FOR ALL THE LOVERS

VALENTINES Day for Pastry chefs is just another of those special events most people enjoy through out their year, which actually we roll our eyes over due to the work load. Friends plan their "dinners-out" and "weekends away" and we in the pastry department simply look forward to another big week of productions, centerpieces and buffets, plated desserts and big sales.

This years crazy life calendar is followed then 4 days later with Chinese New Year production, three weeks after that Easter and then Mothers Day, Fathers Day and every "proposed" event by the PR people in between. Thankfully after Fathers Day there is a bit of a break from Special days until Halloween and Thanksgiving and the onslaught of festive events. Mental Note to Self - Plan yearly vacation for the day after Fathers Day and Pre-Halloween.

Perhaps in colleges and universities of food around the world they should teach the new chefs of tomorrow just how many special days you need to forget about when you enter this industry.
But this is not a grievance blog.

If I took issue with the calendar of events then I would not have been doing this for 32 years now.


You see I may give up the romantic dinners, the dates and the flowers and chocolates but what I do gain as a pastry chef is the ability and privilege of working with some of the most artistic, dedicated and wonderful chefs every time we have a special occasion.
I have been at the Peninsula for one whole year and one month now and I have to say that Valentines 2015 was a the culmination of twelve months of work. Everyone and everything truly came together and I do not believe I have ever been prouder of any of my teams, than I was this past February 13th-15th at the Peninsula Hotel Manila.
From the Peninsula Boutique cakes and pastries to the afternoon tea, the brunch, the dinners and lunches, the plated desserts and amenities for rooms, we truly made inspirational SEXY food.

I wanted to post some of the following photos prior to Valentines but there are times I wonder if anyone cares or even wants to see them...they are my pictures and my teams efforts and we are but one of millions of teams and chefs around the world doing exactly the same thing for each special occasion throughout the year.
Then there are days like today when I receive a message from someone overseas asking me "Why I have not updated the blog to inspire them" and I realize its more than just about me and us, but about spreading the "Love" and the vision for greater pastry.
The reason I love this trade. Inspiration from others and being inspired to create.
In my youth there was no internet or social media, but I was inspired by great pastry chefs who made me love this trade.
Today we have wonderful mediums in which to inspire and one of those is the blog format. So here are the photos from our PENINSULA HOTEL  MANILA VALENTINES week to inspire those who will visit this blog and seek inspiration for future buffets and desserts.

To those who have read the blog in the past few weeks since the last posting - from Ecuador, Greece, Iceland, Poland, India, Brunei, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Malaysia, Switzerland thank you for coming to read the pages. I am regularly impressed that so many guests view the pages from USA, France and the many countries making up the Middle East, but it is the new countries which amaze me and how the words of one pastry chef can travel so far..
For all the lovers, may you continue to enjoy your Valentines Day and whatever that involves for you, for us chefs, it means a week of hard work but ultimately making you happy, and that is in itself, our reward.

And don't forget if you live in Manila or close to Makati, please visit us at the PENINSULA MANILA HOTEL and more importantly the PENINSULA BOUTIQUE where you can dine in or buy and take home a full range of breads, pastries and cakes made fresh on a daily basis. Our Peninsula Boutique  desserts are pictured below and change on an almost monthly basis so there will always be a reason to return.

IN ROOM AMENITY

STRAWBERRY BRAZO DE MERCEDES

Peninsula Boutique - you can buy, try, dine in or take home...

RED VELVET SMORES

AFTERNOON TEA - Classy and Romantic

ESCOLTA BUFFET LOOKING AMAZING

HIS DESSERT- KAHLUA CHOCOLATE BROWNIE

HER DESSERT - BERRY EMOTIONAL !

I HEART YOU

PENINSULA BOUTIQUE - Valentines Dome

Halloween 101 - nothing scary about it....

I learnt a valuable lesson from halloween this year, and that is that if you give an idea freedom, it truly does find its own wings.
My amazing staff were given the freedom to create much of the Halloween buffets themselves...I gave them support in consultation, decoration, tips and ideas, but essentially they were free to do whatever they wanted...and they made me extremely proud.

