Wood-fired pizza, classic Italian pastafrom Boracay to Boni High Street

By: Stef Cabal Philippine Daily Inquirer

2:22 am | Thursday, February 9th, 2012 0share37 35

When business partners Juan Elizalde and Paolo Occhionero opened Aria Cucina Italiana in April 2003 in Boracay, they found the experience quite insane. It was completely mad, with hundreds of people waiting to be served and get seats, says Elizalde over lunch at Sugi. A complete madhouse! We were unprepared to say the least. Elizalde balances his time as restaurateur with his job as vice president of operations of Manila Broadcasting Company. Elizalde and Occhionero have known each other since the 80s, when they both lived in Boracay. Back then, there were only a few restaurants on the island. It was unbelievably magical, recalls Elizalde. Since Elizalde loved Italian food and Occhionero is Italian, opening an Italian restaurant was a natural choice. Elizaldes strength is in conceptualizing and marketing, while Occhionero is more the kitchen and service guy. After almost a decade, theyve managed to fine-tune Aria and make it a destination in Boracay, with its signature thin-crust pizzas topped with the freshest Italian ingredients and baked in wood-fired ovens. Theyre opening a branch in Manila. A lot of people havent been to Boracay for years, and they want Aria in Manila, says Elizalde. Soft opening Aria had its soft opening recently, at Bonifacio High Street Central, Bonifacio High Streets new section at The Fort. It might be a fancier environment, but the partners have made sure the restaurant retained the soulful, homey and relaxed atmosphere of Aria in Boracay. If we can put sand on the whole floor, we would, quips Elizalde. The comfortable space, 180 sq m, has a seating capacity of 60 indoor diners and 20 for outdoors, with decently spaced tables for larger parties. Anton Mendoza did the architecture and interiors. He used clean lines and neutral earthy colors, adhering to Elizalde and Occhioneros specifications. House music is piped in, attracting the chic crowd.

A three-piece bamboo screen by Kenneth Cobonpue is at center space, and a beautiful reprinted tapestry by iconic Swiss architect Le Corbusier adorns the wall. (The original, bought in Paris in 1967, is in Elizaldes home.) Arias original menu, overseen by chef Gino Amodio, is inspired by the coastal regions of the Mediterranean. Chef Amodio frequents Italy to meet with other chefs to trade secrets and ideas. But the Manila branchs kitchen is supervised by chef Marino Leonardis, who comes from Leguria, Italy. The menu of Aria Manila is the same as the menu in Boracay, we even flew in the Italian chef, says Elizalde. Enormous undertaking The authentic wood-fired pizza oven, built by an Italian guy named Giuseppe from a family that specializes in building wood-fired ovens, was also flown in. The oven was originally built brick by brick in Cebu. We had to haul it over to Manila with heavy machinery. Bringing it to the mall was a pain, Elizalde says, with 50 people helping out in the enormous undertaking.

The owners also went the extra mile to source organic vegetables. The food is done from scratch, by hand. We have weekly and monthly specials on our menu and these are developed all year long, says Elizalde. Aside from the main menu, we have a constant introduction of new dishes, so even frequent diners of Aria can sample new dishes. Aside from the popular Aria pizza, which is generously topped with parma ham and mozzarella, other must-tries include the Margherita, crispy and moistened by tomato sauce and specked with grains of mozzarella; and the classic Bolognese, Marinara and Carbonara pastas. Aria also has a good selection of appetizers, soups and desserts like the chocolate mousse and the Zuppa Inglese. New dishes include Ricotta and Spinach Ravioli, 3 Cheese Gnocchi and the risottos. Add a glass of white wine or a fresh juice, and youve got the recipe for bliss.

