Wedding Digest Philippines Weddings. More fun In the Philippines Edition | Page 202

A SK T E H EXP E R T Engr. Alex Michael del Rosario WHERE WEDDING DISHES ARE THE “JUAN” Juan Carlo The Caterer shows us what Filipinos can bring to the bridal table – the best cuisine, artistic setups and an exceptional service that is world-class… Celebrity Catering “It’s our best season yet,” starts Alex Michael del Rosario, president of Juan Carlo The Caterer Inc. Just last year, they were the official caterer in the surprise wedding of celebrity couple Carmina Villaroel and Zoren Legaspi. They matched the grandiose event with mouth-watering fares like Tanigue Shooters, Assorted Sushi-Sashimi and Beef Kalderetang Batangas. Ice carvings for the centerpiece in every table went beautifully with the magical atmosphere. The following month, GMA reporters Mariz Umali and Raffy Tima got them to cater their elegant wedding. One of the Moymoy Palaboyduo, Rodfil Macasero, tied the knot in Gothic style which Juan Carlo complemented with a lavish spread. “My son spearheaded the launch of Debut by Juan Carlo which got many likes, our commissary sitting on 2,000 square meters of land will have its inauguration this October 3, and our marketing group improved a lot with our new marketing consultant.” For all of these, he was very grateful. The only thing constant is change... and lechon! As in the past until nowadays, the unanimous star of every season remains the same. “A lot of our clients still request for lechon. Especially in December weddings, when a balikbayan guest comes home, that is what they look for.” Aside from that, everything else has changed. “Back then, they usually do not venture farther than just kissing swans for the centerpiece or skirted tables. Now, caterers are more adventurous; we have lighted buffets, all sorts of backdrops, thematic tables and more. Before, flavors were also limited; now we have fusions; combining Filipino and international cuisine; also introducing wellness cuisines wherein we are injecting a lot of vegetables, fresh herbs and spices which we normally get from Tagaytay.” Food stations are also a modern add-on in catering. In Juan Carlo they have a lot of extra options on top of your buffet or sit-down banquet. Like sushi and sashimi bar, special salad bar, pasta bar, dessert bar, oyster bar, coffee bar, cheese & cold cuts platter; and the “seafood-on-ice station” with prawns, “alimango” claw, oysters and mussels with different sauces; on-the-spot grilling station and carving station. Aside from lechon, they also offer roasted turkey, peking duck and lamb shoulder. “We are the only catering service that deploys a chef on-site during the reception itself.” If they have 10 functions, then 10 chefs are sent off. Why Weddings are more fun in the Philippines. “Every Filipina bride wants her wedding to be the best,” so that’s why we see more creative weddings each year. Every couple has new ideas. We are lucky enough to have wonderful surroundings and resources, but what really makes our weddings stand out, he says, is the over-all feeling of satisfaction that the clients express after our events. Remarks of gratitude and praises in the “performance appraisal sheet” that we are letting our clients fill up after every function are simply overwhelming; enough to enliven the spirits of our catering staff after a tiring day. My advice for other caterers is to use and develop the most abundant resources in their regions. For example, “Kapeng Barako” from Batangas is very often served in our events as brewed coffee and we are utilizing this in most of our desserts namely Coffee Panacotta, Coffee Jelly and Coffee Magnifico. Since tilapia is also abundant in our area, we are using this in our fish menu, namely “Pinaputok na Tilapia”, Baked Tilapia in Papillote Sauce and Pan-fried Tilapia with Roasted Pineapple Avocado Salsa. This way, it is more affordable; food is fresher because it is sourced locally and they can get to promote their local products. He adds: “Filipino food is definitely not cheap. Authentic Filipino cuisine especially those utilizing seafoods prove to be more expensive. My over-all impression is that Filipinos still crave for our authentic dishes which we have a lot to be proud of. We envision ourselves to be the leader and trendsetter in the food and catering industry when we started the business 18 years ago and we can proudly claim that we are now on our path of realizing that vision.” JUAN CARLO THE CATERER INC. 929.3674 / 416.5134 / 413 .7511 [email protected]