Chef Jonas Ng is the star of the new Lifestyle Network show ‘Chef Next Door,’ which premieres on Monday, July 20, 2015
THERE’S a new face to love in the world of cooking shows on TV. His name is Chef Jonas Ng, and he’s the star of the new Lifestyle Network show, Chef Next Door, which premieres on Monday, July 20, 2015, at 10:00 p.m.
While he may be new on TV, Chef Jonas Ng is actually not new to the culinary world. A 10-year veteran in the restaurant industry, he is head chef and owner of Huat Pot Hotpot Restaurant and Le Jardin in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. Prior to opening his own restaurants, Chef Jonas worked at the highly regarded Mango Tree restaurant as executive chef. He was recently named as one of Spot.ph’s Top 10 Hottest Chefs in Manila, and he takes this “hot” image to the screen via Chef Next Door.
Answering questions during the formal launch of the show held at Le Jardin
Chef Jonas Ng being interviewed by event host Spanky Enriquez
Smiling for digital cameras…
His first cooking show, Chef Next Door, combines wit, science, humor and sexiness in a show that tackles real-life situations in the kitchen, including cooking obstacles and challenges, and shows how chefs actually deal with such situations with a healthy dose of science and the right thought processes.
“It will show realistic situations. It’s gonna be fun and relaxed to show viewers that working in the kitchen can be fun. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes because cooking is about learning and tasting and working with your senses. The important thing is to try to cook. The show actually encourages viewers to go ahead and make mistakes because you learn from mistakes,” explains Chef Jonas, during the formal launch of the show held last Wednesday, July 15, 2015, at Le Jardin.
Chef Next Door also aims to show that restaurant-quality food can be produced at home with foolproof recipes and proper techniques. The new show will be packed with information and recipes mixed with the right amount of humor and banter.
A joint production venture by The Group Entertainment, Outpost Visual Frontier and iSnap Creatives Inc., Chef Next Door airs on Lifestyle Network every Monday at 10:00 p.m., Tuesday at 5:30 a.m., Wednesday at 5:30 p.m., and Friday at 12:00 a.m. and 9:30 p.m.
FOR diners who love good ol’ Filipino home cooked dishes, there’s a new place to savor the food that they grew up with. It’s called Limbaga 77, and it just opened along Scout Limbaga in the Tomas Morato restaurant row of Quezon City.
The place is actually a grand 50-year-old house that has been converted into a restaurant. Its original architecture has been retained, and so with the original materials that give the house its grandiose look and feel, such as the wooden floor panels and large window frames. Its receiving areas have been converted into dining halls, its bed chambers into function rooms, and the patio and veranda into al fresco dining areas. To preserve the cozy and homey atmosphere of the house, its minimalist interiors maintain the natural look of the old house. Limbaga 77’s owners want it this way because they want guests to feel right at home, as though they were family and friends, and enjoy comfort food in a comfortable setting.
Limbaga 77 is a 50-year-old house converted into a restaurant
An interesting brick wall lines the restaurant’s al fresco dining area
But while diners are made to feel right at home, Limbaga 77 treats them to an appetizing journey around the country without having to leave their seats by offering them a menu replete with dishes that have graced the tables of Filipino households in different provinces and regions of the Philippines. These dishes warm the heart, comfort the soul and satisfy the palate. They evoke fond memories of lovingly prepared meals shared with family and loved ones at home because the flavors of the dishes are so familiar.
