Famous Chefs in the Philippines is here! :)

First on my list of Philippines Famous Chef is

Annie Lim. 

Annie Carmona-Lim, popularly known as Chef Annie or Chocolate Queen, is a pastry chef, entrepreneur, and television host in the Philippines. Lim started commercial baking in 1977. She trained in local culinary schools and opened a homebaking business. Later, she took a Wilton Master class in Cake Decorating that includes Gumpaste and Pulled Sugar Techniques at the Wilton Cake Decorating School in Woodridge, Illinois. She also attended the Culinary Institute of America in California, where she studied the making of European pastries, chocolate fundamentals and flavor dynamics. Later, she studied Chocolate Manufacturing and other confectionery skills in Solingen, Germany. Lim was reported to have survived from cancer. Since then, she has made it a mission to share her culinary skills and promote entrepreneurship in her field. In 1995, Lim established Castle of Baking and Confectionery Arts, a culinary school housed in a castle-like edifice in Quezon City, Philippines. She also opened Chocolate Lovers Incorporated, a retailer and wholesaler of baking and confectionery supplies.

Lim opened her first Canadian custom-cake shop, called "Chocolate Lover Cakes", in Richmond, British Columbia. The soft opening of the store was on August 8, 2009 and the official opening of the store will be September 9, 2009.

Lim has hosted Sweet Sense, a cooking show, and Creative Life, a magazine show focusing on cooking, gardening, and interior design. Both shows have been aired in ABC-5 Television Network.

Lim has authored cookbooks. She has also produced and appeared in home videos featuring step-by-step cooking demonstrations. She has expressed satisfaction in having extended her cooking classes to "every kitchen in every home" through her multimedia projects--cookbooks, videos, and pamphlets.

Annie Lim's First Publication is the Baker's Guide for Beginners: Revised Edition. Chocolate Lover, Inc., 2002.

Second on my list of Philippines Famous Chef is

Gene Gonzales

Eugenio R. Gonzalez, popularly known as Chef Gene, is a Filipino chef, restaurateur, educator, management consultant, and author. He is the founder and president of the Center for Asian Culinary Studies. Gonzalez started doing corporate work in a bank when he found his calling in the culinary field. In 1981, at age 23, he resigned and opened his own coffee shop named Cafe Ysabel in the municipality of San Juan in Metro Manila, Philippines. Gonzalez has received numerous awards for restaurant and hospitality management. He is the sole TOYM (Ten Outstanding Young Men) Awardee in Culinary Arts and has been honored by the Hotel and Restaurant Association of the Philippines, the International Food Service Executive Association, and the Council of Hotel and Restaurant Educators of the Philippines.

Knighted by Ordre Mondial Des Gourmets Degustateurs
Knighted by Confrerie de la Chaine des Rotisseurs
Promoted to Charge de Presse (1987)
Promoted to Conseiller Culinaire (1988) Top Male Achiever in the Food Service by 1988
International Food Service Executive Association (Philippines Branch)
Founding Member Alta Cocina Filipina(Philippine Contemporary Cuisine Movement)
Ten Outstanding Young Men Awardee (Culinary Arts 1992)
The Gerry Roxas Foundation Award for Excellence
Book Published Cocina Sulipeña: Culinary Gems from Old Pampanga (1993)
Published Pinoy Classic Series: The Inihaw, Ensalada, Adobo, And Pancit Books (1999)
Promoted to Maitre Rotisseur (1999)
Published Pinoy Classic Series: The Kakanin, Sabaw, Gulay Philippine Bar Book (2001)
National Book Awards for his Little Cookbook Series 2002 Archer Achiever of the College of Liberal Arts (2000- 2001) DLSU, Taft
La Salle Dove Award for Excellence (2000- 2001) DLSU, Taft
Published Fundamentals of Professional Cooking and Baking Textbook (2002)
Knighted by The Confradia de Caballeros de San Miguel de Las Viñas, Spain (2003)
Promoted to Commandeur by Confrerie de la Chaine des Rotisseurs 2004

Gonzalez is the chef-owner of Cafe Ysabel, an upscale fine dining restaurant in San Juan, Metro Manila. He is also the a professior, the founder and president of Center for Asian Culinary Studies, a culinary school specializing in Asian, European and fusion cuisine. He also chairs Supreme Food and Beverage Consultancy, a management consulting firm catering to businesses in the hotel and restaurant field.

