Philippine Daily Inquirer Digital Edition

Little touches, culinary moments and more reasons to love Bohol

The 10th edition of Amorita Resort’s Bohol Eats is its first four-hands dinner

By Pam Pastor @turbochicken

MORE REASONS TO LOVE BOHOL C4

It was a hot morning on Panglao Island and in Amorita Resort, guests were being treated to mixed fruit popsicles and calamansi mint shots, their faces spritzed with refreshing cucumber spray. The ladies were handed orchids for their hair.

“We call it a parade,” said Leeds Trompeta, the luxury resort’s general manager. “Every midmorning and afternoon, we go around ... Why do we do this? Because when you give someone a flower, they feel that they’re the most beautiful in the world, even for just a few seconds. You made them feel special. That’s what Amorita is all about. It’s those little things that spell luxury and luxury of space.”

There’s an abundance of these little things: soap with your name on it, the word “welcome” written on your bed with tiny petals, fresh fruits, a jar of yummy cookies, a lovely note from the housekeeping team.

It makes sense; after all, Amorita means “the little love” and it is these little touches that make guests fall in love with the resort and keep them coming back again and again.

Last weekend, though, there was another draw, another reason to head to Amorita: the 10th edition of Beats (or Bohol Eats), the resort’s culinary pop-up series, which has previously featured chefs like Josh Boutwood, Robby Goco, Margarita Fores and Jordy Navarra.

Trompeta said, “What started as a pop-up for us during the pandemic has really grown. We’re so proud that Beats has featured several of the top chefs in the Philippines, including those guys who got into the Top 50 [restaurants] in Asia. Beats has always been true to its advocacy of promoting a culinary experience for the local Boholanos.”

Locals showed up for the latest Beats dinner, but so did travelers from Manila, Cebu and Iloilo. Cebu Pacific, the event’s airline partner, flew members of the media, foodies, chefs and mixologists to Bohol for the event.

Four-hands dinner

Chefs Angelo Comsti and Bryan Koh were the stars of Beats’ first four-hands dinner. “This is a very exciting evening for us. It’s the first time Beats will have two chefs in one go, and two chefs who are writers at the same time,” said Trompeta.

When Comsti, who is also a Lifestyle food columnist, was

invited by Amorita to be a guest chef, he said he’d do it, but only if he can do it with Koh.

Comsti and Koh, who have been friends for several years now, share more than just a passion for food and the written word: Both have devoted their time to traveling all over the Philippines to learn more about Filipino cuisine, chronicling what they have learned in their own beautiful cookbooks.

It was Koh’s Filipino nannies who started the Singaporean chef’s love affair with Filipino food. “I grew up eating very good Filipino food. Sinigang, adobo, tortang talong

... My first nanny was from Ilocos so I also had pakbet and bagnet.”

It was years later, while working as a freelance journalist and doing research about Southeast Asian food, that Koh realized there was so much more about Filipino food that he had to discover. His quest to learn more about the cuisine has taken him as far as Tawi-Tawi and Maguindanao.

For Koh, Filipino food is “vibrant, it’s very diverse. it’s very colorful and it’s also very surprising.”

Inspiration from all over

Comsti and Koh celebrated the cuisine by featuring not your usual fare, taking inspiration from all over the Philippines.

Comsti told guests, “We’ve traveled around the Philippines, came up with our own cookbooks, discovering dishes that we

never knew existed in the Philippines. We’d like to share our discoveries with you tonight.”

The event started with cocktails at Amorita’s cliff deck, which has a lovely view of Alona Beach. It featured two dishes: pesasati (Maranao coconut and shrimp cakes) by Koh and tiim (stir-fried pork on fresh lettuce) by Comsti.

Accompanying the food were Don Papa Rum cocktails by Audrey Gustilo, head bartender of Oto in Poblacion, Makati. The cocktails were all made with Don Papa Rum 7.

Aaron Goodall, Don Papa Rum’s program development manager, said, “We age this rum from Negros Island around seven years.”

The drinks continued to flow at dinner at Amorita’s Saffron Restaurant. Koh’s lowal (kinilaw in spiced gata) was served first—a fiery start to a memorable meal. Koh said, “Traditional

ly, it’s just made with conch or saang, but this time we added some octopus to it. It’s a version of kinilaw, but it contains roasted coconut and spices.”