Little warriors live in this home

Child Haus has given shelter to more than 8,000 kids. After eight years, Ricky Reyes is still at it
By: Annelle S. Tayao Philippine Daily Inquirer
11:19 pm | Tuesday, February 7th, 2012

DESPITE their condition, the kids are playful and active. JOSEPH AGCAOILI

The kids of 35 Ofelia Street in Project 8, Quezon City, are nothing short of a miracle. They are not child prodigies, not dancing, singing, piano-playing Internet sensations. They are warriors who, every day, are battling the Big C. All are age 12 and below; some are barely a year old. The kids are residents of Child Haus, a temporary shelter established by celebrity hairdresser and businessman Ricky Reyes for children undergoing chemotherapy. All are out-patients from the provinces who undergo treatment for three or six months, or even a whole year. Instead of leaving them to sleep in hospital corridors or, worse, on the streets, Reyes decided to provide the kids and their families a decent home. Child Haus has been around for eight years, and Reyes attributes its survival to kind-hearted Filipinos who continue to support the halfway home. The money we spend every year all come from donations, says Reyes (Mother to Child Haus residents and staff). Sometimes, someone adopts a child, then pays for his or her treatment. Volunteer teachers also drop by to conduct informal classes; nuns and priests provide catechetical guidance. There are also Reyes friends in media who help spread the word about Child Haus and their plight. I am able to use my status as celebrity to contaminate people into helping others, he says. The shelter was originally located in a revamped warehouse inside the old Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office compound. Then PCSO chair Honey Girl Singson de Leon was the one who came up with the name Child, Center for Health Improvement and Life Development, and Reyes affixed the word Haus. Not contagious

THE INSPIRING kids of Child Haus in Quezon City PHOTO : JOSEPH AGCAOILI

After PCSO vacated the compound, Reyes had to look for another location. It was a difficult sixmonth process, he recalls, because once people found out that cancer patients would be living in the

house they would refuse to rent it out. They dont realize that cancer is not contagious, says Reyes. If a kids condition starts to worsen, we immediately take him or her to the hospital. Their address nowstill temporary, as Reyes eventually wants to buy a permanent homeis a three-floor, white-walled house which can accommodate up to 100 people. A large, colorful Child Haus banner welcomes one at the gate; inside, the spacious garage has a playground, small grotto, and an activity area with toys and books. One is instantly met with warm smiles and courteous good mornings by the children, parents and staff. The bright, festive posters, artwork, and dcorplus the kids playfully running aroundare more suggestive of a daycare center rather than a house of cancer patients. Its really a home for them, says Reyes. They help each other out; mothers group themselves when doing the cooking, washing, cleaning. They have proper rooms, they live comfortably. Each child is accompanied by one parent, usually the mother; if the patient is an infant, then both parents are required to stay. There are around 50 double-deck beds; parents sleep on top while the kids stay in the lower bunk. A small space near the receiving area serves as chapel.

RICKY Reyes and the kids of Child Haus, with a guest sponsor of the Christmas party PHOTO BY ANNELLE TAYAO

In eight years, weve benefited more than 8,000 children with cancer, says Reyes. Out of that, not 50 have passed away, because they have time to go to the hospital. They get the needed treatment, which gives them hope. The shelter has 16 partner hospitals and institutions which are responsible for referring patients to them. Dr. Rachael Rosario, a cancer survivor herself, is head of staff and oversees operations as well as medical care of the children. Reyes drops in from time to time, and is there whenever there is a special occasion. People have asked me, why children? These kids dont fully understand the illness that has struck them, Reyes says. Nasa dulo na siya ng pisi ng buhay niyahindi mo pa ba idudugtong ang kamay mo? (They are already hanging on for dear lifewouldnt you reach out your hand to help them?)

World's 10 Most Beautiful Airport Terminals

1 of 12

Uplifting Arrivals
By Sascha Segan
Airport terminals aren't generally viewed as architectural wonders. The concrete boxes of the 1960s and '70s generally gave way to glass boxes in the '90s and '00s, with the best terminals making a vague stab at incorporating ideas of "light" and "air" -- or at least offering decent food that isn't a mile's walk from the gates. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, of course, and one person's perfect terminal is another's endless walkway of sorrows. Luckily, these ten airport terminals combine personality, functionality, and uniqueness to offer a great travel experience that starts the moment you get off the plane. Photo Caption: Terminal 3 in Changi International Airport, Singapore.

