Aside from freedom and independence, the ideals of ‘Fourth of July‘ is deep set within the American pop culture — inspiring music, literature, films and even food! This males July 4 more than just a date in the calendar, a celebration, an anniversary.

Just like with T.G.I.Friday’s, it has become a way of life that most Americans live by.

T.G.I. Friday’s Fourth of July Promo

TGIFriday’s 4th of July Promo

The USA may be across the Pacific ocean from the Philippines, but this did not prevent Filipinos to celebrate with our American friends.

July 4 is also Filipino-American Friendship Day. Let us commemorate it the true-blue American restaurant in our midst – T.G.I. Friday’s!

First established in New York in 1971, and was first brought in the Philippines in 1994 by the acclaimed Bistro Group of restaurants, T.G.I. Friday’s has become an authority in quality American casual dining.

Since it’s all about celebrating, we will give you another reason to boost your celebratory mood. Everyone’s favorite Chicken Fingers, with its good old juicy glory, will be available at 50% off as a Fourth of July treat at only P 148!

NomNomClub Contest

To celebrate the T.G.I. Friday’s Fourth of July promo even further, you can be one of the three winners of T.G.I. Friday gift certificates worth P 1,500! Simply join the Rafflecopter contest below from today until 8pm of July 4, 2013. We will announce the 3 winners by 10pm of the same day.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks to our T.G.I. Friday’s Philippines contest sponsor. Happy 4th of July to our American foodie friends and be a winning hero with T.G.I.Friday’s Fourth of July Promo!

For the ‘Superdads‘ in our lives, it’s not really about the gifts, but the thought which they appreciate the most. So this Father’s Day, in case you are at a lost on what to get your dad, a simple Red Ribbon Father’s Day cake would surely be considered a sweet gesture.

When we were young, we considered our father to be our Superman, because even after work, he would still spend time playing games with us, share stories and even help us with our homework.

This weekend, say thank you to your Superdad with the limited edition Red Ribbon Father’s Day Black Forest Cake.

Red Ribbon Father’s Day Cake

The Father’s Day cake is available in all Red Ribbon branches for two days only – June 15 and 16, 2013 for the price of P550. The Black Forest cake is made with moist chocolate cake filled with cream and cherries and topped with chocolates and cherries.

Most importantly, share the Red Ribbon Father’s Day cake with him and the whole family. The simple gesture will go a long way.

It’s time for Filipino dishes to take centerstage as the Electrolux Discover-E Food Festival weekend happens soon!

Electrolux Discover-E Food Festival

Discover Delicious through a variety of food stalls serving scrumptious Neo-Filipino food! Set to be held at the NBC Tent, Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City, on Saturday, June 15 & 16, 2013, Electrolux wil be hosting cooking demos and a Media Cook Off Challenge, among others.

Celebrity Chef Endorsers Chef Bruce Lim & Chef Rosebud Benitez

Come in as chef-in-the-making or a Filipino food connoisseur where an open functional Electrolux kitchen will give everyone a hands-on kitchen experience. “Consumers will be asked to try out our kitchen display in the Electrolux Mobile Home and cook something with the assistance of our stay-in chef,” explains Andrea Pionilla, Group Product Manager, Electrolux Philippines.

Food Festival Activities

Starting at 11:00 AM, guests and attendees can also enjoy the taste of favorite Filipino flavors from the different food stalls at the venue while Electrolux celebrity endorsers Chef Bruce Lim and Chef Rosebud Benitez lead the cooking demos and workshops. Participants of the Media Cook Off Challenge can also get a chance to win Electrolux kitchen appliances! What do you know, you might even see some range cookers offering double and single ovens.

Up Dharma Down & Baihana

There would also be live entertainment featuring live performances. Prepare to sing and dance with Baihana on June 15 and Up Dharma Down on June 16 as they complement the festive mood of the foodies.

