Henry's Place is our place
By Ricardo Pamintuan (The Philippine Star) Updated October 08, 2009 12:00 AM
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Just dough it: The Icy Hot Banana has a light dough mix and is topped with vanilla ice cream.
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MANILA, Philippines - What does it take to achieve originality, freshness, and flavor in Chinese cooking? Many would say that this combination could already be found in most restaurants in this country with strong Chinese influence and presence. Yet it is the seeming lack of decent Chinese food that pushed a couple who have practically founded their lives on the freshest of sea bounties to embark on a brand-new voyage as restaurateurs.
Reynaldo “Chito” Sy grew up in Divisoria, literally surrounded by fish since his mother was an ambulant tinapa vendor. It is not surprising that when he started on his own, he would deal in fish and other products of the sea. Several decades from those humble beginnings and with invaluable assistance from his wife Annie, Chito Sy’s Seachamp is now one of the biggest fish exporters in the country, with fully independent processing plants in Pasay City, Palawan, Surigao, and Zamboanga.
Over lunch one Monday, Annie said they were dismayed that they could not find Chinese restaurants in the city that served good food at good prices. They were already in the seafood business so why not set up their own restaurant? It was an idea that did not immediately fly because of one big problem: Who will do the cooking?
Fortunately, Chito knew someone, a close friend and golf buddy for more than a quarter of a century, in fact, who could not only cook well but also had the experience to back him up — renowned fusion chef Henry Cheung.
Chef Henry was a New York-based interior designer before finding love and his true calling in the Philippines. His uncle, an equally celebrated chef in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan who had cooked for Chiang Kai-shek, was his inspiration when he opened his first restaurant in the Philippines 20 years ago.
Chinese food lovers who have always enjoyed the dishes served at the Good Earth Tea Room will surely relish this latest venture of chef Henry. So confident was he of the potential of a partnership with his friend Chito that he staked his very name on it.
Henry’s Place by Good Earth is a concoction made in heaven, spiced up by the complementary strengths and joie de vivre of these two men.
As Chito confessed, “I don’t know how to cook, but I have the freshest seafood in the country, while Henry is a great chef who relies only on the freshest seafood that the local markets can offer. We are a perfect match.”
Even the selection of the site for Henry’s Place was deemed providential by Chito and Annie. They were searching for a suitable place when — on separate occasions — they chanced upon the then undeveloped Forbes Town Center.
Nestled across the tree-covered roundabout of Burgos Circle a few meters from St. Luke’s Medical Center at The Fort, Henry’s Place opened in July this year and has since attracted a growing number of patrons.
We had a belly-busting sampling of the house specialties and no longer wondered why people just keep coming back for more, even during the lean hours (customers are still arriving beyond 2 p.m.).
For starters, we tried the best-selling Lily on the Pond, eggplant rounds with a sumptuous filling of shrimp meat, water chestnut, and shiitake mushroom in curry sauce. Sunshine Bean Curd is chef Henry’s new dish that gives fried bean curd an entirely new twist. The fusion of old and new as well as of the east and west was evident in Tunaquitos (sashimi tuna from Mindoro served in a taco shell and topped with wasabi and caviar) and Duckquitos (shredded duck served in a taco shell and topped with duck sauce).
Whatever meat Henry’s Place has is, of course, cooked the Chinese way, with a twist. Roast duck and prawns in lychee sauce leaves a tingling sensation on the tongue, while the Hainanese chicken, specially prepared by chef Henry, is fast becoming one of the most popular items on the menu. The crispy duck rolls are a gustatory and visual feast. Chef Henry was not content with simply serving the dish; he added a bit of romance by including an image of the moon (in wasabi sauce) on a semi-cloudy evening.
A further sampling of the main dishes was like a virtual tour of the Philippine seas — tender squid cooked in stewed tomatoes and spinach from Palawan, Coco Racha (coconut crabs) from Zamboanga, and pan-fried sea mantis (alupihang dagat) from Surigao. I have never tried any more tender squid, fresher coconut crab, or bigger sea mantis in all my years as a seafood lover.
This is not your typical Chinese food at all, folks. Sure, they’re tasty, but they do not use MSG (vetsin) that usually makes us drowsy at the end of the meal. It is healthy with plenty of greens incorporated and none of the usual oil so characteristic of wok cooking. The preparation of the food is not hurried, so chef Henry is able to create works of art when presenting his dishes. The Tunaquitos, for example, are served with the Chinese characters for “raw fish” written in wasabi sauce.
As an exclamation point to our feast, we were served some of the house’s best-selling desserts. Coco Grass is a jelly-coconut mix perfectly combined in a semi-sweet cream. Those who prefer fresh fruits are in for a real refreshing treat with the Frozen Delight — not just any kind of ice cream but a blend of the fruits in season served frozen. The Icy Hot Banana, on the other hand, is a new manner of presenting a traditional banana dish. The bananas have a light dough mix topped with vanilla ice cream. Surprisingly, it’s light on the stomach.
