Cooking up a future with AHA-Philippines

There are cooking schools, and there are culinary schools. Those who are considering a career in the food and beverage industry face the problem of choosing from one of the many schools in Metro Manila. However, the buzzword now is to choose a school that offers its graduates internship in a suitable local hotel or restaurant.

Of the schools that have established a reputation for its graduates, the American Hospitality Academy-Philippines leads the pack for its partnerships with prestigious hotels in the United States. In its first year alone, it deployed some of its graduates to the Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort in Florida, the Ritz-Carlton, and the Marriott for year-long paid internships.

Chef Gene Cordova, AHA president and managing partner, says its partnership with a number of establishments abroad gives the school an edge over others in the country. “The school has a commitment to turn its students into chefs that have international experience, and not just local ones.”

AHA-Philippines opened in June 2006, the first educational facility in the country being run under the aegis of the American culinary school.

“AHA-Philippines is the first and only culinary school that offers a closely supervised internship program in the United States,” says chef Gene. “The difference with local internships is those going for the US internship will get a training allowance for the duration of the program. Students will also get free accommodation in fully-furnished and comfortable apartments, free transportation to the training facility, free duty meals, and get to train in a hotel facility like the Ritz-Carlton, Hyatt, Marriott, Hilton, Sheraton, and Radisson, to name a few. In fact, sitting on the school’s advisory board are the different general managers and human resource directors of these partner hotels.”

Chef Gene knows the situation of most of AHA’s students. A marketing graduate of Fordham University, he felt boxed in by the demands of his day job, which prompted him to go the culinary route. In 1993, he earned a diploma in culinary and pastry from Le Cordon Bleu Paris, then a diploma in advanced culinary and pastry from the Ecole de Ritz Escoffier.

He had the blessings of his dad when he decided to change profession, who consoled him with the thought that becoming a chef was a job “na hindi ka magugutom (where you will not go hungry).” He hasn’t looked back since.

The route to culinary success is a hard one. Gene points to Escoffier’s kitchen brigade system as the standard in all kitchens. “You really start at the bottom,” he points out. “When I was starting out, I was scrubbing kitchen tiles. It was either I stick to it or quit.”

Such hard work also faces all AHA-Philippines students. “That’s the first lesson they get from me,” he explains. “When I interview them whether they are suitable to be working in a kitchen, I tell them frankly that they will be scrubbing pans, too. I’ve managed to save some of them lots of money and time with that talk.”

And he’s not kidding about scrubbing pans. Most classes do start with a demonstration, followed by hands-on cooking next day. Yes, the students do clean their utensils themselves.

An AHA education is anchored on technique and replication. Technique involves teaching the students a variety of cooking methods, which they may be able to apply at work. The students must also be able to read and understand a menu and execute and replicate it accurately. With students learning as many as five dishes per class, at the end of their stay at AHA, they will have a repertoire of dishes to set them up well in the business.

AHA-Philippines has a number of programs available: six-month diploma in culinary arts; nine-month diploma in culinary entrepreneurship; six-month diploma in baking; three-month certificate in bread baking; five-month professional certificate in culinary arts; a variety of short courses for culinary and baking enthusiasts; and six-week service basics course with a six-month to one-year internship in the United States.

Recently, AHA Philippines sent its first batch of students who are currently undergoing their internship program in various parts of the US, reaping commendations from their supervisors and creating their own success stories in the international culinary scene, the Filipino way.

Both interns at the Bonefish Grill in Hilton Head Island South Carolina, Tricel Nava and Paolo Buendia have excelled beyond their employer’s expectations with their advanced proficiency and skills in the kitchen workplace. Pleased with their performance, Sea Pines expressed its interest in hiring more trainees from AHA-Philippines during the busy season.

Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort Florida also praised AHA interns Jan Viray and Paul Marco Samson. “The AHA interns are extraordinarily good! They have the right skills and knowledge. I really admire the work attitude of the Filipinos,” says Sandestin executive chef Michael Pagan.

Sandestin also named AHA trainee Dino Bucao as its National Stars of Service Awardee for May. “Dino has willingness to do the job that puts him into this category. No complaints or worries, he just gets the job done with a smile,” points out chef Jay Kirwan of Sandestin’s culinary department.

This early, chef Gene has his hands full setting up the AHA branch in India and Romania. “Manila has been chosen as the model for AHA in these countries. We will be replicating the Manila school at AHA-Delhi,” he says.

All this amounts to a future of good food for the whole world. Students now cannot go wrong should they choose to enter the business, “so long as there are people who eat. As a country progresses, there will be more tourists, more restaurants, more people to feed.”

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The American Hospitality Academy-Philippines is at the second floor of 108 Aguirre Bldg., HV de la Costa corner Soliman and Tordesillas Sts., Salcedo Village, Makati City. For inquiries, call 892-7372, 892-7702, and 892-0744, e-mail info@ahaphil.com, or visit its website at www.ahaphil.com.