Irene Tan-Gurango

The Artist Chef business continuously clicks because of the article in Clickthecity.com and I owe Nadia Upton for that. Surprisingly another clickthecity contributor writer dined at my place recently. The girl that rocks my crib, Irene Tan-Gurango! The lady rocker surprised her husband for his birthday with a special dinner. They were a bit late because Irene had a hard time persuading his husband to move out from another party and fly to Makati.

I'm glad that they enjoyed the dinner and found the food I served unique and interesting. Specially my Strawberry Lassi which has a bit of cane vinegar in it. It's really cool to meet couples who are adventurous and experimental with the food they eat.

Tatoo Art. To my surprise, I found a great one on Irene's leg. She sings for a band and his husband is the bassist of MOJO FLY.

Oh I didn't know that the guy dining at my place was Ricky Gurango! I usually associate Mojo Fly with Ali Alejandro, not knowing that this man is the founder.

This man used to be with "HUNGRY YOUNG POETS" together with Barbie Almalbis. When they disbanded Rick formed MOJO FLY.

They are blessed with one kid and still have quality time together.

Another sweet moment that I will remember in my ARTIST CHEF history: the night that Irene left this box of chocolate cake with the guard after having dinner at my place. The guard told me that my visitors came back after they left my place and drop-off the cake. Irene texted and said that it was her token of gratitude because they really enjoyed the dinner. Thanks again Rick and Irene!

Graffiti Down Under (AUS post2)

As I promised, I will share with you snippets of my adventure in Australia. So let me begin by telling you guys that I am an observer of graffiti art way back caliph8 days. I find British graffiti outstanding. But the Aussies' aren't far behind. As a staring point I'll show you how graffiti became part of my journey down under...

On my first day at Liverpool in Sydney, my boyfriend and I walked along the streets near Goulburn where we are stayed for a month. We suddenly found this huge graffiti wall that matched my jacket. Oh yeah!

On our second week we explored the Bondi Beach area. There are many vulgar graffiti painted on the walls but I this one quickly grabbed my attention. Maybe that's the same reason why my boyfriend posed like this.

Another pic from Bondi graffiti area where I'm wearing this huge North Face jacket that made me look like a hip-hop gurl.

Same week as Bondi, we had our train ride and stopped in the quiet suburb of Newtown. While walking on the street we saw another colorful grafitti wall. As we continued walking, it was pretty clear that this was a place for art enthusiasts and vintage fanatics. There are lots of vintage and cool shops around the area. They sell mostly bags, shirts and small stuff for collectors. It's like the "VINTAGE POP SHOP" in Cubao but with more choices. There are also nice restaurants for the experimental foodies. Most of the restos are Asian and to be specific–Vietnamese. The simplicity and laid-back appeal of this suburb made it a perfect venue for radical artsy people. To balance the contrast, I guess. And I love it the way it is!

See this dirty wall with vandalisms and old posters? You won't find it everywhere, only here in Newtown.

Some posters ain't dirty at all. Plugs! plugs! plugs!

Mingling with a dirty aboriginal artist and some barefoot locals. This artist was asking me if he could paint my sandals with aboriginal art in exchange for some australian dollars. I sadly refused. I just can't with my nike sandals. People in Newtown are flamboyant and weird, but it didn't surprise me. I get to meet a lot of the same kind even here in Manila. So for now I have to say : 'Til my next train stop to the city I fell in love with, Sydney!

YUMMY COOK-OFF

The prize of success!

This is the first ever Yummy Magazine's YUMMY COOK-OFF held last September 30, 2007 at Shangri-La Plaza Mall Activity area. The event was graced by guests and spectators from the mall.

The event was hosted by Ruby Rodriguez and Chef Jun Jun De Guzman. The Yummy Cook-Off was divided into 3 Categories. Mom vs. Mom, Blogger vs. Blogger and Chef vs. Chef. The one-on-one competition per category took place on stage with kitchen facilities. The contestants cooked their yummiest dishes in front of a huge crowd. A lot of pressure!

I was invited to compete by Melanie Montemayor of SUMMIT Media. I gladly joined the Blogger vs. Blogger category. Jun of Dalanghita.com was my opponent.

I helped my opponent to pre-cut his ingredients before going on stage so that it wouldn't consume his time. Mine was pre-cut already so I think it would have been unfair if his ingredients were not pre-cut because we only had 30 minutes to cook everything onstage.

I cooked my specialties like Chicken Kebabs with Capsicum and Garlic Yoghurt Sauce, Wine Scampi Linguine, Lettuce-Grape-Calamari Salad and my version of Piña Colada.

I won the blogger category and took home the trophy, tons of gift packs, gift certificates and cash. More than those things, I am glad to receive recognition from the judges. Thank you to Melanie Montemayor, Maan Pe and Sharlene Tan and all the Yummy staff.

Chocolates from NSW (AUS post1)

You guys wanna know my weakness? Chocolates! Coming from down under, I brought home some chocolate goodies and hoarded them inside my fridge. I'm sooo selfish that I will not share these to my friends and siblings. Just gave my mum and dad 2 packs and I kept the rest. My happiness? Seeing them all together inside my fridge. I know it's so crazy! I posted this pic to give thank Kuya Gary for giving me and Reggie 2 boxes each of European chocolates and to Tita Mechie for giving us one huge pack of Glazed Lebkuchen. Darrel & Lea Chocolate is my favorite brand. They have stores all over Sydney and mostly inside Westfiled Malls. All the chocolates are Australian made, except for the goodies given to us. It's very interesting that most of their chocolates are with wine, champagne and other liquors. Other chocolates that delighted me are the Whittaker's chocolate bars with kiwi and coconut. The chocolates with ginger are my boyfriend's favorite. They are from Darrel & Lea and Whittaker's.

Jane Chua

I really believe the world is so small that all of us are connected to each other. Take for example Jane Chua who was my customer last August. She was with her boyfriend Christian Wong who happens to be my good friend, Bede Ongtengsiem's classmate in Xavier. Bede's former boss Marj So is also my good friend and now Christian's and Bede's officemate in ABS-CBN. Anyway Jane was amazed and surprised about our connection with each other.

Another Italian set meal was enjoyed by the couple. Cheers!

The sweetness of the chocolate fondue matches the sweet aura of Jane and Christian.

I cropped this photo for me and Jane to have a photo together. Jane reminded me so much how cute petite girls are. ehem. And now I remember that Christian requested me to have a photo with him on their camera, which Jane took. I hope they'll give me a copy.

Sweetness!!!

Mr. and Mrs. Fleta

As my good friend Anton said on his comment on this post, my customers belong to various demographics! Artist Chef caters to all ages and all kinds of relationships. Whether you're just friends or in a relationship, married or just dating, and either heterogeneous or homogeneous couple you're very much welcome here. Mr. and Mrs. Fleta were like the age of my parents and it was their daughter Meg who reserved this date for their anniversary.

Mr. Fleta really liked the Spanish potato salad that he left his plate very empty. Oh except for the jalapeno.

The couple told me that they really love Spanish dishes that's why my Paella Valenciana didn't escape the mouth of the hungry couple.

Even the dessert was really good enough per serving and even the taste was "tamang-tama," said Mrs. Fleta.

I wonder how many years they've been married?

I felt like a celebrity when Mrs. Fleta requested for a solo photo with me.

I wish them both good health and a happy life...