Well on our way to another review at the Serendra, I dread the moment of utter tedium in wolfing down once more a compendium of the four flavors while suffering through dulled conversation numbed by years of reviewing the sensations of sweet, salty, bitter and sour and every imaginable combination thereof. It’s Wednesday and I can’t imagine a worse day to review. It is after all, the midweek celebration in anticipation of a long weekend racing up to Friday’s cabal of inebriation after a hard work week. The Chelsea sits at the center of the Serendra’s ground floor facing a foyer which serves as the central intersection dividing the Serendra at its center and off to one side, a most magnificent sculpture and fountain that seems to send you to another world, a world of elegance and breezy relaxation. It could be anywhere, a lane in Soho, one lane in Tanforan, or even a sidestreet in Avenida in its heyday, and a heyday it is. You wouldn’t imagine that there was any kind of economic crisis looking at the throngs of revelers here. From the well heeled to the office bound, they are present in all their finery. Just outside the front door on either side are the tables set comfortably under an awning bathed tonight in golden yellow light. Andrei Wisniewski sits with Amabelle Cagadas, nonchalant as the crowds drift by and with a quick wave I sit at the head and greetings are exchanged.
The Wisniewski family’s foray into the hospitality industry started out running cafeterias and in house restaurants for an array of office buildings. Some of the more well known dining spots of this persuasion would the Marketplace at the corner of Taft and UN avenue, and even more prominent the food street at the Enterprise and the food park at the PBCom towers both on Ayala Avenue. The M café by the Ayala Museum was their first foray into the formal, fine dining arena, with Chef Sau del Rosario. It continues to impress and regale diners with a creativity of creation that has spread its way into the Chelsea. “ . . casual fine dining seems to be on a hiatus right now . . . “ says, Andrei, as he continues to describe the concept of the Chelsea as the Dean and Deluca of Serendra, part restaurant, part deli and part store. We see rows of wine, cheeses, Olive Oil and home baked breads, lining the rolling display shelves within the restaurant.
We start off with what looks very much like a large kofta, with a creamy gorgonzola cheese dip, its then that we realize it’s a risotto bathed in cheese, shaped in ball rolled in breading and fried to a crisp. Interesting what flexibility rice can do, as the starches are gently coaxed into release in the process of preparing the risotto, liquid is added slowly to get that texture desired, and in this case, not a pasty, flowing rice dish but a form-able preparation that can be shaped as one would desire in this case, a ball. The texture is unmistakeably rice but this flavor, somewhere between salty and sweet, because the cheese stuffed in the ball is not too overpowering to hide the plain flavor of plain rice but in fact, works with it to temper the flavor of the cheese. And I thought, I had tasted it all.
Chef Sau del Rosario continues to weave his magic at the Chelsea and his salads are so uniquely his own, using the best ingredients that speak of his individuality and refusal to bend to popular demands to fuse local taste to his own. He uses arugula replete with its spiciness and matches this with Granny Smith apples, tart and sharp with a vinaigrette but rather than exacerbate the tartness of the apples with this blend, he drizzles walnut oil to introduce the delicate nuttiness of walnut and produces a savory salad. Or you could try an even simpler dish, of a classic tomato and rather than use buffalo mozzarella, use traditional Laguna “kesong puti” (white cheese) and pair this with the arugula and a basic vinaigrette, but throw in some sagada orange slices for that sweet and tart refreshing counterpoint to the vinegar.
On this sojourn on Chelsea cuisine, we go through a range of poultry in their Rosemary Garlic Chicken and the Duck Confit. First of all, there is only so much you can do to chicken although you can steam, boil, fry or grill it, it’s the marriage of flavors that give chicken some kind of personality. Working with Rosemary gives any main course a unique quality that gives some flavor to an otherwise boring piece, but match this with a garlic marinade and the natural oils blend with the garlic oil and once again a Sau masterpiece. Off to one side of this presentation is a whole garlic clove, its top neatly sliced off as if the cover of a goodie jar were removed to expose the individual garlic bulbs, its natural sugars browning quite nicely. If one were to take one bulb and squeeze the bottom, the garlic would come out so soft with the same texture as toothpaste, its flavor almost unnatural in its sweetness. The rice is a combination of different varieties, from brown, to black to the red mountain rice of Sagada. In and of itself, it would be next to impossible to cook the rice evenly but try cooking with a tajeen and it gets even more complicated. A Tajeen is a typically middle eastern cooking vessel, made of clay, with a shallow pan at the bottom and a cone shaped cover. This shape allows the steam to evaporate towards the center of the cover but lets the steam condense at the top and drip right back, multiplying the flavors tenfold not allowing any of the steam to escape. What this does to the rice is to ensure the moisture remains long enough to cook all the grains regardless of cooking time. It doesn’t end there because slices of seeded kalamata olives add a particular zestiness to an otherwise ordinary dish. That's what Kalamanta olives do!
The second poultry dish is a classic confit of duck with peppercorn sauce. A confit is a confit is a confit. Take your duck, render the fat gently, until you have enough oil for the bird to sit in completely submerged. The heat of the oil in a confit must not deep fry the poultry but must almost imperceptibly cook the dish. As it is removed and cooled, some of the oil will have to be used to make the peppercorn sauce. Chef Sau uses the basic pepper, but in its red stage where it allows more of the peppers’ flavor rather than the heat pervade the sauce.
Living up to its deli inspired origins, sandwiches are also in the menu and the classic pastrami and sauerkraut on rye is given a twist because rather than use the rye, the pastrami and sauerkraut are rolled into a pastry that bakes flakey and flavorful much like a croissant. Breads have a quality all their own that distinguishes them from the viands that serve as the main flavor of any meal. What it does is to temper the strong flavors of meats and main courses, to a point that makes them more palatable, but not just any bread should do and matching with specific food improves the overall appreciation of a dish. Italian spaghetti with meatballs and garlic bread, Caesar’s salad with croutons, a plain ham and cheese sandwich on American white bread, or pita with succulent beef slices flavored with cumin and exotic spices or a croissant with fresh salted butter and jam. All these breads can be had at the Chelsea, as they work with an inhouse baker that makes all manner of bakery goods from plain white bread to croissants to San Francisco sourdough after all, how else can You feel that you are transported to some other place, a side street in Manhattan, perhaps; or lost while strolling in Soho, unless you can do a little shopping.
We’ve really had it but life would not be complete without dessert and the Chelsea holds up on its own with the trio of desserts we tried including a sugar free chocolate mousse in the standard dry martini glass with candied orange zest sprinkled to provide a flavor to the soft and airy mix. The real piece de resistance to me would have to be the a choice between the toblerone torte, redolent with the bits of nougat and creamy whipped chocolate or the nutella dome cake which really is more like a sponge sandwich, with the flavor of nutella in every bite of the dark, rich brown concoction. I reflect on this while munching away at the tangy meringue pavlova – with the lemon cream and sip away at my cappuccino.
Ah life, such decisions we have to make. The Chelsea makes it easier to make that choice with its selection of what is at once plain and simple, but promises a flair for making a life less ordinary.
The Chelsea is located in the center foyer on the ground floor of the Serendra in Fort Bonifacio and is open everyday for lunch and dinner. You can’t miss it.
