Citronella and coffee beans at Mt. Kitanglad Center, Bukidnon

We woke up to a very chilly weather on our 4th Day in Binahon Farm.  We proceeded to our last stop, the Mt. Kitanglad Agri Ecological Techno Demo.

We traveled for about 2 to 3 hours to reach Mt. Kitanglad Farm. It was located uphill and just like in Binahon, the road was not passable to cars.  So we had to leave our vans 1km away. We walked our way to the Techno-Demo Center hauling our luggages behind.

We were lucky that it was not raining  that time.

It turned out to be a very tiring afternoon. I was just thankful that my luggage didn’t concede to the rough terrain it went through.  When we reached Sir Benjamin Maputi's office, manang showed us to our room with bunk beds inside.

I chose the bed that was nearest the door for easy access to kitchen and bathroom, thinking we would be spending the night at Kitanglad.

Once we were settled, our hosts treated us to a sumptuous lunch of Paksiw na Isda, vegetables and brown rice. We finished it with organic passion fruit juice, red bananas and watermelon as desserts.

I realized each of the five farms we visited left us with a specific mark/memory which I would forever associate it with--  For Cervantes Farm it was the edible kangkong and square foot garden.  For Alomah's Farm it’s the tarragon tea and fresh salads. I will always remember Jaya's  for their blue ternate flower. And the carrot cake and that red tree will forever remind me Binahon. And for Kitanglad farm it wasn’t  the food—but rather their Citronella oil.

I guess they are so proud of their Citronella oil—which they supply to Human Nature here in manila—that they just couldn’t resist spraying it all over the place—even near our table where we were eating. I just couldn’t stop myself from asking if it was pure citronella she was spraying, because the food we were eating smelled and almost started to taste like citronella.

The smell stayed on my hair even after I shampooed that night that’s how generous they were in spraying it.

After our lunch, our guide toured us around Kitanglad farm—for two hours at least. Mr. Ben Maputi, the multi awarded owner of Kitanglad farm and Chairman to his barangay took us trekking to the mountains.

The Mt. Kitanglad Agri-Ecological Techno-Demo Center (MKAETDC) is owned jointly by the family of Benjamin Maputi and the Imbayao Multi-Purpose Cooperative, the center conducts regular seminars for farmers, teaching them about sustainable upland farming, diversified agriculture, agroforestry, cattle, duck raising, and abaca production. The center is his own source of living. He teaches the use of organic fertilizers and natural pest control in the farm, to spread awareness of ecological issues to farmers in the area.

Citronella plant

Our tour quickly became a trek upwards Mt. Kitanglad, and we were all catching our breath while trying to grab on to some tree roots to balance ourselves as we climbed the steep terrain. So much for our citronella fueled lunch!

I realized I was out of shape as I was catching my breath. I could feel my pulse and hear my heart pounding as we labored on.

We saw tea trees, beehives, frog ponds, passion fruits, crops, coffee beans, cattle, ducks, a ritual ground! We were told!  (I suddenly remember the movie Green Inferno)  and a giant tree, which seemed straight out of a horror movie.

I just had to have a photo taken near that huge ancient tree. Yup, I was that adventurous,  and after that we got lost for a while but found the right way in 5 minutes.

I was wearing my Huawei TalkBand, so I knew we had taken a lot of steps already. Making things more difficult was that I was only wearing a pair of sneakers throughout the hike! . So during that entire trek, I was not only getting tired but also getting paranoid that I might step on something like a centipede or worse—snakes! It still gives me goosebumps whenever I recall that experience. I was honestly praying the entire time.

We reached the techno demo center at around 5pm or so. We were quite tired and looking forward to getting back to our room and get some rest. But instead we saw our drivers hurrying and running back and forth to fetch our luggages and load them back to the vans.

Everyone was in a hurry to leave the place. When we got to the van, we asked our driver, why they seemed quite agitated and in a hurry to leave.  He just looked at us and gave us a nervous smile.

We never got our answer, even until today.

When we reached the city, we checked in to a hotel and left the morning after for Manila.

As I lay comfortably in bed back in Manila, I felt a warm sense of pride of the things I’ve done during our five-day Organic Farm Tour Adventure organized by Agriculture Training Institute (ATI) Department of Agriculture.

It might seem simple, but if you know me, I couldn’t survive a day without a sip of my favorite lemon Green Tea (that explains the blog name) but I did! For five days I overcame my cravings for those cold cups from GongCha, Chatime etc and was surprisingly satisfied with tarragon tea, organic food, fresh salad, and mountain water.

Second was the realization that I could actually live in the province, without all my digital distractions and instead enjoy the calmness, the cool wind and the slower pace.

I adored the "probinsya life.” Waking up with greens, fruits, trees, and beautiful sunrise made me relax and appreciate things.

Those five days made me think about saving up to buy a small portion of land, leave Manila's traffic and pollution behind and spend the rest of my days quietly.

