French country

It’s a feast for the senses, but make sure you have time to relish the experience.

by Nickky Faustine De Guzman
November 27, 2014

Share this:

Never go to Le Jardin Manila, a French experience, if you don’t have time to relish your meal. After all, this French restaurant is tres, tres French, but not intimidating. There’s no dress code, as long as you come with a hearty appetite and enough time to say aah, c’est la vie! Everyone takes small bites and chews slowly, savoring every dish.

Le Jardin is not a foodie place masquerading as something French, it is French. Its young chefs Jonas Ng and Hasset Go are trained by renowned French chef-sommelier partner Gils Brault, the man behind Vietnam’s finest French restaurant, Trois Gourmand. Gils used to work with Alain Ducasse and served the former French President Jacques Rene Chirac. The two young kitchen virtuosos went to Saigon and lived with Gils to train for six months. Hasset and Jonas barely knew any French, well, except, “kitchen French.” They struggled.

• 

  Visit the wine house

“We wanted to open a French restaurant for the longest time here in the Philippines. And we found Gil. And the fact that he was able to make a French restaurant successful in Vietnam without speaking English or Vietnamese, we realized (we could also do it),” says Jonas. But then again, their love for food is a different kind of language that goes beyond what is spoken, rather, what is felt, smelled, tasted, and experienced.

Gils and his culinary reputation made 10 other Filipino entrepreneurs vie to open a restaurant with him, according to Le Jardin co-owner Duke Ng. “The others only wanted to make money. He chose us because he saw how much we loved to eat. That’s what a gourmand is, it’s somebody who likes to eat, so he wanted to partner with us because well, we love to eat,” he laughs, adding that the restaurant’s goal is “for people to stay forever for lunch and have some good wine and not care about how long they’ve been here because they’re having such a good time.”

And why would diners dash to the exit right away when, in true French fashion, Le Jardin Manila boasts of its own wine library and cheese house? Gils is an expert sommelier so Le Jardin’s collection of wine is so much more than what you can see and buy in stores. Each bottle is carefully selected by Gils.

And true to French dining culture, Le Jardin serves artisan and homemade cheese, aged differently and infused with flavors like rosemary, nuts, and olive, to cap the dining experience. Diners can choose from three, four, or five-course degustation meals. Or go a la carte as they please. Take your pick from favorites including puree de pommes de terre aux truffles (seared scallops, truffled mashed potatoes), escargot de Bourgogne (Burgundy snails in garlic and parsley butter), grilled tuna steak with foie gras and truffle sauce, and braised beef cheek topped with pan seared foie gras, dessert de Gils, and truffled scrambled eggs, among others. As the chefs puts it, their method is traditional but their recipe isn’t. Chef Gils, obviously, loves to experiment.

Complementing the food is the chic yet relaxed atmosphere. Le Jardin transports its diners to a place not so much of French elegance as of French country charm, sunlit and cheery like the south of France. Its setup, drawn from the imagination of Frenchman Gils himself, is like a secret garden on a mountaintop (it’s located at W Building Penthouse) overlooking the city. Its interiors are clean, predominantly white and green, easy on the eyes. There’s a mini horizontal garden upon entrance. There are bonsai trees growing in the center of some tables. Industrial lights add a unique touch to the framed black and white photos and dainty knick knacks. The smoking room has cutesy framed photographs of characters like Darth Vader and The Adventures of Tin Tin as well as black-and-white portraits of such icons as Madonna, Marlon Brando, and Marion Cotillard with a cigarette between their fingers or ribbons of smoke swirling lout of their lips.

“Le Jardin Manila is a reflection of the way we see the French dining experience. It’s not just the food itself but the combination of the food, wine, décor, interior design, and service that creates an atmosphere that is distinct and memorable,” says Hasset.

