Ambassador Carlson Joins Culinary Advocates in Reimagining Filipino Heirloom Dishes with California Raisins

Manila, July 8, 2025—U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines MaryKay Carlson joined James Beard Award-winning food content producer Erwan Heussaff and renowned chefs Angelo Comsti and Don Baldosano in preparing a four-course menu to showcase traditional Filipino dishes paired with the premium quality and versatility of California raisins. 

“Our shared love for food brings Filipinos and Americans closer together.  It’s an honor to be among such talented and passionate culinary champions to celebrate the richness and diversity of Philippine cuisine,” said Ambassador Carlson during the media event held on July 8 at Offbeat Bistro, a newly opened modern-retro Filipino restaurant in Makati City.   “California raisins provide sweetness, flavor, and texture that perfectly complement traditional Filipino dishes.”

Ambassador Carlson joined Mr. Heussaff in preparing the main dish, “Steak Frites and Potato Pave with California Raisins and Roasted Eggplant Sauce,” pairing the richness of seared steak with a sauce made from talong, or eggplant—a staple in Pinoy households—elevated by the natural sweetness of California raisins.  Mr. Heussaff also presented an appetizer featuring malasugi, the local term for swordfish, complemented by coconut cream and a California raisins tapenade.

Chef Comsti’s recipe featured bacoco, a local term for sea bream, paired with a kusido-style California raisins sauce inspired by the traditional Filipino stew known for its rich, slow-cooked flavors.  For dessert, Chef Baldosano reimagined sorbetes, the iconic Filipino-style ice cream traditionally sold from street carts, using milk and California raisins, accompanied by a crisp milk tuile and bold burnt raisin oil.

The event was supported by the Raisin Administrative Committee, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service in Manila, and the U.S. Embassy in Manila.

California raisins are naturally sun-dried, free of additives, and rich in fiber, antioxidants, and essential minerals.  They are a versatile ingredient that enhances savory dishes and adds sweetness to desserts, making them a perfect complement to Filipino cuisine.

In 2024, the Philippines ranked as the fifth-largest global market for California raisin exports, totaling Php522.5 million ($9.5 million).  During this year, the United States was the leading exporter of raisins to the Philippines, with an 80 percent market share.

HISTORIA, CULINARIA, Y CULTURA: A Celebration of Philippine Independence Day Through Food, Fashion & Culture

Experience a celebration of Philippine Independence Day like no other when HISTORIA, CULINARIA, Y CULTURA kicks off on June 8, 2019. The 2-day festival celebrates 121 years of Philippine Independence through a showcase of heritage food, fashion and culture in Taal Heritage Town, Taal, Batangas.

The Historia aspect aims to educate visitors on interesting and little known facts about Philippine significant segments in Philippine history, particularly on the aspects of art and architecture. There will be talks by experts on Philippine History Art and Architecture, and guided tours to historical places in Taal—especially the houses of illustrious Filipino families that have helped achieve Filipino nationhood.

There will also be Film Showings featuring momentous period films that showcase the skill and soul of noted Filipino filmmakers. Apart from that, amateur and professional photographers will display their snapshots of Taal’s historical places in a 2-day Photo Contest.

Culinaria Filipina will be highlighted during the Pop Up Lunch. Here the the Malolos Congress menu will be recreated and served in one of Taal’s ancestral house where the attendees will be required to put on full period costume.

Calle Tienda, on the other hand, is a 2-day food fair (from June 8 to 9) to be held at Taal’s Social Plaza featuring local and fusion Filipino delicacies. On Calle Jose Diokno, topnotch Filipino culinary artists will conduct food demos on popular Filipino delicacies, traditional cuisine, and long-lost heritage menus.

Cultura, the distinctive Filipino culture which marries Western and Eastern influences into one fluid and vibrant way of life, becomes the inspiration of 3 centerpiece events. The “Mutya at Ginoo ng Kultura”, is the first ever search for the male and female ambassadors who embody Filipino cultural ideals and promote heritage tourism by advocating the preservation and conservation of local culture.