How to Get Your Tickets

One-day entrance tickets costs P50 online (ie: Ensogo) but the 1st 10 NomNom Club readers to comment in the section below gets to join for free. One day Entrance Ticket to the Electrolux DiscoverE Food Festival :

• Access to unique food merchants showcasing Filipino & Neo-Filipino Cuisine.
• Cooking Demos by Chef Bruce Lim & Chef Rosebud Benitez
• Performances from Up Dharma Down &Baihana
• Inter-School Discover-E Cooking Challenge
• Open Kitchen – Cook anything you like, it’s on us
• Chef’s Little Apprentice – Kids learn how to cook from the master Chefs
• Special Promotion on Electrolux Appliances

Discover-E Food Festival Passport

Program Flow

Day 1 – June 15, 2013 Saturday

• 11:00AM – Food Festival Opening with hosts Chico, Delamar& Gino
• 2:00PM – Student Cook-Off Elimination Round
• 6:00PM – Cooking Demo
• 7:00PM – Announcement of Finalist & Raffle
• 8:00PM – Performance from Baihana

Day 2 – June 16, 2013 Saturday

• 10:00AM – Chef’s Little Apprentice
• 12:30PM – Raffle
• 1:00PM – Student Cook-Off –Semi-Finals
• 3:00PM – Cooking Demo
• 4:00PM – Student Cook-Off –Grand Finals
• 7:00PM – Raffle / Games
• 8:00PM – Performance from Up Dharma Down

Electrolux Discover-E Food Festival NBC Tent, 8th avenue corner Katipunan Circle, Bonifacio Global City (across the FORT STRIP, walking distance from ROX,Bonifacio High Street) Website: www.electrolux.com.ph/discover-e Twitter: www.twitter.com/ElectroluxPH

Neo-Filipino Food @ Electrolux Discover-E Food Festival

So save the date and join NomNom Club this foodie weekend at the very first Electrolux Food Festival with a neo-filipino twist and lots of fun surprises!

A bonfire is not only found at the beach front encircled by a group of people for an activity, it is also a new restaurant where people can gather for a simple get-together or a  celebration.

Bonfire Restaurant

Replacing Sumosam at the Greenhills Town Center, Bonfire Restaurant opened just a few months ago offering straightforward comfort-food. Although they are slowly getting known for their steaks and baby back ribs, I love them for their pizza more.

Here is a straightforward list of Bonfire dishes you shouldn’t miss: at Bonfire Restaurant

1. Shrimp, Mango, and Alfalfa Salad

Start your meal right with the Shrimp, Mango, and Alfalfa Salad (P185) as appetizer. It’s a handful toss of fresh shrimp, mango, and alfalfa salad combination good for 2 persons. It will clean your palette ready for the main dishes.

Shrimp, Mango, Alfalfa Salad

2. All-in-One Pizza

The All-in-One Pizza is similar to the super supreme pizza which you are familiar with, only better. Topped with ground beef, olives, button mushrooms, bell pepper, and more, It’s a really tasty treat priced at P340 per serving.

All-in-One Pizza

3. Bonfire Grilled Chicken Pizza

And when you thought you already had All-in-One Pizza above, it just gets better with the Bonfire Grilled Chicken Pizza (P295). The chicken strips complemented well with the cheese on thin crust highlighted by the brown sauce you can see from the photo. I wasn’t able to confirm though if this was some kind of barbecue-related sauce.

Moreover, it was odd to find grapes slices on a pizza but they’re not bad at all. This is actually the flagship dish in this list; at least for me. It was not named after the restaurant for nothing.

Bonfire Grilled Chicken Pizza

4. Pan Seared Creamy Dory and Spinach Fillet

And now for the first main dish – the Pan Seared Creamy Dory and Spinach Fillet. Seemingly shy and covered with crispy spinach leaves, the soft dory came with a rich cream sauce and mashed potatoes on the side.

Although a bit expensive at P305 for its size, the taste and symphony of flavors made it all worthwhile.

Pan Seared Creamy Dory and Spinach Fillet

5. Baby Back Ribs

And now for the big boys, you should not leave Bonfire without having a serving of their Baby Back Ribs. The pork ribs are delightfully tender smothered in rich hickory barbecue sauce. It will remind you of your mother’s home-cooked recipe.

It is also served with mashed potato, sweet corn, and some veggies on the side.This one goes for P385 per serving.