 Le Jardin is at Penthouse, W Fifth Building, 5th Avenue corner 32nd street, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. 639 178176584 www.lejardinbgc.com

Shake your groove thing some more

Priscilla, Queen of the Desert is back with a vengeance.

by Nickky Faustine De Guzman
December 1, 2014

Share this:

Images by Noel B. Pabalate

And so it’s back. Just months after its successful local and international productions in Manila and Singapore last May and October, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert will hold a limited run at Resorts World Manila from Dec. 5 to 7, allowing those who have yet to experience the glitz, glamour, and glitters from all that colorful frocks that rock the whole house down to see for themselves what all the fuss is about.

“Now the heels are higher,” Red Concepcion says laughing. “We had to re-block and restage and took out what’s the best from the first run in Manila and in Singapore and put them all together. We hope this is the best of both shows,” he says. He plays Felicia

HOT STUFF Raymond Concepcion, Michael Williams, and Red Concepcion play three drag queens in the heartwarming and funny must-see musical Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (Images by Noel B. Pabalate)

Jollygoodfellow, one of the va-va-voom drag queens who likes to play and have fun, and is comfy in her own skin.

The storyline, songs, and setup are all the same, but not the stars. Original cast members Jon Santos, who played Bernadette Bassinger, a stark contrast to Felicia because she’s prim and proper, and Leo Valdez who played Mitzi Mitosis, a married drag queen who walks away from his home and his own son, have other commitments. Red’s father, renowned theater actor Raymond Concepcion plays Bernadette while director Michael Williams, who is also a celebrated theater star, plays Mitzi. The trio was a big success in Singapore.

“We were wary. We were all Filipinos and did not know how they would receive a full Filipino production because they have their own thriving theater scene in Singapore. But they loved us. The big theater was almost full every time. They were so enthusiastic, they’d even ask for our autographs. I felt it was an achievement in Philippine theater,” says Raymond. Michael adds that the audience would sing and dance during the finale.

Priscilla, Queen of the Desert tells the story of two drag queens Felicia and Mitzi and transsexual Bernadette who all hopped aboard the “budget Barbie camper” bus named Priscilla to go on a trip for a gig in an isolated Australian desert. Along the way, they confront life’s challenges on a funny, riveting, and sometimes poignant stage. Among the songs that you’d hear in the play are “It’s Raining Men,” “Finally,” “I Love The Night Life,” “Color My World,” “Shake Your Groove Thing,” and “I Will Survive.”

“Even though it’s a fun musical show, it tackles gender equality. And it could be in light of Jennifer Laude the transgender woman who was murdered. I hope they come up with a better awareness. At the end of the day we are looking for the same thing. Whatever your race is, or your gender, or your sexual preference, at the end of the day, everyone just wants to be accepted,” says Red.

Michael adds that the play is “something vital. But it’s couched in this easy to digest presentation. It’s a family show, believe it or not,” he says.

For information, call 02 908 8000 loc. 7700 / or check out www.rwmanila.com/priscilla

Chicago, pizzazz, and all that jazz

Chicago, Pizzaz, and ‘All That Jazz’

by Nickky Faustine De Guzman
November 24, 2014

Share this:

Terra Macleod and Bianca Marroquin play Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart, respectively. (Images by Noel B. Pabalate )

It’s a play like no other. After all, it’s the longest Broadway show ever (it will stage its 7,486th performance in November).  Here’s what to expect: Little costumes and small movements, but powerful voices, pure talent, and live music orchestra. It’s Chicago on stage, baby.

Brace yourself for a hot, hot, hot year-end treat as Broadway’s award-winning, smash musical hits the country in a strictly limited season from Dec. 2 to 21 at Solaire’s newest luxury theatrical spot, The Theater. It’s slick, sexy, and sassy. Rawr.

Choreographed by Ann Reinking in the style of world-renowned multi-slashie choreographer/actor/screenwriter/director Bob Fosse, who directed All That Jazz andCabaret among others, lead actresses Terra Macleod and Bianca Marroquin say, when on stage, less is more, a philosophy passed from Bob Fosse himself.

“You got to have timing to add Matisse to your painting, which is what you’re doing, you’re performing every night with a black canvas and you start painting. Or like a singer where you sing and you start breathy and put the vibrato and the belt after. You cannot sing the whole song in belt. People will get tired listening to you. As you approach the performance, you have to know where to bring it all down,” says Bianca, who plays Roxie Hart.

