Filipina Margarita “Gaita” Fores was named Best Female Chef on Asia on Tuesday, shining the spotlight anew on Philippine cuisine.
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At 56, the win also makes Fores the oldest to receive the award, putting her in the good company of Vicky Lau of Tate Dining Room in Hong Kong (who won in 2015), Lanshu Chen of Le Mout Restaurant in Taiwan (2014) and Bo Songvisava of Bo. Only armed with the passion and respect for food and ingredients, she took on crash courses in Italy during a tour of the country in 1986.
This is all quite an achievement for a chef without any formal training. She has shared her mastery via catering service Cibo Di M and its restaurant counterpart, Cibo, that has branches in over 10 major spots in the metro.
Throughout her career, Fores has cooked for heads of state including US President Barack Obama, the king and queen of Spain, and the duke of York as the ambassador of Filipino cuisine.
As passionate about Italian cooking as she is about Filipino cuisine, Forés is also an advocate of locally sourced ingredients.
In 2013, Fores struck a partnership with the historic culinary institution, opening a Casa Artusi outpost in the Philippines where students are taught traditional techniques of home-style Italian cooking – the first and only offshore campus for the school. In fact, as part of her drive to promote her culinary heritage to an worldwide audience, she co-authored Kulinarya, a compendium of popular regional dishes.
The recognition is given by Asia’s Best 50 Restaurants, which will hold its awarding ceremonies on February 29 in Bangkok, Thailand.
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The Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list is published by William Reed Business Media which also publishes The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, launched in 2002, and Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants, launched in 2013.