I love being amazed and our resident Cupcake Princess "Thei" did me so proud by creating even concepts I had not considered....who knew that white chocolate on the back of a demarle mould makes the perfect MUMMY' s face...

And Agnes Lim and Trixie Fuentes all worked hard on our Escolta buffet and Afternoon Tea, to make an incredible array of scarey but truly delicious food.

Events that last just 24 hours can be incredibly stressful within a busy kitchen, thankfully my amazing staff made the day fun, effortless and a learning educational experience for us all...
Nothing scary about that....

Trending - Spheres

A few years ago with the advent of half sphere shaped moulds from companies such as Pavoni and Demarle, we all, pastry chefs, found perfection in the smoothness of mousses in a dome shape.

Thankfully someone took the concept further in the chocolate world and created spherical shaped moulds and perfect half spheres which could be joined together to create the perfect circle or ball or sphere.

The sphere by itself could be said to be a little boring, yet the beauty of serving a dessert that is shaped like a beach ball on a pile of sand , is that it enraptures everything that is beautiful of my trade.
An innocent perfect shaped ball sits on a delicious pile of soil like deliciousness and within its perfection of shape and chocolatey goodness, lay the possibilities of all our childhoods combined. Sweet deliciousness at its best.

Spheres make for great decorations, especially around this time of year , Christmas, but it is the possibilities of them as mediums in which to serve dessert that entice me the most.
See what you think from the latest desserts conceptualized by the pastry team @ The Peninsula Hotel Manila...Enjoy

Christmas Decorations in Chocolate begin to take shape, the sphere assisting that effort so well at this time of year

PENINSULA BOUTIQUE dessert for the festive season...perfection well rounded.

Even for Amenities, the sphere encapsulate perfectly

Whether complete or slightly melted, the sphere makes for perfect desserts

When a dessert looks this perfect why the need for much garnish and sauces, everything is held within its own perfect shape. Strawberries and cream never looked so good.

PECAN PIE....never looked so good

Team WORK @ The Peninsula Manila Hotel

Agnes Ramos, a career worth watching (front and centre crouching) and the rest of the dedicated talented Pastry and Bakery team of the Peninsula Manila Hotel, with their true leader Annalyn Solano, the talented Senior Sous Chef that keeps us all in line.

I have been fortunate to have been involved with some amazing teams during my 30 plus years of cooking in pastry.
Each team has it's own dynamic, its superstars, its performers, its hidden gems and those who are "works in progress".
From Australia, to Singapore, London, Bahrain and on cruise ships I have had permanent teams, while during consultancy and franchising, I have had temporary teams in dozens more countries.
At the Peninsula Manila Hotel I have the privilege to work with an amazing team every single day.
We work a combined 24 hours a day, in multiple areas over four specific shifts, night bakery, day bakery and afternoon bakery, PM shift Pastry, morning pastry and chocolate room.
From all of this we provide delicious pastries, cakes, baked goods and chocolates for every outlet within the hotel and also the occasional outside catering.

When i joined just under a year ago, my biggest challenge apart from learning everyone's name, nickname and function, was to boost sales in our PEN BOUTIQUE, the star pastry and cake venue for sweet lovers where folks can buy and eat in with coffee, or buy and take home.

In less than a year we have achieved great things. Budgets met and exceeded much of this success has been the work of the entire team. Pen Boutique is where we sell all our chocolates by our dedicated Chocolate room staff, it is also the pride of place for our baked goods by the Night Bakers (a blog due on these guys soon) and of course our pastries and cakes.