Read more: http://www.frommers.com/slideshow/index.cfm?group=785&p=1#ixzz1lsCCb Y1V

Jeddah Hajj Terminal, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

One of the world's most radical airport terminals is one most Americans are unlikely to ever travel through. The Jeddah Hajj Terminal is unique: it's only active during the "hajj," a religiously mandated pilgrimage to Mecca for Muslims. During that six-week period, it's one of the busiest airport terminals in the world. The Hajj Terminal received the American Institute of Architects' 25-year award as a design that's stood the test of time: it's made of 210 open-air, white fiberglass tents which create a "chimney effect" that can cool the hot desert air by 50 degrees without expensive, hard-to-maintain air conditioning, according to a profile in theArchitectural Record. The tents can contain 80,000 people, with flexible spaces devoted to very unusual activities for an airport terminal, such as changing clothes and ritual footwashing. The terminal gets some knocks online for being, as one Skytrax reviewer says, "chaotic and basic." But no other airline terminal has its unique challenges: being literally the gateway to heaven for tens of thousands of people a day, many of whom are making this a once-in-a-lifetime trip.

Read

more: http://www.frommers.com/slideshow/index.cfm?group=785&p=2#ixzz1lsCOL PEU

Leif Eriksson Air Terminal, Keflavik, Iceland

Iceland's cozy little international airport looks like it arrived in a flat pack from IKEA. It's all blond wood and volcanic-looking stone with big windows looking out on the dramatic Icelandic landscape. There's a lot more wood in this airport than you'll find in most terminals, and instead of being a design accent near the ceiling (as in Madrid), it's on the floor, making the terminal feel much more natural and less sterile than usual. The best buildings capture a bit of the soul of a place, and the Keflavik terminal does that perfectly: it's cozy (maybe a little too cozy in some of the gate areas), made of local materials, relatively spare and utterly embedded in the landscape. As a greeting to Iceland, it's perfect. Photo Caption: Keflavk International Airport, Iceland.

Read more: http://www.frommers.com/slideshow/index.cfm?group=785&p=3#ixzz1lsCVn 0Cc

Seoul Incheon Airport, Incheon, South Korea

Never mind how it looks from the outside: Seoul's airport regularly gets awards for how well-organized, efficient and relaxing it is on the inside. I've been there several times, and Seoul's secret is to make sure that you're never more than a few steps away from an entertaining, enlightening, or amusing bit of Korean culture. Scattered throughout the terminal like Easter eggs, you'll find hands-on Korean craft workshops, a dress-up area where you can take photos in traditional clothing, the best free Internet cafes you've ever seen (and yes, that's absolutely a bit of Korean culture), a museum, and plenty of places to take a comfortable nap. Want to try a traditional Korean bathhouse? Head to the basement. Plants and flowers keep up the impression that you're in a showplace for Korea's melding of history, art and technology, and not just a mere airport terminal.

Read more: http://www.frommers.com/slideshow/index.cfm?group=785&p=4#ixzz1lsCd MXZi

Wellington Airport "Rock" Terminal, Wellington, New Zealand

Many people have called this the world's ugliest airport terminal. But there's a reason the new international terminal in Wellington has won enough awards to fill a jumbo jet. Like the Keflavik terminal above, it's an intelligent response to New Zealand's identity and landscape and not just another swooping glass box evoking "flight." Opened last year, the Rock is a pair of egg-shaped buildings covered in copper plating that's designed to turn blue-green in the sea air. Inside, curving corners and geometric panels play peekaboo: the terminal packs double the passenger capacity of the previous terminal into the same space without feeling crowded. A plain box wouldn't have been able to do that. The Rock looks rugged, unique, and as its architect said, "theatrical" -- all parts of the Kiwi identity. It wouldn't be built anywhere else.

