Grand Pacific Northwest Connection

 

Last April 3, in between a very filling lunch at Vask and a degustation dinner at Vask again, I sneaked in some American goodies at the US Embassy Department of Agriculture's Grand Pacific Northwest Connection event.

 

Brian Goldbeck, the Deputy Chief of Mission, welcomed us warmly into his home

 

 

Outdoor cocktail reception

 

 

Charles & Charles wine from Washington 

 

 

More Washington wines from Hogue and Genesis

 

 

 A buffet featuring food and ingredients from Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Wyoming

 

 

 Chow time!!!

 

 

Cream Pacific Cod in Potato Pockets

 

 

Baked Salmon Fillet with Caper Butter Sauce

 

 

Beer Battered Pollock Fingers with Russet Potato Chips

 

 

Potato Pancakes

 

 

Whole Roast Black Angus Ribeye

 

 

Mashed potato in 3 flavors: Bacon & Cheddar, Pesto, Roasted Garlic & Cheese

 

 

Mini cakes, muffins and tarts

 

  

Crepe Station

 

 

Tully's Coffee

 

 

With Nhorrie Wang of Ralph's Wines and Edna Diaz of Bestworld Beverage Brands

 

 

Rey Lee of Artisan Cellars and Fine Foods

 

 

Vicky Choi, Gina Navarro, Marvin Agustin, and Claude Tayag

 

 

The ever stylish and elegant Heny Sison

 

  

Phil Shull and Brian Goldbeck of the US Embassy

 

 

With US Ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg

 

 

And last but not the least...

 

USA napkins to wipe off the evidence of everything I ate! :P 

 

Official Website of The Embassy of the United States in Manila

Vask, A Fourth Time ♥ ♥

 

We had only one day to meet.

My instagram friend @edwardeats (now also my real life friend, lol!) arrived from Copenhagen the day before, and I was flying out the morning after. 

Vask was his choice for our lunch venue, which extended to dinner, but more on that later. ;)

I've been to the Basque tapas bar and restaurant quite a few times in the evening, but never during the day. 

 

 It was bright, airy, and so much fun

 

 

Hidden Mickeys on the ceiling

 

 

Oh, deer! 

 

 

There was a man with funny mustache checking us out!

 

 

Spoon and fork seesaw in the outdoor area 

 

 

 Amuse bouche of potato soup welcomed us

 

 

I left the ordering to Edward, who took the task very seriously. He ordered 4 tapas, 2 mains,
and 3 desserts, which made him not only my real life friend, but also officially one of my
favorite eating partners. Lol. :D

 

 

Tortilla de Jamon Serrano

 

 

Sous vide bacalao confit, garlic, onion, bell pepper, tomato, idiazabal cheese, rosemary

 

 

Caramelized baby lamb sweetbreads

 

 

And a dish the kitchen sent out to replace our order of razor clams. They were not very 
happy with the quality of the clams they had that day.

 

 

Honestly, our appetizers were just okay, not mind-blowing. We figured it might be because Chef Chele wasn't there.

And then… TA-DA!!!!!!!!

 

Look who suddenly appeared at our table! The chef himself!!!
What a surprise!

 

 

Chef Chele wasted no time and started working on our mains. 

 

 

And our mains were exceptional! 

 

Secreto Iberico, Mansanas y Mostaza
The meat, cut from the leg and back area of acorn-fed black Iberian pig, was cooked 62 degrees.
It was lean with a light marbling that gave the pork a very rich, delicious flavor. It went beautifully
with the bed of apple mash, mustard sauce, white wine, and apple confit.

 

 

Scallops and Black Ink Risotto
The scallops tasted… blank. Sorry, I don't have a better word to describe it. It felt like I was
eating something and nothing. There was no flavor, only texture, BUTTTTTTTTTTTTT... 

 

 

THE BLACK INK RISOTTO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It was perfect in every way, from the texture of the rice, to the flavor, to the color, to the consistency,
down to the color it left on our teeth and lips. We didn't care. This was absolutely amazing.

 

 

Our desserts in order of my favorites:

 

 Torrija
Brioche, milk, anise ice cream 

 

 

Caramel Chocolate Lava
Dulce valrhona chocolate, financier crumbs, coconut ice cream, mint, pine nuts 

 

 

 Deconstructed Lemon Cake
Pistachio sponge, golden biscuits, greek yogurt mousse, lemon custard

 

 

So lucky we caught Chef Chele during lunch service!
Thank you, Edward, for the feast!

 

See my previous Vask posts:

Vask
Vask, Revisited
Vask, A Third Time

Vask: 5th Floor, CLIPP Center, 11th Avenue corner 39th Street, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.
Tel: +632 217-6563, +63915-5077047, +63917-8065292

Vask Facebook Page

 

Regent Belgian Waffles

 

My friend Jen is the most generous. Even without any occasion, she would gift me with Regent goodies because she knows I love them. My favorite is the Cheese Rings which I grew up eating. The ube cupkeyk was also where I found comfort during the years I was based in ube-less Hong Kong. 

 

Look what she sent over to me just recently. Five packs of...

 

 

BELGIAN WAFFLES!!!!!!!!
Yes, Regent now makes the European snack!

 

 

In each pack are 10 individual packets containing 2 pieces of waffle. It really makes a great
baon or snack for kids, but since I don't have any, then I have… let's see…
ONE HUNDRED PIECES OF BELGIAN WAFFLES ALL TO MYSELF!!!

 

 

When The Mother was away on a vacation, I prepared my own meals using the waffles and ingredients I found in her fridge and pantry. You see, Mom loves preparing our meals and she also never lets us mess with the contents of her "safe," i.e., refrigerators, freezers, kitchen cabinets, etc, etc, etc… (see more here), so this was a very rare occasion for me and I truly enjoyed it!

Here's what I had from morning till night:

 

Waffles with Taiwanese pork floss and a sunny side up egg for breakfast

 

 

Japanese waffle sandwich with crabsticks, unagi and Kewpie mayo for lunch.
Not to blow my own horn, but this was really good! I made and ate a second waffle-wich. :P 

 

 

 For my "fruit box," waffles topped with strawberries, blackberries, and Nutella!
I would have added a mountain of whipped cream, too, but evil stuff (in Mom's eyes,
not mine) like cream, sodas, Spam, etc. are not allowed inside our house.

 Sniff.

 

 

Note to self: Must show this to Mom for future reference

 

 

For dinner, I made my own version of the popular Fried Chicken & Waffles, but substituted chicken
with burger because I love beef more. I also threw in some bacon-flavored cheese for calcium,
and shiitake mushrooms because vegetables are good for you and me. And then I poured
Japanese curry sauce all over the pile. Sorry, I did a really bad job pouring, so no "after" photo.
I promise you it was a delicious brown mess.

 

 

To end my Japanese-inspired dinner, my favorite Dojo Dairy black sesame ice cream
with waffle sticks. I spooned ice cream on some of the sticks, and let the rest soak in the
melted nutty and creamy glory.

 

 

So yeah, I finished a whole pack of 20 belgian waffles in a day. Excited to eat and play with the next 80 packs! :)

 

Regent Foods Website

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