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]