A place called El Chupacabra!

El Chupacabra (or El Chupacabras) is a cryptid said to live in Puerto Rico, Mexico, Chile, Brazil, Texas to Florida, Michigan, Maine and even Oregon. Spanish in origin that when translated in English means "goat sucker", because of its habit of attacking and drinking the blood of livestock, including goats. The legend was started in 1987 when there was a huge, gruesome massacre of livestock all over. All the animals had two puncture wounds on their neck in which the blood had been drained.
El Chupacabra is a creature that resembles a hairless dog with blueish-gray tinted skin. It is said to have spikes running down its spine and tail. Some who have seen El Chupacabra say that when they got too close, the beast let out an unearthly howl. It is supposed to be about 3–4 feet tall. Some of these reports say that when El Chupacabra howled, its eyes turned red, making the viewer nauseous. It was first reported in Puerto Rico. It preys on cows, ducks and goats and sometimes bites right through the skull to eat the brain. It could possibly be the result of a genetic experiment gone horribly wrong. Some believe it is a surviving dinosaur or an alien pet.

This data was taken from Wikipedia. Thank you for this information.

I am not a food blogger yet I love nachos and tacos. In fact whenever we go to a bar, apart from the booze I will look and ask if they have these. When talking of nachos and tacos what better place to have one than in a Mexican resto. And indeed there is one in the heart of Burgos in Makati which is called El Chupacabra. The name of course is a tongue twister in itself but once you enter this establishment you would automatically say it is Mexican themed. From the chairs and tables, the bar counter, the tequila on display and down to the music…Mexican vibe!

The staff is friendly although they do need to work on their attentiveness and accuracy yet no one bothers since everyone that comes here is after the food, the booze and the company.

A very humble place yet El Chupacabra is always packed from 5pm onwards. So when we went there we were lucky to have a table readily available. It was a simple feast of Chorizo Gringas, Nachos and 4 bottles of beer and all for the price of…P498.

So I leave this place with my heart’s content and I will definitely be back if I feel like eating those Gringas. I need not make an in depth study of the menu but I say authentic Mexican. O and I forgot to mention, our friends Tomek Malek and Marek Poslusvny have been here as well.

What is next on my list? How about some Indian food? Stay tuned.

Bacardi University: A Road to Legacy 2014

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Ultimate Monin Cup Philippines 2014

Last August 9, 2014, we witnessed the much awaited Mixology and Flair Competition at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City. Under the World Food Expo banner, The Ultimate Monin Cup Philippines 2014 was staged. This was organized by Monin Philippines and Savoroso in cooperation with Pinoytender Management Consultancy and Philippinebartending.com

For both categories, the registration process was pretty strict in terms of deadline and requirements. There were a total of 60 participants who submitted their recipes. The finalists were preselected based on their concoctions. We had a good mix of talents featuring participants from different bars as well as universities.

 Joseph Dwayne Ramos                 Monin Velocity                  Monin Open Flair
Vincent Louis Juntura Jr.               Invinsiblueity                     Monin Open Flair
Jasper Joseph Marc D. Cruz          Blue Oasis                          Monin Open Flair
Jerwin Calayag                              Fruity Awwesome               Monin Open Flair
Larry Guevara                               Thrilla a Manille                 Monin Open Flair
Joe Mari Castillo                           Cheer Up!                           Monin Open Flair
Leonard F. Bisquit                         Black Tea Stilleto               Monin Open Flair
Bryan Bonifacio                            4th of July                           Monin Open Flair
Arvin Gumasing                            The Midori Illusion            Monin Open Flair
John Paulo Catalan                        Moon Walker                     Monin Open Flair

Argate Joselito                              Concept                              Monin Mixology Cup
Sharleen Reyes Antonio               Smokin Sassy Skirt            Monin Mixology Cup
Paulo Eiron C. Layao                    Ticket to Paris                    Monin Mixology Cup
John Vincent P. Naïve                    Dragon Tea                        Monin Mixology Cup
Jhon Lareve Shahid Parraba        Yolanda's Wrath                   Monin Mixology Cup
Justine Anne Magbitang               Wedding Vow                      Monin Mixology Cup
Eimil Hidalgo                                Afternoon Delight               Monin Mixology Cup
Josiah Israel G. Agunat                  Jivitalize                             Monin Mixology Cup
Loreen Hernandez                          Surprise Me                        Monin Mixology Cup
Jeremy Ganalon                             The Bass                             Monin Mixology Cup
Sasa Baclig                                     Rose Mary                          Monin Mixology Cup

We started off with the Mixology Cup which emphasizes the “talking bartender”. 

