Interview of Mr. Jun Araneta: Operations manager of Aubergine

Question #1: Where did you work before you managed Aubergine?
-I worked back in Shang ri la hotels at Makati as an F&B Director. I'm currently working with Stefan Langenhan the Executive chef of Aubergine now but the former Sous chef of the same hotel I got out from.

Question #2: What are your management style's?
-My management style is simply back to basics. Everything from greeting the guests, seating the guests, taking there order, entertaining them, serving the order, busing their plates, from the bill out and the farewell. That is also my management style back in Shang ri la hotel.

Question #3: Does your waiters exchange shift's with other waiters?
-No, I only have one set of waiters from day in to day out. It saves me a lot of revenue for that and saves me the time of wasting for excessive training.

Question #4: Where do you get your chef's?
-We get our chef's from ISCAHM. Since that Aubergine and ISCAHM are very close partners. We get their senior students to work an internship for us. And sometimes we get our chef's from CCA

Question #5: Could you give us tips about your success?
-Like I said, Everything is back to basics. You cannot succeed with out going back to your roots. Because that is success all about. You go back to basics, then go forward and undo the failures you have made.

Establishment Review

The establishment I chose to review is Peking Garden. It's a Chinese fine dining restaurant. The style of service is French guerridon. Where the duck is presented to us then carved table side. The restaurant is located at SM North EDSA, Trinoma malls, third floor. The food is excellent but the prices are ridiculously high. What can a customer expect? It's a Peking duck being carved at the side of your table. And it's served three ways. First it is served with Chinese pancakes (these pancakes aren't sweet, it's more of a crepe wrapper to begin with. but the Chinese kept insisting to call it as pancakes), hoisin sauce, leeks and cucumber. Second is that they served it with Chinese cabbage and more hoisin sauce. Third is they boil the bones of the duck making a stock out of it (the stock is very rich, I don't know how to make a rich stock but I wish to learn from them sooner or later). So far the establishment is quite clean. But don't expect that the toilet's are in the establishment. The comfort rooms are located outside of the establishment and you have to go all around The coffee bean and tea leaf just to re-enter the establishment. But I have forgotten the other style of service is one; French guerridon and two; Family style. Since there is a lazy Susanne on each round table you see. Again it's a great restaurant and I would share this with the rest of the country. If they want good peking duck.

Beverage Review

This is just a short review of Buko Shake's (Coconut Shake). I tried a lot of them but the best one is located at Wan Chai Tea House. A casual Chinese restaurant. It's almost like a dimsum house too. But still after I have tried the Buko Shake in Hap Chan tea house. It wasn't really that good and I have rated that Wan Chai make's the best one's in the country. The shake consist's of Whole milk, simple syrup, shreded coconut meat, coconut milk and coconut juice all blended into a delicious beverage. Summer is coming up too. I suggest that people should go to Wan Chai tea house today and order a nice tall glass of Buko Shake. Just to beat the summer heat.

The "F" Word by Master chef Gordon Ramsay (TV Review)

An incredible show but too much swearing in the kitchens of Master chef Gordon Ramsay. He had hosted alot of shows in this generation and had shared many Techniques to the recent generation of apprentice chef's. I bet he will still be at the top 5 chef's of this world today. Unfortunately Master chef Gordon Ramsay's culinary school Le Cordon Bleu is only the third best in the world today. Just underneath Enderun college's. So I am proud to be an Enderun student because of the position we are currently in today as the second best culinary school in the world. Because second is almost at the top and I believe that Enderun can defeat the top culinary school in the world the Culinary Institute of America (CIA). And so I am willing to stay and partake into the hospitality industry and learn from more of the professors and chef's here at Enderun college's.

