It’s not the ususal SM Savemore grocery opening you know. With a number of SM Savemore stores opening stores around the Philippines, what makes this particular launch in Sta. Ana Manila unique is its first-of-a-kind facade and environment-conscious efforts.

SM Savemore Sta. Ana Grand Opening: (from left) Jojo Tagbo, VP for operations of Savemore; Manila City Councilor Honey Lacuna – Pangan; celebrity guest Bayani Agbayani; 2010 Ms. Earth winners Miss Earth Air Victoria Shchukina of Russia; Miss Earth Water 2011 Wattsaporn Wattanakon of Thailand; and reigning Miss Earth Nicole Faria of India; celebrity guest Sunshine Cruz; Felicidad Sy; Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim; Sta. Ana Heritage Board chairman Vilma Labrador; Parish Priest Andrew Litigio of Our Lady of Abandoned; and SM Supermarket president Herbert T. Sy.

Out-of-the-Box Facade

You might be used to the usual box-type yellow SM Savemore shops, SM Savemore Sta.Ana is the first to incorporate a cultural aspect to the design and architecture. It now looks more Asian in design and blends with the local community.

Environment-Conscious

The original lot has as longstanding Dita Tree which is more than 200 years old. SM Savemore decided to preserve and take care of the tree as a local community heritage. In fact, almost a third of the total land area was alotted for an open courtyard area with the Dita Tree at its center.

Different Facade Design from other SM Savemore Stores

International Miss Earth 2011 Winners Posed with the Dita Tree in Background

Young Narra Trees (lower left of previous photo) were also symbolically planted by International Miss Earth winners Nicole Faria of India, Miss Earth Air Victoria Shchukina of Russia and Miss Earth Water 2011 Wattsaporn Wattanakon of Thailand at the back part of the building facing the river. It also serves as customer parking lot.

P50 WHole Chicken Pormo

A ground structure (left of 4th photo) was also preserved and made into a showcase area. It is said to be an old relic (various structure) of an old wine cellar usually referred to as ‘bahay na bato‘ which has been there for hundreds of years. These are the commitment made by Savemore to the Sta. Ana community towards the preservation of its heritage.

These are all in addition to Savemore’s ongoing commitment to the environment where trademark SM Food Retail Group’s reusable Greenbag are used. The Greenbags now comes in green, blue and black, with various designs that shoppers can choose from starting at P10 each (aside from the points gained by SM Advantage cardholders).

The Program

The celebration was started by the ceremonial ribbon cutting with guests led by Manila City Mayor Alfredo Lim.

Manila City Mayor Alfredo Lim (rightmost) with SM Executives and Guests

Miss Earth winners also graced the event and went on an actual grocery shopping of their own.

Miss Earth 2011 Winners Grocery Shopping

Celebrities Sunshine Cruz and Bayani Agbayani were also present at the event. They are Sta.Ana residents themselves.

Sunshine Cruz & Bayani Agbayani (left); SM Savemore Staff Dancing in the Opening

Here are some photos of the actual grocery inside embodied with the concept of neighborhood convenient shopping at affordable prices.:

SM Savemore Grocery Items

Magnolia Ice Cream and Fresh Fruits / Goods Section

This is actually just the first of SM Savemore Markets with a unique facade as they approach different provinces where the community’s history and culture will also be highlighted.

I’m not a vegetarian but I do chow on vegetables for health reasons. I include it in my meal whenever possible. Last night, it was a pleasure to discover that one of the new seven Starbucks Lunch Sandwiches – the Roasted Vegetables on Flat Bread -  is positioned as a healthy vegetarian sandwich for the ‘veggy‘ lovers.

Roasted Vegetables in Flat Bread

I wasn’t really expecting much from the vegetable sandwich but it was surprisingly good! The Roasted Vegetables Sandwich will replace the vegetable artisan roll you might have been used to. It consists of Mediterranean vegetables marinated in Italian spices with mild chili dressing on grilled flat bread.  The chili is interestingly mild just enough to put a twist to the fare.

To complete your healthy meal, pair it with the Green Tea Latte (no whip, of course) and go for soy.

6 Other New Lunch Sandwiches

Starting August 9, Starbucks will introduce these new hot lunch sandwiches catering to those looking for filling meals during lunch time. Prepared in less than 5 minutes, it is best suitable for  people on-the-go.

Aside from the Roasted Vegetables sandwich above, the first three which will be available in all Starbucks Philippines branches are the following:

Ultimate Grilled Cheese

Ultimate Grilled Cheese

It’s a grilled cheese sandwich made with six types of cheeses such as Gruyere, Emmenthal, Feta, Provolone, Mozarella, and cheddar.

Although half of those cheeses sounds alien to me, it ended up good to the taste. On the other hand, the premium cheeses might cater only to the more mature taste buds who can appreciate high quality cheeses. It also comes with slices of Hungarian sausages in between and seasoned with roasted garlic and Italian herb-ed butter on bread.

Roasted Chicken Pesto

The roasted chicken breast fillet comes with Shitake mushrooms and pesto mayo sauce topped with Emmenthal and cheddar cheese in between grilled flat breads. The breast fillet are juicy and the pesto mayo is really aromatic.

