Ok, this is actually not the freshest news, but I just had to point it out. 🙂 In the past few months, you may have noticed a lot of changes in Greenwich‘s food line and store make up.

Greenwich Levels Up!

And hence the commercial phrase: “dahil ang favorite pizza chain ninyo, nag-level up na!”

They ‘leveled up‘ a lot of things.

From the regular Hawaiian Pizzas, they leveled it up into a new premium pizza offering called the Ultimate Hawaiian Overload with 2x more Hawaiian toppings of ham, glazed pineapple, smoked bacon and 100% Mozzarella and Cheddar cheese.

Team Manila Designed Pizza Box

And it comes in a stylish generally-black-and-white pizza box designed by Team Manila.

More on food, Greenwich also introduced two new American Lunch Specials: the Quarter Slab Ribs and Thick ‘N Tender Chops. The Tender Chops comes at P179 with java rice, mixed veggies and a regular drink

I have tried the quarter slab ribs and it was good. Surprisingly, it’s only priced at P199 already with java rice, mixed veggies and regular drink. You wouldn’t find that price range for a slab ribs even in non fast casual stores.

Greenwich Quarter Slab Ribs

Greenwich Pizza Fries

The new Greenwich Pizza Fries also serves as a good partner to their pasta and meals. It comes in pepperoni and cheese & garlic flavors plus a special pizza sauce dip.

Wait, there’s more! 🙂

Greenwich Thick n' Tender Chops

The crew also had a ‘level up’ with the stylish and colorful new store team uniforms designed by renowned Randy Ortiz. And finally, to complete the package is their presence on the web with the new Greenwich website www.greenwich.com.ph.

Greenwich Ultimate Hawaiian Overload Pizza

Greenwich started 2010’s first quarter with a bang! Expect to see more from your favorite pizza chain as they continue to ‘Level Up!’

Tapella Restaurant will celebrate Easter with kids and family this Sunday – April 4, 2010.

Jump for joy and have a blast from 4pm-7pm with magics, mimes and clowns! Games and tricks, egg painting contests, balloon twisting, fun filled activities and loads of prizes await kids in the much awaited Easter Egg Hunt.

Tapella Restaurant Easter Sunday

Gather the most number of eggs and get prizes from Star Paper. Kids will be delighted with Dunkin Donuts upon registration. Spaghetti and other kiddie snacks will also be available during the event. For only Php500 nett, kids and family will have a holistic Easter Sunday.

Kids at heart will also enjoy a sumptuous Easter special starting from Php300 and delight in the comforts of Tapella’s serene ambiance.

Tapella is a Spanish dining creation by Gaudi located at Greenbelt 5. Headed by executive Chef Alexandra Cacho, the restaurant specializes in tapas and paellas with a wide range of salads, pasta ,dessert and wines. For inquiries and reservations you may call 7572710.

From a list of almost 500 restaurants endorsed and nominated by Spot.ph readers last year, the judges thereafter shortlisted the nominees. This lead to the announcement  of 13 admired restaurants in each of their categories recently concluded at the Nescafe Gold Spot Awards 2009.

Encore (previous Embassy Superclub) was filled with food industry players, food enthusiasts and the media for an afternoon of foodie glamor and tasty anticipation for the would-be winners of Nescafe Gold Spot Awards 2009.

Nominees, Foodie Enthusiasts and Guests

This year’s judges include Chef Aileen Anastacio, Yummy editor-in-chief Becky Kho, Chef Him Uy de Baron, award-winning blogger Franco of Table for Three Please, food writer and blogger JJ Yulo and actress Cherie Gil.

Ms. Myrza Sison, Editr-in-Chief of Spot.ph with Jonel Uy of NomNomClub.com Food Blog

Mr. Logan O’Brien, Consumer Marketing Manager, Coffee Business Unit, Nestle Philippines

Sponsored by Nescafe, online voting via Spot.ph ended last January 31, 2010. With more than 250,000 votes cast for 55 restaurants in 11 categories (2 categories were purely by the judges), without further adieu,

Manila’s Best Restaurants for 2009 are:

Best Japanese Restaurant – Inagiku
Best Filipino Restaurant – Abe
Best Steakhouse – 22 Prime
Best Delicatessen – Santi’s Delicatessen
Best Bar – Cav Wine Bar and Bistro
Best Chinese Restaurant – Shang Palace
Best Italian Restaurant – Paparazzi
Best Buffet – Spiral
Best Dessert Place – Cupcakes by Sonja

*Best Restaurant Chain – Cibo
*Best Service – Cibo

*New Restaurant of the Year – Lusso
*Restaurant of the Year – Lolo Dad’s

*Best Restaurant Chain and Best Service was solely determined by readers through mobile and online votes while New Restaurant of the Year and Restaurant of the Year were purely from the panel of judges.