In cooperation with the Lyric Opera of the Philippines, or LyrOpera, “Kundiman ng Lahi”, on the other hand, is a concert of well-loved Filipino music that highlights the different aspects of the Filipino psyche.

As a fitting finale, the grand “Historia en La Moda” is a fashion exposition gala that traces the evolution of traditional Filipino attire from pre-Hispanic times to the genteel days of the pre-war era. “Historia en la Moda” will see the masterful creations of Manila’s top fashion designers as they capture the transformations of the Philippine traditional wear.

These events will happen on June 8 and 9 , 6:00 pm, at the Taal Social Plaza in Calle Mariño-Agoncillo, Taal Heritage Town, Taal, Batangas.

“HISTORIA, CULINARIA, Y CULTURA” is one of the advocacy programs of CASA HISTORIA, a group spearheaded by acclaimed designer Lito Perez and includes members from different professions and endeavors who share a passion for Filipino arts, culture and history.

Perez started the daring initiative to help preserve architectural legacies—an integral part of the rich tapestry of Filipino cultural heritage—in danger of being torn down. In Perez’s vision, past clutches hands with the present to assure the survival of these architectural gems by giving them a significant purpose in the contemporary setting without compromising their integrity and soul. This strategy assures the structures’ continued existence, while re-purposing it for a new function and pumping new life into these ancestral mansions.

In the past couple of years Casa Historia has preserved and maintained houses like Villa Tortuga (Taal, Batangas), Arce Mansion (Vigan, Ilocos Sur) and Casa La Demetria (Pagsanjan, Laguna). Perez has also served as a consultant for the restoration of Ning Balemi (Pampanga), Villa Saryaya (Sariaya, Quezon), Tampuhan Café (Taal, Batangas), and Casa Asunción (Balayan, Batangas) which is owned by the famous actor Leo Martinez. Currently in the process is one of the oldest houses in the Philippines Villa San Vicente in Vigan Ilocos Sur, as well as a few other houses waiting to be restored and given a new life: Casa Lilang (Taal, Batangas), and the Historic Noble House in Caysasay, Batangas.

Visit our Facebook page @HistoriaCulinariayCultura and @casahistoria  you can call us at Globe: 0927-9751683 or  0916-6336706 Smart: 0961-2523338

Sustainability First

Local tourism industry players, particularly luxury hotels and resorts are now adopting the principle of sustainability in their operations. More and more upscale establishments seek to ensure that how they do business creates the least impact on the environment, through proper management and planning controls, even as they continue to provide clients the first-class amenities, facilities and services they expect.

Initiatives that promote sustainability have become timely and important globally and nationally primarily because sustainability makes perfect business sense. By taking care of the environment and the communities where they operate, businesses make a positive impact on society, the local economy and the bottom line and ensure their own long-term survival.

Club Paradise Palawan, a premier resort managed by the Discovery Leisure Company, is among those forward-looking properties that have realized sustainability is good for business.  It has been proactive in protecting and sustaining the environment in its day-to-day operations through their program ECOCONSERVE.

ECOCONSERVE aims to rebuild, protect, and conserve the environment. It is one of the sustainability initiatives of the Discovery Group, which also supports the annual Sustainable Seafood Week and the Heirloom Rice Project in the Cordillera region.

A showcase project of Club Paradise Palawan, ECOCONSERVE can be a model for other companies
“Sustainability and environmental consciousness is one of the organization’s top priorities”, says Mr. Joegil Escobar, Resort Manager.  “We see them as part and parcel of our responsibility to act as stewards for the environment, working hand-in-hand with the communities we serve in caring for nature.”
Through ECOCONSERVE, Club Paradise Palawan promotes “nurture nature" through the following activities:

Ensure the protection of Club Paradise Palawan’s 700-meter pristine beach, situated in a Biosphere Reserve of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization that is a nesting site for Hawksbill and Green Sea Turtles.

