Holiday Inn in Ontario, Canada is the latest addition to a list of top international hotels to hire a chef from Gerardo’s School of Culinary Arts.
Ellen S. Molinao, of culinary batch 12, who was a bank teller and a nurse before immigrating to Canada, was hired as Chef de Partie of Holiday Inn in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.
She bested other applicants, many of whom are Canadians, and got the job because after she was interviewed by the executive chef.
Meanwhile, two more students of Gerardo’s are now cooking for international hotels. They are Chef Pauline Mae T. Habla, of Culinary Arts Batch 5, who is now cooking for Intercontinental Hotel Makati, in Makati City and Chef Maika Anna A. Remoroza, of Culinary Arts Batch 12, who is now cooking for Waterfront Insular Hotel in Lanang, Davao City.
Chef Pauline took her culinary arts class three years ago after completing her Hotel and Restaurant Management Course in a school in Davao City where she graduated cum laude. She then became an apprentice in two of Davao’s top hotels- the Grand Regal Hotel and the Marco Polo Hotel Davao.
Chef Maika, a classmate of Chef Ellen at Batch 12, also to the top of her class. She is an IT graduate in one of Gensan’s university but after her graduation she opted to take culinary arts at Gerardo’s. She apprenticed at Shangri-la Mactan Island Resort and Spa in Mactan Island, Cebu for six months before applying for her present job at the Waterfront Insular Hotel in Davao City.
She eventually landed a job at the Dos Amigos Restaurant in Davao and the Pancake House also in Davao before she applied for a job at the Intercontinental Hotel.
On the other hand, another chef of Gerardo’s, Chef Xeann D. Robleza, of Culinary Batch 10, got one of the best jobs in one of the best kitchen in the world- pastry chef of the Presidential Palace of the Sultan of Brunei- Sultan Hassanul Bolkiah.
Chef Xeann apprenticed also at Shangri-la Mactan Island Resort and Spa and went to Brunei to join her mother who is working in that country. Eventually he applied for a job at the palace and was able to hurdle all requirements and interview and went on to become the youngest chef at the presidential palace at the age of 21.
Chef Xeann belongs to a class that includes several chefs working in top hotels, including Chef DNestor Panlaque Jr. of Shangri-la Mactan.