22 Prime - Best Steakhouse

Inagiku - Best Japanese Restaurant

Cav Wine Bar And Bistro - Best Bar

Santi's Delicatessen - Best Deli

Abe - Best Filipino Restaurant

Cupcakes By Sonja - Best Dessert Place

Best Buffet - Spiral

Best Chinese Restaurant - Shang Palace

Paparazzi - Best Italian Restaurant

Cibo is the only one which brought home the bacon for two categories while Lolo Dad’s got the most coveted title of Restaurant of the Year.

I have tried Lolo Dad’s Brasserie in Makati where I met Chef Ariel Manuel but I haven’t been to their main branch in Malate. I hope to do so soon.

I shared these information earlier online on-the-spot during the event through my twitter, plurk, and facebook network accounts. Among my networks, Shang Palace got the most cheers which tinkled my fancy about the restaurant.

I want to visit Shang Palace very soon! Congratulations to this year’s Nescafe Gold Spot Awardees!

Sounds familiar? I bet. But this is not your chocolate bar snack, it’s your chocolate flavored Jollibee Sundae.

Jollibee Sundae Toppings

Perhaps trying to move beyond the seasonal stereotype of having Jollibee sundaes only during a hot day or summer, Jollibee is trying to gear their sundae concoctions as something you’d want during a break.

To let call center professionals experience a similar break from work, Jollibee recently visited Sykes Asia call center in Marikina City and surprised  them  with a Jollibee Sundae treat.

It came in three flavors: Rocky Road Brownie Sundae, Black Forest Sundae, and Chocolate Sundae. The target was for about 600 call center agents to experience the sweet and satisfying break with their colleagues..

Syjes Asia Call Center Agents

Yes, I was there. Lucky me,…or so you thought. I had a bad case of colds and cough that day so I had to endure watching them with my favorite servings of sundae.

Jollibee Sundae and Toppings

Although my favorite is the vanilla sundae cone, you can have more options with Jollibee‘s Rocky Road Brownie Sundae and the Black Forest Sundae priced at P36, while the Chocolate Sundae is at P29.

For my personal opinion, although the generous serving of chocolate syrup makes you feel the worth of your buck, I think it can get overly sweet. I hope for more of my sundae and lesser of the chocolate syrup.

My cough is almost gone today, hello Jollibee sundae!

Fifty-two photo entries, three weeks, and one engaging photo contest – this is how we describe Red Ribbon’s Chocolate Heaven cake online contest.

After launching their newest uber-chocolatey cake, Red Ribbon immediately announced the start of Chocolate Heaven cake photo contest looking for the photo that “best expresses how chocolatey the cake is.” Check out the mechanics and article.

One week after the end of the online contest last March 10, 2010, 5 judges from Red Ribbon was able to come up with the top 3 best photos. They had a hard time as there were a lot of very good entries!

Red Ribbon would like to thank all those 52 heavenly entries for participating.

Without further adieu, the winners are:

1st – Jenniffer Go’s “Choco Fingers”
2nd – Rose Declaro Obias’ “Heavenly Sinful”
3rd – Camille Zaballa’s “Gusto Ko Pa!“

Congratulations to the winners!

1st – Jenniffer Go’s “Choco Fingers”

Jenniffer Go's "Choco Fingers" : Mama told me to never play with my food, but I guess we can make an exemption with Red Ribbon's Chocolate Heaven Cake...

2nd – Rose Declaro Obias’ “Heavenly Sinful”

Rose Declaro Obias' "Heavenly Sinful" : To an innocent child, this sinful yummy treat from Red Ribbon is heavenly. To him, he is in Chocolate Heaven with his every bite.

3rd – Camille Zaballa’s “Gusto Ko Pa!”

Camille Zaballa's "Gusto Ko Pa!" : I never knew what heaven was until mommy introduced me to Red Ribbon Chocolate Heaven. Ooh baby, do you know what that's worth? Ooh heaven is a place on earth.

The grand winner receives P3000 worth of Red Ribbon gift certificates, the second placer receives P2000 worth of Red Ribbon gift certificates while the third gets P1000 worth of GCs.

They will be contacted/emailed for their addresses where the gift certificates will be couriered anywhere in the Philippines.

For those who wants to join another contest, check out this Havaianas Flip-Flop USB giveaway!

Continue to enjoy the heavenly Red Ribbon Chocolate Heaven cake!