Who would not crave for Crispy Pata or Stuffed Squid? Ilocano diners would surely appreciate getting a taste of Poqui Poqui (an Ilocano dish made with grilled eggplant as main ingredient), and Bicolano diners should enjoy having a bite of Laing. Limbaga 77 has these—and more—although not in their traditional form but with an exciting twist. The new restaurant’s take on the all-time favorite Crispy Pata, for example, has the pork leg boiled and baked in coconut juice and beef stock with roasted garlic, soy sauce and bay leaf, then deep-fried. It’s best eaten with Poqui Poqui Rolls, a dish inspired by the original Ilocano Poqui-Poqui but has the grilled eggplant omelette stuffed in lumpia wrapper, deep-fried to a golden crisp and served with a homemade sweet chili sauce. At Limbaga 77, the classic Adobo becomes Spicy Seafood Adobo, which combines crabs, white shrimps, mussels and squid cooked in coconut milk, soy sauce and vinegar, and not the usual chicken and pork. Then there’s Stuffed Laing, which has the Bicolano signature dish, Laing, combining fresh taro leaves, ground pork and white shrimps simmered in chicken stock and coconut milk with lemongrass, white onion and garlic. Stuffed Squid becomes Binusog na Pusit, which is succulent squid marinated in organic honey and calamansi, stuffed with tomatoes, onion, cheese and pesto made with chili leaves.
Poqui Poqui Rolls
Binusog na Pusit
For the rice to go with these delicious dishes, the restaurant recommends two specialty fried rice variants—Danggit Fried Rice, which has the Cebuano dried fish danggit mixed with scallions, sliced fried egg, onion and garlic; and Bagoong Rice, which makes rice more savory by adding bagoong, or fish paste, to it, along with sweet mango bits, tomatoes, white onion and garlic.
Other savory must-tries at Limbaga 77 include Stuffed Bulaklak ng Kalabasa (squash blossoms stuffed with ground pork, local white cheese, cheddar cheese, spring onion, white onion and garlic) and Dahon ng Sili Pesto Pasta (a variation of Aglio e Olio linguini pasta with a pesto sauce made using local chili leaves, topped with cashew nuts).
Desserts are also big at the newly opened restaurant, and turning out to be early favorites are the Brazo Tablea Cake, a Filipino-Spanish fusion dessert with hints of tablea cocoa and Batangas barako coffee; as well as the Bikoron, whose name is short for biko and turon, because sticky rice is cooked in coconut milk to become biko and the biko is rolled in lumpia wrapper and fried to a golden hue, turon style, and served with peanut sauce.
These desserts go very well with coffee at Limbaga 77, which offers a number of coffee concoctions made from a blend of organic coffee beans from Benguet, Mt. Province and Bukidnon, and sweetened with a popular saccharin treat from Ilocos called balikutsa. Sips of hot, freshly brewed coffee should serve as a fitting end to a good Filipino meal.
(For inquiries and reservations, call 0926-7158134 or email limbaga77cafe@gmail.com.)
THE lovable yellow Minions love bananas, and so does the whole world, so McDonald’s celebrates the Minions Banana Festival in its stores.
Besides the Minions Happy Meals, which come with a choice among 10 Minions collectible toys that talk, sing, dance, play the guitar and kick, McDonald’s stores nationwide offers Minions Combos featuring an array of Minions-themed desserts.
MInions Banana McDip
Honey Banana McFloat
The all-new Minions-themed desserts include the Minions Banana McDip (Php15), a delicious vanilla soft serve ice cream covered in a banana-flavored dip on—guess what?—a blue colored wafer cone to represent the colors of the cute yellow Minions wearing blue denim overalls; and the Honey Banana McFloat, a sweet and refreshing banana and honey flavored drink topped with vanilla soft serve ice cream.
Banana McFlurry with Oreo
Banana Crumble McFlurry
Then there are the two new and exciting flavors of McFlurry—the Banana McFlurry with Oreo, where the classic McFlurry is given a banana-licious twist, with banana flavor mixed with Oreo bits in vanilla soft serve ice cream; and the Banana Crumble McFlurry, which is creamy vanilla soft serve ice cream “churned” with crushed grahams and banana flavor blended in.
The Honey Banana McFloat, Banana McFlurry with Oreo and Banana Crumble McFlurry are paired with McDonald’s World Famous Fries in special snack combos fit for individual orders or for group sharing.
