Harvest Dinner at the Tagaytay Food and Wine Festival (July 13, 2024)
In 2022, I discovered slow food Chefs Jayjay and Rhea’s restaurant in Silang, Cavite, where we connected over our shared commitment to enjoying local dishes sourced from small farmers and MSMEs, and in the process helping them.
When the pandemic threatened to close it, they swiftly relocated Fatted Calf to my grandparents ancestral land in nearby Tagaytay. The new location, surrounded by coffee trees planted by my Lola Mameng, and immersed in nature, emphasizes sustainability with its rainwater collector, materials recovery facility, herb greenhouse, and a farm house kitchen built through adaptive reuse of recycled wood and old tiles.
The Fatted Calf recently hosted the Harvest Dinner at the Tagaytay Food and Wine Festival, an event supported by my office, the DOT, Tagaytay Tourism Council, and the City Government of Tagaytay to promote local food tourism.
I thoroughly enjoyed the creative dinner prepared by Chef Rhea, Chef Jayjay, and Chef Jeramie Go of Pilgrim Davao, which highlighted local and sustainable ingredients.
It’s a joy to support the slow food movement and our local farmers!