Benassi Ristorante Italiano: An Authentic Italian Restaurant in Ortigas Center, Pasig City

Benassi Ristorante Italiano is a family-owned restaurant tucked in Ortigas Center that serves no non-sense Italian dishes. Home-cooked Italian cuisine which inspiration rooted from the little town of Massa in Tuscany of Central Italy, Benassi Ristorante's arsenal of heirloom recipes claimed to be nothing but authentic.

Owner Katia Benassi-De Guzman, together with her husband DJ De Guzman partnered with Katia's mother Rolyn who has an impressive culinary training and a 20 years of residency in Italy. Together, they created a line up of authentic Italian cuisine that Benassi Ristorante Italiano is now proud of.

A visit to Benassi one afternoon opened my eyes to the wonderful gastronomical world of the Benassi. The place is modern and minimalistic with little reminders that you are in an Italian restaurant. Majority of the diners are expats and office workers coming from the Ortigas business district.

Dulcelin Gourmet at U.P. Town Center, Katipunan Ave.

When talking about Dulcelin Gourmet the very first thing that comes to my mind is their famous and downright impressive Mango Torte. Now that they have opened their very first restaurant which is located at U.P. Town Center in Katipunan, Dulcelin Gourmet proved that they are more than just that famous dessert. Their take on different dishes could also be mind blowingly good, and I agree.

 

While I have tried some of their savory dishes offerings during food fairs and events such as The Ultimate Taste Test, Dessert Comes First Anniversary Party, and some occasions, it was still their Mango Torte which was almost always present in our family gatherings that left a strong impression on me. With the opening of their new restaurant, I am glad that other dishes at Dulcelin Gourmet are now more accessible than ever.

5 Good Reasons Why You Should Attend POWER OF PEN 4, a Food, Travel, and Lifestyle Writing Workshop

So recently I heard a good news that Power of Pen 4 will be staged this year, on May 8-9 at the Top Shelf of Fully Booked, The Fort BGC. For those who don’t have any idea what Power of Pen is, it is a workshop which started way back 2009 that aims to provide learning opportunities for new writers. Initially, it focuses on basic tools needed for food writing but as time passed, it now taps related topics which are closely related to the aforementioned subject such as travel and lifestyle writing.

Power of Pen is known to have seasoned writers and esteemed speakers under its helm. These people are all generous in sharing their knowledge and expertise which can greatly help new writers to be equipped with necessary knowledge in the world of writing.

Last 2011, I was lucky enough to be one of the workshop attendees during the 3rd staging of Power of Pen. Fresh out of the corporate world, I deemed that taking Power of Pen workshop can help me decide whether to take food writing seriously or just leave it as a hobby and go back to my day job.

Gratitude

I still have loads of restaurant blog posts to write about but I figured the best way to start the month is to show gratitude. The weekend staycation we had at B Hotel Alabang and Bellevue Manila was by far one of the best weekends I had with some of my blogger friends. All thanks to the generous and kindly people of Bellevue Hotels and Resorts and of course, to Jane Go and Family.

Now if you've read my staycation series (first day, second day, third day), you would know that it was also made all the more sweet with the generous people behind different brands that shared with us their products. And with that, I am truly grateful.

These sponsors kindly showed us their generosities and provided some of their products while we were having our Alabang staycation. Some of them I am already familiar with, while the others I was just introduced to during that time. Please mind however that this is not a blog post for product reviews, rather, this is a gratitude blog post.

Affordable Friday Lunch Buffet at Prime Café, B Hotel Alabang

Our first meal during our weekend staycation at B Hotel in Alabang was at Prime Café. We were invited to partake of their Friday Lunch Buffet right after checking in to our respective suites and rooms. We came from a long drive from Rizal area to Alabang and we're happy upon knowing that we will be feasting on a spread of good choices of food.

Prime Café is the in-house restaurant of B Hotel that can house 64 person. Located at the ground floor of the hotel, Prime Café which is open from 6am to 11pm from Monday to Saturday, and 6am to 10pm during Sundays, serves breakfast buffet in the morning, ala carte dishes all day, and come Wednesday to Friday, it turns into Prime Bistro where guests may enjoy cocktail drinks and good food while enjoying acoustic band. 

Prime Café's Friday Lunch Buffet is priced at Php 600+ net. for adults and Php300+ net.for kids ages 6 to 12. Drinks are not included on the buffet rate good thing though that those were also affordable compared to other hotels that sells drinks meant to create a hole in your pocket. We were told that Prime Café uses quality organic ingredients for their dishes and menu varies every six months.