Minions Medium Fries ‘N McFloat Combo
Minions Medium Fries ‘N McFlurry Combo
Diners ordering individually can enjoy the Minions Medium Fries ‘N McFloat Combo for only Php65 and the Minions Medium Fries ‘N McFlurry Combo (choice among the two new Minions-inspired McFlurry flavors) for Php95.
Minions BFF Fries ‘N McFlurry Combo
To celebrate threesomes, like the heroes of the Minions movie Kevin, Stuart and Bob, McDonald’s offers diners dining in groups of three a choice of Minions BFF Fries ‘N McFloat Combo (one order of BFF Fries and three servings of Honey Banana McFloat) for Php165 or Minions BFF Fries ‘N McFlurry Combo (one order of BFF Fries and three servings of Banana McFlurry with Oreo or Banana Crumble McFlurry) for Php225.
These limited-edition desserts and snack combos are now available in all McDonald’s stores nationwide.
The Minions, all 10 McDonald’s collectible Minions toys, have taken over my garden!
YES, the Minions have definitely taken over! It’s world dominion, and they have invaded the whole country, too, not only in cinemas but also in all branches of McDonald’s and even homes, as Kevin, Stuart and Bob, stars of the Minions movie, celebrate the Minions Banana Festival at McDonald’s.
Ten lovable Minions collectibles are up for grabs—Egyptian Hula Minion, Vampire Minion, Martial Arts Minion, Groovy Stuart, Minion Caveman, Marching Minion Soldier, Guard Minion, Lava Shooting Kevin, Guitar Strumming Stuart, and Chatting Bob—and you can have them all. Each purchase of a McDonald’s Happy Meal gives you the right to own one of the Minions collectibles, and you can take your pick from the 10 choices available.
All colorful and brilliantly crafted, each Minions collectible has its own entertaining function.
Egyptian Hula Minion
The Egyptian Hula Minion has a hula hoop that can be attached to its waist. Press down its head and the hula hoop goes round and round as though the Minion is dancing.
Vampire Minion
The Vampire Minion is garbed in a purple Dracula outfit. Press down the lever at its back and it reveals its fangs as its hands go up to scare you.
Martial Arts Minion
Martial Arts Minion has a violet karate jacket on. Its waist goes around to allow it to throw a big kick.
Groovy Stuart
Groovy Stuart has one of the stars of the Minions movie, Stuart, wearing an interesting psychedelic polo shirt with different sleeve colors. Its legs move to swing from left to right, and its arms go along with the motion.
Minion Caveman
Minion Caveman looks like it came from the Stone Age, brandishing a banana on its right hand like a weapon. Push its lever at the back and the Minions Caveman hacks with the banana.
Marching Minion Soldier
The Marching Minion Soldier looks ravishing in its blue top uniform with a white crisscross in front and white pants underneath. Press down its tall black headgear, and its eyes turn left and right while its hands go back and forth.
Guard Minion
The Guard Minion has the red over black gear of a Buckingham Palace guard on, but holds a banana instead of a rifle. It has a key on the left side which, if turned, sends the Guard Minion marching forward.
Lava Shooting Kevin
Lava Shooting Kevin depicts Kevin, one of the stars of the Minions movie, in the act of shooting his lava gun. Pull the trigger and the lava gun lights up.
Guitar Strumming Stuart
Guitar Strumming Stuart shows the other star of the movie, Stuart, the rock star within, strumming his favorite musical instrument. Pull down the guitar, and, well, yes, he sings!
Chatting Bob
Chatting Bob has the tiniest star of the Minions movie, Bob, wearing his favorite blue denim overalls. Push the front pocket of his overall, and he chats—although you won’t understand what he’s saying, of course.
All these characters come straight from the movie, which serves as a prequel to the highly successful Despicable Me series that introduced the lovable yellow creatures to us human beings.
