An Italian gourmet meal made and served by Benilde students

Chances are, if you aren’t from that green campus by Taft Avenue in Manila or any of the campuses nearby, you wouldn’t know about a small restaurant on a quiet side street that serves quality food. If you are from the area, though, just say “Solomon Guest House” and the manong pedicab driver will bring you there in style, right at the doorstep.   What makes the little resto intriguing is that it’s run by culinary and hotel and restaurant management students of De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde. They cook the food, serve the dishes, take turns at the cash register, do the table setting, and provide evening entertainment with talented homegrown singers.   It’s the turn of Batch 26 to run the restaurant, and the students have until March 31 to do so. Every term (the school has a trimester schedule), one batch does on-the-job training at Solomon Guest House, and this is where the students apply all that they’ve learned in the classroom before they go off to do their internships here and abroad.   Each batch is given the leeway to choose their menu theme. Batch 26 chose Americana, and so the restaurant serves burgers, milkshakes, and burritos on most days.   For one week every term, however, the batch is required to put on a fine dining event and lay out a gourmet meal for their proud parents and families, friends, and people they’re not related to who just happen to hear of the event.   And so from Feb. 20 to 24 this week, it’s European Fine Dining fest, with three days devoted to French cuisine (Feb. 20, 22, and 24), and three more for Italian cuisine (Feb. 18, 21, and 23).   Tickets cost P1,000 each—a bit pricey at first glance, but if you compare the set menu price with that of hotels, it’s still cheaper.   Besides, that’s for a whole set menu: from soup or appetizer, two main courses, to dessert. Throw in the live acoustic concert from talented Benilde students, and you find yourself getting a fair deal.   Italian night   I had the chance to relish the experience last Tuesday, which was Italian fine dining night.   Guests were greeted warmly and led to their tables by the hotel and restaurant management students, who were dressed in the cheerful red-and-white striped shirts of Venetian gondoliers. The lights were dimmed and candles lit on tables, casting a romantic glow in the dining area.   It seemed just right, given that Valentine’s Day was just a week ago. Rose petals were strewn on the table, and we were offered a light white wine and freshly baked focaccia bread—made by the giggling student chefs we could see in the kitchen through the big glass window.   The bread was warm, crusty in the right places, and good even if no olive oil and balsamic vinegar came with it. Well, this isn’t Italianni’s after all. For antipasto, we were served Rotolo Di Insalata Di Tonno E Prosciutto Avvolto Melone (Roll of Salad and Tuna Prosciutto Wrapped Melon). This is far from your usual salad, with savory (tuna), salty (prosciutto) and sweet (melon) flavors getting your palate ready for the rest of the dishes ahead.  The “primo” or first course was Risotto Alla Zucca (Pumpkin Risotto) which came with grilled prawns on top. It is an interesting way to have pumpkin, and that’s all I can say since I skipped the prawns, for the reason that I can’t predict when my seafood allergy will come up. My fault—and maybe the student servers’ too—I didn’t disclose my allergy, and they didn’t let me know they were serving seafood. The menu, after all, said just that: Risotto Alla Zucca. But ok, since we were both at fault, quits na. A light sorbet followed before the servers came with the “secondo” or second course, Spezzatino de Maiale (Pork Stew). It had red wine sauce and the pork was tender, and so were the potatoes that went with it.   Dessert or “dolce” was Bigne Con Crema Di Nutella (Cream Puffs with Nutella) which came to our table in big round plates dusted with confectioner’s sugar. I’m not such a fan of Nutella hazelnut spread, which I know was created by an Italian back in the ‘40s, but a couple of bites of the cream puff convinced me the giggling student chefs by the window have been trained well. The dinner was capped with a cup of Cappuccino E Cantucci (Cappuccino and Crannies), and should you prefer tea, which I did, they would gladly serve the brew as well. On hindsight, I should have asked for espresso instead.   All in all, the food was impressive, given that the dishes were made by the giggling student chefs—even if it seemed there were too many of them in the kitchen. This is one exception to the saying, “Too many cooks spoil the broth.” They didn’t spoil the broth, or the rest of the food; they just showed us how good they are in cooking and plating Italian cuisine.   Onstage talent   But what made the evening even more memorable was seeing raw wonderful talent on the little stage at one end of the dining area.   Members of the Coro San Benildo, the choral group of the school, took turns singing to us throughout the night.   There was this big guy Sam who came onstage in a green shirt (of course, we were in green territory) and cargo shorts, as if he just arrived by pedicab from Taft, haha, but when he opened his mouth to sing and strum the guitar, all our eyes were on him. He sang an Eric Clapton song, among others, and did Maroon 5’s “Sunday Morning” with three friends. A girl named Kaye Peña charmed us with an Up Dharma Down song, as did a boy named Davi Lantin (ok, disclosure, he is my nephew, but so what, even without him, I did have a good time that night) who sang “How Deep Is Your Love.” There was another girl with them that night whose name I didn’t get, but sang well too, dedicating her song to the guy at the corner table.   Too bad, dinner was over by 8:30 p.m. and the giggling student chefs we saw at the window could be seen taking off their toques, laughing and tasting the leftovers, congratulating each other for a job well done. Guest chef Sabrina Gan, chef-in-charge Jester Arellano, and Adviser Prof. Arthur Alina are all smiles, patting the student-chefs and student-servers as they made the rounds, heaving a sigh of relief at a successful fine dining night the students put up by themselves.   By 9 p.m. only one table was left with guests. Dinner here ends early, but what can you expect? These students have classes the next day. – YA, GMA News   Solomon Guest House is at 1025 C. Ayala St. cor. Arellano St., Malate, Manila. Check out the Batch 26 Facebook page for more details. Photos courtesy of Daphne Tan