Local ingredients

Next was Comsti’s arancini,

served with a yummy taba ng talangka aioli. “It’s a hybrid of two Filipino rice dishes—arroz Valenciana from Bacolod and kuning from Sulu. We used asin tibook on top of the arancini.

It’s artisanal salt from Bohol,” Comsti said.

The next dish was tamalos by Koh. “It’s a kind of tamale with peanuts, made with pork humba

or adobo. It’s usually very rich, but we’ve made it a bit lighter for the purpose of this evening.” Koh’s tamalos, served with a humba reduction sauce, had tender chunks of pork humba.

Comsti’s main dish—ribs braised in lemongrass-burnt coco broth with mashed

squash—was inspired by two ends of the archipelago. “From the north, it’s dinuldog, it’s basically squash purée, while tiyula itum is from the south. It’s soup that they serve royalty.”

Their desserts were served at the same time: Comsti’s take on

inkalti from Ilocos (sweet potato bilo-bilo with banana and arnibal) which he turned into a boba-like cold drink, and Koh’s version of

daral, a Tausug delicacy. “It’s a very fine crepe rolled around candied coconut meat and muscovado sugar,” said Koh.

Cookbooks were given to lucky guests including a couple from Bohol, Jeffrey King Gonzales and Ria Gonzales, who have attended all 10 Beats dinners.

Jeffrey, a general manager for Toyota and a food content creator on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook (@foodietarsiidae), said, “It’s not just the food, it’s the culture. Beats is very special to us ... Amorita has never failed us, it’s very worth it.”

Margarita Fores’ Beats dinner was one of Jeffrey’s favorites, especially because the proceeds went to victims of Typhoon Odette (international name: Rai) in the area. The Gonzaleses were celebrating their 10th anniversary that weekend.

Ria said, “Even back when we were still dating, food was always a love language for us.”

Cult following

There’s another Beats happening in August. Lyba Godio, chief operating officer of Oneof Collection Resorts, the company behind Amorita Resort, said, “It’s a surprise. Beats is always a surprise. The thing with Beats is, it got a cult following. As soon as we announce it, people book.”

But there’s plenty to enjoy in Amorita (and in Bohol) even on non-Beats days.

“Other than the very popular countryside tour that everybody does, when you stay long and you try to discover other facets of Bohol, you’ll realize that there’s always something for you. Unlike other destinations in the Philippines where you stay longer, the fewer things you can do, it keeps on showing you new things. The law of diminishing returns does not apply to Bohol,” Trompeta said.

“Amorita is just five minutes from the airport, we’re accessible to all the tours, island hopping— we can arrange it for you.”

Godio said guests shouldn’t miss experiencing Amorita Resort’s Sea Tree Spa, with its signature massage, using coconut oil and tablea. “It’s very Bohol.”

Guests can learn archery in Amorita, as well—in fact, the resort is scheduled to welcome the Southeast Asian Games gold medalists at the resort this weekend.

Secret beach cove

The resort has two infinity pools, is steps away from Alona Beach, and also has a secret beach cove with daybeds and a fun swing. But if you’re staying in one of Amorita’s 16 villas, you might be tempted never to leave your room—and why would you? It already has its own plunge pool.

And there’s food aplenty, of course. Amorita’s chef Greg Villalon recommends the specialties in their all-day dining restaurant Saffron: nasi goreng, margherita pizza, tablea chocolate cake that uses local chocolate and Peanut Kisses.

Trompeta said they’re about to reopen their Spanish restaurant and are also developing a chop house.

In the meantime, another thing Amorita guests shouldn’t miss is the bacon, served daily at breakfast. “Our bacon needs to have its own Instagram account. It’s so popular, a lot of our guests really rave about it,” said Trompeta.

And what’s the secret to their bacon? “Love. Amorita is love.” INQ

Cebu Pacific flies seven times daily between Manila and Bohol, and three times weekly between Davao and Bohol (Wednesdays, Fridays, Sundays). Visit amoritaresort.com.

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2022-07-03T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-07-03T07:00:00.0000000Z

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