Enjoying the Art of Taking Time with Swift Premium Corned Beef and Hand Lettering

The company of friends. A sumptuous, specially-designed Spanish dinner menu by Chef Chin Gallegos of Pio’s Kitchen. Intimate, hand lettering session with popular hand-letterer Abbey Sy. All these were served up to us in one evening by Swift Premium.

Pio’s Kitchen, located at Sct. Reyes corner Sct. Fuentabella (in front of Piagetian Learning Center) looks like one of the residential houses in the vicinity. But unknown to many of us, it had been turned into a private restaurant by the Gallegos couple, with Chef Chin holding intimate events here by arrangement.

Beautiful, dainty and rustic table setting

Several similar long tables filled the dining area

View of the kitchen area

Dessert served on the left side with more food served in the middle table

Chef Chin’s paella pans she shipped here all the way from Spain

I just LOVE these beautiful lamps! They don’t even have to match to look beautiful!

Pio’s Kitchen was named after Padre Pio, Chef Chin’s inspiration! This altar is inside the restaurant.

This place is actually where Chef Chin and her husband live (in another area of the house). The dining area used to be her grandfather’s bedroom till he passed on. They renovated it and turned it into a delightful dining area. Would you believe? One long table we sat on were actually her grandfather’s closet doors pieced together and topped with a thick sheet of glass!

Chef Chin studied in Spain, reason why her paellas are sought after by her clientele. Proof of how popular her menu is? Dining here is only by reservation and reservations are backed up a couple of months. Wow!

Chef Chin with her signature Paella Negra (left) and Paella Valenciana (right). I love that tiled wall too!

Our gastronomic dinner c/o Chef Chin

One of the best surprises of the evening — longtime mommy blogger friends were likewise invited and we had a mini reunion.

As we were served dinner created by Chef Chin, we listened as the Swift Premium team talked about their corned beef.

It took time, a lot of taste testing and experimentation, for Swift Premium to hit on the exact ingredient combination to make its corned beef juicy and tasty. I think the wait was worth it.

I’ve tried the Swift Premium corned beef here at home for breakfast and must say that it is indeed very good….and affordable too, unlike very expensive imported brands. Some other brands I’ve tried are full of litid (ligaments) and are either too dry or have a very strong taste and smell that I cannot stand (this is an offshoot of my yoga practice, where I’ve grown more sensitive and choosy when it comes to meat products). But surprisingly, I could tolerate (and actually like) the combination of spices used in Swift Premium corned beef.

Our intimate evening dinner was not yet over. We had a fun session with Abbey Sy, well known for her hand lettering abilities. Abbey taught us some tips and tricks when conceptualizing, drafting, creating layouts, inking and embellishing hand lettered works of art.

I’m actually glad that there are gifted people like Abbey who keep the art of hand lettering, calligraphy, and the like alive because so many of us have sort of lost this with the advent of technology and the keyboard. Even letter writing, an art that my Mom loved and sent to all her friends, was something I never took up passionately.