Set amid the razzle-dazzle decadence of the flapper 1920s, Chicago is the story of Roxie Hart, a housewife and nightclub dancer, who murders her on-the-side lover after he threatens to walk out on her. Desperate to avoid conviction, she dupes the public, the media, and her rival cellmate, Velma Kelly (played by Terra Macleod), by hiring Chicago’s slickest criminal lawyer to transform her crime into a torrent of sensational headlines. “It’s a dark humor with a global theme. The story is very relatable. It’s full of social satire, love, intrigue, betrayal, friendship,” says Terra.

Think it’s too dark for your liking? It is highly acclaimed! International newspapers like the Times UK dubs it as “the sharpest, slickest show on the block.” Newsweek says it’s “ravishing,” and Entertainment Weekly raves it’s “Broadway’s most electrifying show.” Chicago has also been honored with six Tony Awards, including best musical revival, two Olivier Awards, a Grammy for best musical cast recording, and thousands of standing ovations in between.

You may have watched its 2002 film adaptation, which starred Renee Zellweger, Richard Gere, and Catherine Zeta-Jones, but then again, a film is way different from a live play.

“We loved the movie but you cannot compare it because the energy of the theater is more palpable, it’s live. A movie is a movie,” says Bianca. Adds Terra:“People have an idea in their mind of what to expect when they come to see the live version, as most have seen the movie. So they already have a vision in their head. When they see the simplicity in the Broadway production, I think it takes them a minute to take it all in. That the dancing, singing, lighting, and very minimal set tell that story is enough.”

Based on a 1926 Broadway play written by Chicago Tribune journalist Maurine Watkins, who covered the sensational trials of two women accused of murder while under the influence of booze and jazz, Chicago the musical was created by the legendary Broadway trio: John Kander (music), Fred Ebb (book and lyrics), and Bob Fosse (original director and choreographer) in 1975, but Bianca thought it was “ahead of its time.” It became more glorious when it was revived in 1996. Now it’s going to be 18 years in history.

There’s one requirement though: Participate. “The more we hear you the better. So be more vocal and participate with us. It’s a fun show ride with us. If you allow yourself it’s gonna be a good ride. We touch all the emotions there are,” says Bianca.

Chicago is produced by Lunchbox Theatrical Productions, David Atkins Enterprises, and Concertus Manila and presented by VISA and Smart Infinity, in cooperation with Solaire Resort and Casino. 02 891 9999, www.ticketworld.com.ph

Gone girls

Who says women like amazing amy are works of fiction?

by Nickky Faustine De Guzman
November 2, 2014

Share this:

He used to be sweet. But now… I’ve never seen him so angry. His eyes were bloody red. If looks could kill, I’d be dead right now. I’m scared. On the eve of Oct. 16, Friday, I tagged my aide Darlene Francisco along as we escaped from the house. Everything was planned—the car, the hotel, the media. A getaway vehicle burned to ashes? Let them think I burned myself inside the car. To hell with you and the girl you’re banging.

GONE GIRL NO MORE Josie, wife of Camarines Norte governor Edgardo Tallado (left) went missing but surfaced after five days.

This could be a scene ripped straight from Amazing Amy’s diary in Gone Girl. Camarines Norte Governor Edgardo Tallado’s wife, Josie, resurfaced and appeared on national TV five days after she went missing. The getaway Toyota Fortuner she was driving was found abandoned along Maharlika Highway in Camarines Sur. She fled, checked in at a hotel, and bought a secondhand car to Manila.

AMAZING AMY Screenshots from the movie Gone Girl

“I have no one rooting for me in Camarines Norte (Wala akong kakampi sa Camarines Norte),”Josie said. Her husband Edgardo is having an affair. Josie has seen the racy photos. They went viral online.

