Category: Events

See You at the Appetite Restaurant Festival 2011!

Have you heard? Appetite Magazine is celebrating their anniversary again with a bang! Foodies like us can indulge ourselves as we enjoy specially prepared dishes at their yearly Appetite Restaurant Festival. It’s happening on October 13th at the Shangri-la Plaza Mall.

Appetite Restaurant Festival 2011 - Taste the World! 

If you want to win an exclusive invite for you and a friend, join their Facebook promo. Here are the mechanics:

1. Download the photo above from here or by going to Appetite Magazine’s Facebook page.

2. Upload the photo on THEIR FB page’s wall with the following caption / text:

I want to go to the Appetite Restaurant Festival!

3. Ask your friends to “like” your post.

The  top 3 photos with the most number of likes will get 2 invites each to this exclusive event.

What are you waiting for?! Join now! If you get in, let us know so we could meet you at the Appetite Restaurant Festival 2011. See yah! 🙂

Celebrating 10 Years of Heartwarming Goodness from Bizu Patisserie

Bizu Patisserie and Bistro in Greenbelt

Last week, Ken and I, along with fellow foodies, were invited to Bizu Patisserie and Bisro’s Bloggers Party over at their Greenbelt branch. Having been there during the Cadbury Chocoholic night, we were both looking forward to having a taste of more dishes from this pastry shop / restaurant.

Bizu Patisserie Bloggers Party - CertifiedFoodies.comI took this photo using my new Nikon D3100. Woot! Stay tuned for better photos soon 🙂

The dinner was graced with the presence of Aaron and Annie Tanco who started it all. They shared with us how their pastry shop was conceptualized, including how they came up with the name of their restaurant. It was all very interesting, especially the part where Aaron told us that Bizu came about after her mom Annie dreamt of people kissing each other on the cheeks (beso-beso) at a restaurant. They decided to use the French word for “kiss”, which is “bisous”, but added a twist by spelling it the way it’s pronounced.

Aaron Tanco, Chrissy of Marketing and Annie Tanco from Bizu Patisserie

I just want to mention this – I enjoyed how Aaron and Annie spoke to us about their restaurant. You can really feel they’re truly passionate about their food and the service they offer to their diners. They were all very accommodating, even laughing and sharing stories with us throughout the night. Even Chrissy, the lovely lady in the middle of the photo above, was very cheery. 🙂

Continue reading Celebrating 10 Years of Heartwarming Goodness from Bizu Patisserie

Certified Foodies at the Ultimate Taste Test 6.0 : Part 1

Last Saturday, it was on. We prepared our tummies for the Ultimate Taste Test in Rockwell and we thought a couple of days of eating light will help. But, no. Out of the 55 food suppliers that were there, generously giving us a taste of their best-sellers or new products, we only got to try 38. WEAK you might say, but hey, we did that in 5 hours! We had to go to an event with our media partner so it was quite an achievement for foodies like us. And it was an experience we won’t forget. So, brace yourself for our two-part feature on this ultimate foodie adventure. 😀

First, let us tell you about our experience before we tell you our top picks. We were at Rockwell Tent a couple of minutes past 11am after the doors officially opened. We wanted to get first dibs on what the food suppliers had to offer, but there were already about 20-30 people there. 😀 Here’s our ticket:

Our ticket to Rockwell's Ultimate Taste Test - CertifiedFoodies.com

We handed out our tickets at the reception area and were tagged. We were then given our own UTT  passports.

Our Ultimate Taste Test passports - CertifiedFoodies.com

The passport had the whole place mapped out for us to find which ones we’d love to try first.

Inside the passport is the official score sheet where you can rate the food and leave comments for each supplier. Listed there are all the dishes the food suppliers were serving that day. But there were some hosts who offered more than what was initially listed. Woot! 🙂

Continue reading Certified Foodies at the Ultimate Taste Test 6.0 : Part 1

Cadbury Chocoholic Night + Joy Shots Promo for a Trip to Boracay

Bizu Patisserie and Bistro at Greenbelt 2A few weeks ago, we were invited by Cadbury Philippines to a chocoholic night at Bizu Patisserie and Bistro in Greenbelt 2 in Makati. Our family LOVES Cadbury chocolates because of its creamy, milky goodness so it was an event we won’t ever pass up.

We invited a fellow chocoholic friend Geejay of Mga Luto ni Lola to join the Certified Foodies team for the night. Here’s a shot of us at the photo booth. It was so fun that I think we took home 3-4 photos each! 😀

Team Certified Foodies at the Cadbury photo booth!

The event was graced by the lovely Georgina Wilson, Cadbury Philippines’ brand ambassador. She shared with us how much she loves Cadbury and how relishing these milky chocolates brings back memories of bonding times with her family, particularly her dad. And I feel her. We all did. Food and the enjoyment of it can really bring back memories and fun times we had with people we hold dear.

Cadbury Brand Ambassador Georgina Wilson graced the event

FYI: Each chocolate bar of Cadbury Dairy Milk contains a glass and a half of milk. No wonder it’s the richest and milkiest chocolate bar I’ve ever tasted! 🙂 I love the plain milk chocolate; my bro and parents are into their Fruits and Nuts variants.