To know more about Mt. Kitanglad Agri-Ecological Techno-Demo Center
Please contact:

Agriculture Training Institute
ATI Central Office
ATI Bldg. Elliptical Road, Diliman, Quezon City
929-8541
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Salvatore Cuomo & Bar: Where Italian Food Rules

If youre looking for an Authentic Italian food and perfect Neapolitan Pizza, then its time to drop by Salvatore Cuomo & Bar where you could experience the taste of Naples (true Italian taste). The bonus is the waitstaff are all good looking and courteous enough for you to tip them big. I am wishing you could bump into Paul Basset though and tell me about your coffee experience.

Chef Salvatore Cuomo

I had a privilege of meeting World's Pizza Master, Celebrity Chef Salvatore Cuomo at his flagship restaurant Salvatore Cuomo & Bar grand opening on June 2.  I have been following his instagram account last year and was always salivating at his Neapolitan Pizza, pasta and all his star dishes. I got a surprise of my life when I found out he'll open his first flagship restaurant in Bonifacio High Street.

Salvatore Cuomo & Bar interior has high ceilings and exposed pipe for that industrial, millenial feel. I love that it has an open kitchen so you could see what's cooking and happening inside. I love how the chefs busily move around and speaks in Japanese. At that time, they are being trained by a Japanese team from the kitchen, dining, and barista/bar in Salvatore Cuomo Japan, who are currently in Manila to help with the opening.

Caprese di Mozzarella di Bufala php750

We started our meal with Caprese di Mozzarella di Bufala (Buffalo Mozarella Salad). I swear I could eat this dish all day, I love the flavor sweet and slightly salted, it compliments each other. This is my favorite!

Quattro Formaggi Php750. 4 Kinds of Cheese.

Next is the Neapolitan Pizza Quattro Formaggi with 4 Kinds of Cheese, it is best eaten with honey, this one tastes fresh and satisfyingly good, and perfectly baked.

Neapolitan pizza's description should be like this, crust is thin, dry and golden at the center; the edge is thicker, breadier and slightly scorched; the sauce is bubbling, but does not pool in the center; the cheese is melted and strings out as the slice is lifted. This is exactly what I devoured on!

World Champion Winner Pizza "DOC" PhpP820 with Mozzarella, Cherry Tomato and Basil.

D.O.C. (Denominazione Di Origine Controllata), an original pizza creation by Chef Salvatore that uses fully-ripened cherry tomatoes, a luxurious amount of bufala mozzarella, basil and a splash of olive oil layered on a delicate crust. Again,this one tastes great when you pour honey on top of every slice.

They only use bufala mozzarella and tomato sauce to their pizzas that is imported and proprietary to the company.

“We wanted to raise the bar of Italian food in the Philippines. We believe that Salvatore Cuomo would be welcomed by the more discerning diners in Manila who’ve travelled extensively and know what Neapolitan-style Italian cuisine is all about,” said Luigi Vera, managing director.

Tagliere di Affettati, 

This is a plate of traditional Italian cured meats sliced paper thin.

True to his Italian heritage, Salvatore Cuomo is known for his exacting standards in demanding the best raw materials and ingredients for his dishes. During the early stages of construction, Cuomo flew to Manila to check local sources and determine if these would pass his standards.

“Mr. Cuomo is extremely involved in food and menu development, and quite discerning in sourcing ingredients. He also cooked his signature dishes, and showed our local staff how he prepares them to make sure that Manila will be able to present the food as he does it,” said Richie Yang, director.

Indeed, getting the right ingredients is integral to the Salvatore Cuomo experience. All of their pizzas, for instance, only use bufala mozzarella and tomato sauce that is imported and proprietary to the company. They are baked in a custom-made oven shipped from Naples, Italy. The oven uses a combination of local beech wood and imported composite wood that gives the pizza its distinct taste and texture.

Neapolitan-style Fish Soup

Homemade Fettuccine with Scampi in Tomato cream sauce PhpP850 full size

There is of course desserts to wrap up your Neapolitan experience..

Amaretto Panna Cotta with Fresh Mango Sauce Php320

Torta Caprese Chocolate Cake - Php380

Tiramisu served with Pistachio Gelato Php380

Salvatore Cuomo & Bar serves Fresh Fruit Frozen, Tropical,  Martini and Standard Cocktails, Fresh Fruit Shakes for the non alcoholic. 

Coolness Pineapple- fresh pineapple with passionfruits liquer, fresh lime and grenadine syrup

Rooftop Blue Hawaii with Fresh golden pineapple,fresh lime rum, blue curapao

Passionate Rosso-fresh water melon, lemon,cranberry juice/syrup

Exotic Lover -Fresh Mango, Orange, and Mango Juice 

If you’ve ever been to Naples, Italy, you know that their pizza is decisively the best in the world. Yet even with an ostensibly simple recipe – just a handful of fresh ingredients composed of fresh dough, tomatoes, mozzarella di bufala, basil and olive oil – a proper pizza Napoletana is just as hard to get in Manila.

