The early days of the seminar tackled issues on dining set-up, services and standard gastronomy. Led by a member of the Board of Directors of the Council of Hotel and Restaurant Educators of the Philippines (COHREP), Ms. Noemi Cancio, the students were taught the realities of food service in the country and the importance of knowledge in cuisines. Also known as a gourmand, chef, and educator-specialist in her field, Cancio is an expert on the art of wines and food pairing, and on the artistic correlation of dishes to human satisfaction.

Steak Angelique Duet with vegetable in Potato Gaufrette sauced with Panedes Black Label 78 Demiglace

I sampled a soup duet of Potage Parmentier and Potage Cercy. The soups were well made: the Parmentier out of veal and the Crecy out of chicken.

After the soups, a special Pacific Rim salad was served in generous amounts. The salad was highlighted with slices of seared salmon on a bed of Nicoise salad with an Aspic-variation of red-wine jelly out of beef consommé and a Panedes Black Label 78 wine reduction in jelly. The lettuce was sprinkled with Provencal Vinaigrette and some almonds.

The entrée was a Poulet Roti, or roast chicken, which was mixed with Mediterranean herbs such as paprika, cayenne, rosemary and garlic. It was served with mashed potato rosettes and Mornay sauce, and house-baked baguettes with fresh parsley.

The dessert was quite incredible; I had a mochi-macapuno ice cream lined with dark chocolate crème a’la carte (or Cognac-Ganache), with some roasted desiccated coconut. It was served with a cinnamon biscotti topping. It was great, and according to the chef who refused to be mentioned, it was his tribute to Philippine dessert cuisine. "It’s simply palitaw made out of ground glutinous rice," he said with pride. It was simply heaven.

During the technical seminars, Claire Bernardo, a professor and specialist on F&B and dining management, immersed the students in a crash-course on service standards. Professor Cancio with Ms. Bernardo differentiated hotel and service standards between an academic setting and industrial reality.

Both guided the students on the critical importance of "restauratif" service and thematic dining and treatment. Students were given analytical questions on the basic principles of dining customers, and doctrines of the epicurean table. Students were taught how to deal with matters in a psychosocial manner.

Famous psychologist and educator Pete Montero discussed topics on good and bad customer relations and what should be done about it. With Ms. Cancio and Ms. Bernardo, Professor Montero unified the whole course with the standardized principles of service. But, of course, I was more focused on the food.

During the synthesis last Friday, I paid attention to the cuisine. The synthesis began with an appetizer of asparagus maltaise bouchet by Chef Roque, served with a lettuce salad with orange confit and citron vinaigrette.

Everything in the menu was treated with orange. The team led by Professor Cancio dubbed the banquet "Le Orangerie".

A thing that stood out was the shrimp citronette chowder al’diana, of shrimp Brittany soup-base with wild mushrooms, topped with orange-sautéed prawns with basil and pepper, and was topped with a cassis cream in vongole essence.

It was very good, and it prepared my palate well for the entrée: angelique two steak pasta duet with two sauces.

The two steaks were sirloin marinated in garlic-anchovy sauce in olive oil, and filet of rib eye in mustard, rosemary and thyme. It was served with a Spanish-vintage wine, Demiglace, and Parsley Beurre Blanc. The dessert was crepes chez soi (home style Suzette) filled with filberts, and was served with vanilla ice cream, and curacao-orange sauce with Grand Marnier. They were really good.

After the meals, I realized indeed that gastronomy will always be in the hands of the youth. And of course, our country’s F&B development will always be the legacy of untiring educators.