Mr. Spinosi, Eating out loud (Photo by RUDY LIWANAG)

MANILA, Philippines — As soon as he enters the dining room in a colorful necktie and cherry red pants and singing along to an Italian song in his IPad, we immediately know that Vincenzo Spinosi is not the silent type. A spry, lithe man in his early 60s, Mr. Spinosi was introduced to us as “The King of Pasta,” but as the man himself would tell you, the word “pasta” is something he would gladly remove from our vocabulary.

After he kisses and welcomes all the ladies at the table like old friends, he introduces Vanda Angellozzi, a lovely young woman whose family has been harvesting truffles for five generations. Her family’s products will make their way to our table today, too, much to our excitement. She tells us about her family’s farm in the Marche region and we pass around a golf ball-sized white truffle to much cooing and swooning.

Mr. Spinosi jokes that each sniff was worth 20 euros. We wish that we had the good sense to pop the whole thing in our mouths. The chefs would kill us, but there are worse ways to die than with a smile on your face and a fragrant treasure on your tongue.

It soon becomes evident that truffle-related assault would not be necessary, though, as Mr. Spinosi, Chef Daniele Turco of Hotel Gritti Palace in Venice and Shangri-La Makati’s Chef Domenico Franco begin preparing one of the day’s dishes before our eyes.

While Chef Daniele makes a white truffle and butter sauce (and damn near kills us with the aroma), Mr. Spinosi starts cooking his Spinosini. “What is Spinosini,” you ask? Well, it’s one of the many varieties of pasta that Spinosi makes. Oops, there’s that “P” word again! “When people eat, I don’t want them to say, ‘I’m making pasta tonight.’ I want them to say, ‘I’m making Spinosini or SpinoBelli for dinner,’” Mr. Spinosi says, as he gently stirs the vivid yellow Spinosini in the pot.

How is it any different from the other pas... err... Spino... err... non-Spinosi noodles? Mr. Spinosi struggles to explain in English, but with his trusty IPad (which he has kept in front of us to provide a soundtrack and a visual presentation of what his company is about), he shows us how he makes the noodles. Imagine a vat of bright yellow eggs going into vat of flour without any water or extenders.

Then imagine all that good stuff being rolled out by hand. Now, how many can claim that their dry pasta contains only two ingredients? Spinosini is even more special because the chickens’ diet gives their eggs a healthy dose of Omega 3. It’s good stuff, and it gives us an even better reason to dive into the Spinosi with butter and Angellozzi white truffles.

Alas, our plans are foiled once again! Mr. Spinosi places the ethereal creation in the middle of the table and forbids us to touch it because it’s “for display” and we’ll have a taste after the first course. You might as well have dangled a jug of water just out of reach of a man dying of thirst, Mr. Spinosi! Thankfully, an appetizer of Beef Tartare with Mesculin and Angellozzi Black Truffle rescues us from our despair. Picquant and slightly tart, the melt-in-your-mouth beef works well with the slightly crunchy earthiness of the truffles and the bitter greens. The quail egg yolk finishes the dish by covering it with a creamy, golden sauce. It is light, but satisfying and it really does highlight the black truffles, which are generously and artfully scattered on the platter, like autumn leaves.

Instead of keeping our appetites at bay, however, the beef tartare makes us even more ravenous. Finally, Mr. Spinosi brings out the Spinosini with Butter and Angellozzi White Truffle that he and Chef Turco made earlier. Silence engulfs the table. The rich butter and truffle sauce is pure luxury. Forget Wall Street. We want to start an Occupy Angellozzi Tartuficoltura movement! But that Spinosini…( Mr. Spinosi, you have ruined pasta for us, perhaps forever.)

The Spinosini tastes like no other pasta we have tasted before. That is not lip service. Even fresh pasta would have a hard time competing with this. The firmness of the Spinosini is similar to that of the best Chinese noodles after they have been stretched a million times. Each strand of Spinosini (or is it Spinosino?) snaps like a rubberband between the teeth, its texture so perfect with the velvety sauce.

And the taste! Most of the time, store-bought pasta has so little taste that it merely serves as a vehicle for a sauce. The Spinosini imparts its own flavor to the dish, lending more than a hint of egginess. It’s almost a shame to eat another dish. We want to keep the taste in our mouths for as long as possible.

Of course, we quickly forget that idea as soon as the Angellozzi White Truffle Gratinated Veal Fillet, Potato and Seasonal Vegetables arrives. It’s a very comforting dish, like a reimagining of a simple meat and potatoes dish, but more luxurious.

The veal is pink and perfectly seared, but our favorite part, apart from the truffles, is the lovely bed of sheet-thin potatoes. Hearty and unabashedly savory, it’s the perfect follow-up to the light Spinosini.

And there’s still dessert. Dessert with truffles? Why not? Before we eat, Mr. Spinosi takes a picture of our plate, which would probably make it to the IPad audiovisual presentation very soon. All throughout lunch, the man regaled us with stories (mostly in Italian, but we’re not complaining) and went from one person to the next like an Energizer bunny.

There are no Spinosi products in the dessert, but he’s happy to talk about it, nonetheless. The Chocolate Fondant with Angellozzi White Truffle Essence is surrounded by black and red berries and a bright yellow gooseberry. It’s a great ending to a meal that went from light to heavy in every course, with the lava-hot, creamy fondant being tempered by the tart and juicy berries. Like the other dishes and Mr. Spinosi, it does not whisper shyly. It screams.

It is said that a dish shows the passion and the personality of the person who cooked it. This is evident in Mr. Spinosi’s case. He is a man who clearly loves food and life and is eager to share both with the world. His products are the same. They pop out of the plate and share their history through taste. They’re not merely “a man and his food”, but “an experience.”

Vincenzo Spinosi and Chef Daniele Turco will share their exclusive menu at Red at Shangri-La Makati until November 26. For inquiries and reservations, please call the Makati Shangri-La Restaurant Reservations and Information Centre at 813-8888 ext. 7588 / 7599.