Alliance Select saw the opportunity to offer exceptional quality yet affordable tuna in the market since discerning consumers buy expensive, imported canned tuna in select specialty stores.

“First class quality canned tuna is hard to come by and Filipinos often have to resort to buying expensive, imported canned tuna products. What we aim to do is provide the richest cuts of tuna that were previously available through imported channels only, at an affordable price,” said Alliance Select President Mr. Raymond K.H. See.

Premium tuna is known as the best high-protein source that comes with plenty of Omega 3 healthy fatty acids.

“Premium tuna is consistently touted by fitness experts as a delicious and healthy food source for muscle building and recovery. Food enthusiasts and home cooks also prefer premium tuna cuts as a staple in nutritious comfort food recipes for their friends and family,” See added.

Bay of Gold Select Tuna comes in five artisanal variants: Tuna Flakes in Shoyu, an Asian-inspired choice that heightens the umami flavours of Pacific tuna flakes; Tuna Big Flakes in Oil with Chili, a product prepared in olive oil and enough chilli to provide a hint of heat; Manuka Smoked Tuna Solid in Olive Oil, a variant featuring tuna smoked with 100% organic Manuka wood chips to further enhance the premium cuts with aromatics; and two variants of tuna belly or Ventresca, in Olive Oil and Manuka Smoked Ventresca.

Alliance Select added that the new line is produced using responsible fishing methods and sourced from the best places around the world. The homegrown multinational company operates in the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, New Zealand, and the United States with 75 partners in over 33 countries.

Bay of Gold Select Tuna is available from PHP 99.75 to PHP 215.00 in Landers, Landmark, Real Food, and in more locations soon.

“Shake Shack is proud to partner with the SSI Group, known for its retail expertise and culture of hospitality, to bring Shake Shack to the Philippines,” said Michael Kark, Vice President of Global Licensing at Shake Shack.

In keeping with its mission to Stand For Something Good®, Shake Shack and SSI intend to work with local purveyors and producers to create a one-­‐of-­‐a-­‐kind Shack for the Manila community.

The Manila menu will feature Shake Shack’s signature items including the ShackBurger®, Shack-­‐ cago Dog®, classic crinkle-­‐cut fries, beer, wine and frozen custard ice cream.

The new store represents the first for franchisee Aljeel Capital, a Dubai-based group, which is committed to open nine more in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) over a span of five years.

“We are excited to have more stores in the UAE, with our flagship Dubai restaurant finally open and with the overwhelming turnout we had during opening night,” said Aljeel Chief Executive Officer Firas Hurieh.

He added, “We are proud to say that our store broke several Shakey’s records on that day – the highest total net sales during opening day and the largest number of pre-sold loyalty program ‘Supercards’”.

The Philippines’ number one full-service brand drew a huge number of patrons in Dubai, with long lines and guests patiently waiting close to an hour to enter.

Located opposite Burjuman Mall and just a few steps from EXIT 4 of Burjuman Metro Station (one of the busiest stations in Dubai), the new store is strategically located and very accessible, thus attracting good traffic and high brand visibility. It features the familiar store environment of a Shakey’s pizza parlor in the Philippines and offers the many iconic products which many Filipinos have grown to love.

“We are bringing Shakey’s to Dubai and we assure Filipinos living there that all of their favorites will be the same as it is in the Philippines,” said restaurant manager Alfie Alcazar.

Everything on the menu is halal-certified, in line with Dubai’s Islamic culture. However, the key features and flavors that make for a Shakey’s trademark experience are meticulously kept intact. Marinade, breading, dough blends, and spice mix for the pizzas, chicken, and spaghetti are all flown in from the Philippines.

“Dubai, UAE, and the rest of the Middle East are great markets for us. Aside from the strong and welcoming Filipino communities which really love the Shakey’s brand and are excited about experiencing it away from home, PIZZA is also a Western concept with Western menu – thus giving us tremendous growth opportunities within the mainstream markets there,” said Vic Gregorio, President and Chief Executive Officer of PIZZA.

Shakey’s, best known for its World Famous Thin Crust Pizza, is recognized globally as the original pizza franchise. It is also known in the USA as “The Pizza that started it all!”. Shakey’s first opened in the Philippines in 1975 where it currently maintains market leadership in both the full service and pizza chain categories.