In Amazing Amy’s words, women should be hot. “Hot and understanding. Cool Girls never get angry. They only smile in a chagrined, loving manner, and let their men do whatever they want. Go ahead, shit on me, I don’t mind, I’m the Cool Girl,” she says. Apparently, this rings a bell for real-life Gone Girls. Wait until they’ve reached their boiling point.

One year. Everything needs to be smooth. Each performer must play his role well: the police, the gunman, the TV reporters, the victim.

Take for example the murder of Enzo Pastor, whose story took a bizarre twist after police investigations revealed that the racecar driver’s death involved his wife, Dalia, who was allegedly having an affair with a businessman, Sandy de Guzman.

GONE GIRL… AND BOY Dalia Pastor, the alleged mastermind behind her husband’s death, Enzo Pastor.

June 12, 9:45 p.m. Enzo and his assistant, Paolo Salazar, were on their way to Angeles, Pampanga for a race. Enzo knew the route to Angeles like the back of his hand. But Dalia, according to his assistant, kept calling, instructing him where to turn, what road to take. In a carefully plotted murder, each performer must play his role well. Everything must go smoothly. Enzo was a good pawn.

At the junction of Congressional and Visayas avenues, Enzo stopped at a red light. Then a man appeared from Enzo’s side and shot him. He sustained three gunshot wounds in the head and neck. He was dead on the spot. Paolo was wounded.

Dalia, according to the gunman, was one of the master planners, the brains behind the murder that took months (even a year) to plot. In Amazing Amy’s words, “people who get caught are caught because they don’t have patience. They refuse to plan.” Dalia had a plan. And she was patient. The case, says the police, is solved. Dalia is a suspect. But no one knows where she is. Who knows, like Amazing Amy, she might have chopped her hair, dyed it black, and ate to her heart’s content to gain a few pounds? They say faking documents in Quiapo works like magic. You can have them overnight.

In Australia, another personified Amazing Amy has perfected the art of manipulation. She faked death in order to start anew. Natasha Ryan, then 14, ran away from home and hid in a cupboard for five years while her parents and the rest of the world were primed that she was murdered. According to reports, she lived in darkness, and only ventured out twice in the middle of the night to get some fresh air. She even watched herself on TV as the police searched for her and hunted down her supposed murderer. In 2003, the police found Natasha, alive, and married to his “captor,” Scott Black, a milkman she was banned from seeing when she was a teenager. The couple now has a son.

Gone Girl author Gillian Flynn said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly in 2012 that the novel-turned-movie was purely fiction, but she did see the parallelism between Amazing Amy and Nick and Laci and Scott Peterson, whose case was among those highly publicized and sensationalized in America.

GONE GIRLS: Laci Denise Peterson, found dead 90 miles away from home and Dorothy Arnold, still missing up to this day.

On Christmas Eve in 2002, according to the Time article “This Case is the Real-World Version of Gone Girl,” Laci Peterson, a schoolteacher, went missing. She was eight months pregnant with their first child. Like Amy and Nick, the Petersons were a beautiful couple, which drew more media attention. As in Gone Girl, Scott’s in-laws supported him—at first. As in Gone Girl, things changed when a massage therapist, Amber Frey, told the police she and Scott were having an affair. Months after Luci went missing, the police found her body, with a male fetus, washed ashore 90 miles from where the couple lived. Scott was convicted of first-degree murder for his wife’s death and second-degree murder for their son. Scott is currently on death row at San Quentin State Prison, California.

History is also hounded by missing persons, their true whereabouts as well as the facts of their cases shrouded in myth and speculation. On Dec. 10 1910, socialite and heiress Dorothy Arnold, dressed impeccably as always, left her home in New York City to do some shopping. She never returned. Her disappearing act was dubbed by The New York Times as the “supreme mystery of New York Police Department and perhaps the greatest missing person mystery in the United States.” Her disappearance was fodder for rumor, malice, and grim imaginations. Did she elope? Was she murdered? In 1916, six years after Dorothy vanished into thin air, E.C. Glenmorris, then in the Rhode Island Penitentiary, confessed he had helped bury a woman he believed was Dorothy. Alas, detectives could not find any trace of the body. Dorothy was 25 years old when she disappeared. She was a member of an influential family. She was the niece of former US Supreme Court Justice Rufus Peckham. Dorothy has since remained a Gone Girl despite her family’s government connections and power. Were you hiding something, Dorothy?