Gonzalez has hosted cooking shows on television. He has written books and magazine articles on topics related to Philippine and international cuisine. Gonzalez is a conseiller culinaire of the National Board of the Chaine des Rotisseurs. He is a member of International Wine and Food Society based in London. He is also a founding member of Alta Cocina Filipina, a culinary group which aims to promote and elevate the standards of Philippine cuisine. 

His publications were as follows: 

• Fundamentals of Professional Cooking and Baking. Co-author with Jill Sandique. Anvil Publishing, 2004.
• Cocina Sulipeña: Culinary from Old Pampanga. Anvil Publishing.
• Pinoy Classic Cuisine Series. Anvil Publishing.
• East Meets East. Anvil Publishing.

Trivia's about Gene Gonzales: 

• Chef Gene has a son named Gino Gonzalez. He is also a chef-instructor and television host.
• Chef Gene has competed and won two gold medals in fencing at the Southeast Asian Games.
• Chef Gene is also skilled in painting.He uses the proceeds of his painting sales to fund his charities.
• Chef Gene was a member of Kundirana, LSGH's well-renowned singing group.
• Chef Gene has a daughter named Giannina who is a foreign trained professional food stylist and culinarian.
• Chef Gene is the nephew of Br. Andrew Gonzalez, FSC, former Philippine Secretary of Education (1998-2001) and President Emeritus of the De La Salle University System.
• Chef Gene is the great-grandson of Dr. Joaquin Gonzalez (politician) one of the drafters of the Malolos Constitution, the first Philippine constitution.

Third on my list of Philippines Famous Chef is

Heny Sison

Heny Sison, popularly known as Chef Heny, is a pastry chef, cake decorator, and television host in the Philippines. Sison started working as an economic researcher and financial analyst. She enrolled in culinary classes to cultivate her interest in baking and cake decorating. She eventually resigned and started a business making birthday and wedding cakes as well as teaching baking and cake decorating. In 1985, Sison opened the Heny Sison School of Cake Decorating and Baking. Later, she renamed it to Heny Sison Culinary School after adding cooking classes to her regular baking repertoire to provide a more comprehensive culinary education. Today, her school holds recreational short courses and months-long culinary programs for serious culinary professionals. She has a pool of full-time and part-time chef-instructors specializing in Philippine, Asian, and European cuisine, among others. Sison trained in various elements of cake decorating and baking at the Wilton School of Cake Decorating and Confectionery in Woodridge, Illinois; L'Academie de Cuisine in Bethesda, Maryland; Maid of Scandinavia in Minneapolis under Roland Winbeckler, Marsha Winbeckler and Marie Grainger; the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone, Napa Valley and Draeger's Culinary Center in California. Sison hosts a Sunday cooking show entitled A Taste of Life with Heny Sison aired on IBC-13 Television Network. She writes for culinary magazines and newspaper features. She has endorsed dairy products in television and print advertisements. Sison has also appeared either as a judge, commentator, or host in cooking competitions televised nationwide. She has a new show, "Heny's Kitchen", aired every Sunday on QTV 11 at 8:30 a.m. Sison is a Director of Petal Craft International, a firm which conducts training in the design of sugar flowers for export and local markets. She is also a Director of Cake Art International, a retailer and wholesaler of confectionery, baking and cake decorating supplies. Sison is a member of the International Cake Exploration Society and the Bread Bakers Guild of America. Sison is famous for having baked wedding cakes of actresses Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski and Ruffa Gutierrez-Bektas.