Aside from the Happy Meals that come with a Minions collectible toy, McDonald’s Minions Banana Festival also offer Minions Combos for individual and group diners. But we’ll talk about that tomorrow. For now, allow me to enjoy my Minions gang, who have certainly invaded my home and taken over my garden. Go and complete your Minions collectibles, too, and have fun taking selfies and groupies with them!
THERE’S really no stopping young celebrity chef Bruce Ricketts and The Moment Group. Their partnership has given birth to yet another potential ‘blockbuster’ of a restaurant concept, Ooma, which has just opened its doors to the dining public on the Third Floor of SM Megamall’s hip and chic Mega Fashion Hall.
Ooma Japanese Rice Bar is their take on bold new Japanese cuisine. Getting its name from the Japanese word umai, which means ‘good,’ the restaurant is a concept of the innovative The Moment Group (with young and daring restaurateurs Abba Napa, Eliza Antonino and Jon Syjuco) with the menu crafted by Chef Bruce Ricketts. Their first collaboration, Mecha Uma, has turned out to be a huge success, and Ooma is expected to follow suit.
Ooma Japanese Rice Bar at the Fashion Hall, SM Megamall, is the newest place to enjoy bold new Japanese flavors
Japanese casual dining is at its best at Ooma
Chef Bruce Ricketts blow-torching California Taco-makis during media and VIP tasting night which took place on the eve of Ooma’s opening day
Redefining Japanese casual dining, Ooma boasts of a creative menu hat offers a variety of dishes Japanese food lovers crave for. Of course, the staples, such as Ebi Tempura, Chicken Teriyaki and Kani Salad, are on the menu, but with slight to bold twists. Its Ebi Tempura, for example, comes with aligue mayonnaise and avocado mousse; the Chicken Teriyaki has a miso vinaigrette dressing; and the Kani Salad combines aligue mayo and Yakiniku sauce. But what diners would really go to Ooma for are its creative dishes that offer an interplay of flavors, colors and textures, as only Chef Bruce Ricketts, the new and talented kid in town, can whip up.
The menu is built around fresh ingredients and creative ideas, interpreted in inexplicably delicious dishes served in a cozy and comfy setting. “This is a menu of dishes whose quality we can stand by, marked with Bruce’s unique and tasty interpretation of Japanese fare, at prices that won’t break the bank,” says Abba Napa of The Moment Group.
The Moment Group, with Chef Bruce—and Chefs Raffy Hubilla and Liezl Enriquez, who shall be manning the Ooma kitchen on a daily basis—held an exclusive food tasting for media and VIP guests last Tuesday (July 7, 2015), which was the eve of the formal opening of the restaurant. My husband Raff and I were privileged to have been among the first ones to try the food of Ooma.
The tasting menu offered a good representation of Ooma’s Small Plates (appetizers), Maki (sushi rolls) and Aburi Maki (blow-torched makis with a smoky flavor), Taco-maki (open-faced temaki wraps, Udon and Chahan (noodles and rice), Hot Plates (main dishes), Donburi (rice bowls) and Desserts.
Edamame
EDAMAME (Php115) is a generous heaping of perfectly boiled fresh Japanese soy beans served with kimchi sauce. Unlike other Japanese restaurants, which served their Edamame plain, Chef Bruce Ricketts goes a step further and serves it with the lightly spicy Korean kimchi sauce, which gave the soy beans a kick and made the soy beans not just something to much on while waiting for your order to come but something you’d go back to even when your order is already on the table.
Salmon Tataki
SALMON TATAKI and TUNA TATAKI (both Php195) are great starters because they’re served very fresh and gets the palate ready for more. The Salmon Tataki has even slices of sesame-crusted salmon served with roasted pineapple, pickled red radish and ginger garlic sauce; while the Tuna Tataki has the sesame-crusted tuna dancing on the plate with picked mushrooms, fried shallots, pickled red radish and ginger garlic sauce. Take the fish with a bit of everything, and it’s an explosion of melding flavors on your palate.