Even if you are willing to pay a bundle to try this delectable selection, you will be happy to discover at the end of your meal that the prices on the menu are some of the most affordable in its class. Add to this the Zen-like ambience of Henry’s Place and your dining experience becomes truly magical.
* * *
Henry’s Place by Good Earth is located at Burgos Circle, Forbes Town Center, The Fort, Taguig City, Metro Manila. It is open daily from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m., except Fridays and Saturdays (Pica Tica days) when it is open from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. For reservations and inquiries, call 393-5915 and 359-8277, or e-mail henrysplacebygoodearth@gmail.com.
Read it agen: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=512023&publicationSubCategoryId=81
Monday, October 26, 2009
steve phillips intern
It was announced that ESPN Baseball Analyst and former New York Mets General Manager Steve Phillips was fired Sunday night. Phillips was involved in a sex scandal regarding a three-week-old affair he had with ESPN Production Assistant Brooke Hundley which turned into “Fatal Attraction” when he tried to break off the relationship.
Steve Phillps and Brooke Hundley
Steve Phillips is married to Marni Phillips and the two have four kids. She filed for divorce September 14th.
According to the Huff Post, ESPN claimed…
"Steve Phillips is no longer working for ESPN," network spokesman Josh Krulewitz said in a statement. "His ability to be an effective representative for ESPN has been significantly and irreparably damaged, and it became evident it was time to part ways."
This story, which hit last Wednesday, has taken the Internet by storm with its details. There's the letter written by Brooke to Marni Phillips and more recently a report that that the whole affair started when according to Hundley, Phillips had got her drunk and then made a move on her after waiting for her to come out of the women's bathroom at a bar.
Brooke Hundley filed a restraining order against Phillips after he went to the police, but in reading the text from the Examiner it seems like she's lying about a few thing to protect herself.
She writes:
While at work in mid July, after work Steve bought me a strong drink and then cornered me while coming out of the bathroom with no one in sight trying to persuade me to come to his hotel suite to spend the night.
I told my supervisor who told me to "Get used to it." And to keep it to myself. He proceeded to text me on a regular basis with inappropriate things. I tried to get him to stop and told others but he didn’t and finally I gave in and agreed to see him a few times after work in parking lots.
Someone at work found out and call his house. Then he began to spread word that I was just the office slut and ruining my reputation. He continued to text me however about getting together on our next business trip and I begged him to please be honest about what happened with us that he had pursued me and that I was not this poor character as he had stated.
Over the phone he threatened me stating that if I spoke a word of this to his wife that he would ruin more than just my reputation but could easily get me fired. At that point I told him I cannot continue on like that and if he couldn't come clean to everyone that I would have to tell. I wrote a letter and left it on their doorstep to his wife.
I then thought twice about it and asked a young woman to retrieve it for me. She drove up in my car and he saw the car and immediately tried to ram into her over and over. He obviously thought I was in the car and now I'm scared where this might go next.
What's interesting and not surprising to me is that her ESPN supervisor told her to "get used to it" and I believe that because it affirms something I wrote when ESPN's Harold Reynolds was fired in 2006 for hugging a white girl.
Turns out I was right! But I knew that.
I wrote then that relations between ESPN analysts and interns were common, but it was "OK" for the white guys to be in them because (from people I talked to in 2006) it was white male and white female going after each other, if you will.
Reynolds is black and also married and was fired for a hug while I was told some other ESPN men were having full on sexual relations with female employees. I wrote that Reynolds ran into a kind of racial boundary issue that's grounds for another blog post because times have changed in three years.
It takes two to tango and for every one of these romances that goes bad, there are some that go well and unreported.
Boy, folks howled about that but the truth hurts. Deadspin's now former editor Will Leitch and I had fun with that one at the time.
What really happened is known mostly to Reynolds but he sued and settled with ESPN, which means that somewhere along the way he wasn't the only person who was to blame for something.
The focus should be on ESPN's culture. Instead it's on people as others try to criticize those like Phillips, Letterman, and Reynolds as if those throwing the criticism are totally innocent.
They're not.
It's widely known in the sports and entertainment industry that women who work for those organizations try to get dates with executives and players and actors they work with. Don't even try to argue with me on that one. Some of the women are interns right out of college working without pay, and they chose to do so.
But what happens when a story like this comes out is "The Big Lie" is put in place to cover it up - where the man is the one going after a date with the woman and she has done nothing to pursue a relationship - and we never get to the real story or a real conversation about how our society really is.
It would help because then we could have some real talk that render stories like this not popular. You know? Right now, it's volcanic on the Internet (with people looking for Brooke's MySpace page) because it shows how we really are versus The Big Lie. The truth is "The Big Lie" keeps the gossip train going.
Someone emailed me asking if I wanted to buy a photo of Marni Phillips.
NO I DON'T!
Steve Phillips is out of a job now, but what about Brooke Hundley? Is she still in the employ of ESPN? For some reason they've not issued a statement on her at least as of this writing.
Brooke Hundley has an interesting resume in that she, according to the New York Daily News, worked for ABC Studios as an intern and also Jimmy Kimmel Live, but I don't know if she reported directly to Kimmel.
