The Pen Lobby’s cool treats for the chilly season

Eating ice cream in December? The wisecracker would quickly retort, you drink coffee in summer, don’t you? Really, why not. Especially if it’s the luscious and oversized ice cream treats being served at the iconic Peninsula Manila Lobby.

“December is the time when a lot of people come and get together traditionally, just like at The Lobby where we are launching our latest ice cream menu. We do get a lot of people coming together and who ask for our ice cream,” shares Adam Lifshitz, the Pen’s assistant food and beverage manager.

Not only that, Executive Pastry Chef Sebastien Coquery notes guests of the hotel are fond of eating their frozen delights anytime of the day. “I have been traveling around the world for 20 years now, and this is the first country where we serve ice cream for breakfast. In the buffet, it is not only kids but also adults as well who enjoy our ice cream. They take their cup of coffee with ice cream (on the side). I’ve never seen that anywhere in the world,” the French chef says with an amused tone.

Guests screaming for ice cream in the hotel’s lobby and restaurant outlets encouraged Executive Chef Patrick Bocheur and Chef Coquery to improve the Pen Lobby’s dessert collections to serve more tempting concoctions under the collective name Frozen by the Sun. The Sun, of course, is a reference to National Artist Napoleon Abueva’s iconic “Sunburst” sculpture set above the Lobby.

In the midst of the artisanal ice cream rage, however, don’t expect unusual flavors like bacon, wasabi, and blue cheese to be served here. Lifshitz shrugs his shoulders and says the hotel prefers to offer more familiar flavors. “We decided to stick to the more traditional, classic flavors of ice cream as these are what the people look for. People want something they can recognize.”

Instead, the hotel found its perfect chill buddy in food service giant Unilever Foodsolutions, which carries Selecta, one of the country’s leading ice cream brands. Chefs Bocheur and Coquery then created festively served frozen desserts guaranteed to delight not just Filipinos but foreign guests, too.

Lifshitz shares that the new and improved cold desserts will also surely make people feel good. “Most of the people who order ice cream at the Lobby are adults. (That’s why) we try to give our ice cream a playful feel so they can embrace their inner child.”






Chef Coquery adds that the ice cream creations are not just for satisfying the sense of taste but the sense of sight as well. “We eat first with the eyes. Just see what we did with the Nutty Page Boy, which has marshmallows, rich caramel sauce, whipped cream, and sprinkles on it. Kids will certainly like it.”

The Choco Loco Sundae, for instance, is definitely a chocoholic’s fantasy with its chocolate truffle and chocolate hazelnut ice cream together with moist brownie chunks and whipped cream.

Can’t Say No consists of ice cream classics like chocolate truffle, vanilla, and coffee almond topped with white and dark chocolate, and whipped cream.

Then there’s the all-time Pen Lobby favorite Pen Pals—all 19 scoops of guiltless ice-cream goodness. Unless you’re up for brain freeze, it’s best attacked as a group.

“People still get that same excitement, even as adults, over ice cream,” says Lifshitz. “Their eyes light up and they still get that sense of joy.”

True. You can’t get anymore Christmas-y than that—delighting in food that gives cheer and a sweet rush of childhood memories.


The Peninsula Manila is located at Ayala corner Makati Avenue. For inquiries, (+632) 887-2888.

source: interaksyon.com

Häagen-Dazs Philippines accepts refunds till November 30

Customers with unused Häagen-Dazs Philippines gift certificates valid for the super premium ice cream brand’s SM Mall of Asia and Robinsons Ermita branches have until November 30, 2012 to have their vouchers exchanged for cash.

“The company regrets that it is unlikely able to refund any outstanding certificates beyond this date, in view of the closure of Haägen-Dazs operations in the Philippines,” says Brand Manager Cathy Castro. In July this year, mother company and global food giant General Mills Inc. announced the stoppage of its Philippine operations.

Refunds may be claimed at the Häagen-Dazs office at HD Marketing and Distribution Phils., Inc. 25th Floor Philamlife Building, 8767 Paseo de Roxas, Makati City from Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, except during lunch break; or they may call Mr. Joseph Toquero (Finance) at 885-0424. Customers are advised to inform Häagen-Dazs beforehand, if possible, of their scheduled drop-by.

Customers should present the actual gift certificates to claim the refunds.

source: interaksyon.com

Firms fear summer meltdown in nuke-free Japan

TOKYO - Japan's hard-hit manufacturers are facing a long summer with businesses making everything from ice cream to crayons fretting production may be hampered as the now nuclear-free nation faces energy cuts.

A hot summer would usually be good news for Ezaki Glico, a major snacks and ice cream maker, with soaring temperatures increasing appetites for cooling foods. But looming power shortages could make satisfying them hard.

"If the temperature goes up very high this summer, and if the government asks us to cut electricity consumption a lot, our ice cream business will be seriously affected," a company spokesman told AFP.

"We may have to make more ice cream before" power shortages reach their peak, he added.

Two weeks after the last working nuclear reactor was shuttered in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear crisis, energy-hungry Japan is struggling to plug the power gap.

The government has not yet issued a target for industrial power cuts, but significant reductions seem certain -- reportedly as high as 20 percent in the Kansai region, which includes the commercial hubs of Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe.

The world's worst nuclear accident in a generation, sparked by a devastating quake-tsunami disaster in March 2011, turned Japanese public sentiment against nuclear power, which had previously supplied one-third of the resource-poor nation's electricity.

That has stoked a turn to expensive alternatives with utility Kansai Electric last month booking a $3 billion annual loss on the increased cost of using previously mothballed fossil fuel plants.

In order to be fired up again, power stations must now pass stress tests and get the consent of their host communities -- it is this last hurdle that is proving hardest to overcome.

Last month, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's government gave the green light to restart reactors at one nuclear plant after they cleared stress tests approved by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

But regulators have yet to convince nervous residents living near the facility.

Energy shortage fears are rippling across Japan with Hiromasa Yonekura, chairman of the Japan Business Federation, repeatedly warning that the nation's economy "would collapse" if none of its 50 reactors was restarted.

The government is to seek a 20 percent reduction in electricity consumption in Kansai, in the west of the country, reports said Sunday.

But when some offices and factories in the area cut power use by about 15 percent last summer it proved barely doable for many firms, including major crayon maker Sakura Color Products, based in Osaka.

"We had a bare minimum of lights on while turning off about half of the computers and elevators at our offices," a company spokesman said.

This year the crayon producer is mulling a variety of coping measures, including moving production partly to China.

"We are considering producing more in advance (of cuts) or even shifting part of the production to our plant in Shanghai and importing back from there," the spokesman said.

"Otherwise, we won't be able to cut as much as 20 percent of our power use."

Utilities for the northern island of Hokkaido and southern Kyushu also fear they will struggle to provide enough power to keep the lights on as air conditioning gets cranked up during Japan's often sweltering summer.

The government is considering asking those regions to cut electricity use by about 10 percent, the newspaper reports said.

Satoshi Osanai, economist at Daiwa Institute of Research, said Japanese manufacturers who had barely coped with the power crunch last summer may be in for an even tougher time as the mercury climbs over the next couple of months.

"Manufacturers managed to keep the production levels up last year by operating plants on weekends instead of weekdays or avoiding peak hours," he said.

"But suppose they have to cut as much as 20 percent of their power use... it could drive more manufacturers out of the country."

However, ice cream maker Ezaki Glico, also based in Osaka, does have a plan in place if the summer is not too hot -- producing more chocolate and less ice cream.

"If it gets really hot, we usually sell lots of ice cream," its spokesman said. "During a cool summer, we sell more chocolate."

source: interaksyon.com