In the pursuit of raising the Food and Hospitality Industry in the Philippines, the 12th National Food Showdown led by one of the country’s top chefs, Myrna Segismundo, was held last October 26 and 27, 2018 at the Elements Eton Centris, Quezon City. Different culinary schools and universities from all regions of the Philippines gathered to compete in various activities like Food Service, Food Styling, and Table Setting.
It was a proud moment for the Our Lady of Fatima University (OLFU) when they bagged the 1st Golden Plate Award for the Culinary Flair category. This award is presented to the school that garnered the highest points for specific competitions namely Flair Tending, Cocktail Mixing, Mock Tail Mixing, Napkin Folding, and Table Setting under the Professional and Students category.
OLFU went against participants from several prestigious schools and universities from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, and even top-performing hotels in the industry such as: Enderun Colleges, St. Anne College Lucena, Saint Theresa’s College of Quezon City, University of Santo Tomas, Far Eastern University, Holy Angel University, Lyceum of the Philippines University – Cavite, Trinity University of Asia, Wesleyan University, Eastwood Richmonde Hotel, Manila Tytana Colleges, Jose Rizal University, Lyceum of Subic Bay, University of Perpetual Help System DALTA – Molino, City Garden Grand Hotel, and Diamond Hotel.
For the professional categories, Jomar T. Parel won a gold medal in the Napkin Folding competition; Gemili Cabatic, likewise, Riza Delos Santos, and Arnel Villamor emerged as gold medalists in the Table Setting competition, and Josephus Cayabyab took home a bronze medal in the Coffee Concoction showdown.
Under the student category, Sophia Marie Maguliman achieved a silver medal in the Napkin Folding competition; similarly, Jermaine Tongco, Vallerie Padilla, and Lucky Genesis Valdez got bronze medals in the Table Setting competition; while Kyle Amiel Alejandro, Joannie R. Huang, and Daniel Gacto also collected bronze medals for the Mock Tail Mixing competition, Baby Chocolate Cakes, and Cocktail Mixing Showdown categories, respectively.
A number of OLFU participants also received diplomas for their participation. For the Professional category the recipients were namely: Jim Enrico Balboa and Kristine Joy Pacis for the Klasika Kulinarya Showdown; Albert Ryan Evangelista and Rachel Subando for The Pantry Chef; Raffy Dizon and Sheryll Partoriza for The Soup Bowl Showdown, and Rosemarie H. Corpuz for the Baby Chocolate Cakes category.
Diploma recipients for the student category competitions were: Bryan De Jesus and Jay Em Gaspar for Food Photography and Styling; Fiona Katrice Flores and Jorisan Chua for Klasika Kulinarya Showdown; Benjie Pedrajas, Michael John Castro, and John Carlo Dela Cruz for Creative Cake Decoration; Gerald Del Rosario for The Cookie Jar Showdown, and Mica Rose Valeriano for Flair tending Showdown.