Cadbury Dairy Milk Joy Shots Promo for a trip to Boracay with friendsAnyway, the chocoholic bloggers night was intended to announce the launch of their latest promo, Cadbury  Dairy Milk Joy Shots where a barkada of four can win a 4-day, 3-night round trip to Boracay inclusive of hotel accommodations and transfers. How exciting is that?!

How to join the Joy Shots promo? All you have to do is take a photo of you with 3 of your friends while you enjoy Cadbury Dairy Milk Bar/s (at least one 75g bar OR two 40g bars). The photo should be of you sharing a joyful moment with your friends.

Send in your photo, along with a brief caption (maximum of 60 words) about why you and your barkada deserve to win that Boracay trip. Email it to cadburyphilippines@gmail.com.

Photos will be judged based on the following criteria:

– Depiction of Sharing the Joy with Cadbury Dairy Milk (40%)
– Originality of depicting bonding (30%)
– Creativity (20%)
– Caption (10%)

The best photo based on the above criteria will win the trip. 5 consolation prize winners will also get Cadbury gift bags. Promo runs until September 16, 2011 only so HURRY! 🙂

Continue reading Cadbury Chocoholic Night + Joy Shots Promo for a Trip to Boracay

See You at the Ultimate Taste Test 6.0 in Rockwell

Here’s another foodie event you wouldn’t want to miss – it’s Rockwell’s Ultimate Taste Test happening on September 3, 2011 at the Rockwell Tent in Power Plant Mall.

The Ultimate Taste Test is a project pioneered by Anton Diaz of Our Awesome Planet, one of the blogs we follow. It’ll start at 11am and will end at 9pm. We hope we’d get to try everything! 😀

This year, there’ll be over 50 home-based businesses that’ll be featured at the event where we get to be a food critic for a day. Yes, visitors get to rate their products and the top participants will be featured at Our Awesome Planet. Also part of the event are Power Plant Mall’s best restaurants.

We here at Certified Foodies can’t wait to experience this as we love to discover new food to tickle our senses. Make sure you stay tuned here for our features of the products we loved.

If you’d like to experience this too, you can buy tickets now, sold at Php 585 per head, at Power Plant Mall during mall hours (call them at 898-1702) or Creative Juice office (contact them at 570-7827) at office hours.

For more info, check out Anton’s post over at OAP about the Ultimate Taste Test. For the complete list of the food suppliers and tips on how to maximize your stay at the UTT 6.0, read this post by Anton.

See you there! 🙂

Cook with the Masters : A Lee Kum Kee Weekend Cooking Festival

Here’s a weekend cooking festival you wouldn’t want to miss – Lee Kum Kee’s Cook with the Masters happening this Saturday and Sunday at the Grand Atrium, Level 2, Shangri-la Plaza.

They are inviting bloggers to experience this cooking festival where Chef Eugene Raymundo and Chef Sandy Daza show off their cooking expertise.

If you’d like to be part of this event, sign up through the form below. Then, wait for an invite or confirmation. 🙂

(sign-up form after the jump) Sign-ups are closed.

Carol’s Texan 5 First Bloggers Buffet

I know that this is a super duper uber late post (exaggeration was intentional), but it’s never too late for you to learn about Carol’s Texan 5.

Weeks ago, me and Ken had the privilege to be included in the shortlist of bloggers for Carol’s Texan 5’s first ever bloggers buffet. The restaurant was inspired by American cuisine, particularly from the South, hence the Texan theme. And if you knew us well, you’d know we LOVE their food.

Tristan and Carol, the owner of Carol's Texan 5 - CertifiedFoodies.com

We met Carol, the woman behind Carol’s Texan 5. That’s her with Tristan of Ten Minutes Tops who organized the buffet. Carol told us the story behind the beginnings of her restaurant. It was truly inspiring to hear, especially now that my bro and our family are hoping to start our own restaurant in the future. Carol shared that she only used to prepare food for her friends and officemates. They loved her food so much that they encouraged and pushed her to open her own restaurant.

Continue reading Carol’s Texan 5 First Bloggers Buffet

Philips Air Fryer Introduces the New Way to Fry Food – Air as the New Oil!

Fried chicken. Pork chops. French fries. Bagnet. Lechon Kawali. Fried tilapia. Buffalo wings.

Homestyle Buffalo Wings with Cheesy Garlic Dip - CertifiedFoodies.com

Those are just six of our favorite comfort food here in our home. They’re good and easy to prepare. We can come up with our own sauces, marinades, etc.. However, we wish there’s a way to enjoy these delicious dishes without the guilt of eating anything oily.

That’s why when we were invited to the launch of Philips Air Fryer, we were both really curious to know how the dishes cooked in it would compare against real fried food.

