were trying to catch a movie in Greenbelt, their dessert selection was promising.  Their best seller is Toblerone Torte (which is my favorite in Mom and Tina’s).  I want to give it a try on my next visit, and that’s going to be this Friday when I treat my mom to dinner.  I simply cannot wait.

Next targets:

Jalapeño Ementhal Cheese Fondue PHP 395, A Rack of Baby Back Ribs PHP 650, Pizza Duck Confit PHP 395, Jackfruit Shake