Romano Venuti turns golden

Romano & Dayana

Romano Venuti, of Swiss Deli and Picobello Ristorante Italiano fame, celebrated his birthday this year with panache at the Waterfront Insular Hotel last Sunday. The highlight of the event — in the culinary sense anyway — was his pescatorial gift from one of his business partners of one whole dayana or opah (a.k.a. moonfish). When it arrived at the party venue, all of Romano’s guests couldn’t help but look on in awe.

As well they should, because the opah is a rare deep-sea fish. It’s not commonly available at the markets and it was discovered as a delicacy in these parts only recently. I remember my first encounter with this fish several years ago — I thought it was ham! It was served grilled, you see, and it really looked like pork or beef. At Romano’s party, it was carved off and served as sashimi. And it was heavenly.

It had the texture of tuna, but the taste was more subtle. I was expecting the taste to be rather like white marlin or gindara, but because it was so fresh, there was no fishy taste at all. The Opah, arguably, is an endangered species. Some of my friends have said that it shouldn’t have been caught at all. I agree. But it was there, and it was being offered as a gift to Romano, and the best way for us to honor the spirit of the dayana was to partake of it.

Chef Matt & Ahbet

The party’s gastronomic enjoyment went up a notch for me when I met Chef Matt, the head honcho of chefs of all Waterfront properties in the Philippines. I felt privileged having a chef of Matt’s calibre cook gnocchi for me! (Too bad I don’t have a photo of him doing that.) Those delightful potato dumplings were just the right way for me: finely textured, melt-in-youth-mouth tenderness, and infused with subtle spicy flavors.

Entertainment was provided by The Big Band Theory, a Davao band that can make both oldies and young ‘uns get up and dance. There was also a gift of dancers from Ahbet Padilla: the Lady Assassins, who raised the temperature at the venue a couple of notches higher. Of course, Rochelle, who has a powerful and beautiful voice, rendered a love song for her hubby. Filipino pop artist Wency Cornejo, who is a friend of the family’s, got up and sang one of his most well-known songs as well.

Romano’s birthday bash was — being a restaurateur of note — celebrated with fine food. And good wine. Rochelle Venuti, the birthday boy’s better half, introduced me to an enjoyable Sauvignon Blanc, Tahuna, a product of New Zealand. I must say, it went very well indeed with the gnocchi (of which I had two servings).

Sergio, Dom & friends

The Swiss Deli wine cellar staples were present as well: the Chilean Los Boldos and Viña Ventisquero. The former is rather heavy and very dry, so it was good that I had it after the Tahuna. The Ventisquero Reserve turned out to be a great party red for me, and not just a perfect accompaniment for the rib eye steak that I couldn’t get enough of.

Romano, along with his business partners in Davao and General Santos, has brought much joy to the hearts of Dabawenyos through his food. The Swiss Deli & Restaurant and Picobello Ristorante Italiano are long established in the Davao restaurant scene, and will continue to delight the palate of restaurant goers for decades more to come!

Buon compleanno, Romano! Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum Geburtstag!