Annually, from November to January, around 200 turtle hatchlings are released to the ocean.

Club Paradise Palawan is also committed to protect the azure waters that surround it against illegal fishermen. It acts as "Sea Guardians" of marine ecosystems and reefs.

The Discovery Scouts program aims to develop in children love for Mother Earth. It organizes different activities daily at 4 p.m. at the Tree House.

At the Firefish Restaurant and Lounge, delightful international and homegrown comfort cuisine is served using ingredients from sustainable sources. The Resort’s own Taranuman Farm, for instance, supplies fresh herbs and vegetables so guests can enjoy true farm-to-table dishes.

The verdant 19 hectares where Club Paradise Palawan’s island resort is located is home to beautiful birds, fruit bats and other wildlife. A dense forest cover provides a natural habitat for these creatures. Club Paradise Palawan takes seriously the job of caring for trees to ensure their friends have a place to live.

In the pipeline is a water desalination plant to provide the island a drought-proof, alternative water supply.

Club Paradise Palawan also undertakes regularly beach clean-up activities with the help of volunteers. It practices waste segregation by providing color-coded garbage bins within the property.

With all these eco-friendly initiatives, Club Paradise Palawan is showing the way forward and demonstrating that sustainability makes perfect business sense for the long term.

Something New is Cooking at Restaurant Verbena

Make sure to put Restaurant Verbena in your Tagaytay food trip check-list because they’ve got a revamped menu with new exciting selections.

Seafood lovers are in for a treat with the Prawn Linguine, Tuna Burger, Fillet of Barramundi and Spanish Sardines Pasta. For those with an insatiable appetite for meat, the hearty Double Pork Chop or Braised Beef in Red Wine will satisfy any craving. It may be tempting to indulge, but leave room for dessert! Your sweet tooth will be spoiled with the Walnut Pie, Chocolate Orange Tart and the Classic Chocolate Cake!

Chef Jay Jay Sycip keeps his creations simple while spicing up the menu and offering more variety. Sycip also keeps dining casual but refined, with high quality ingredients at prices that give customers value for their money. He also stays true to his vision of sustainability, with a selection of Restaurant Verbena’s produce for the new menu items sourced directly from partner farms. Make sure to try the Kale, as well as the Thai Roast Beef Salad, with all ingredients sourced from neighboring farms. Not only does the new menu fit well into Sycip’s vision but he believes

More exciting dishes await you at Restaurant Verbena, so be sure to book a table today to get first dibs!

Insider Tip: Book a table online at https://www.discoverycountrysuites.com/best-restaurant-tagaytay/ and get a 10% discount.

Restaurant Verbena is located at Discovery Country Suites, 300 Calamba Road, San Jose, Tagaytay City, and is open daily from 7:30 AM to 9:30 PM. For inquiries and reservations call +63 2 529-8172, e-mailreservations@dcs.discovery.com.ph, or visit https://www.discoverycountrysuites.com/best-restaurant-tagaytay/

ABOUT RESTAURANT VERBENA

Restaurant Verbena is the multi-awarded gourmet gem of Discovery Country Suites, serving the culinary creations of Executive Chef David Pardo de Ayala. Set in the cozy elegance of this lakeside retreat, Verbena pairs the rich, stimulating flavors of contemporary fusion cuisine with the comforting ingredients of farm-fresh country food. The menu is complemented by a prestigious wine list of renowned international labels. Verbena's hearty country breakfasts are a highlight of every stay at Discovery Country Suites, as are the sophisticated selections of wine and cheese served at sundown. Stay up to date & follow them:

Make sure to put Restaurant Verbena in your Tagaytay food trip check-list because they’ve got a revamped menu with new exciting selections.

Seafood lovers are in for a treat with the Prawn Linguine, Tuna Burger, Fillet of Barramundi and Spanish Sardines Pasta. For those with an insatiable appetite for meat, the hearty Double Pork Chop or Braised Beef in Red Wine will satisfy any craving. It may be tempting to indulge, but leave room for dessert! Your sweet tooth will be spoiled with the Walnut Pie, Chocolate Orange Tart and the Classic Chocolate Cake!