While retaining and improving 2 all time stars of the pastry range which have always sold exceptionally, we reconsidered the offerings completely and added to the daily line up.
Thankfully we have until now been allowed incredible freedom to pick and choose what does and does not work. We have worked hard too to conceptualize what the local market might like.
In this endeavor though I was not alone but assisted by my amazing Senior Sous Chef Annalyn Solano and  by pint sized superstar of the future, pastry cook Agnes Ramos.
Having worked in France and schooled in patisserie Agnes understood what was needed to enliven the PEN Boutique and assisted me in delivering a new range which has sold better than we could have hoped.
Sadly, time comes for great teams to separate and careers emboldened with new brands and new positions, and thus Agnes must move forward.
Agnes Ramos is a star of the future, so look out for her cookbook one day and her pastry shop soon thereafter.
All young chefs NEED to move on to gain experience and I thank her for allowing me 8 months to learn from her.
The attached photos show the teams love for this important individual and we will all miss her work, her aptitude, her drive and her creativity.

And while one star moves forward another finds its place. Our team has many stars of the future. The Peninsula Manila is a breeding ground for those who have talent and wish to show it. Ill feature each one over time in their own blog posting.

I have a very laid back attitude to managing a team. I love to find an individuals strengths and allow them to use it.
On Holland America Line years ago, my Filipino crew lacked creativity and artistry during one cruise and I stated such to one of the team. They intern told me to look deeper at the background of the "ice-cream" man. "Poppsy" or Federico as he was named, had been relegated to scooping ice-cream during a shortage of staff many contracts earlier. With him in the section there where no problems or complaints, and he had been left there for years and contracts and no one ever asked of his talent ever again, assuming he was merely the "ice cream" guy. Seeking a pastry artists I got to talk to "poppy" and he showed me some of his paste irks in photos. This was one truly talented professional wasting his days scooping ice-cream. From that day forward Federico joined us in the pastry kitchen and created amazing pieces of art for all of my future buffets and presentations and from that time forward i allowed every chef under me to prove their talent and be left to run with it. I don't demand people work in particular areas but as long as staffing permits, allow people to find their own freedom and creative outlet.
Others have called this offering one enough rope to hang themselves, but that abides only for those few who fault to see the opportunity of freedom to create and learn at their desire speed.
I don't always dictate what must be made, I offer bits and bites of information and wait for team members to build upon it. I am they trainer, back up and manager. I read the emails, absorb the problems and decide what they need to know and how much the need to be told. Pastry is an artistic venue and you can't bog artists down with distractions.
I was allowed a lot of freedom in my youth and I appreciated this. If I dictate what must always be made, then staff feel boxed in and bored quickly. Artists need their freedom, just guided at times.
Allowing freedom to create they can do what they like, mentored and offered great recipes and then worked upon to see if something sells or does not.
Should the product not eventuate then I step in and offer the answer, but today with YOUTUBE, Facebook and Instagram there are multiple online avenues for my crew to self learn and advance themselves. a little self advancement makes me wish to assist them more too.

As Agnes Ramos moves forward with her career, we wish her well and look forward to what her career brings forth.
And of course coming soon, new superstars of the Peninsula Manila Hotel will emerge and the desserts, pastries, chocolates and baked goods will still keep rolling out at the Peninsula Boutique and all our other outlets.
Come and dine with us soon and tell us what you think of our delicious offerings.

The unfair photo ; Agnes requesting a moment before photos began...

Our great team.
(Ernesto, Agnes, Ryan,Ethel,Adonis, Annalyn, Ronel, Aries, Alex, Elmer, Agnes, Lawrence, Djoza, Katherine) 

PINKTOBER Begins...@The Peninsula Manila Hotel

 The 1st of October finally arrived and for thenext 30 days The Peninsula Manila Hotel is all things Pink in honor of PINKTOBER and Breast Cancer Awareness..

 Our Amenities to the rooms are PINK

OUR AFTERNOON TEA SET IS PINK

OUR Pen Boutique has gone Pink with selected offerings..Eclair En Rose, Strawberry and raspberry tartlet and Religeuse en Rose

There is also a Raspberry OPERA

PINK COOKIES for your coffee

And luscious pink treats for the afternoon tea buffet..

I hope we see you soon at the PENINSULA MANILA HOTEL...buy pastures, enjoy afternoon tea or stay for Pink Stay-cation and you will be helping raise money for Breast Cancer Awareness.