California Berry is teasing its customers this summer season with its one-day offering of a Free Yogurt serving of their newest seasonal yogurt on March 5, 2010.

The flavor remains to be a secret as this is probably part of the word-of-mouth marketing campaign. So far, it seems to be working and news have reached NomNom Club. 🙂

Known for it’s low calorie fat-free frozen yogurt (“Fro-Yo“), regular price starts at Php60 ($1.30) for the small cup.

Can you guess what the mystery flavor is? The only clue we have is that the new fruit flavor is rich in antioxidant content and health benefits.

You have to note however that the free yogurts are good only for the first 50 customers starting from 2pm to 4pm of each branch on a first-come, first-serve basis (one cup per customer). So if you didn’t make the cut, rush to try the next branch. (LOL) 🙂

* Photo & info source: California Berry Facebook Profile

You can find California Berry outlets at Silver City Ortigas, Greenhills, Robinson’s Galleria, The Fort Strip, Tomas Morato, Paseo Center Makati, SM Megamall, SM North Edsa, SM Southmall, and SM Manila.

Earlier this month, SM Fairview has formally launched the second Annex 2 section of the mall. Although it had a soft launch and opened since early last year with some shops, it’s now brimming with new establishments from food spots to designer clothes and boutiques.

And of course, NomNom was happy to see a wide array of food shops with varying choices including Panciteria Lido, Army Navy, Big Better Burgers, Krispy Kreme and grilled servings from Taipan Grill .

My Thai Restaurant

Experience a flavorful Thai home cooking at My Thai located at the Ground Floor of the SM City Fairview New Annex. There’s even St. Clare international culinary school to complete the foodie complex.

Here are some more photos I got from the recent formal opening of SM Fairview Annex 2:

Krispy Kreme @ SM Fairview

Views From the 2F of SM Fairview Annex 2

Taipan Grill

Mexicali and Teriyako Boy

SM Fairview Mall

Click for more SM Fairview Photos Here.

SM City Fairview’s Palm Drive features al fresco dining as well (top photo).

And of course, the major SM food suppliers: SM Supermarket, SM Foodcourt, and SM Hypermart located at Annex 1 and the main mall.

SM Supermarket, SM Hypermart, Sm Foodcourt

So if you’re around the area, give SM Fairview Annex 2 mall extension a visit and enjoy choosing from the long list of dining options.

The sweetness of Valentine isn’t over just yet! Red Ribbon recently launched its newest and chocolate-full cake – the Chocolate Heaven. In connection to this, Red Ribbon has formed an online photo contest where would-be participants can take a photo of themselves, family, or others showing a ‘heavenly‘ expression while eating the new Red Ribbon Chocolate Heaven.

Chocolate Heaven Cake Slice

Those who best expresses how chocolatey the cake is can win thousands worth of Red Ribbon gift certificates.

Be creative and imaginative in your entries as this comprise a major part of the criteria. The photo should include the Chocolate Heaven cake – in whole or even just a slice.

How To Join

Submit and upload this entry at

http://NomNomClub.com/red-ribbon-chocolate-heaven-photo-contest/submit/

anytime until March 10, 2010.
Include a 130-character photo caption in the submission form. The caption should include the words “Red Ribbon” and “Chocolate Heaven“. Filipinos above 18yrs old with a valid Philippine address is qualified to join.

See Full Mechanics Here

Winners will be announced in this blog on March 17, 2010.

Submit Now! It’s that simple! 🙂

Chocolate Heaven Layers

Criteria for Judging:

View Photo Entries Here

Prizes:

Grand Winner – Php 3000 worth of Red Ribbon Gift Certificates

2nd Place Winner – Php 2000 worth of Red Ribbon Gift Certificates

3rd Place Winner – Php 1000 worth of Red Ribbon Gift Certificates

Photo Requirements:

1. Photo should not exceed 2MB in size.
2. Only basic editing of the photo is allowed including cropping, brightness, and contrast.
3. The photo should not have any watermarks on it to avoid bias during judging.
4. As Red Ribbon honors proper copyright procedures, submitted photos are assumed and should be owned by the one who submitted the entry.
5. No exclusivity clause involved. Contestant retains ownership of the photo and can post it in their blogs or other social network photo albums

Red Ribbon Chocolate Heaven

Make sure though that you hold the copyright of the photos you submit. Submitted photos will not be sold or used by this blog or the contest sponsor in any other ways except for general promotional purposes of the contest.

So capture your heavenly expressions while nomnoming the divine Red Ribbon Chocolate Heaven cake and join this contest! 🙂