Chef Jay Jay Sycip keeps his creations simple while spicing up the menu and offering more variety. Sycip also keeps dining casual but refined, with high quality ingredients at prices that give customers value for their money. He also stays true to his vision of sustainability, with a selection of Restaurant Verbena’s produce for the new menu items sourced directly from partner farms. Make sure to try the Kale, as well as the Thai Roast Beef Salad, with all ingredients sourced from neighboring farms. Not only does the new menu fit well into Sycip’s vision but he believes

More exciting dishes await you at Restaurant Verbena, so be sure to book a table today to get first dibs!

Insider Tip: Book a table online at https://www.discoverycountrysuites.com/best-restaurant-tagaytay/ and get a 10% discount.

Restaurant Verbena is located at Discovery Country Suites, 300 Calamba Road, San Jose, Tagaytay City, and is open daily from 7:30 AM to 9:30 PM. For inquiries and reservations call +63 2 529-8172, e-mailreservations@dcs.discovery.com.ph, or visit https://www.discoverycountrysuites.com/best-restaurant-tagaytay/

ABOUT RESTAURANT VERBENA

Restaurant Verbena is the multi-awarded gourmet gem of Discovery Country Suites, serving the culinary creations of Executive Chef David Pardo de Ayala. Set in the cozy elegance of this lakeside retreat, Verbena pairs the rich, stimulating flavors of contemporary fusion cuisine with the comforting ingredients of farm-fresh country food. The menu is complemented by a prestigious wine list of renowned international labels. Verbena's hearty country breakfasts are a highlight of every stay at Discovery Country Suites, as are the sophisticated selections of wine and cheese served at sundown. Stay up to date & follow them: Facebook: /DiscoveryCountrySuites/
Twitter: @DCSTagaytay
Instagram: @discoverycountrysuites

Discovery Hotels and Resorts Cooks Up Their First Culinary Cup

The Discovery Leisure Company, Inc. (TDLCI), a homegrown group of hotels and resorts, held the first Culinary Cup, which would be an annual event, at the Columbus function room of Discovery Suites Manila. The friendly inter-hotel competition allowed TDLCI’s various Food and Beverage teams to showcase their culinary skills. The event was sponsored by Wine Warehouse, San Miguel Beer and Meliomar, which provided fresh, sustainable seafood.

All five hotels of TDLCI - Discovery Shores Boracay, Club Paradise Palawan, Discovery Country Suites Tagaytay, Discovery Suites Manila and Discovery Primea Makati - competed for the Culinary Cup trophies in three categories: Culinary, Bartending and Table-setting.

Judges were renowned foodies: journalist Cheryl Tiu, accomplished restaurateur Happy Ongpauco-Tiu, social influencer Spanky Enriquez and lifestyle blogger Chuckie Dreyfus. TDLCI president John Tiu and chief operating officer Jun Parreño attended the event.

“Our F&B teams are a source of pride for us,” said TDLCI corporate chef and Food and Beverage director Anthony Raymond. “Our bars and restaurants have the best local talents who are innovative and pioneering. I’m happy to say we made history with our first Culinary Cup.”

Winners of the first Culinary Cups were chefs Ricky Bernas and Bernard Lauron of Discovery Shores Boracay, who won gift certificates for a stay in Discovery Country Suites Tagaytay. Albert Cartagena of Discovery Primea won the bartending competition, while Brienard Alavado of Discovery Suites Manila topped the table-setting contest.

Visit www.discoveryhotels-resorts.com for restaurant bookings and inquiries.

Global Culinary Experts to join World Street Food Congress 2017 in Manila

Top heritage street food vendors and celebrity chefs from across the globe will soon flock Manila for an exciting five days of gastronomic adventure of local and international street food at the World Street Food Congress (WSFC) 2017.  Happening on May 31 – June 4, 2017 at the SM Mall of Asia Concert Grounds, these experts will be sharing insights, developments and opportunities in street food heritage and culture in the World Street Food Dialogue. Over 30 authentic street food vendors from 13 nations, including Philippines, will be flown in to dazzle the foodies at the World Street Food Jamboree component.