As of end March-2018, PIZZA had a total of 212 stores locally. The store in Dubai is the second international store for PIZZA which owns the perpetual rights to the Shakey’s brand for the Middle East, Asia (excluding Japan and Malaysia), China, Australia, and Oceania. With two area development agreements already signed up, its total international pipeline is currently at least 20 outlets over the next few years.

Mr. Gregorio added, “We are excited to bring Shakey’s and its ‘Fun, Family, Pizza’ positioning to other countries in our part of the globe. We are confident in the success of our new markets and look forward to more partnerships as we continue to build a bigger and better Shakey’s.”

Falafel plays an iconic role in Israeli cuisine and is widely considered to be the national dish of the country. It is a popular street food made with mashed chickpeas (or garbanzo beans), parsley, coriander, garlic, and other Mediterranean spices.

The General Manager of Falafel Yo!, Guy Mann, grew up eating the Israeli treat and wants to share that experience with Filipinos. He aims to preserve the traditional recipes and methods that have been refined and passed down from generation to generation.

“At Falafel Yo, we make falafel the same way we do it back home,” Guy says. “We want it to taste the same. It has to be authentic. The Falafel you get here will taste the same, if not better, than the ones you get in the streets of Israel. We make sure that what we will be serving to our customers are not only affordable, but also fresh, authentic, and are guaranteed to fill their empty stomachs,” He adds.

Usually served in a pita bread with a choice of vegetables, hummus, and tahini sauce, falafel is perfect for holding and snacking on the move.

Guy on their menu, “We have a very focused menu and that allows us to deliver the very best in authentic Israeli falafels. At the same time, we also want to cater to other people who maybe aren’t familiar with Israeli cuisine and introduce them to falafels.”

Falafel Yo serves 3 different sandwiches – the Falafel Yo (P159), Falafelito (P99), and Falafel Beast (P189).

The Yo is their traditional take on the Israeli sandwich. With 6 deep-fried falafel balls stuffed in a chewy pita bread lined with different vegetables, it’s a healthy and filling meal. The Falafelito is smaller version of the Yo made specifically for kids that also makes for a quick snack. It comes with fries and no chili. The Falafel Beast veers away from tradition in that it combines beef and chickpeas for the falafel balls.

“The Beast was something that our team developed to try and innovate the traditional falafel -mixing beef and chickpeas for a flavor that was classic and familiar and yet very different,” Guy shares.

In addition to falafel sandwiches, customers can enjoy salads or add-ons like fried eggplant, homemade hummus, pickled onions (or sumac), roasted green chilies, cabbage, lettuce, and a Mediterranean tomato and cucumber mix. Falafel Yo also boasts homemade dips to go with their sandwiches – the amba, a sour yellow sauce made of mango, cumin, and turmeric, and the tahini, which is a mix of sesame seeds, coriander, and parsley.

For drinks, they serve tangy Lemongrass Juice (P95), a perfect refresher for the Manila heat.

Falafel Yo! is located at the 3/F Greenbelt 3, Ayala Center in Makati. Situated on the cinema level, with a space that can fit only a few tables and chairs, they aim to provide affordable and hearty munchies for diners and movie-goers. Look out for more branches in the future as Guy and team are also planning on opening more branches within the year, and are targeting SM City North EDSA Annex and Vertis North as possible locations.

In partnership with Department of Tourism, Department of Trade and Industry, Angeles City Tourism Office, North Luzon Expressway and Lifestyle Network, Big Bite delights festival goers with food markets, “Sisig Festival”, cooking demos, culinary cook-offs and live entertainment.

Now on its third year, the gastronomic feast will feature over 100 food merchants from Region I,II, III and the Cordillera Administrative Region with regional delights from condiments, spices to coffee and jams to local favorites such as the Ilocos empanada, bagnet, pastillas and longganisa.

Big Bite’s main event highlight is the “Sisig Festival”. Sisig is the quintessential Kapampangan dish, traditionally made of pork parts, mixed with spices, served on a sizzling plate with a side of calamansi and chili peppers. Northern regions take part in the celebration by cooking their own version of sisig such as the bangus sisig from Pangasinan and dinakdakan from Ilocos. The “Sisig Festival” is a culinary spectacle of regional cuisine at its best.

