Romance by way of Italy and Spain at Restaurant Verbena in Tagaytay

Italy and Spain might be a hundred miles apart, but as the popular saying goes "love conquers all" and that includes the world of gastronomy. 

For what is more romantic than driving to cool, picturesque Tagaytay with a loved one, indulging in wine and cheese, and dressing up for a candlelit dinner with two different menus, the dishes using the same main ingredients, but cooked in two different styles?

 

Discovery Country Suites' award-winning Restaurant Verbena is offering the "For Him" and "For Her" menus this coming Valentine's Day, with a marriage of two of the most popular cuisines in the world: that of Spain and Italy.

 

The menus were created by the luxurious bed and breakfast place's Corporate Chef David Pardo de Ayala, who is now the resident manager of Discovery Suites.

 

“This is the last time he’ll be creating the For Him and Her menu, and the food here in Tagaytay, so this is really special,” said Discovery Suites' Associate Director for Marketing Communications Marc dela Cruz. The For Him menu is Spanish-inspired, while For Her is Italian, but both are interchangeable, according to Chef David.

 

"If each prefers the other, we are fine with that. However we encourage sharing to every couple,"  he said.

 

During the press lunch, Chef David recalled his travels in both countries and shared how he met and fell in love with his Filipina wife in New York. It was enough to fill the air with romance and imagination, even if it was just through gastronomic time travel, honeymoon tripping to a rustic town in Sicily or basking under the French-Spanish borders of the Basque country.

 

A romance between Italia and España

 

The Greek goddess Aphrodite must have been pleased with the appetizers—succulent oysters believed to be aphrodisiacs.

 

"Why isn’t anyone asking about the oysters?" Chef David quipped. "Normally that's what they ask you for Valentine's. That's why I put it in the first course to get it out the way," he explained with a laugh.

 

The For Her menu starts with a very dainty dish called Ostricche, three fresh Aklan oysters plated like a flower and topped with lemon ice crystals and shiny black pearls of caviar. The coldness of this dish is in stark contrast to the hot dish Croqueta, a traditional Spanish snack, which Chef David infused with oysters and aioli or saffron-flavored garlic mayonnaise, fried to a golden crisp.

We are off to a good start, and in between sips of wine, we move on to the heavy dishes—rice and pasta.

 

With the Arroz Cremoso, seasonal mushroom creamy rice like risotto, one can experience Idiazabal, a town in the Basque country known for its Idiazabal cheese. This pressed cheese made from unpasteurized sheep milk is smoky and buttery and, combined with rice, mushrooms and mussels stock, can make even the single males and females giggle with pleasure.

 

The risotto is complemented by Agnolotti from Italy, freshly made pasta pillos filled with spinach, ricotta, Parmesan cheese, and of course, everyone’s best kept secret ingredient—bacon, which transforms dishes into greatness every time.

 

Both Spanish and Italian cuisines have love affairs with seafood, and so the next dishes were all about divine, glorious prawns.

 

There's sweet and sour Gamberoni, featuring the flavors of southern Italy—fennel, currants, capers, pine nuts, and dry Marsala. And then there's the familiar Gambas, which Chef David gives a surprising twist by topping the prawn with fideos, fine vermicelli-like pasta fried until thin and crispy.

“I wanted to do that because here, we’re not very familiar with the famous recipes of the Spanish repertoire in Catalonia. They call it rossejat de fideos and that is basically a paella made with fideos instead of rice,“ Chef David shared.

 

Couples can choose between prawns or sea bass. The Merluza is a Chilean sea bass slow-cooked in extra virgin olive oil and blended with slowly-dried black olives.

 

“That’s a very very hard dish to cook. Very slow cooking and it takes some kind of sophistication with the dry olives,” Chef David said.

 

Truly, to love is to give until it hurts, or in this case, until the tummy resigns and waves a white flag, but how can one say no to medium-rare, beautifully red US rib eye steak as the main dish?

 

And as a piece of Bistecca goes into your mouth, do not forget to add the black truffle mashed potato. Finish it off with a bite of sharp arugula and you’ll know it's a match made in heaven.

 

The For Him menu's steak has a stronger, saltier taste from the piquillo peppers, sweetened by the Basque tomato condiment that Chef David simply called Basque ketchup.

And as the whole gaiety drew to a climax, a Tagaytay herbal infusion tea was served together with mouthwatering desserts. Her ardent love is represented by the sinful Panna Cotta with strawberries, while his is the kind that is cool and calm with the very fresh and light Naranja, a yogurt hone parfait topped with orange, Spain’s most famous fruit crop.

 

And like any great dining experiences, the For Him and Her offerings inevitably ended for us. The diner knows the romance might cease, at least after the drive back to Manila, but, blessed with memories of this sumptuous meal, true love will never be forgotten. —KG, GMA News

 

The special 'For Him' and 'For Her' set menus are available from February 11 to 17, 2013 for lunch and dinner, and priced at P2500+ per person.