Leading the roster of dialogue speakers are Anthony Bourdain, international food and travel celebrity, and Greg Drescher who is currently the vice-president of strategic initiatives and industry leadership at The Culinary Institute of America (CIA). Joining him are our country’s very own culinary maven, Claude Tayag, who specializes in Kapampangan dishes and owns the famous Bale Datung as well as Sau Del Rosario who is a proud owner of the popular modern Kapampangan café, Café Fleur and 25 Seeds, SARSA’s JP Anglo, and Rafael Jardeleza who is the founder of project director of the annual Tabu-an Western Visayas Ilonggo Heritage Cooking Competition and Food Fair.

Also included in the list of speakers are Mai Pham, author of several award-winning cookbooks including The Best of Vietnamese & Thai Cooking, Pleasures of the Vietnamese Table and Flavours of Asia and, Malcolm Lee who is the head chef and owner of the first Michelin-starred Peranakan restaurant, Candlenut, to name a few.

Curated by K.F. Seetoh and organized by Makansutra and presented by the Department of Tourism (DOT) and the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB), this year’s WSFC17 is bigger and better with over 50 kinds of street food representing 13 different countries in over 30 stalls plus pop-up booths.

Aside from World Street Food Dialogue, the event will also host the World Street Food Jamboree, where you can sample different local and international street food and at the same time mingle with celebrity chefs at the cooking demo; and the World Street Food Awards, where the best of industry professionals will be awarded.

WSFC is one of the world’s biggest food destinations and with an even bigger and better event this year, it will sure to attract more global attention. This paves the way for the Philippines to be recognized as one of the world’s most go-to food destinations.

Wild Juan - Chef Thomas Murillo

April is a busy month for a good number of people in the food service industry as Madrid Fusion 2017 takes place.  From April 6 – 8, 2017 at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City, people from near and far places come together to share their passion for food.  Part of the delegation representing Calabarzon is the chef behind the placed tagged as “definitely not your ordinary food find among the rising places at Tagaytay Ridge”; this is Chef Thomas Murillo of Wild Juan.

His love for food started young and he took his first step towards it during his sophomore year as a Consular and Diplomatic Affairs student at the College of Saint Benilde.  He decided to take commercial cooking and culinary arts at First Gourmet Academy and had his apprenticeship at 2nds after.  This lead him further by becoming one of the pioneering member behind Paprika PH and years later his own restaurant at a family-owned place at Tagaytay Ridge.  Wild Juan is born.

Wild Juan bears the concept of East meets West and is delivered with the hospitality of Filipinos in the Southern part of Luzon.   His food creations are something that we are all familiar with but are delivered with a twist and flair.  Perfect sample are the Sisig Paksiw, Krispy Kasoy Kare-Kare (KKK) and Gumbulalo.  Three common dishes but comes with a new level of flavor and goodness due to techniques and passion.

Learning never ends for Chef Thomas as he earns his NCII Commercial Cooking and ServSafe:  Food Safety & Sanitation certificates.  He pushes himself to be the best and at par to the world, thus making his quality for food high and passion much higher.  He doesn’t stop there as he then shares his knowledge and passion this coming Madrid Fusion 2017 to foreign delegates and proudly represent Calabarzon.

Chef Thomas Murillo, stays humble yet proud of his craft thus from love of food it now is a burning passion.  Come at the biggest food event this season at the SMX in Pasay or visit Wild Juan located at KM 68 Tagaytay-Nasugbu Highway and experience the comfort and passion that he shares at every plate served.

The Wild Juan is located at KM 68 Pinesville, Tagaytay- Nasugbu(National) Highway, Tagaytay City, 4120, Philippines

For Inquiries/reservation: +63 9154324196    +63 9178404211