Bonfire Baby Back Ribs

Bonfire Smores

Desserts

A meal is not complete for NomNom Club with out desserts. So we tried Bonfire Smores and Dulce de Leche Cheesecake.

The former had chucks of roasted marshmallows in between graham crackers topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and drizzles of chocolate syrup. P125 per serving.

Dulce de Leche Cheesecake

I prefer the latter however. Although it is almost doubly expensive at P210, the cheesecake-and-cream melody was almost perfect and light. It was a seemingly suitable ending for the heavy pizza and ribs.

Bonfire
Greenhills Town Center (near Gilmore corner Aurora Blvd)
#2 Granada St., Barangay Valencia, Quezon City

Chef Tristan Encarnacion

Cheers to head chef Tristan Encarnacion of Bonfire restaurant. I’m certainly going back even just for the pizza!

Undeniably, Filipinos love to eat! Be it in birthday parties, family gatherings, community fiestas, or meeting old friends in a restaurant – they just have to do everything while sharing food!

Electrolux Discover-E Kitchen Campaign

Appreciating this phenomenon positively, Electrolux is embarking on a journey to re-discover our appreciation of Filipino food, culture, and heritage through its #Discover-E kitchen campaign. It will involve a series of activities including the Discover-E Web Series, photo contest, and the Discover-E Food Festival in June.

Discover-E Web Series

The Discover-E Web Series will teach and demonstrate to home cooks easy ways to do Neo-Filipino dishes which they can prepare and enjoy in their own kitchen. Electrolux’s celebrity chefs Chef Bruce Lim and Chef Rosebud Benitez will showcase the delicacies of different regions of the Philippines per episode through these instructional 10-minute YouTube videos. The two chefs will be presenting their own recipes and will teach viewers how to turn ordinary and traditional Filipino dishes to 5-star restaurant dishes www.youtube.com/ElectroluxPH1.

Discover-E Web Series w/ Chef Bruce Lim & Chef Rosebud Benitez

Instagram & Twitter #Discover-E Photo Contest

Calling all food lovers who love taking photos of their even more! You shouldn’t miss out on the chance to win amazing prizes every week by publishing your food photo through Instagram and Twitter with the tags #DiscoverE , @ElectroluxPH , and @NomNomClubcom. The photo should be about a Filipino dish.

Once a week, three entries with the yummiest picture will be awarded free items, gift certificates and Food Passports for Electrolux Discover-E Food Festival! This contest is ongoing until June 30, 2013.

Instant Discovery Photo Contest

Discover-E Food Festival this June

Scheduled for June 15 – 16, 2013, the “Electrolux Discover-E Food Festival” brings together all-time favorite Filipino dishes from all over the Philippines. It will open doors to lets consumers discover Electrolux kitchen appliances through new flavors and tastes.

Celebrating and discovering Filipino cuisine, it will be held at the NBC Tent. They will feature different food vendors selling Filipino food, cooking demos by celebrity chefs, little chef apprentice cooking workshops, cooking challenge for culinary students, live entertainment, raffles, and games.

Electrolux Discover-E Food Festival

“Electrolux has carried out a nationwide initiative designed to promote culinary discovery and enjoyment of Filipino cuisine. Our Discover-E campaign will let consumers discover and do more culinary exploration in their kitchens with the help of Electrolux kitchen appliances,” says Andrea Pionilla, Group Product Manager, Electrolux Philippines.

Go on this journey of Discover-E with Electrolux and NomNom Club! Know more by visiting www.electrolux.com.ph/discover-e

After almost a year now when it last came out, Starbucks’ Red Bean Green Tea Frappuccino is back together with another Starbucks returning favorite – the well-loved Mocha Cookie Crumble Frap.

Starbucks Red Bean Green Tea Frappuccino

For the unfortunately unfamiliar, the Mocha Cookie Crumble Frap combines the goodness of Starbucks’ signature roast coffee and the classic Mocha Frappuccino® Blended Coffee. Add to that the lovely chocolate cookie bits.