As you may remember, Kimmel himself was the focus of a little inter-office romance himself, but this one's gone well so far.
In the end, it's all just bunch of gossip done by people - including commenters - who have their own interesting stories. So what. The reality is Steve Phillip should not have cheated on his wife, period. All the other stuff is conversation but Marni Phillips is the victim here. Steve owes a lot to her and to his kids.
Read it agen: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/abraham/detail?entry_id=50316#ixzz0V4g48YJr
Steve Phillps and Brooke Hundley
Steve Phillips is married to Marni Phillips and the two have four kids. She filed for divorce September 14th.
According to the Huff Post, ESPN claimed…
"Steve Phillips is no longer working for ESPN," network spokesman Josh Krulewitz said in a statement. "His ability to be an effective representative for ESPN has been significantly and irreparably damaged, and it became evident it was time to part ways."
This story, which hit last Wednesday, has taken the Internet by storm with its details. There's the letter written by Brooke to Marni Phillips and more recently a report that that the whole affair started when according to Hundley, Phillips had got her drunk and then made a move on her after waiting for her to come out of the women's bathroom at a bar.
Brooke Hundley filed a restraining order against Phillips after he went to the police, but in reading the text from the Examiner it seems like she's lying about a few thing to protect herself.
She writes:
While at work in mid July, after work Steve bought me a strong drink and then cornered me while coming out of the bathroom with no one in sight trying to persuade me to come to his hotel suite to spend the night.
I told my supervisor who told me to "Get used to it." And to keep it to myself. He proceeded to text me on a regular basis with inappropriate things. I tried to get him to stop and told others but he didn’t and finally I gave in and agreed to see him a few times after work in parking lots.
Someone at work found out and call his house. Then he began to spread word that I was just the office slut and ruining my reputation. He continued to text me however about getting together on our next business trip and I begged him to please be honest about what happened with us that he had pursued me and that I was not this poor character as he had stated.
Over the phone he threatened me stating that if I spoke a word of this to his wife that he would ruin more than just my reputation but could easily get me fired. At that point I told him I cannot continue on like that and if he couldn't come clean to everyone that I would have to tell. I wrote a letter and left it on their doorstep to his wife.
I then thought twice about it and asked a young woman to retrieve it for me. She drove up in my car and he saw the car and immediately tried to ram into her over and over. He obviously thought I was in the car and now I'm scared where this might go next.
What's interesting and not surprising to me is that her ESPN supervisor told her to "get used to it" and I believe that because it affirms something I wrote when ESPN's Harold Reynolds was fired in 2006 for hugging a white girl.
Turns out I was right! But I knew that.
I wrote then that relations between ESPN analysts and interns were common, but it was "OK" for the white guys to be in them because (from people I talked to in 2006) it was white male and white female going after each other, if you will.
Reynolds is black and also married and was fired for a hug while I was told some other ESPN men were having full on sexual relations with female employees. I wrote that Reynolds ran into a kind of racial boundary issue that's grounds for another blog post because times have changed in three years.
It takes two to tango and for every one of these romances that goes bad, there are some that go well and unreported.
Boy, folks howled about that but the truth hurts. Deadspin's now former editor Will Leitch and I had fun with that one at the time.
What really happened is known mostly to Reynolds but he sued and settled with ESPN, which means that somewhere along the way he wasn't the only person who was to blame for something.
The focus should be on ESPN's culture. Instead it's on people as others try to criticize those like Phillips, Letterman, and Reynolds as if those throwing the criticism are totally innocent.
They're not.
It's widely known in the sports and entertainment industry that women who work for those organizations try to get dates with executives and players and actors they work with. Don't even try to argue with me on that one. Some of the women are interns right out of college working without pay, and they chose to do so.
But what happens when a story like this comes out is "The Big Lie" is put in place to cover it up - where the man is the one going after a date with the woman and she has done nothing to pursue a relationship - and we never get to the real story or a real conversation about how our society really is.
It would help because then we could have some real talk that render stories like this not popular. You know? Right now, it's volcanic on the Internet (with people looking for Brooke's MySpace page) because it shows how we really are versus The Big Lie. The truth is "The Big Lie" keeps the gossip train going.
Someone emailed me asking if I wanted to buy a photo of Marni Phillips.
NO I DON'T!
Steve Phillips is out of a job now, but what about Brooke Hundley? Is she still in the employ of ESPN? For some reason they've not issued a statement on her at least as of this writing.
Brooke Hundley has an interesting resume in that she, according to the New York Daily News, worked for ABC Studios as an intern and also Jimmy Kimmel Live, but I don't know if she reported directly to Kimmel.
As you may remember, Kimmel himself was the focus of a little inter-office romance himself, but this one's gone well so far.
In the end, it's all just bunch of gossip done by people - including commenters - who have their own interesting stories. So what. The reality is Steve Phillip should not have cheated on his wife, period. All the other stuff is conversation but Marni Phillips is the victim here. Steve owes a lot to her and to his kids.
Read it agen: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/abraham/detail?entry_id=50316#ixzz0V4g48YJr
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