A filling dinner fills purses for charity

THE Marriott International threw a Charity Dinner Soirée on May 30 at the Sheraton Manila, and while leaving guests quite full (what with contributions from the head chefs of various Marriott properties across the country), their chosen charities will also have filling amounts in their purses: they’ve raised almost a million pesos, and donated P750,000 more.

For the appetizers, there was a whole tuna sashimi station from General Santos (from Fairfield by Marriott Cebu Mandaue City chef Jaimes van Haght), and a Cabalen Lumpiang Sariwa (fresh spring rolls) stuffed with tofu from Clark Marriott Hotel’s Patrick Sanchez.

Kibum Park from the Sheraton Manila presented a Chadol Doenjang Jigae (a Korean soup made with soybean paste), while Marriott Manila’s Meik Brammer offered a Carrara Wagyu Ribeye MB 4-5 Roast (the line to this at the buffet stretched all night long).

Meanwhile, The Westin Manila’s Rej Casanova made Arroz Negro Meloso con Pescado al Vapor Pilpil (the grouper was cooked sous vide and emulsified with garlic oil; topped on rice with a texture of risotto). Courtyard by Marriott Iloilo’s Bonn Reyes made Crab Cakes, and Sheraton Palawan Puerto Princesa’s Rosselle Carias made Caprini Arancini.

The Sheraton Manila’s own Andrea Burzio was not to be outdone with his Bigne al Tartufo with truffle cream puff pastry, aioli, and chives. Sheraton Manila Bay’s Marvin Collamat was in charge of desserts, with Green Tea Mango Sago and Almond Chocolate Rocher.

Meanwhile, Celeste Lecaroz and Larni Castro Policarpio’s artworks went on sale (a portion of the proceeds going to charity), but some lucky audience members won artworks in a raffle, such as an acrylic by National Artist Benedicto “BenCab” Cabrera.

The evening ended with the dinner guests moving to the nearby Newport Performing Arts Theater to catch a performance of the musical Delia D.

Dottie Wurgler, chair of the Marriott Worldwide Business Councils, the charity arm of Marriott International, discussed in a speech the charities that the evening will benefit: Save the Children Philippines, Plastic Bank, and a program that aids in disaster response support for certain affected communities.

Bruce Winton, area general manager Philippines at Marriott International, said in a speech, “We want to make sure that our events like this have the ability to positively impact our communities locally and nationally.”

They have two other fundraisers scheduled for September and October.

In an interview with ����ý, he talked about how much money they raised that evening: “We’ve reached about a million tonight. We just made a donation tonight of P750,000 from previous events.”

“In Marriott, we believe that we need to be completely integrated with our local community. We need to give back, and we need to be good stewards of our neighbors and friends,” he said. — Joseph L. Garcia