There’s more to Manny O
With multifarious accomplishments to his name, Manny Osmeña is well known within and outside of his circles. He may be best known as an award-winning vintner and an active tourism industry player as property owner of Mövenpick Hotel Mactan Island. But what he may be less known for that he devotes so much of his passion to is his tireless philanthropic work under the Manny O group’s foundation called HopeNow. During a special gathering with friends from the media, we all got to know Manny O a little better as he and hotel general manager Harold Rainfroy hosted us for a memorable evening.
The night began in Mövenpick’s premium suite, the Ibiza Loft, where we were also welcomed by Mr. Osmeña’s daughter, Meg Eteve, hotel marketing communications manager Meghann Hernandez, and social media manager Armie Garde. Mövenpick Hotel Mactan Island Cebu and Ibiza Beach Club are owned and operated by the holding company, the Manny O. Group, which also handles airline services under Sky Logistics and Sky Kitchen. The Group is opening a 4,000 square meter Ibiza club on the sixth floor of the new W City Center in BGC.
While he is proud of Mövenpick and Ibiza’s accomplishments, Mr. Osmeña spoke with genuine, visible passion and fulfillment about his HopeNow foundation. After the devastation of Yolanda, Mr. Osmeña was compelled to give hope to those who had lost everything. Aside from turning over 160 homes to vulnerable areas, HopeNow also provides sustainable livelihood rehabilitation and mentoring programs.
One of HopeNow’s major projects is the Hospital on Wheels, a mobile hospital that can navigate even flooded terrain to provide a modern medical facility immediately after disaster strikes a community. This is a P100 million project that Manny O. can’t do alone, so he’s continuously reaching out to other business owners to partner with him so that aid is ready next time there is a crisis.
From the Ibiza Loft, we were led to Ibiza Beach Club, where we enjoyed the al fresco evening show with dancing, singing and fire eating before dinner. In Ibiza, dinner is never just a meal, so we were curious what was in store for us.
As someone who started eating in Michelin star restaurants at 17, Mr. Osmeña wanted to elevate the dining experience in Cebu. One can have a nice dinner sitting down to exquisitely prepared dishes, but a dining experience is to leave no detail unattended. At Ibiza, this includes cutlery commissioned from a 150-year-old company in Switzerland, and service staff in uniforms designed by renowned couturier Cary Santiago.
Our multi-course degustation for the evening was created by the resort’s executive chef, Christian Bouby, paired of course with Manny O wines that Mr. Osmeña recommended for the evening. “The goal is to heighten the flavors of the dishes, not to SATURDAY, 28 JANUARY 2017 wash down their taste,” he said of his selections. For starters was an amuse bouche of seared tuna and ballotine of cured salmon with asparagus and unagi sauce paired with Agapitos Rose. Soup was a rich parmesan lobster bisque, enjoyed further with Discipulus Syrah. We sipped on Agapitos Branco with the giant Ibiza-style tiger prawns on hummus flavored with saffron aioli. The main course, US Angus rib eye with French beans, mushrooms, olives and mashed potato, could be paired with either the Bibulus or the Sumiller. For dessert was a delightful trio of passionfruit cheese mousse, chocolate and coffee croquant, and Mövenpick vanilla ice cream.
The lovely evening highlighted by news on HopeNow and the incredible degustation ended well past midnight, our bodies full and spirits high. As Mr. Osmeña said, “The philosophy of the Manny O Group is to live well in the flesh and in the soul.”