Kicking off the activities in the first-ever Tanduay Rum Festival in Bacolod are exciting culinary and mixology contests that will have leading names in the industry as judges.
The finals of the Culinaria Competition will have Victoria Beckley, Benedict John Uy, Nico Millanes, Don Angelo Colmenares, and Sammy Nuarbe.
Beckley is the Events Director of the World Gourmet Summit. She is responsible for bringing together top international chefs as featured chefs in one of the most-awaited gastronomy events in Singapore. She is also currently the National Sales and Marketing Director of Peter Knipp Holdings Pte Ltd in Singapore.
Industry veteran and multi-awarded chef Uy, on the other hand, is the owner of Planta Hotel, and Daily Skillet and East Bites restaurants in Bacolod. An Enderun alumni, Millanes is the owner of three restaurants—Terrasse Bistro and Portiko Café & Lounge, both located in Bacolod, and Catch of the Day at the Podium in Ortigas.
Colmenares, meanwhile, is the owner of Berbeza Bistro and has been a featured guest chef in various culinary expositions in the country, while Nuarbe is a broadcast journalist, who is also the owner of Bacolod-based culinary school, Great Harvest.
To be held on Aug. 17, the Culinaria Competition will have two categories: Savory and Dessert or “Postre” as they call it in Negros. Contestants will be challenged to create their own rum-infused dishes using locally-sourced ingredients.
Likewise, to be held on the 17th is the mixology contest where participants will get to show off their skill in bartending and cocktail mixing. One of its three judges will be mixology expert Ricky Paiva, whose 16-year career in the industry includes managing airport bars and opening a World’s Top 50 bar.
The winners of the culinary and mixology contests will receive the following: P25,000 for the champions; P15,000 for the first runners-up; and P10,000 for the 2nd runners-up.
Apart from the culinary and mixology contests, this year’s Tanduay Rum Festival will hold contests for barrel art painting and street dancing, and a 5k Run.
Capping off the event is a float parade and a concert featuring Sandwich; Idol Philippines’ Dan Ombao and Miguel Ordon; rapper Mike Swift; and Bacolod’s Project Juan, Barbie na Doll, and Cali Island.
That sounds like it’s going to be an amazing event. I would love to be there for it.
That sounds like an awesome experience! I would love to check this out!
This is a great addition to a lot of drinks. I have seen some of the best mixers sue this.
What a fun experience this is. I would so love to watch a bartending contest, I’ve always admired how quickly bartenders can mix up a good drink and how creative they are with new options for drinks.
Wow, sounds like quite the challenging event! Best of the best competing for the top spots. It will be exciting to watch. 🙂
I would love to check out a bar tending competition! This looks so cool! I used to do a little bar tending and it’s definitely not as easy as they can make it look!
Such a cool competition! It will be interesting to see how they do and who wins 🙂
Sounds like such a great experience!! I’d love to check this out.
Wow. That would be a nice competition/event to watch. I admire the talents of bartenders. They do know how to create awesome drinks and entertain you at the same time!
Sounds like a super fun event! It’s amazing what yummy cocktails and drinks bartenders can make/mix up!
Wow! This culinary, mixology food festival has a lot going on with top names and brands in the F&B industry. It sounds like it’ll be a fantastic event.
I will let my son know about this. He took some courses for bartending because it is an added skill he could make use of for career advancement in the cruise ship and hospitality industry. I am sure he will enjoy watching the “masters’ in action.
This would be a fun event to attend. I can’t wait to see (and try) the creations the contestants would come up with.
This looks like a wonderful event! I wouldn’t mind being there to experience this.
Love how this event has lined up some really distinguished and knowledgeable judges. This really does help raise the profile and credibility for the audience, especially foodies.
I’d like to go and be a judge at such an event. I would love to see their creations and give them a taste or two!
Super challenging competition it must have been with all the heavyweights around. I guess it must have been super fun too attending the program.
It would be fun to watch a bar tending contest. Such great mixology skills.
Oh wow how cool is this. Bar tending competition would be a great thing to watch for sure – how exciting xx
I would love to be a judge in the competition! Looks like a great event! I think we have something like this is my area!
My sister loves all things culinary. I wonder if she’d recognize any of these judges! Either way, I think she’d like the event!
I’ve never heard of the Culinaria Competition, but as a foodie, this is definitely something I’d like to see myself! I wonder which savoury and sweet dishes will win!
I would love to try them out with them. These are some really renowned people!
That sounds like an interesting event to attend. It would be awesome to see compete.
Would love to go to this event. Food and drink is art!
i would love to attend this! sounds like a blast
Bartending is a challenge…one must have a talent to mix and match in order to create an extra ordinary drink.
Oh wow, did you visit Bacolod? It was really during this event. I was with the other brand though hahaha. Thanx for this.
Tanduay Rum Festival… just the name of the event made me excited. I wish I was there 🙂
This is something I wouldn’t excel at lol. It would take years for me to learn the craft.
sounds like a fun festival. did you get to attend this year? barrel art work? never thought of that.