Executive chef keen on sharing global experience to younger cooks

OVER 20 years of cooking and managing the kitchen. That’s how long Bienvenido B. Chavez, the new Executive Chef of Waterfront Airport Hotel and Casinos Mactan, has nurtured a career in the industry. Yet Chef Bien, as he is more commonyly called, carries with him an advocacy: he wants to share his global culinary experience, creative talent and skills in the kitchen to younger cooks.

That, of course, is apart from bringing to the table his decades of experience of specializing in Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, Indian and Filipino cuisines, further enhancing the menus to the patrons’ delight and satisfaction.

Chef Bien’s cooking career started in Riyadh with Restaurant Can-Can Francais, a standalone French restaurant. After that, he entered Hyatt Regency Riyadh as Demi chef. He then went home to the country and worked with Shangri-La’s Mactan Island Resort for more than 3 years as Banquet Sous Chef until 1996.

In 1998, he was the main kitchen Sous Chef of Hyatt Regency Saipan in the United States. Two years later, he moved back to Cebu and became the Executive Chef of Pulchra Resort Cebu. After only a year, he grabbed the opportunity of working again in UAE as Executive Chef of The Club-Abu Dhabi, a British membership club having multi-national guests from 2000-2008.

Chef Bien takes pride in working for Aspire Hospitality in Yas Island-Abu Dhabi where he worked for Eastwood Richmonde Hotel and Richmonde Ortigas Hotel as Group Executive Chef and took part in developing two new kitchens in Richmonde Hotel Iloilo and Richmonde Belmont Luxury Hotel under Megaworld. Thereafter, he joined the Best Western Premier F1 Hotel in Global City Taguig as Executive Chef. After F1 Hotel, he returned to Cebu to redesign the kitchen lay-out and develop the buffet and festive menus of Alegre Beach Hotel & Spa.

Lately, he was Executive Chef of Bab Al Yemen Restaurant in Saudi for two years until October 2015. After going back and forth in the Middle East, Chef Bien can now say he is home for good as Executive Chef of Waterfront Airport Hotel and Casinos Mactan. (With PR)