Cross-Stitch Rebirth

New age cross-stitchers sew reproductions of National Artists Fernando Amorsolo and Manny Baldemor paintings, all for a greater cause.

by Nickky Faustine De Guzman
November 3, 2014

Share this:

It’s back with a vengeance. The art of cross-stitch—which many tag as an old bridesmaid’s hobby and is so late 2000—is brimming with more life, more intricacy, more colors, more details. A new generation of stitchers, from as young as an 11-year-old to a seaman in his 30s, has been stitching and sewing and mimicking patterns and reproducing renowned paintings. They are the Proud Pinoy Stitchers, a group of 200 modern cross-stitchers. Now, cross-stitch artworks are infused with beads, flowers, metallics, and glow-in-the dark threads. Wow. Welcome to the new age of cross-stitch.

                                                                 BRING IT BACK The Proud Pinoy Stitchers members are sewing and mimicking art for a good cause. These new age stitchers reproduce the artworks of National Artists like Fernando Amorsolo’s Dalagang Bukid and The Offering. (Images by Rudy Liwanag)

In between her studies, Micah Angela Millare, 19, a member of Proud Pinoy Stitchers, sews and weaves colorful threads into patterns. She works with a variety of designs from flowers to food, Hello Kitty, and angels. But now she’s leveled up, sewing more intricate patterns like a detailed human eye. “I don’t have any friends who cross-stitch and they are interested to know the craft. Whenever I finish a pattern, I always take a photo and share it online,” says Micah. She says she finds peace and joy whenever she sews. She’s been cross-stitching since she was in grade four and finds no reason to stop. Micah apparently got it from her dad. Yes, her father (an engineer) loves to cross-stitch on his off day. Rene Millare is the master teacher of the Proud Pinoy Stitchers. By “master” he says he has the longest cross-stitching experience (he’s been stitching since 1991), the fastest stitcher (he can finish a 16×20 in one month), and has the cleanest back canvas.

Every month, the Proud Pinoy Stitchers meet up to trade tricks and secrets. So what’s the secret to a spotless back canvas? Rene says you should not immediately cross the thread—“it’s thread consuming and a mess,”—but do a slash first in one direction.

“The art of cross-stitch laid low back in the 2000s, but it’s coming back. It will always be in our culture, just like crochet and embroidery. Now, modern cross-stitch patterns are more realistic, unlike before when all we have were cutesy patterns,” says Proud Pinoy Stitchers founder Margaret Tipton. And while the craze that is loom bands have caught the hearts (and hands) of kids and teenagers, cross-stitching captures all ages and gender. Besides, you can display your work of art or give it as a gift. “It’s also therapeutic,” she adds.

Besides passion, the Proud Pinoy Stitchers are sewing, mimicking art for a better cause. They are mounting the exhibit “Karayon Masterpieces: Amorsolo, Baldemor, Atbp.” from Nov. 5 to 11 at LRI Bldg. N. Garcia St. Bel Air, Makati for the benefit of the Philippine Society of Orphan Disorders kids who need lifetime medical support.

On the exhibit are 22 paintings-turned-cross-stitched artworks of Fernando Amorsolo (like Lady of Flowers, Fruit Gatherer, Waling Waling, The Offering, Cooking the Noonday Meal) and four Manuel Baldemor (Season of Hope, Pahiyas, Fruits of Labor, and Good Harvest), and other   Filipiniana works.

Don’t worry about the copyright, DMC Philippines, their co-sponsor, has asked the permission to reproduce the iconic artworks of the National Artists.

If you couldn’t afford an original Amorsolo or a Baldemor painting, why not buy their cross-stitch version—and help kids in return? Or why not revive that old flame with cross-stitching that probably started in high school Home Economics?