Boosting tourism in the North, Big Bite reinforces the city’s growing reputation as the culinary capital of the Philippines and is part of Angeles City’s Fiestang Kuliat, a month-long fiesta celebration in the city.

Visitors will also see culinary masters Chef Sau del Rosario, Lifestyle Network’s “Chef Next Door” Jonas Ng and Center for Asian Culinary Studies founder Chef Gene Gonzales whip up northern favorites in the live cooking demonstrations.

Competition heats up in the three-day cook-off among top culinary schools from the region.

So come and celebrate the biggest gastronomical festival in MarQuee Mall’s Big Bite: The Northern Food Festival on October 16-18,2015.

For more information, contact (045) 304-0110 to 11. Like and follow MarQuee Mall’s social networking sites, Facebook: facebook.com/MarQueeMall, Twitter: @MarQueetweets and instagram: @iloveMarQueemall.

Occurring on the 15th day of the eight month of the Chinese lunar calendar when the moon is at its brightest, the Mid-Autumn Moon festival has become an occasion for family reunions all over the world, which like the ubiquitous moon cakes that abound during the season, symbolizes family solidity and union. It is considered to be the time of year when children are happiest and traditional candle-lit lanterns shaped in various forms are visibly displayed.

To welcome the moon, purchase a hearty mooncake perfect for your tea party on the 27th of September. Revel in the delightful aroma of palatable moon cake variants available at the Patisserie. For the large mooncakes, there’s the lotus with macadamia, egg custard, mixed nuts, lotus with 1 or 2 eggs, lotus plain, mongo with 1 or 2 eggs and mongo plain. And for the mini mooncakes, available flavors are chocolate, ube, egg custard, mixed nuts, lotus plain and mongo plain. Prices start at Php1350 per box of four. Also comes in gift boxes perfect for giveaways starting at Php450 per box of four.

To make this occasion more festive, Manila Pavilion also offers Mid-Autumn Room Package starting at Php3,500nett for an overnight stay with buffet breakfast for two (2), one (1) limited Mommily Holiday Privilege Card, a box of mini mooncakes, 20 percent discount voucher from all F&B outlets and complimentary use of the swimming pool and Wi-Fi.

For inquiries, please call the Manila Pavilion Hotel at (632) 526 1212 extension 2326 for the mooncakes and extension 2382 for room reservations. For regular updates log on to www.waterfronthotels.com.ph and follow us through social media @WaterfrontMNL.

MGI recently signed a development agreement with L Concepts Limited (L Concepts) to build a minimum of 10 Sizzlin’ Steak stores in Vietnam within the next five years.

“We are thrilled in this partnership with L Concepts given their strong credentials and long history of success. We are excited to introduce our sizzling offerings to the Vietnamese market,” said Max’s Group President and CEO, Robert F. Trota.

“Our overseas expansion continues to gain more ground. We envision to rollout our key brands outside the Philippines with strategic franchise operators. As new markets are established and momentum builds in the next few years, we expect the international portion of our business to be a significant contributor to systemwide
sales and to our bottomline,” Mr Trota added.

L Concepts is an emerging food and beverage player that focuses on the development of unique gastronomic experiences in Southeast Asia. The group currently operates a collection of leading restaurant brands, franchises and lifestyle concepts across the premium casual and fast casual dining segments. L Concepts is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Longfort Group.

“We are honored to partner with MGI and look forward to bringing the Sizzlin’ Steak experience to Vietnam to bring the best possible customer experience to Vietnamese consumers,” said Mr TW Pang, Chief Executive Officer of The Longfort Group. “We believe that Vietnam’s increasingly discerning consumer is in need of high quality F&B products and services at affordable prices and that Vietnam offers tremendous growth opportunities for those aiming to capture this space.”

This marks the third development agreement inked by MGI for 2015. Previous signings include 15 Yellow Cab restaurants within ten years in Saudi Arabia as well as another 10 Yellow Cab branches within five years in United Arab Emirates. The company expects to further augment its vast store network by at least 200 outlets from the international front by 2020.

Sizzlin’ Steak currently operates 10 branches in Metro Manila. Plans are likewise underway to establish a pilot store in the United States.