Philips Air Fryer launch was held at Simply Thai in Greenbelt - CertifiedFoodies.com

We headed to Simply Thai in Greenbelt 5 last July 12th for the launch of this new innovation from Philips. At the event was Divine Lee with her fierce followers who won invites from her blog. She hosted the launch and was very entertaining. 😀

Host Divine Lee with her fierce followers who were invited to the launch - CertifiedFoodies.com

Green chef himself, Chef Sau del Rosario, also graced the event as the ambassador of healthy eating and Philips MyKitchen. He truly is one of the most sought-after chefs in the country to-date. We’ve seen him like four times already in the span of 3 months. That only shows how much impact he has in the culinary and food industry here.

Air is the New Oil. That’s the theme of the night. We had doubts, really, ‘til we were served with these delicious appetizers that were all “air-fried” using the Philips AirFryer.

All these are air-fried by the Philips Air Fryer - CertifiedFoodies.com

We actually took a bite of the spicy chicken lollipop first before the server told us they were all air-fried. Yes, everything you see on that plate – spring rolls, dumplings/wantons and the chicken lollipops – were all fried using air. 🙂

We were pretty amazed and started wishing they’d raffle off some units during the launch ‘cause we really wanted to have one. 😀 Well, they raffled off 2 and we didn’t win. 🙁 But, we’d love to get our hands on one! 🙂

As much as we love fried food, the whole frying task can be a bit rough, especially when you’re frying pork. You’d need something to protect you from all the oil that’ll splatter from the pan. This can truly be a hassle, especially when you’re entertaining friends at home. Plus, all the smoke from the cooking will stick on you the whole day. And unless you’re using a non-stick pan, clean-up can be tiring, too. 😐

Continue reading Philips Air Fryer Introduces the New Way to Fry Food – Air as the New Oil!

Food Trip! Manila’s Biggest Food Fest at Manila Ocean Park

Here’s another event foodies like us shouldn’t miss – Food Trip! Manila’s Biggest Food Fest, presented by Manila Ocean Park, the only themed resort destination in our country to-date.

Food Trip! Manila's Biggest Food Fest at Manila Ocean Park - CertifiedFoodies.com

This food fest will be happening on September 16 to 18, 2011, at the Manila Ocean Park designated event areas, specifically at the driveway and north parking area.

What we’re excited about Food Trip! Manila’s Biggest Food Fest is the Food Warrior Eating Challenge. We haven’t seen something like it so it’ll be interesting to watch. I wonder what they’ll be stuffing their mouths with. 😀

Of course, we’re also looking forward to the competitions on flair tending and mocktails, and the pastry and cake / cupcake decorating competitions.

Here’s the schedule of activities for your reference:

September 16 (Friday)

  • 4pm: Opening ceremonies (Marching bands, HIgantes Parade, MOP Mascot Parade, ribbon cutting ceremony, Palarong Pinoy / games, Food bazaar, Cooking demos)
  • 7pm: Flair tending / Mocktails Competition Grand Championship & Awarding
  • 8pm: Mini Concert

 

September 17 (Saturday)

  • 10am: Opening ceremonies (Marching bands, HIgantes Parade, MOP Mascot Parade, ribbon cutting ceremony, Palarong Pinoy / games, Food bazaar, Cooking demos)
  • 2pm: Food Warrior Eating Challenge
  • 6pm: Battle of the Bands Grand Championship
  • 8pm: Food Warrior Eating Challenge & Awarding
  • 9pm: MIni Concert

 

September 18 (Sunday)

  • 10am: Opening ceremonies (Marching bands, HIgantes Parade, MOP Mascot Parade, ribbon cutting ceremony, Palarong Pinoy / games, Food bazaar, Cooking demos)
  • 3pm: Cupcake Decorating Contest & Awarding
  • 6pm: Mini Concert

 

By the way, when you purchase your tickets for only Php 200, you get to enjoy the following:

  • free meal
  • free beer or softdrink
  • free Funchum
  • 20% discount on all attractions
  • mini concert
  • freebies

 

You can purchase your tickets to Food Trip! Manila’s Biggest Food Fest at the Manila Ocean Park reservations office and ticket counters. You can come in in whatever you prefer, may it be hip hop clothing or something fit for the weather. 🙂

For booth reservations and sponsorship inquiries:

Power of Pen 3: Food Writing Workshop – Learn from the Experts!

Are you aspiring to be a food or travel writer? Yes? Then, here’s your chance to learn from the experts. Join Power of Pen 3: Food Writing Workshop, happening on July 28-29 (8am-5pm) at the Philippine Stock Exchange Auditorium.

Power of Pen 3 - A Food and Travel Writing Workshop with the Icons - CertifiedFoodies.com

As a food blogger, this is one workshop I wish I could attend. Just look at the panel of experts who’ll be teaching you their own techniques and styles in writing, photography, food styling, blogging, and even how to draw in an audience.

Registration fee is Php 6,720 per head; refreshments, lunch and the workshop kit included.

Update: I was just notified that they have a buy 1, take 1 promo this week only so hurry! 🙂

To register or to inquire about the Power of Pen 3: Food Writing Workshop, please call 352-3187 or 927-6206.