The panel of judges included:

Navin Sadaranggani – Operations Manager of World Class Concepts Corp.

Adrian Gearing – Training Director – Holland America Lines

Imarie Ong – Liquor Distributor

Yoma Rivera –Bartender of Curator/Finalist of Diageo World Class

Jerry Pascua Miranda – Head Bartender Prive Luxury Club

The competition made each participant talk to the audience while making their original creation. As the pictures show, all of the contestants really came up with creative cocktails, veering away from the traditional Grenadine and Blue Curacao ensemble. After their performance, the judges asked questions to test their product knowledge in general. It was a nerve wracking moment for each and everyone since all judges were very meticulous since all of them are from the industry. The judges were divided into technical and tasting judges.

Winners for MONIN CUP

Champion           85.5%    Loreen Hernandez

2^nd Place               79.8%    Joselito Argate

3^rd Place               79.0%    Paulo Eiron Layao

Loreen will represent the country on October for the Asian Leg of the Monin Cup. She will be undergoing intensive training together with Joselito to prepare her for the competition.

After the Mixology Cup, the much awaited crowd drawer the Monin Open Flair followed.

Our judges included:

Roderick Soriano – flairbartender P&O Cruises

Mike Rabago –TGIF High Street bartender

Navin Sadaranggani – Operations Manager of World Class Concepts Corporation

Kelly de Guzman – head bartender of Royal Carribean Cruise Lines

The participants were a mix of old and new players in the circuit. Each participant is judged on Difficulty, Originality, Smoothness and Showmanship. There was also a deduction judge who monitors the spills, drops, breaks and missing ingredients.

It was a close call since everyone gave it their best shot. New moves were seen. 

Winners for Monin Open Flair

Champion           207.67   FJ Sasa Baclig

2^nd Place             206.33   Jerwin Calayag

3^rd Place             202.67   Joe Mari Castillo

Special Award – Best in Cocktail Bryan Bonifacio

This was a sweet victory for FJ since she travelled all the way from Baguio just to compete with the best of them. Her company Baguio Country Club was very supportive of letting FJ compete. Another thing that makes this sweeter is the fact that she was the first contestant. Being the first is difficult since you set the bar from the rest of the pack. But she was able to deliver her routine. She had a strong presence even at the start of her music.

The event was a huge success since the attendance of the audience doubled compared to last years. The quality also improved in terms of taste and appearance.

Overall, the Ultimate Monin Cup Philippines 2014 has achieved its goal to produce the best cocktails that come from the creativity of the Pinoytender. Monin Philippines through Savoroso has been an active player in supporting the beverage and bartending industry since they believe in the talent of the Filipino bartender as well as Philippine Bartending. On our part we should continue to support  Monin by patronizing their products and trying it out. It maybe a premium product but it just follows because it has very high quality. Money should not be an issue when one wants to produce something great.

Hopefully, the enthusiasm of everyone continues and we would like to thank everyone who watched and participated in the event in every capacity. We would strive to do a better job next year for raising the bar in Philippine Bartending. Cheers!

Art meets Art

Last August 16, 2014 I was invited to bartend in one event which was held at the Powerplant mall. This event was dubbed as Art + Magazine, focus on the arts: art in transit.

This was a month long art exhibit that featured different mediums of art like canvass, sculpture and painting. As I checked the venue, I was impressed with the artworks. The exhibit was situated in the mall that has a good traffic flow and people would really stop by and take a look at the creations of these well respected artists.

Art is the ultimate expression of one’s feelings expressed in a medium either paper, wood, steel, etc.

As I look at what was going on, it suddenly hit me that there was another art being featured in this event. In cooperation with Greygoose I was tasked to make cocktails for the guests that were in the exhibit.  A cocktail is also the ultimate expression of art by no other than the bartender. From the time I would greet the guest who was interested in trying our creations, from getting the glass, putting the ice, pouring the liquor and the ingredients, thru shaking the drink thru straining it in a glass topping it off with the final garnish…definitely a work of art.

My medium were 3 varieties of Greygoose which included Greygoose Original, Greygoose, La Poire, and Greygoose L’Orange.

Each cocktail is like a story and the bartender is the narrator. And indeed, that night, about 80-100 guests listened to each story that we told in 4 hours.

When Visual Arts meets Art of Mixing, this is definitely a work of Art in fusion.Thank you for this opportunity and hope there will be more events like this.

What do you think?