Institut Paul Bocuse is the latest addition to the seemingly crowded culinary school scene in Metro Manila.

 

Originally established in 1990, it provides courses in hotel and restaurant management and culinary arts. It’s named after its founder, one of the famous French chefs who introduced nouvelle cuisine, a lighter take on traditional French cookery.

 

He’s the inspiration for the school’s goal of encouraging innovation. The main school is in Lyon, France, hometown of Bocuse and arguably the center of French cuisine.

 

But culinary arts is only half of what the Institut offers. The other is hospitality management—the guide and inspiration of which is Gérard Pelisson, co-founder of Groupe Accor Hotels that owns, operates and franchises thousands of hotels in five continents.

 

First in Asia

 

While the school has created partnerships with other educational institutions in Peru, Norway, Finland and Singapore, Institut Paul Bocuse will have its first Asian campus in Bonifacio Global City (BGC), Taguig.

 

Its partner in this venture is the Dusit Hotel Group that wants to have a professional advancement center in line with its expansion plan to build 40 hotels in Asia, one of which will be at the school’s BGC site.

 

It was at Dusit Thani in Makati where two officials of the Institut—Herve Fleury, executive vice chairman of the board, and Dominique Giraudier, director general—first met with journalists.

 

Why choose to build the school in the Philippines when Dusit is Thai? Fleury and Giraudier cited the obvious reasons that Filipinos are well-known in the service industry for their facility with English and willingness to learn.

 

And there is the advantage of the Pinoy palate being familiar with different cuisines and being open to try new tastes.

 

But Fleury and Giraudier said that the Institut goes beyond the basics. As Pelisson states in the school’s brochure: “Entrepreneurship is in the DNA of our school.”

 

Its training programs—whether for bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degrees—are aimed at transforming students into managers, bringing out innovative ideas and encouraging entrepreneurship.

 

One of its graduates, Younghoon Lee, is now chef and owner of Passe Temps restaurant in Lyon, which serves French cuisine with Korean flavors. He recently earned a Michelin star.

 

Since the Institut is French, naturally the curriculum will have French cooking techniques which can be applied to any cuisine, Fleury said. But given equal importance are scientific research using behavioral and cognitive sciences, food science and nutrition.

 

Main goal

 

Yet such systematic educational methods will still have as its main goal the pleasure of eating.

 

Managing hotels will certainly adopt the style best described as savoir faire.

 

In spite of those French touches, Fleury and Giraudier stressed that the school respects the culture of its location in the Philippines as well as the values and ethics of Filipinos.

 

When Giraudier asked what my favorite Filipino food is, what he probably meant was what I would serve if I were to introduce Filipino cooking to a foreigner. I said kinilaw because it requires freshness, whether marine food or land animal, the sour taste of vinegar that is the flavor we prefer but balanced by other ingredients like ginger, onions, lime, salt and pepper. Simple but so Filipino.

 

He wrote it down and I hoped the Dusit staff served it that evening to launch the Institut Paul Bocuse and its partnership with Dusit Hotel.

 

Then it was our turn to inform the French executives that their founder, chef Paul Bocuse, did come to Manila in 1974, invited then by Nora Daza to introduce nouvelle cuisine at her restaurant, Au Bon Vivant.

 

With Bocuse then was Gaston Lenôtre, a renowned pastry chef. By the look on their faces, we must have surprised Fleury and Giraudier with that information.

 

But there was more. Glenda Barretto of Via Mare was the first and probably the only Filipino chef to be a judge at the Bocuse d’Or, a prestigious international culinary competition. She recalled having a breakfast of oysters with Bocuse at the Lyon market, the place considered the best source of prime French ingredients.

 

Barretto remembered how Bocuse commended her for her seafood bisque. The bisque had a pastry covering the top of the bowl to keep the soup hot.

 

When Barretto heard that Institut Paul Bocuse will open in BGC, she said she hoped that the master chef would attend the inauguration in 2017. It should be quite a reunion.

 

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