Proud of 2014

I have worked in the kitchen now since 1983, 31 years of standing on my feet leaves little wonder why the ankles need a weekly massage to keep working.
Over those 31 years, I have many moments that leave a memory, but I have to say, the twelve months that have just passed me by, are probably the proudest twelve months of cooking that I have ever had.
From guest chefs to new menus, to amenities and big events and tense moments, our team has done themselves extremely proud and proven that we are indeed a formidable Pastry department.
We are nowhere near perfect, but is any team ? We are a collaboration of passions, talents and enthusiasms that just click.
I adore our team. I get tired, our events get bigger and more demanding, my time becomes fractured in many directions and on certain days I just don't get the time in the kitchen I desire or need, other days I am stuck in the kitchen more than i can handle, yet the team is my energy, my humor and my saving grace.
Thank you to modern technology and smart phones it is easy to remember the year we have had together thanks to the thousands of photos we take along the way, something I have few off from the past.
It is great to look back at the events and the people, the challenges and the rewards and the accomplishments we have made along the way.
It has been a huge first year, we have seen out two Executive Chefs and two Chef De Cuisines of outlet restaurants, introduced new menus in the lobby restaurant and more importantly into the Banqueting and wedding department, we survived the Wedding Fair, the Peninsula Pink-tober month, Halloween, Easter, Mothers day and Fathers Day, both only a day long but which took nearly 400 amenities to the rooms with them. The French promotion celebrating the launch of the Peninsula Hotel's opening of it's Paris hotel, the Pen Concert and the arrival of the Board of Directors and within days of this post, Christmas and New Year.
Our Queen of Pastry for the Peninsula Boutique "Thei" has done us extremely proud with an amazing array of pastries being changed multiple times for our guests. We have worked side by side with famous Chefs, opened new menus in the NEW Old Manila restaurant and have worked with some major brands on their functions and events bring pride to us all again, made families happy with Debuts, graced the ceremonies of numerous weddings and fed throngs of happy corporate clients.
Satisfaction for me comes no closer than our chocolate room, where our room amenities are produced and although we lost a veteran of 25 years service, we are pleased that she has joined her family in the USA and will see out her days close to her children.
Lastly, as well as our AM Bakery team, our AM Pastry team, the PM pastry team and our Afternoon baker, we also have the Midnight Bakery shift which does the majority of the production for the Pen Boutique and our breads.Rarely seen this team does an amazing job throughout every single night as the others sleep. Our team is 24 strong made up of permanent and contractual staff, guilder by "on the job trainees" and stewarding. Everyone of them plays their vital role in our 24 hour operation spread between 3 kitchens, pastry, bakery and the chocolate room.
To see some of our achievements, look below at just a handful of our work pics.
Im proud of my team, Im proud of our work from 2014 and can not wait to see what more we achieve in 2015..

Some of our team, new and old who make the workload bare able.

Pastillage

Buffets

Afternoon teas

Banquet plating for the Pen Concert

VIP Amenities

Our banqueting Champion Lawrence Mendoza

PECAN PIE

AMENITIES

PINK-tober

French Afternoon tea

Pink-tober afternoon tea

Pink-tober at the Pen Boutique

Old manila Desserts

Halloween pastillage

Halloween Room Amenitites

Holding up the Buffet tables is Chef Ed Madela, the man who keeps me sane and grounded. Every kitchen needs an Exec Sous Chef this good. My hat goes off to this hard working team builder.

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

AMENITIES

Read the definition of "Amenity" and it reads

AMENITY

any feature that provides comfort, convenience, or pleasure:

Once the definition is understood, then room amenities within a hotel environment become easy to consider.

As a pastry chef, I am asked to produce room amenities. Little plates of delectable inspiration that relax and pleasure a weary traveller upon entering and settling into their room.

Pastry chefs are asked to create many things, we are the artists of the kitchen and this is what I adore, the freedom to think and let the mind go wild based upon the utensils, ingredients and tools at hand.

I love my job. I love every single part of it and I adore the artistry we are required to produce...all in the name of providing comfort, convenience or pleasure.

Here are some of the most recent amenities created, and some which are merely thoughts in progress and will never see the light of day.

Savarin En Rose @ Peninsula Manila Hotel

PINK-Tober is in full swing.
Join us in the Lobby Restaurant for a delicious Pink Afternoon Tea or for a delightful Savarin En Rose.
Dine, enjoy and help a fantastic cause.
See you soon

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.