The Bistro Group’s Executive Chef Josh Boutwood won several awards at the recently concluded Food&HotelAsia2016 (FHA2016), the largest international food trade show in Asia. It was held in Singapore.
As a member of the Les Toques Blanc of the Philippines Chefs Association (LTB)—headed by team captain Kenneth Cacho, with fellow members Rudolph Cabuay, Gerd Gendrano, Gyle Gacina, Sonny Mariano, and Mia Yan—the country’s winning team that conquered FHA 2016, Chef Josh received the a Gold award for Plated Mains, a Bronze for Plated Appetizers, and another Bronze in the Chefs challenge categories to complete Team Philippines’ sweeping win.
“It was my first time to compete internationally and with a team from the Philippines. I was elated and shocked at the same time,” the 29-year old British-Filipino chef said.
Chef Josh’s masterpieces, as usual, were based on her daughter Malaya’s favorite fairy tales and his own childhood stories. His dishes included Bambi, a life in the woods; Donald was the Ugly One; Piglet & Winnie’s Honey Escapade; Fjords of Valhalla; Forty Nine Hundred Miles ; Goose Chase; Call of the Hunters; Oceans II; The woods of Cambridge and An Ode to the Deadliest Catch.
As a group, the LTB brought home the most number of wins and was awarded the overall champion of the FHA Competition. Thinking about it, Chef Josh considers the victory as an unimaginable feat that is hard to replicate since all of them are professional chefs with restaurant and hotel kitchens to manage on a daily basis. Particularly with Chef Josh, time management was a crucial issue as he manages and supervises the kitchens of all Bistro concepts including its new restaurant, Texas Roadhouse. “I would spend nights in the kitchen practicing, conceptualizing and doing run-throughs of my dishes and I admit that it wasn’t until the final weeks when I pushed harder to ensure that I was happy with the plates I prepared,” he disclosed.
Chef Josh has joined several culinary competitions and he has never disappointed himself, his family, and The Bistro Group. All his previous competitions have been in the Philippine Culinary Cup where he brought home 7 bronze medals in 2012, five silvers and two golds in 2013, five silvers and six golds in 2014, and five more silvers last year. He was also named as the Philippine Culinary Cup Best Chef back-to-back in 2013 and 2014.
“The victory is not mine, the victory is for all of us,” Chef Josh is quick to acknowledge. He enumerated his support system—the whole team, sponsors, advisors, his family and The Bistro Group. ADVT.