“The ingredients are very important. We want to make sure we get the freshest and the tastiest products available to us. We spend years selecting and choosing, and even creating some of our ingredients to make sure they are the best. It took us maybe three years to get the perfect basil. This makes a big impact on taste and flavor, ensuring that we are able to serve premium quality pizzas and other dishes,” noted Chef Salvatore.

Thus, when the opportunity to bring a taste of true Neapolitan cuisine to Manila came up, Luigi Vera and Richie Yang of Am-Phil Group and their partners wasted no time making sure it will happen. On June 2, premium Italian restaurant Salvatore Cuomo & Bar finally opens its doors to guests, and will occupy an entire 475 square meters of space at the Uptown Parade in Bonifacio Global City.

The restaurant is part of a food empire built by Salvatore Cuomo himself, a celebrated Italian chef, restaurateur and a famous personality hailed as the pioneer of Neapolitan pizza in Japan.

After a hearty meal, Salvatore Cuomo & Bar serves specially imported Paul Bassett coffee. Paul Bassett, Australia’s famous coffee prodigy won the World Barista Championship at the age of 25. Paul Bassett sources coffees of the highest quality and have refined roasting and brewing techniques, which best highlight their intrinsic characteristics.

The Pizza Man and his empire
Having over a hundred restaurants to his name – from casual pizza and pasta restaurants to more premium dining outlets – says a great deal about Salvatore Cuomo and his food.

Described by friends and colleagues as larger-than-life and gregarious, Cuomo was born in Naples, Italy in 1972 by an Italian father and Japanese mother. At the age of 11, he trained himself in his uncle’s pizzeria and later on fine-tuned his trade in the kitchens of some of Naples’ finest pizza restaurants. He gradually learned how to blend the traditional Italian art of cooking with the Japanese art of perfection.

In 1984, he traveled to Japan with his father, who opened an Italian restaurant in Chiba. Japan didn’t appeal to the young Cuomo then, he went back to Italy and spent the next three years studying at a culinary school.  He returned to Japan at the age of 18.

After his father died, Cuomo was left with a bankrupt restaurant with no money and mounting debt. Nevertheless, Cuomo and his brothers made the decision to stay in Japan and subsequently worked in the Japanese service industry to survive.

During those days, Italian cuisine was just starting to get popular and Cuomo saw this as an opportunity to introduce Neapolitan pizza in Japan which nobody was making. The next couple of years were spent understanding the Japanese food mentality and researching the market before opening a new restaurant in Tokyo with what Cuomo calls "Original Neapolitan pizza."

“It was a crazy, crazy place but one of most fun restaurants I ever had. We only did dinner, no lunch, no afternoon, only dinner. You had to book a month in advance and we had queues of 200 people going down the street. We had to choose who could come in and who couldn’t,” said Salvatore Cuomo in one interview.

Needless to say, Cuomo became known as “The Pizza Man” in Japan who catapulted Neapolitan pizza to fame. Shortly after, he started coming out on TV in Japan, making guest appearances in Iron Chef and Iron Chef Japan, hosting a TV cooking program, and writing cookbooks. He also began opening restaurants in key locations across the Nippon archipelago as well as in other countries, including Taiwan, China, Korea, and now in the Philippines. His empire of Salvatore Cuomo Restaurants, Catering Services, Cookbooks and Licensed Products is run by Y’s Table Corporation, owned and operated by Seizaburo Kanayama and Salvatore Cuomo.

“We want to be very transparent. Ten, twenty, thirty years ago, the Asian kitchen was closed and very private.  But we wanted to establish trust with our customers by showing them everything. I used to believe that if I showed people how to make my food, they would copy it. But I realized it is impossible to copy just like that. Our food comes from us being artisans, preparing it to perfection every time. You cannot copy the experience that goes into making that food, it takes years of training. I’m working very hard to educate our guests, but my staff I want to make sure they know about everything that goes into the pizza. For example, how the colour of the tomato affects the taste and how that makes the pizza better or worse,” he explains.

Even the glassware for cocktails were carefully selected, combining both function and whimsy, sure to delight guests. Plating is also very important to them as well. There’s a good number of interestingly designed plates used to serve the dishes, that results in an appetizing and beautiful food presentation.

Nothing is left to chance. Every ingredient in every dish is how it should be. Every detail is of high-quality. That is what makes Salvatore Cuomo, the man and the restaurant, a cut above the rest.
Italian food is best paired with good coffee after a hearty meal.

SALVATORE CUOMO PHILIPPINES
Uptown Parade Mall, 9th Avenue corner 38th St.
Telephone: +632 946-3072, +632 9463073
Facebook: Salvatore Cuomo Philippines
Twitter: @salvatore_cuomo
Instagram: @salvatore_cuomo11
Website: https://salvatorecuomo.com/