Starbucks Mocha Cookie Crumble

It is made with rich mocha sauce, vanilla syrup, milk and ice, topped with chocolate whipped cream, chocolate drizzle and a dash of cookie crumble. Price starts at P170 for the tall size, P180 for grande, and P190 for venti.

Now, for my second all-time favorite (after Hojicha Tea Jelly) Red Bean Green Tea Frap blended beverage – it is your traditional finely-milled green tea called matcha combined with whole kernels of red azuki beans.

The invigorating combination of green tea with the sweet- savory azuki beans give this beverage a rich distinct flavor that will be loved by everyone from children to adults.

Starbucks Broccoli And Mushroom Quiche

It is slightly cheaper that the Mocha Cookie Crumble at  P160 for Tall, P170 for Grande, and P180 for Venti.

Starbucks Food Items

Starbucks also came up with new food items including the Blueberry- Licious Cheesecake, German Pretzel, Grandma’s Classic Meatloaf On Brioche Bread, and Broccoli And Mushroom Quiche.

However, so far, we were only able to try the Broccoli And Mushroom Quiche(P95). Flavorful and packed with eggs, the unsweetened pastry combination of mushrooms and broccoli did not disappoint.

Starbucks Red Bean Green Tea Frap

The quiche goes well with both Starbucks returning favorite beverages mentioned above which are completely customizable as well. Make sure to try them soon as these beverage offering will last until July 14, 2013 only.

Kraft Foods Philippines (KFP) is driving the purpose of eating food beyond nourishment and pleasure through “Eats For Joy!”

East for Joy Launch @ Chili’s: Hpsts Marc Nelson & Miriam Quiambao

In partnership with World Vision, KFP, which is now part of Mondelez International, is bringing joy to you as well as others in need. “Eats for Joy!” is a program with partner restaurants wherein for every purchase of a participating dish with Oreo grinds and KFP cheese, a portion of the proceeds will be donated to World Vision on your behalf.

“This is a worthy cause. We’re thankful for the partnership with KFP through “Eats for Joy,” shares World Vision Interim National Director, Filomena Portales.

Eats For Joy!

Launched earlier this month, “Eats for Joy” partnered with top restaurants including Chili’s, J.CO Donuts, Amber Golden Plate, Magic Melt and Lots-a-Pizza. Until December 2013, these partner restaurants will be serving special dishes made with KFP’s Oreo cookies and cheese products.

Here are some of the special dishes which you can order from the partner restaurants:

• Chili’s
  • High and Mighty Pie
  • Oreo Chocolate Sundae
• 

  Mondelez International

  Amber Golden Plate

  • Pichi-Pichi with Cheese and Spaghetti
• Lots-a-Pizza
  • Any Pizzas such as Great Manhattan
• J.CO Donuts
  • Oreology donut
• Magic Melt
  • Ensaymada

“KFP aims not only to be a supplier or customer. We aim to be a valuable business partner and ally in growth,” explains KFP Sales and Strategy Director Ashish Pisharodi. “We created the “Eats for Joy” program with our partners so that we have a common platform not only to promote our delicious brands and their restaurants, but more importantly, so that we can all create delicious moments of joy together.”

Mondelez Officials and World Vision

Kraft Foods Philippines to Mondelēz Philippines

Later this year, Kraft Foods Philippines is changing its name to Mondelēz Philippines as part of its brand global alignment. But moreover, KFP is also celebrating its fifth decade which is also being celebrated in part with “Eats for Joy” by giving back to the community.

“That’s 50 years of delicious moments enjoyed by Filipinos through our brands. For making us a part of your moments of joy, we want to give back to our community. We hope you enjoy the dishes we have prepared through “Eats for Joy” and be a part of creating joy through our partner, World Vision. Whenever you taste a dish from participating restaurants, you get to help those in need through the Foundation,” shares KFP Category Sales Assistant Manager Regina Calpo.

Check out more from http://www.mondelezinternational.com/ph

Join Kraft’s Eats For Joy!

