Solaire Resort & Casino’s Oasis Garden Café is offering the many wondrous flavors of chocolate this month. From chocolate-themed brunch spreads to month-long promotions featuring dishes and concoctions crafted from the finest chocolate harvests, it’s a chocolate lover’s paradise one should not miss.
Dubbed “A Chocolate Affair,” guests can revel in the chocolate creations of executive pastry chef Ben Haslett. High tea and desserts are made even more luxurious with chocolate.
With the afternoon tea offered by the café, “What we’ve done is to look at products that are grown here in the Philippines as well as the different types of flavors Filipinos enjoy,” Haslett said. The café kept everything in tune with what works well with the chocolate, such as the fruits that are grown around.
The café has partnered with the Auro Chocolate brand. The promotion comes with a choice of signature Solaire hot chocolate, freshly brewed coffee, or a pot of tea.
“The local chocolate brand makes quite a nice selection, and I was lucky to visit their farm recently,” Haslett also said.
Tucked away from the bright lights and noise of the resort, at the heart of the Sky Tower atrium, the café offers the Chocolate Tier made from Auro that comes in different varieties — white chocolate, 32 percent; luna, 50 percent; paquibato, 70 percent; regalo, 50 percent; saloy, 70 percent, mana, 85 percent; as well as baked chocolate and coffee tart, and chocolate macaron.
For the Savory Tier, it has the smoked salmon sandwich, creamed spinach muffin, wild mushroom and truffle toast, smoked turkey and avocado, and spinach and salmon puff.
Scones are also offered including the orange scones with cacao nibs and traditional scones come with white chocolate and cashew spread, raspberry preserve, and mascarpone cream.
“We’re using all the Auro Chocolate, including the cocoa powder, cocoa nibs, and cocoa beans, so we’re getting lots of flavors,” he said.
“The fact that the chocolate brand is local is a big plus,” added Haslett who has been introduced to the brand and its farmers. “It’s more fulfilling to have a local partnership.” Solaire supports a farm in Davao, including one of the farmers who provides them exclusively with a particular type of chocolate.
According to Haslett, the big chocolate brands have very similar flavors and tastes, and are always readily available.
“We want to keep things a little bit more local, pairing things with other brands, so we’re keeping it a bit more homegrown.”
Haslett finds this initiative nice because with the bigger brands, “you don’t get to see it from the start.” With this partnership, “I’ve seen it from the very beginning and I’ve met the people that are involved — from growing the cocoa and processing, to the research and development, and then the customers and the guests get to eat it,” he explained.
By day, the café offers a wide selection of coffee, tea, traditional snacks and artisanal finger sandwiches. By night, it transforms into a stylish lounge, offering a full complement of cocktails and drinks.
