Officially the Chefs On Parade event kicked off with a literal quick parade around the town of Vigan. The chefs and I all rode kalesa as we toured the quaint little town of Vigan with its old spanish style houses and cobblestone streets. It was a treat to see such old houses in good condition as well as the pleasant Kalesa Ride. Around 2,500 HRM students as well as culinary students from the different colleges and universities in Ilocos Sur were in attendance. This was their chance to qualify for the regional championship to be held in Baguio City in the following months.
On the board of judges are the following:
Heny Sison
-With over 23 years of experience, Chef Heny has been one of the proponents of the culinary industry in the country. She currently heads the Heny Sison Culinary School. She has achieved the elite status of Pro Chef Level 1 under the presitgious Culinary Institute of America (CIA) & earned the distinction of Certified Culinarian from the American CUlinary Federation.
Vicky Villanueva
Chef Vicky is the chef at Stars & Bizu. Currently, she teaches baking & culinary classes at the Heny Sison Culinary School. She was a wealth of knowledge and experience in restaurant operations including managing restaurants, cafes, and patisseries.
Vivian Syyap
Chef Vivian is a private chef and catere. She is presently a Culinary Chef Instructorr at the Heny Sison culinary School. After graduting from the Culinary Institute of America with honors, she trained in Boston under celebrity chef Lydia Shire. Since returning to the Philippines, she has endeavored to become an executive chef, hotel restaurant manager, and later on a private chef.
Nick Rodriguez
Chef Nick trained at world-renowed Le Roches School at Switzerland and at the Culinary Institute of Amera, Hyde Park New York. He is one of the leading proponents of preserving Ilocano cuisine by elevating it to gourmet creations at Candon Bistro and Restaurant at Candon City.
Glenn Remorca
He is a floral designer, stylist, and event ogranizer for Manila clients. He has beend decorating Heny Sison’s cakes for 17 years. In 2003, he decided to study culinary arts and in 2006 baking at the Heny Sison Culinary School where he presently teaches.
Katherine Sion
Chef Kathy is a restauranteur (Ding Hao & Fat Kat restaurants), catere and an expert in Chinese cuisine. She is a culinary faculty at the Heny Sison Culinary School.
Joey Reyes Herrera
Chef Joey took up his culinary studies at Regency Institute in Adelaide. Since 2004, he has been a chef instructor at the Center for Culinary Arts in Manila. He has won several culinary awards in the country as well as Singapore.
Boy Vazquez
Dr. Vazquez is an OB-GYN who owns and runs the popular Cafe Juanita. Since then, he has been in the food business for over 2 decades. He calls himself a kusinero & learned to cook from his kapampangan mother in their ancestral home in Nueva Ecija. He considers the kusina as the source of the best recipes of Filipino dishes.
Jason Stacy
A 2006 graduate of Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Arts program from Western Culinary Institue of Portland, Chef Jason’s passion for food and flavors started in his grandmothers’s kitchen. He has worked as a Gourmet Candy Craftsman for Enstrom’s Almond Toffee & was part of the team that assisted Portland’s top chefs in the Pacific Coast Restaurant Group. Currently, he is a guest chef instructor at the Heny Sison Culinary School and does restaurant consultancy.
MEDIA
Soccoro Llamas
Founding member of Food Magazine and co-editor since 1995. She created the first full color magazine devoted to food in the Philippines thus helping pave the way to professionalize the culinary industry.
Nana Ozaeta
Editor-in-Chief of F&B World Magazine and Baking Press, the country’s premiere trade publication fo the food service and baking industries. The magazine is read by chefs, F&B professionals, culinary restauranteurs, and caterers. She has been part of the F&B magazine since its launch last 2003.
Rafael Zulueta
Chief photographer of Flavors Magazine.. He has in the industry for about 20 years. He now specializes in food photography.
Dolly Dy
Current Editor-in-Chief of Flavors Magazine. She also runs an online column for the pantry section at www.herworld.com, where she weekly shares a home-cooked recipe. She has taken up courses in different schools, including Chef Gene Gonzales’ Center for Asian Culinary Studies (CACS).
Jenny Pena
Director of Public Relations of the Intercontinental Hotel in Manila, she is in charge of maintaining food media relations, corporate communications, special events, publicity and advertising. She is also a contributing writer for the Philippine Star and Food Magazine.
*edit: I forgot to add myself to the list!
*all profiles were taken from the press kit given by the organizers
This was the company I was keeping over the weekend.
This was a project by iShore’s Winona Santos and supported by Gov. DV Savellana. Thank you both for accomodating us! You and the entire province was so hospitable to us during our brief stay. I want to come back soon!!