Beyond Nourishment

“Eats for Joy” goes beyond filling your hungry tummy – but others’ as well. So what are you waiting for? Choose from among Chili’s, J.CO Donuts, Amber Magic Plate, Magic Melt, Lots-a-Pizza, Figaro, Magoo’s Pizza, 3M Pizza, Aristocrat Bakeshop, Café France, Plato Wraps and 41 other partner establishments in Luzon, Metro Manila and the Visayas and enjoy their Oreo and cheesy dishes!

With the opening of the new Bonifacio High Street Central last year, new restaurants found a home. One of which is the first Village Tavern branch outside of the United States.

Crispy Clams (P375)

Brought by the Bistro Group to the Philippines with interiors that greet customers with a mix of old tavern yore and hunting lodge, Village Tavern has been one of the most visited restaurants in the area.

And in celebration of one year of serving salads, chicken, pork, and steaks, Village Tavern is has updated its menu recently and gave you another reason to come back for more.

Let’s start with the appetizers:

Fully Loaded Romaine Heart

This serving of salad consists mainly of romaine lettuce and generous blue cheese dressing topped with crispy bacon, red onions, and tomatoes. I think the blue cheese is responsible for the P425 price tag. 🙂

Fully Loaded Romaine Heart (P425)

Crispy Clams

The Crispy Clams is a handful of crunchy niblets of baby clams. The lazy need not worry as they come without shells, ready for consumption. Spice it up a bit with the spicy lemon dip.

Afterwhich you can cleanse your palate with some salad on the side. A serving costs P375.

Roasted Bone Marrow (P295)

Roasted Bone Marrow (Top Photo)

Hold your horses as you are greeted with a huge ‘Roasted Bone Marrow‘. Not a usual appetizer in our common restaurant table, the bone marrow lovers are in for a treat as the half opened bone marrow is ready for scooping – something not recommended to those literally ‘faint of heart‘.

But if you are a bit more cautious or just want to try it out, you could always minimize its health impact by having it with the sourdough bread and apple cider vinegar dip on the side.

Health issues aside, the roasted bone marrow (P295) gets the double thumbs up!

Other small plate offerings you could try are the Spicy Garlic Chicken Wings, and Shrimp Balls with Cilantro Lime.

Main Dishes

And for the stars of the night – the main dishes – Village Tavern offers an exotic Ox Cheek with Truffle Mash and Poached Onions, Kansas Ribs, Lapu Lapu with Pico de Gallo, Cod Fish, Lamb Rack, and the 35-ounce Tomahawk.

We were able to try the latter three and here’s how it went:

Cod Fish

Cod Fish (P525)

Lamb Rack (side view)

The Atlantic cod fish was pan-seared with Spanish chorizo and garlic, and served on a bed of salt roasted potato.

Although I think the fish meat turned out a little tough on our table, it still tasted good and complemented well with the chorizo and garlic.

Don’t forget to squeeze the lime. The serving size is good for two people and costs P525.

Lamb Rack

The Lamb Rack (P675) is the first of my two favorites of the night. With enhanced aroma care of the infused Rosaemary, the lamb was tender and juicy and served with green peas and mint.

Lamb Rack (P675)

Tomahawk 35oz

Tomahawk 35 oz. (P2895)

At P2,895, it should be good, no, very good. And it did not disappoint.

My second favorite of the night was aged, hand-cut, and grilled. Although the Tomahawk beef rib eye steak can be a bit more juicier, the prime cut meat was fork-tender.

The whole 35-ounce steak had a good browning on the outside as well.

Dessert: Frozen Lime Souffle

Frozen Lime Souffle (P295)

We ended the night with a dessert called “Frozen Lime Souffle” which was a layer of light and airy lime infused with frozen souffle.

It was topped with candied lime and walnut powder.

The dessert is ideal for those looking for desserts that are not too sweet. It was a good break from my usual desserts. Price tag: P295.

Chef Josh Boutwood of The Bistro Group & NomNom

The price point of Village Tavern is definitely upscale, nonetheless commensurate to the quality of the food and restaurant service.

Taste the love of these dishes by Chef Josh Boutwood, corporate chef of The Bistro Group. Give the Village Tavern a visit at the 2nd floor of Bonifacio High Street Central.