MANILA, Philippines – The culinary world mourns as the Philippines lost one of its most legendary Filipino chefs, Margarita “Gaita” Fores, on Tuesday, February 11.
A pioneer who helped shape the landscape of Filipino dining and placed the country on the global gastronomic map, Margarita left behind a legacy that will be felt in every kitchen, every restaurant, and every loyal customer who found a favorite in her culinary creations.
The journey of a culinary legend
Born into the prominent Araneta family on March 23, 1959, Margarita initially pursued a degree in accountancy. But it was during a trip to Italy in 1986 that she fell in love with Italian cuisine, immersing herself in the country’s culinary traditions by learning from home cooks, artisans, and chefs.
“I learned a very home-style approach to cooking. With sessions in their kitchens in the mornings, lessons about the best and freshest ingredients in the markets over lunch, and dinners at different restaurants in the evenings, they shared priceless knowledge and wisdom about the country’s cuisine and culture with me,” she said.
Returning home to the Philippines with a newfound reverence for Italy and her deep love for Filipino cuisine, Margarita set out to begin her culinary empire.
“I came back home and spent nearly a decade sharing my new-found passion, cooking in people’s homes, slowly learning the ropes of a career in the food industry,” she wrote on Cibo’s website.
At 65, Margarita moved with the same energy and enthusiasm from the time she opened her first restaurant in 1997 — modern-casual Italian household name Cibo in Glorietta, Makati City. Prior to Cibo, she launched Cibo di M. in 1987, a luxury catering business that set the foundation.
After the quick expansion of Cibo across the country, Lusso followed in 2009, a refined and luxurious space in Makati that served elevated, indulgent Italian comfort dishes.
In 2013, she introduced Grace Park in Rockwell and Araneta City, a restaurant that championed farm-to-table dining with local, organic ingredients.
Three years later, she expanded once again with Alta, located in Ascott BGC, continuing to bring Filipino-Italian cuisine with her signature touch.
In 2016, Margarita celebrated a defining moment not only in her career but also in Philippine culinary when she was named Asia’s Best Female Chef by a panel of over 300 industry experts. That same year, she was featured on CNN’s Culinary Journeys, showcasing Filipino cuisine on the global stage.
The Italian government honored Margarita, too, as Cavaliere dell’Ordine della Stella d’Italia (Order of the Star of Italy) in 2018, recognizing her contributions in promoting Italian culture abroad. The following year, she was also named a United Nations Ambassador for Gastronomic Tourism.
Margarita said the awards meant a lot to female chefs. “When I started in 1987, there were no female chefs in the kitchen of the Hyatt, where I did my first food festival. And I love the fact that today, when you look at all the kitchens, there are just as many females as men in the kitchen,” she shared.
More than awards, passion is what drove her
More than the recognitions, it was Margarita’s genuine love for Filipino culture that pushed her to do more, often excitedly talking about her favorite local ingredients like the taba ng talangka.
For Margarita, every regional ingredient should be respected, used in a way that was fresh and new, but not unfamiliar to the Filipino — usually prompting her to create a new dish, open a new restaurant, or collaborate for a new project.
Last October, she launched Margarita Signature Caterer at Arete Tagaytay, a new luxury resort in the mountains (she had also been providing catering services to weddings and hotel functions in the past years).
Last year, her collaboration with Ramen Ron — owned by her son Amado, who is also behind Steak and Frice and Amano — put a batchoy-inspired twist on ramen, working with Japanese chef Hiroyuki Tamura. She said it was her personal tribute to her “dearest home province , Negros Occidental.”
A few months later, she crafted a simple afternoon tea set at Lusso, and just this January, collaborated with young and seasoned chefs like Miko Calo for the AVEC Series at Sage in Makati Shangri-La, blending Italian and French techniques with Filipino ingredients.
This year, she was set to open Margarita, a two-story restaurant at Ayala Triangle Gardens that would serve as a “love letter” to her 37-year career.
“People never really honored [Filipino ingredients], or put them on the highest tables anywhere in the industry before. And I think that’s been a real underlying advocacy,” she said. “And I think that fast forward to today, it’s been worth the effort to really push it, because other chefs, both old and young — especially the young chefs now — are proud to do the Filipino cuisine”
Margarita Fores leaves behind more than just an empire as her legacy as one of the country’s iconic Filipino female chefs will live on, proving that passion, humility, and dedication to the craft will always be the true ingredients of greatness.
– Rappler.com