This is actually the only one retained from the previous lunch sandwiches menu. And there’s a great reason why this is so. 🙂

Roasted Chicken Pesto Sandwich (left) Beef Brisket Sandwich (right)

Beef Brisket

Emmenthal cheese covering slices of beef brisket with caramelized onions and Dijon mustard constitute this sandwich. The beef brisket itself was fairly ‘ok’ last night but I think I need to try this again before I give it a final verdict.

— o —

The last three new sandwiches are available in select Starbucks branches in the Philippines:

The Clubhouse

The Clubhouse Sandwich

It’s the usual chicken clubhouse you know…with ham, cheese, pickle relish, mayo mustard dressing, tomato and greens, among others, on flat cranberry bread.

It’s available in all Starbucks branches except Baguio, Boracay, Bacolod, Cebu, CDO, Davao, Iloilo and Naga.

Tuna Waldorf

Tuan Waldorf

Tuna Waldorf is a classic tuna salad with red and green apples, walnuts, and celery in yogurt mayo dressing topped with hard-boiled eggs served in raisin walnut bread.

This one’s a filler and will surely be loved by those with good appetite and good taste.

It’s available in all Starbucks branches except Baguio, Boracay, Bacolod, Cebu, CDO, Davao, Iloilo and Naga.

Tuna Melt

Tuna Melt

It’s a tuna salad with melted cheese on roasted Rye bread topped with mozzarella and seasoned wtih Spanish paprika.

This is the rarest among them all available only in selected provincial branches and the only one reachable by land from Metro Manila – is Starbucks Baguio. The other branches that carry this is Boracay, Bacolod, Cebu, CDO, Davao, Iloilo, and Naga only.

Starbucks Lunch Sandwiches

NomNom Recommends

After perseveringly trying all of the seven sandwiches last night for the benefit of my readers 🙂 , I recommend these top three in no particular order (parang beauty pageant lng) :

• Roasted Vegetables on Flat Bread
• Roasted Chicken Pesto on Flat Bread (there’s a strong reason why this one was retained)
• Tuna Waldorf in Raisin Walnut Bread

 So, a day after my birthday on August 8, you can immediately try these new Starbucks Lunch Sandwiches. But if you are the scrimpy-type like me, you can wait for August 15 and 16 where all Starbucks branches will have a P50 off promo on all these lunch sandwiches I have mentioned upon purchase of any Starbucks beverage except service water. 😛

Latte Art fun on a Sunday! Figaro is currently hosting their company-wide Figaro Latte Art Competition 2011 and we’re live blogging ’em from Figaro Emerald branch.

On it’s third year, the Figaro Latte Art Competition is participated by 28 branches this year, both from company-owned branches and franchisees. It aims to enhance the barista’s latte art design skills and to foster camaraderie among the different barista representatives.

Below are some of NomNom’s favorite among the 28 entries in the elimination round. For the complete set of 28 entries, check out NomNomClub’s Facebook Fanpage here.

Figaro Latte Art Competition 2011 (Eliminations Round Participant)

Figaro Latte Art 2011 Contestants

Figaro Latte Art Competition 2011 (Eliminations Round Participant)

Figaro Latte Art Competition 2011 (Eliminations Round Participant)

Who’s your bet for the Top 10 that’s going to qualify for the final round? Watch out for the results of the Figaro Latte Art Competition 2011 tomorrow!

And we’re back to thank our ‘reactionary‘ readers! 🙂 Here are our top commenters for the months of April, May and June 2011!

Congratulations to our returning top commenter for April Lariza Garcia,  May winner Jared’s Mum, and new winner Jian Marla for June.

All three would receive surprise gift packs from this Food Blog. Email admin AT NomNomClub.com for details on how to claim. Again, congratulations to the 2011 Q2 top commenters!

The much awaited tradeshow / conference / exhibit by franchised-business hunters is here again – the 10th Filipino Franchise Show 2011. Brought to us by the Association of Filipino Franchisers Inc. (AFFI), It will be held at the World Trade Center Manila (Philippines) on July 21 to 24, 2011.

An improvement from last year, this year’s Filipino Franchise Show 2011 will be housed in two exhibit halls and will run for four days instead of the usual three. So if you are wanting to start your business, franchised or otherwise, you might like to get some idea which business to target.

Learn the basics and know-how of owning a franchise through seminars and explore almost 300 franchisors. Let the business gurus enrich the entrepreneur in you! Leading brand participants would include Figaro Coffee, Aquabest, Sea Oil, Mang Inasal, Binalot, Fruitas, Reyes Barbecue and Bibingkinitan. Speakers include Randell Tiongson, Susan “Toots” Ople, Carlo Ople, Glenn Yu, Carson Tan, and Miriam Quiambao, among others, who will share their stories as entrpreneurs or as experts in thier respective fields.

10th Filipino Franchise Show 2011

“The 10th Filipino Franchise Show will be opened by AFFI’s Board of Directors on July 21 at the World Trade Center. Paulo Tibig AFFI’s president and Ricardo ‘Richie’ Cuna AFFI’s Chairman Emeritus will deliver the keynote address and opening remarks,” according to its website.

