Sunday brunch as luxe as dinner service

Seafood tower, steaks, fresh pasta, overflowing drinks—at Finestra at Solaire, ‘you can order as much as you want and everything is cooked to order’

What a treat. Between bites of baked Boston lobster and scrambled eggs and truffles, I put my fork down and picked up my phone. “This might be the best brunch of my life and we haven’t even gotten to the mains yet,” I shared on Instagram.

We were at Finestra Italian Steakhouse at Solaire Resort & Casino on an otherwise gloomy Sunday, but inside the restaurant, it was sunshine, sparkle and all things delicious.

“We wanted to do something new, we wanted something that would surprise,” said Finestra’s chef de cuisine Alan Marchetti.

And boy, did he deliver. Sunday Brunch at Finestra is a luxurious affair. You don’t get up to get your food (apart from hitting the affogato bar— but more on that later). You sit, you are served, you are spoiled, you are satisfied.

“You can order as much as you want. We don’t limit it. Everything comes to your table,” said Michael Dinges, Solaire’s vice president for culinary. “All the dishes are served à la carte style; everything is cooked to order. Nothing is sitting under a heating lamp or in a chafing dish. We are serving the same quality as we do in our dinner service.”

Seafood tower

Brunch starts with a seafood tower—hot or on ice, your choice. And since this is an allyou-can-eat affair, you can have both and you can have multiple servings of both.

The seafood tower on ice includes fresh shucked oysters, clams, steamed lobsters, curacha, blue swimmer crabs, poached prawns, mussels and whelks served with classic cocktail sauce, whipped horseradish, raspberry mignonette and Amalfi lemon. The hot one comes with razor clams, Oysters Rockefeller, grilled prawns, baked Boston lobster, whelks in spicy tomato, curacha, blue swimmer crabs and herbed baked mussels with tartar sauce, whipped horseradish, lemon butter sauce and Amalfi lemon. You can always ask for more.

Extensive drinks list

Brunch also comes with an extensive drinks list that includes champagne, red wines, white wines, local and imported bottled beers, spirits and liquor, and Finestra’s Italian cocktails—Negroni, Giramondo and Pigafetta.

“It’s always food and beverage. These things need to play together to make it a full experience,” said Dinges. “The handcrafted cocktails and drinks go very well with handcrafted food.”

Marchetti agrees. “It’s part of the total package. When you do things, I think you need to do it completely or you don’t do it at all.”

And yes, that means you can drink as much as you want, too.

Those who don’t enjoy alcohol can go for Italian sodas, Italian iced teas (there’s lemon, rose petal and peach), fresh fruit juices, sodas and still and sparkling water. There’s coffee and tea, too, of course.

“As our chef Alan says, ‘Tell your guests, generoso,’” said Girald Manuel, manager of Finestra.

I started with champagne, and the bubbly went wonderfully with the seafood, some of which were flown in from Europe. My big regret was not doing what the connoisseurs at the next table did—they poured champagne on the fresh oysters before eating them.

After the seafood towers, there are salads to enjoy: Caesar, Nicoise and buffalo mozzarella.

Then come the brunch specials. Get the foie gras terrine served with quince jam and dehydrated pear. Smear it on the brioche slices for a decadent midmorning treat. I guarantee you will want seconds and thirds.

Truffle lovers

Don’t miss out on the vitello tonnato (capers, brown anchovies, shaved carrots, roasted veal, tonnato sauce) and smoked salmon with capers, lemon, parsley and creme fraiche either.

Other brunch specials include octopus carpaccio, fried squid and salumeria board (salame Milano, prosciutto and 36-month aged Parmigiano Reggiano).

What’s brunch without eggs? Truffle lovers like me will love the scrambled eggs and truffles. You can also go for the Finestra Eggs Benedict, eggs Florentine, potato hash salmon or the Finestra Breakfast (eggs of your choice, Italian sausage, crispy pancetta, tomatoes).

It’s tempting to fill up on all these dishes but you need to pace yourself because there’s so much more on the menu.

There are three kinds of pizza: margherita, diavola (spicy salami, mozzarella, black Taggiasca olives) and funghi (mozzarella, smoked scamorza, wild mushroom, Parmesan).

You can’t skip the pasta, too—they’re made fresh. There’s pappardelle tartufate (cream, truffle paste, Parmesan), lobster spaghetti, clams linguine, green duck ravioli and risotto asparagus. The gnocchi four cheese with honey and walnuts is a must-try.

For mains, you have lobster thermidor, whole Josper-cooked USDA rib eye, USDA filet mignon, braised beef cheek, baked Norwegian salmon, Pacific sea bass fillet, baked lobster with cheese, brioche lobster roll—how does one choose?

This is why at Finestra Sunday Brunch, the bigger your group, the better—so you can try as many dishes as you want and share.

Room for dessert

You’ll need to save room for dessert because Finestra is serving its tiramisu, vanilla panna cotta, chocolate zuccotto

cake, lemon meringue cheesecake, mixed berries zabaglione and mango and passion fruit semifreddo.

The affogato station is an absolute highlight and the perfect excuse to get up and walk (because at this point, you’ll be feeling so full you’ll want to get up and walk). There, chef Rupert Gonzales made vanilla and chocolate gelato right in front of our eyes using liquid nitrogen.

“It’s a spin on the classic Italian dessert. We created so many different kinds of condiments so everybody can play around a little bit,” said Dinges.

There’s an abundance of toppings to choose from—from fresh fruits, compotes and candies to sauces, jellies and biscuits. “You can also add alcohol or coffee,” said Manuel.

Sunday brunch at Finestra is more than just a meal, it’s an experience and it’s one you’d want to enjoy with your loved ones after being cooped up for so long.

“We tried to really put out the best that we could for a Sunday treat for a family. I want to see kids inside this restaurant. It would be nice to

see them around those tables, to hear them laugh and play . . . it’s something that’s been missing for so long in restaurants,” said Marchetti.

Safety protocols are in place,

of course. (On our way into

Solaire, we even had to walk through a disinfectant machine that sprays you with mist.)

“We are back not just to offer the best guest experience but also to give them a sense of comfort and safety,” said Manuel.

Stellar service

Another thing that made brunch such a wonderful experience was the stellar service. The waitstaff was attentive and knew the menu very well, making suggestions and helping guests make decisions on what to order.

Oh and there’s live music, too.

And the deliciousness doesn’t stop with the affogato. There’s a candy trolley where you can grab some treats (Italian candies, cookies, pralines) at the end of your meal—you can even bring them home.

Marchetti said, “I wanted guests to have a complete experience . . . I know the entry price for this brunch is not cheap, but given the beautiful oysters, the steaks, the lobsters and all these nice things . . . I want guests to say, oh, this one is a bargain. I want to have this next week as well.”

The chef also hopes people will want to celebrate their special occasions at Finestra Italian Steakhouse’s Sunday Brunch. “I want them to come in with their friends and family and think, ‘I want to celebrate my birthday in a special way. Because I’m sure I’m going to be stuffed in there and I’m going to be drunk and I’m going to have the time of my life.’ I want them to have the time of their life at this brunch.”

Finestra Italian Sunday Brunch is from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m for P4,999+ per person. Tel. 88888888; email restaurantevents@ solaireresort.com.