MANILA, Philippines - It seems ironic that the restaurant world is still dominated by men, when in fact, many of them were inspired to cook by the first women in their lives: their mothers. Chef Chuck Hughes of restaurants Garde Manger and Le Bremner and the Asian Food Channel show, Chuck's Day Off, is one such man.
"I've always been interested in food," he said during a phone interview with us. "Watching my mom cook while I was growing up contributed a lot to that interest."
In spite of his burgeoning passion for food, however, Chuck did not immediately work in the food industry. He studied marketing and worked in the field of publicity before realizing that his true calling lay in the kitchen. Predictably, it was his mother who told him to go to culinary school and to follow his dream.
He has come a long way from the boy who spent many days trying to perfect his apple pie in his mom's kitchen. While he was attending cooking school, he had a catering company that provided food to local bands touring the area. From there, he went on to open his restaurants, preaching his philosophies of keeping things simple, fresh and seasonal.
Recently, he showed the world what he could do by beating no less than THE Bobby Flay on Iron Chef America. The secret ingredient, lobster, worked to Chuck's advantage. "Every week, I try to come up with a new lobster dish," he shared. If that's not passion, what is?
On February 26, Chef Chuck Hughes will be sharing some of his recipes with Filipinos when he conducts a free cooking demonstration at the Greenbelt 3 Open Park.
He will cook dishes like Home Smoked Salmon with Green Salad and Apple Vinaigrette, Pan-Grilled Scallops on Green Gazpacho and Chocolate Tapioca Arancini.
Being the fresh food fanatic he is, though, he might slightly change some of the ingredients to feature what is available here.
The event starts at 6 p.m. with a live performance of rock legends Razorback.
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