Fourth on my list of Philippines Famous Chef is 

Cristeta Comerford

Cristeta Pasia Comerford (born 1962) is a Filipino American chef who has been the White House Executive Chef since 2005. She is the first woman to be selected for the post, and also the first of Asian American descent. Cristeta Comerford was born as Cristeta Pasia in the Philippines and grew up at Sampaloc, Manila. She completed her secondary education at the Manila Science High School. She attended the University of the Philippines, Diliman in Quezon City, majoring in food technology. However, she left school before completing the degree when she immigrated to the United States at the age of 23. Comerford's first job was at the Sheraton Hotel near O'Hare International Airport. She also worked at the Hyatt Regency hotel. After Chicago, she moved to Washington, D.C., and worked as a chef at two restaurants. She additionally spent six months in Vienna as a rotating chef. Comerford was recruited by White House executive chef Walter Scheib III in 1995 to work in the Clinton White House.

After Scheib resigned in February 2005, Comerford was appointed White House executive chef by First Lady Laura Bush on August 14, 2005. Comerford is the first female White House executive chef and the first person of ethnic minority origin to hold this position.

She reportedly was appointed to this position due to her handling of a large dinner that was held in honor of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

She was referred to when George Bush mentioned his "Philippine-American chef" to visiting Philippine president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in June 2008.

On January 9, 2009, the Obama transition team announced that Comerford would be retained as the administration's head chef. Michelle Obama stated, "Also the mom of a young daughter, I appreciate our shared perspective on the importance of healthy eating and healthy families." 

Comerford appeared on a special two hour episode of Iron Chef America, originally broadcast on January 2, 2010. She was teamed up with Bobby Flay and competed against a team of Emeril Lagasse and Mario Batali. Comerford and Flay were triumphant. She lives in Columbia, Maryland, with her husband, John, and their daughter, Danielle.

Fifth on my list of Philippines Famous Chef 

is

Nora Daza

Nora Guanzon Villanueva-Daza, popularly known as Chef Nora Daza, is a veteran gourmet chef, restaurateur, socio-civic leader, television host, and cookbook author in the Philippines. Daza was born into a privileged family as a daughter of Alejandro Jose Villanueva, a high-profile engineer, and Encarnacion Guanzon, daughter of then provincial governor of Pampanga. Daza experienced a sheltered childhood filled with culinary adventures. Daza obtained a Bachelor of Science in Home Economics from the University of the Philippines in 1952. She attended Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, from 1955 to 1956, earning a Master of Science major in Restaurant and Institution Management. At Cornell, she was admitted into the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society. Daza became a judge of cooking contests held by Manila Gas Corporation from 1957 to 1960. She hosted television cooking shows At Home with Nora and Cooking It Up with Nora to wide popular acclaim and viewership for several years. She was appointed Director of Manila Gas Cooking School where she selected, modified, checked, and kitchen-tested over five-hundred recipes for around three-thousand students who enrolled over a period of four years. Daza authored several cookbooks and became a columnist for several national dailies and lifestyle magazines. She has put up fine dining restaurants, including Au Bon Vivant, reputedly the first restaurant in Manila to offer authentic French cuisine.

Daza was elected Vice President of the Philippine Association of Nutrition, Secretary of the Hotel and Restaurant Association of the Philippines, Adviser-Admiral of the Homemakers Club, Director of Hotel and Tourist Industries of the Philippines, and President of Philippine Home Economists in Business. Once, she ran for a seat in the Philippine Senate but lost. Daza's son, Sandy Daza, is a chef and restaurateur specializing in Filipino and Thai cuisines. He has hosted television cooking shows and has written books and articles on cooking and baking. Daza's other son, Bong Daza, is a food entrepreneur specializing in processed meats and fish. He is the estranged husband of Miss Universe 1969 winner Gloria Diaz. He ran for vice-mayor of Makati City but lost in the elections.