The Rhythm of the Social Hour at The Devil Wears Prada 2 Screening

For Vogue Philippines’ special screening of The Devil Wears Prada 2 on April 28 and 29, the evening did not begin inside the cinema. It began in the social hour before it, where guests arrived in layers, conversations overlapped, and nothing had yet settled into focus. Inside that in-between, Margarita Signature Caterer moved with quiet precision.

What is now known as Margarita Signature Caterer traces back to Cibo di Marghi, started in 1987 when Margarita Forés returned from Italy and began cooking in private homes. The shift into catering, as Mercedes Forés, her niece, puts it, was less transformation than continuation. She described it simply as a name change, but one that allowed the brand to expand across different expressions of hospitality while staying rooted in its origins.

What stayed constant was intent. Forés shared that the mission or core of the brand never changed, remaining tied to Margarita Forés’ life mission of making life and living more beautiful and delicious for others. She added that this philosophy carries through all of the brand’s expressions, but is most fully realized in catering, where the team is present in guests’ most meaningful moments.

At The Devil Wears Prada 2 special screening by Vogue Philippines, that intent showed up through rhythm.

“For an event like the socials, our guests typically don’t look for something that requires a fork and a plate.” Forés explained that for social-hour settings like this, guests typically prefer food that supports movement and conversation rather than structured dining. Dishes were served in trays and designed to be easily passed around, allowing guests to continue engaging without interruption.

Servers read the space with practiced ease, noticing who had just arrived, who had not yet eaten, and when to step in without breaking the flow. “Our team is very well trained to read the room,” Forés said. “They know when to come in, when to move around,” while remaining attentive to guests who had yet to be served. Years of working across different kinds of gatherings shaped that instinct, allowing service to feel seamless even within constantly shifting rooms.

The same restraint shaped the service. “I don’t think food should ever feel like it’s getting in the way of conversation,” Forés shared, emphasizing that it should instead feel present when needed, offering itself without demanding attention.

That approach carried into the menu itself. Squid Ink Gnocchi replaced its usual green to match the evening’s black and red palette. Mortadella Spuma passed easily between conversations. A familiar Barquillos dish was reworked with Kesong Puti Mousse and Ilonggo Chorizo, shifting only slightly from recognition. Small adjustments were made throughout the menu to reflect the screening’s visual identity, from the use of squid ink to deepen the gnocchi’s color to subtle red accents incorporated into individual dishes.

Forés noted that they “don’t necessarily like to call it fusion,” describing the cuisine instead as Italian at its foundation with subtle Filipino touches. She added that while the dishes are Italian-leaning, the Filipino influence emerges more through “soul and hospitality” than through overt technique, creating familiarity within refinement. 

Even the visual language of the room followed the same logic. “We wanted to fit and match the essence of Vogue Philippines and The Devil Wears Prada theme,” she shared, with the palette deliberately held to black, white, and red across styling, tables, and service details.

Nothing called attention to itself. Everything belonged to the atmosphere.

As the screening approached, the energy of the room shifted. Conversations became shorter. Movement began to gather toward the cinema doors. The social hour faded without a clear ending, dissolving the way it began.

What remained was not a focal point, but a trace of ease, the sense that nothing had interrupted the room even as everything moved through it.