Part 2 : Food Tasting with Lina Vitan

Last Saturday, 70 days before the wedding day... I went to Lina Vitan's office in Kamuning for a food tasting event with Ate Elsa and her sister. There was another couple there and two other couples came in later on. I was very thankful that I did not come there alone.

The Lina Vitan office was much smaller and harder to find than I expected. I also expected a buffet setup where they would serve all the dishes available in the menu package we are availing of. Instead, Lina Vitan served a limited set of menu: one kind of soup, two kinds of appetizers, one kind of salad, two kinds of pasta, beef, chicken, fish, vegetable dishes and desserts. It was a sit-down event and the waiter would come in and bring the sample dishes:

• For soup, they served us "Crab and Corn Soup w/ Quail Eggs"
• For appetizers, we were served  "Asparagus tips wrapped in ham"* and "Tomato & Cream Cheese Bruschetta"
• For salad, we had "Mixed Green Salad in Honey Mustard Dressing" 
• For the main dishes, we had the following: 
• Baked Ham Macaroni Casserole
• Old fashioned favorite Lasagna*
• Roast beef with Buttered Vegetables
• Beef Salpicao
• Honey Pork spareribs Barbecue
• Chicken Gallantina with Tartar Sauce
• Soy Chicken
• Roast Chicken*
• Macedonne of Vegetables
• Fresh Lumpia*
• Fish Fillet with Tartar Sauce
• Blue Marlin Teriyaki
• Finally, for our dessert, we were offered "Butterscotch" and "Panacotta with Blueberry"*

They generously served us dishes even though some are not part of the original menu package I am paying for. I have indicated these in asterisks above. Perhaps this was an invitation to upgrade the package or just something they do to improve the food tasting experience.

My contact, Ryan was very pleasant and very accommodating. He would let us know what dishes were being served and gladly accommodated our questions. Most of all, I like what seems to be his motto in life, "Lahat naman po napapag-usapan." When we asked him if we could have a Mamang Sorbetero at the event as suggested by Ate Elsa, he told me that he will try to find someone for me: an ice cream vendor with a good-looking ice cream cart.

All in all we had a good time and our only negative comment was that the roast beef and honey pork they served us was not tender enough. For the bruschetta our comment was that the bread was not crisp as we knew it should be. We loved the vegetable dishes, the fish fillet with tartar sauce and Lina Vitan's signature dish, the baked ham macaroni. The butterscotch and panacotta was also quite good. Ate Elsa and her sister loved the butterscotch so much that they had to ask if they were selling them in boxes that same day. Over all, I was satisfied with the taste and food presentation. I am now confident that my guests will like what they will eat at our dinner reception.

Here are some photos from the food tasting event:

Our temporary set of dishes are as follows:

• Pumpkin Soup
• Tomato & Cream Cheese Bruschetta
• Baked Ham Macaroni Casserole
• Roast beef with Buttered Vegetables
• Roast Chicken
• Macedonne of Vegetables
• Fish Fillet with Tartar Sauce
• Assorted Pastries and Fruits for dessert

Personally, I prefer the chicken ala pobre which I had the pleasure of tasting in another event but I knew that JP likes roasted chicken so I am opting for that. My package included either beef OR pork only, and I have chosen beef although I initially thought I can have both. Ryan told me that should not be a problem since he knew I will be ordering lechon for the reception also. 

Sometime June, we will have our final food-tasting event, this time hopefully with JP. I trust his sense of taste when it comes to food and I am intrigued to hear his comments on the dishes I have chosen.


Our Ice Cream Story:
I haven't mentioned the Mamang Sorbetero idea to JP yet, but we both agreed we wanted to serve ice cream. I often remember our early days as a couple and that involved a lot of ice-cream eating. In fact, our first "unofficial" date involved eating gelato ice cream in SM Megamall. Even in Singapore or while in an air plane, we would find ourselves enjoying ice cream together. Just this year we tried Haagen Dazs cheesecake ice cream and while on a plane ride from SG to MNL, we ordered Ben & Jerry's chocolate chip cookie dough flavor. I love ice cream and I love having it more with my H2B :)