CALIFORNIA TACO-MAKI (Php135) is one of Ooma’s four Taco-maki flavors. Taco-makis are open-faced temaki wraps, inspired by the cone-shaped maki called temaki but interpreted in an open taco style. For the California Taco-maki, the nori is crunched up beautifully and layered with kani sticks, aligue mayo, herb aioli and mango pico for that perfect blend of color, flavor and texture that Filipinos have come to love. It’s torched on top, and you eat it not with chopsticks but with your hands. Pick up a piece—the nori holds everything together—and pop it in your mouth, and, again, it’s sheer gastronomic pleasure.
Omakase Box of Salmon Belly Maki, Hamachi and Kani Aburi Maki, Ebi Tempura Maki, and Spicy Tuna Maki
Unagi Maki from the Omakase Box
ASSORTED MAKIS AND ABURI MAKIS IN AN OMAKASE BOX arrives on the table, and it’s a treasure trove of makis and aburi makis. Think Spicy Tuna Maki, Ebi Tempura Maki, Salmon Belly Maki, Scallop and Tuna Aburi Maki, Hamachi and Kani Aburi Maki, Salmon Skin Aburi Maki and Unagi Maki. Everything looks so good that you would not know where to begin and, once you’ve begun, how to stop.
O-GYOZA (Php235 for 5 pieces) is a familiar and classic Japanese dumpling like the ones other Japanese restaurants serve, but this one doesn’t stop at being a regular Gyoza. It has gratinated mozzarella and cheddar cheeses, scallions, togarashi and unagi (eel) sauce.
Corn & Oyster Kaki-age
CORN & OYSTER KAKI-AGE (Php155) is a platter of crunchy fritters made with fresh oyster meat and Japanese corn kernels. The kaki-ages are lined on a plate with a scoop of kimchi mayo dressing and some nori salt to add different flavor dimensions to them.
TORI KARA-AGE (Php245) from the Hot Plates menu would make any chicken lover very happy. It’s crispy chicken thigh pieces coated with sweet potato strips before being cooked, served with scallions, togarashi, seaweed and Okinawa sauce.
Hanger Steak
HANGER STEAK (Php495) is a generous serving of sous-vide hanging tender, cut into thin slices and served on a bed of sweet potato mash with sautéed mushrooms and crispy baby potatoes, drizzled with white truffle oil, pickle dressing and Ponzu butter. It’s an incredibly affordable and totally satisfying steak meal for its price!
House Chahan with O-Gyoza at the back
HOUSE CHA-HAN (Php99) is Chef Bruce Ricketts’ take on the classic Japanese fried rice, using mixed vegetables and egg in frying the sticky Japanese rice. It goes very well with any of the Hot Plates items on the menu, although diners can have other fried rice variations, too.
Uni Udon
UNI UDON (Php495) will totally wow any diner. It’s a generous bowl of udon noodles cooked with fresh uni (sea urchin meat), shrimps, onion and fresh mushrooms in uni cream sauce, and topped with nori crumbs. It looks and smells good when served on the table, but it tastes even better.
Matcha Green Tea-ramisu
MATCHA GREEN TEA-RAMISU (Php195) is perhaps the best way to end a Japanese meal at Ooma. It’s matcha green tea mousse layered with rum-soaked, coffee-flavored ladyfingers as an exciting Japanese interpretation of the classic Tiramisu. You’d love to have a second shot glass of this dessert.
If the menu, the service and the speed at which food kept coming at a fast pace (despite the fact that the restaurant was full) were to be the gauge of just how Ooma would fare against the bevy of Japanese restaurants in the market today, it’s sure to be another big winner.
(Ooma Japanese Rice Bar can be found at the Third Floor, Mega Fashion Hall, SM Megamall, in Mandaluyong City. It is open from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. daily.)
