New faces and new flavors—Radisson Blu Hotel’s Feria, its flagship restaurant, presents a new dining experience for patrons starting this month. In a launching event held Nov. 8, the hotel’s general manager Nishan Silva ceremonially opened the doors of the upgraded restaurant, which now boasts of Indian, Mediterranean, rotisserie and specialty beverage stations, an indoor organic garden plus many more. On top of it, he also announced the newest members of its roster of chefs, Indian chef Hira Tiwari and executive pastry chef Allan Barrios.
With a wider buffet spread, diners in Feria now have more options including fares of Filipino, Chinese, Japanese, Indian and Mediterranean origins, all prepared and served the traditional way. Most notably, with the new Mediterranean station, the restaurant takes pride in using traditional cocotte and tajine pots. Its dessert station, known for homemade ice cream, has also upgraded by adding treats like cake pops and French macarons, and by placing an eye-catching cupcake Ferris wheel right in the center. Beverage-wise, Feria has placed a wine buffet and sake (Japanese rice wine) shots area, where diners can have their unlimited fill at an add-on rate.
To complement the entire dining experience, Feria has installed an indoor organic herb garden that has choices of basil, mint, oregano and rosemary, which diners can pick and place on their food as seasoning. Table setups have also been made refreshing with the inclusion of potted wheat grass centerpiece that diners can grab from as well.
Behind the feast are five chefs whom the hotel has since labeled as Feria’s “Storied Chefs” because of their interesting backgrounds in culinary work. At the helm is executive chef Frederic Cyr, a gifted French-Canadian who learned the ropes in his father’s kitchen and who has traversed continents because of his craft. Next is Chinese master chef Peter Yeung, a Hong Kong national who used generations-old family recipes in perfecting his take on Cantonese cuisine. Behind the Filipino and Italian stations is executive sous chef Randy Origenes who first observed chefs as he used to wash plates, and behind the Indian station is chef Hira Tiwari, who’s an expert in traditional Indian cookery. On the sweets side, executive pastry chef Allan Barrios hails from a family of pastry masters, as his father and four brothers are also in the profession.
Indeed, the newly upgraded Feria lives true to its name that means “feast”—a feast prepared by masters and garnished with new flavors and features that everyone can look forward to.
Feria is on the ground floor of Radisson Blu Hotel Cebu, located on Sergio Osmeña Blvd. corner Juan Luna Ave., Cebu City.