Read more: http://www.frommers.com/slideshow/index.cfm?group=785&p=5#ixzz1lsCkF dcY

JFK Terminal 5, New York, NY

Airport terminals don't usually age well. JFK's Terminal 5 is the exception. One of the greatest icons of the mid-20th Century Jet Age, Eero Saarinen's TWA terminal has been intelligently swallowed by the grasping tendrils of JetBlue's modern new terminal, which has by far the best airport food court in New York. So you get the best of both worlds: an AirTrain ride up to the home of "Catch Me If You Can" glamour followed by a smooth walk through a spacious, modern terminal. There's still one missing piece, of course: you can't actually walk into the Saarinen terminal's main hall, as the epically incompetent New York Port Authority has dragged its feet for years on finding a tenant for the space. According to Curbed.com, the authority has been trying to interest boutique hoteliers (the lack of a good airport hotel is another one of JFK's many flaws), but the idea isn't even at the planning stage yet.

Read more: http://www.frommers.com/slideshow/index.cfm?group=785&p=6#ixzz1lsCs3 b2v

Singapore Changi International Airport Terminal 3

This is the airport as amusement park. Singapore's three terminals are widely considered to be the most fun you can have in an airport, and each one has its attractions. Terminal 3 gets the nod, though, as it's the newest, with "an automatic light modulation system" to give the whole place a soothing, even, slightly unearthly glow. Terminal 3 is home to Changi's butterfly garden, an 18-foot waterfall, a huge indoor playground, a movie theater, TV lounges and the "Slide@T3," a four-story spiral slide that's a lot more fun than taking the elevator. The other terminals join in the theme of combining indoor and outdoor spaces, with more gardens and even an outdoor swimming pool available to the public.

Read more: http://www.frommers.com/slideshow/index.cfm?group=785&p=7#ixzz1lsD2J GyQ

Marrakech Menara Airport Terminal 1, Marrakech, Morocco

This one is another great example of culturally aware terminal design. The new Terminal 1 at Marrakech's airport looks like a Moroccan palace twenty-first-century style, with classic Islamic geometric and nature motifs inscribed into a giant network of concrete diamonds. You could make a strong argument that the whole thing is one giant artwork. At night, colored lights dance along the front face of the building, illuminating the desert plantings along the arrivals roadway. A lounge inside evokes 19th-century Moroccan luxury, with rugs, chandeliers, and a wrought-metal dome.

Read more: http://www.frommers.com/slideshow/index.cfm?group=785&p=8#ixzz1lsD9g St2

Madrid Barajas Terminal 4

Designed by "starchitect" Richard Rogers, Madrid's huge Terminal 4 tries to break free of typical box-style construction by using a roof line of undulating ribs, which helped it win the 2006 Stirling Prize for architecture. Terminal 4 comes with a strike against it: it's so long (especially when you include the integrated, but next-door Terminal 4S) that it can feel like it takes forever to get from gate to gate. But this is an unusually intelligently designed terminal: clear, color-coded signs group together directions for gates, and multi-level walkways reduce traffic on each individual level. Even when the terminal is full (and I've changed planes at peak times here), it never feels oppressively crowded, and you never get frustratingly lost or stuck waiting for buses the way you can in the design-before-function Charles de Gaulle airport outside Paris.

Read more: http://www.frommers.com/slideshow/index.cfm?group=785&p=9#ixzz1lsDH mI3E

Carrasco International Airport, Montevideo, Uruguay

Yes, someone's still building airports that evoke sweeping 1960s-era glamour. That someone is Rafael Violy, and his airport is in the quiet, pleasant and well-off South American country of Uruguay. Montevideo's airport terminal is a smooth dome, looking from the front a bit like a whale's mouth; inside, lines are smooth, clean and calm, with grand terraces overlooking the runways and arrival areas. This isn't a busy airport, but it's designed as if it was one: the terminal is designed to handle 4.5 million passengers a year, according to one of the companies which built it but its traffic has been stable for years at a bit over a million. That means fewer crowds, and more appreciation of the elegant lines here as you glide through the terminal.

Read more: http://www.frommers.com/slideshow/index.cfm?group=785&p=10#ixzz1lsDO BB3d