140 FOOD TALK

Planning a milestone celebration for mum involves a flawless combination of splendour and fine food. Justina Tan shares how putting together her mother’s 70th birthday turned out to be one of her proudest accomplishments.

Mum takes the cake

Mother has high expectations – there’s no subtle way to put it. Growing up, my sister and I were honed in the fine art of gift-giving. As the wrapping paper was peeled away, each present had to tell a beautiful tale of love, effort and sacrifice. God forbid any gift should ever be offered unwrapped and without a greeting card. Likewise, mum was immensely generous and thoughtful with us. Every birthday or special occasion was accompanied by a lavish evening out, a whole cake, an expensive present (wrapped, of course), and, yes, a greeting card. With milestone birthdays, she went, well, the extra mile. Surprise parties – that were possibly her worst-kept secrets – were par for the course.

Needless to say, when mum turned 70 in February, my sister and I were on tenterhooks in the months leading up to D-day. The timing didn’t help. Discussions for Operation M70 began last December when the world at large was busy with Christmas and New Year festivities, and of course her birthday had to fall right smack in the middle of Chinese New Year. What were the odds? But when you are on a mission, there’s no such thing as impossible. Furthermore, leading up to the big day, Mum would drop hints: “Auntie so-and-so’s daughter’s wedding had such a nice photo booth. Your cousin paid for his parents’ holiday to Australia.” Hence, the pressure was on to pull off the birthday celebration of the century.

In recent years, I’ve organised many events for clients. I never knew the reason why – until now. I strongly believe the fates had aligned to lead up to this one big event for the most important woman in my life. The first order of the day was securing the venue for the bash. As most of the guests were from the silver generation, there was no question that the dinner would be held at a Chinese restaurant. That didn’t bode well with the Lunar New Year in full swing – Chinese restaurants would be packed to the rafters. There were also criteria to fulfil: the restaurant couldn’t be the same one we held dad’s 70th birthday at the year before because it would appear insincere; it had to be centrally located; it had to have a sizeable private room that could seat at least 35; it had to be sufficiently swish; and of course the food had to be outstanding.

In the midst of juggling deadlines, sis and I shortlisted at least 10 restaurants and split the list. None seemed to make the cut. We were in dire straits and getting more desperate by the day. Just as the situation seemed bleak, a light shone from Peach Garden at OCBC Centre.

It was almost kismet since mum used to be a regular at the Chinese restaurant where Peach Garden’s founders, Veronica Tan and Angela Ho, used to be managers. Both of them used to greet mum by name when she swanned into the restaurant years ago. Peach Garden at OCBC Centre checked all the boxes – it had just one private room left on our desired date, and it didn’t hurt that the restaurant had a view to die for. Tan accommodated all our demands, which included individually portioning and serving every dish to guests. What can I say? My mother and her daughters are cut from the same cloth.

With the restaurant venue settled, the focus shifted to the cake. We spoke to more than five bakeries before settling on one, and naturally we put the baker through the mill: “How many tiers can feed 35 people? How heavy is the cake? What are its dimensions? What flavours would you recommend for old folks? Can you show us a sketch of the cake? Can we have different flavours for each tier?” It was probably the hardest $300 he’d ever earned.

Any event worth its salt has entertainment and decorations, so naturally flowers and balloons were worked into the plans. Several weeks before the birthday dinner, my sister and I arranged a lunch date at Peach Garden that was, in fact, a site recce. The afternoon was spent surveying the room and quizzing the restaurant manager on table dimensions, menus and whether the space could accommodate a photo booth. Yes, you heard right. My septuagenarian mother loves the camera, but she’s old school and believes that memories are best preserved on physical photographs. Hence, the photo booth turned out to be the perfect entertainment for the evening. Mum worked the photo booth staff to the bone and was beaming as she ended the night with a thick stack of photo prints. “Such good fun!” she exclaimed.

Putting together my mother’s 70th birthday bash was no walk in the park, but I’d do it again in a heartbeat. After all, mum turns 70 only once – and there’s no better reward than seeing the woman I love most have the time of her life.