To know more about this event, please visit www.affi.com.ph or call the AFFI secretariat at 0917-5182334 /506 8883 / 9000002 loc 121. Judging from last year’s Filipino Franchise Show I have attended, this would be another great event worth visiting. 🙂

The 10th Filipino Franchise Show
July 21 – 24, 2011
World Trade Center Manila, Philippines

This is my first OpenRicers‘ Meet gathering and it was great meeting fellow OpenRicers and food bloggers. It was held at Tender Bob’s in Greenbelt a few weeks ago.

We had a good time and Tender Bob’s dinner was filling. Here are some of my photos taken with Samsung Galaxy S2.

Tender Bob's Salsds and Appetizers

Oriental Chicken Salad

Tender Bob's Steaks and Lagarde Wines

Ice Cream and Sizzling Bread & Butter Pudding for Desserts!

Until the next OpenRice meet! Thanks OpenRice.com and Tender Bob’s.

Why stay at home on a Sunday if you can have a good time outside right? Specially if it’s matched with a great meal. Since late last month, Restaurant 101 in Enderun has been open on Sundays for brunch!

Restaurant 101, Enderun Colleges

Break bread and catch up with the family as Restaurant 101 features appetizer and dessert buffets, and main course served a la carte. Diners can choose one of four main courses, served à la carte from the kitchen. The dessert station and crepe station, meanwhile, cater to every diner’s sweet tooth.

The special brunch buffet is available weekly at P 1280 per person, and P 680 for children from 7 to 12 years old.

Restaurant 101 is the application restaurant of Enderun Colleges. The school offers international-caliber bachelor’s degree programs in Entrepreneurship with special focus on Family Enterprise; in Business Administration, aInternational Hospitality Management, and Culinary Arts, among others.

Restaurant 101 is open from Monday to Saturday, from 11:30am to 2pm for lunch, and from 6 to 10pm for dinner, and from 11am to 3pm every Sunday. For reservations, call 856 5000 local 101. For inquiries on banquets and special events, call 856 5000 local 534 or 560.

Restaurant 101 Dessert Buffet

They are located at :
Enderun Colleges
1100 Campus Avenue
McKinley Hill, Fort Bonifacio
Taguig City 1634 Philippines
Telephone: (632) 856 5000
Facsimile:   (632) 856 4656
www.enderuncolleges.com
www.101.enderuncolleges.com

So, did you just spend your Sunday at home today? Give Restaurant 101 in Enderun a visit sometime soon.

🙂

SM Master Chefs‘ ‘Kitchen Makeover‘ will have five lucky shoppers’ kitchens redesigned and furnished by partner designers. This project will be done in partnership with established designers from the Philippine School of Interior Design (PSID).

The five Interior Designers are IDr. Vianca Añonuevo, IDr. JC Arcega, IDr. Mark Steven Perez, IDr. Joselito Soriano, Jr., and IDr. Anne Marie Christine Lim. The first three are partner interior designers of Empire Designs. The latter two are partners of Soriano-Lim Interior Design.

SM Master Chefs 2011

SM Master Chef 2011
Kitchen Makeover Mechanics

July 1 to October 31, 2011

1.    To join, interested shoppers must submit:

• P500 single receipt purchase, including at least one sponsor item of SM Master Chefs, entitles a customer to join the promo.
• Registration forms will be available at the Customer Service Counter of SM Hypermarket.
• Registration forms must be filled up with his/her complete name, address, age, occupation, contact numbers, signature and a written answer, in 50 words or less, to the question: Why does my kitchen deserve a free makeover?
• Attached at least three (3) clear printed photos of their home kitchen.
• Enclose filled up registration forms and pictures in an envelope and drop on the designated drop boxes at the Customer Service counters of all SM Hypermarket branches.

2.    All entries shall be delivered by the branches to Marketing Head Office at the end of deadline.
3.    There will be a total of five (5) winners of Kitchen Make-Over.
4.    SM Hypermarket Marketing staff shall go through all entries and pick one winner at each judging date.  DTI representative shall be invited to witness the selection of winners.
5.   Winners will be notified via registered mail and phone.
6.    An interior designer shall design a kitchen for the winner. He/she shall also determine the items that will
be used. Items shall be purchased at SM Hypermarket.
7.    The winner should be the owner of the kitchen or if rented, must have written consent of the owner.
8.    Employees of SM Hypermarket, all sponsors, it’s partners, its affiliates, and all companies and individual directly or indirectly connected with SM Hypermarket, its agency Ad Targets, Inc. and their relatives up to the second degree of consanguinity are disqualified from joining the promo.

Control Measures:

All registration forms shall be submitted after the deadline of submission of entries to the marketing office for safekeeping under the custody of the Marketing Manager. A DTI representative will be invited to be present in the determination of winners. Per DTI-NCR Permit No. 4959, Series of 2011

Kitchen Sample Exhibit during the SM Master Chefs Launch

Do you think your kitchen badly needs this makeover? Are you an SM Hypermarket  clientele? Then Join SM Master Chefs’ Kitchen Makeover with PSID interior designers!