New years eve "13 dish meal" (Family food)

Every new year's eve, me and my father would cook up thirteen dishes. Because it is of Chinese tradition that a Chinese family would cook thirteen dishes as a symbol of satisfaction and to avoid famine for the members of the household. This tradition has been started by my ancestors and has been passed down through generations. It's in every Chinese tradition that we would wear a red shirt for luck, a jade pendant for good health, and consume round circular foods for prosperity. This tradition is practiced twice if the family is half Chinese (example: Chinese-American, Chinese-Filipino) the new year which is on January 1 and the lunar new year on February and we greet each other with the sentence "Gong si fa tsai"(Kong si fa chai)  or "Xin nian kuai le"(Shin nyan kuay leh) which means "Happy lunar new year". So in every thirteen dishes is almost the same since it's just for the new year and there is nothing special about it in particular. But we never cook anything with chicken in our dish since it will give us bad luck. We always had Callios, which my father always makes during the new years. Meat balls which was prepared by our maids (Since my mother has passed on the last of June 14, 1996 she used to make 13 dishes with the aid of our maids). Lechon Baboy or Suckling pig which was always picked up by my uncle & my older brother from "ping-pings Lechon baboy". Baked pasta bolognese which was cooked by my brother which would leave the kitchen a muck after he cooks. And finally Shabu-Shabu which was prepared by me. When I cook I never leave the kitchen in such a mess that the maids couldn't pass through the floor anymore. So I cleaned some of the pots and pans that I have used to make the Shabu-Shabu. And the rest of the dishes was prepared by our maids. steamed tiger prawns, steamed Lapu-Lapu fish, Dinuguan, Lumpiang gulay, Kiampeng (Ki-yam-pung; Chinese sticky friend rice) and there were three dishes left that I can't recall. Since that there were thirteen dishes to memorize (I will try my best to memorize them again). However, since an incident occured last 2 years ago that our table has burned into a smoldering crisp due to a firework went off on it, We never set fireworks at home anymore (well at least I can set some off from the streets outside of our gates). Instead we watched our neighbors' fireworks and let them set it off and see it from our 3rd floor office building. At the begining of new years eve I thought I would celebrate my new year as boring as hell but I realized that it was the best one I've had because I teared and saw fireworks that were truly magnificent to watch from atop of the 3rd floor of our office building. And I'm looking forward to an excellent year this 2011. For I have enjoyed it's 1st day.

My Dining experience in T.G.I. Fridays (Burger Review)

The TGIF outlet that I went was at the fourth level of Trinoma malls. The Restaurant was near the Red Box Karaoke bar. I sat down and ordered their house special burger which was "Friday's burger". It had cost around   300 php. And I think it's affordable for most people that would buy a burger that would be so tender and delicious such as Friday's, which patty is an inch thicker than the quarter pounder of McDonalds. When I first bit the burger it was rather tender and juicy. But somehow tasteless. But I think that's the way how they do it there at Friday's. So that customers can savor each bite of the burger's beefy texture. Just by making me write this review makes my mouth water already. And it's because it is really that good. I would recommend people buying one of Friday's burger's. And taste the difference of what a real burger should taste like and not how you get it from fast food joint's.

Intro (The college that I chose)

For most people that want to study in a Culinary school like me. I choose Enderun colleges. Why am I here if one ask's? It's because of the degree certificates and training that Enderun offers to students who loves to be in the kitchen and who like's to serve and assist his/her fellow man. Most people think that Enderun is too expensive of a culinary school. More often that people would have been mistaken thinking that Enderun has only one course to offer. I beg to differ because Enderun offers three courses such as Bachelor Science of International Hospitality Management - Culinary Arts/Hotel Administration. And Bachelor Science of Business Administration (There is a particular field to this business). But the course outline I chose is Culinary. However, Enderun can't offer the course that I've been anxious to study. And that subject matter is Firearms. It's an addiction that I've been yearning for the past years. But sadly, I cannot request as such a deadly course because it is illegal. But a subtle soul such as mine cannot part take in that category. For I chose to become a cook. The real reason that I'm taking culinary arts is because of the lineage of cooks in my family's gene pool. It all started with my ancestors, then my grandparents, then my parent's. Me and my family see food as a business and the sweet pleasure of consuming it. And my enjoyment is seeing the happy faces of people being served and seeing them consume my cooked delights. It seems however, I enjoy serving more than preparing their dishes. It's because of one fact that I rarely socialize anywhere. I rarely go to parties, going to the bar with my friends, hanging out with my cousin's and many more social activities I have ignored for the past year. I am always concealing myself from the face of the crowd. Now that I'm enduring hospitality, then I am glad to have chosen Enderun as my school. For I may expound my social barrier that blocks my path from interacting with guest's. To dealing with manager's who handle internships. And to cooperating with fellow cooks in the kitchen.