Unlike a busy dinner service where a kitchen has to keep moving, a competition gives chefs a finite window to show exactly what they can do. Every cut, sauce, garnish, and plate has to be measured. There is nowhere to hide when the dish lands in front of a panel of judges.
At the Philippine Culinary Cup 2026, chefs from across the country put those skills on display in a range of culinary challenges. Among them were five teams representing Newport World Resorts, bringing together chefs from different kitchens across the integrated resort.
By the end of the competition, those teams had earned more than 80 medals—the largest haul by an integrated resort at this year’s Philippine Culinary Cup.
But the result wasn’t simply a matter of collecting medals. It was a reflection of the breadth of talent working across Newport’s kitchens—and of what happens when chefs are given opportunities to learn, compete, and test their craft beyond the demands of everyday service.
When the Kitchen Becomes a Competition Floor
Preparing for a culinary competition requires more than developing one impressive dish. Chefs have to understand their ingredients, sharpen their technique, manage time, work with a team, and find ways to make an idea translate onto a plate.
For the chefs of Newport World Resorts, that preparation is supported by property-wide learning sessions that bring people from different kitchens together. These sessions give chefs opportunities to exchange techniques, strengthen their foundations, and refine ideas that can serve them both in competition and in daily service.
That cross-kitchen exchange becomes particularly interesting when the teams step into a competition as varied as the Philippine Culinary Cup.
Rather than competing in just one culinary discipline, Newport’s chefs took on challenges spanning Filipino cuisine, international proteins, breakfast, burgers, pastry, plated desserts, and collaborative categories.
The result was a showcase of different specialties, techniques, and interpretations of what it means to cook at a professional level.
Five Teams, Different Kitchens
Representing Newport World Resorts were chefs from across its hotel properties and culinary operations, each bringing a different set of skills to the competition.
Chef Brent E. Catoltol led the Newport World Resorts culinary team’s wins with a gold medal in Creative Breakfast for Tatlong Yaman Hapag Ani.
From Sheraton Manila Hotel, chefs Francheska Miranda, Miguel Fabela, and Celine Cascon earned gold in the Dream Team Challenge, while chef Gretchen Fajardo took gold in Modern Filipino Plated Desserts. The hotel recorded the most gold awards among the Newport World Resorts teams.
Manila Marriott Hotel brought home a Highest Gold in the Burger Challenge, where chef Glen Endozo competed with his Multi-grain Kaiser Burger. The delegation also received awards in creative breakfast, wedding cake, European gourmet, Dream Team, and protein categories.
Hilton Manila‘s chef Marjorie Dionisio earned the second-highest gold in Wedding Cakes for The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The team also received medals across Filipino cuisine, Amuse Bouche, Canada Land and Sea, pizza, dim sum, and pastry showpieces.
Meanwhile, Hotel Okura Manila made its mark in the collaborative competitions with chefs Rexander Aspiras, Jabin Cabral, Jenny Tanay, and John Louie Alfuang—gaining silver in the Dream Team Challenge, with the hotel also earning silver in the European Gourmet Team Challenge and bronze awards in U.S. Lamb, Pasta, and U.S. Turkey.
The individual entries were different, but together they painted a picture of a culinary operation working across a broad range of cuisines and disciplines.
Then Came the Medals
The numbers tell the clearest version of what happened next.
More than 80 medals. Five Newport World Resorts teams. The largest medal haul by an integrated resort at the Philippine Culinary Cup 2026.
And the wins weren’t concentrated in one corner of the competition.
There was gold for a creative breakfast, gold for a modern Filipino dessert, and a Highest Gold for a burger. There were podium finishes in wedding cakes, European gourmet, proteins, pastry, Filipino cuisine, and team challenges.
That range is perhaps what makes the result most significant. The achievement wasn’t about one chef or one signature dish. It came from teams working across multiple kitchens and culinary disciplines, each bringing their own expertise to the competition.
Those kitchens are part of a much larger hospitality ecosystem. Newport World Resorts brings together five global hotel brands: Hotel Okura Manila, Manila Marriott Hotel, Sheraton Manila Hotel, Hilton Manila, and Holiday Inn Express Manila. Hotel Okura Manila and Manila Marriott Hotel are also recognized in the MICHELIN Guide’s hotel selection.
For the chefs working within that environment, there is no shortage of cuisines, techniques, and hospitality settings to encounter.
But the story doesn’t end when the medals are handed out.
What Comes After the Podium
Beyond the competition, Newport World Resorts extended a major opportunity to the three finalists of the Michael Strautmanis Culinary Arts Scholarship Grant, an educational funding program launched by the LTB Philippines Chefs Association. To build on the grant, Newport World Resorts sponsored an exclusive 12-month paid culinary internship across its kitchens, creating a seamless bridge from competition to career development.
Initiated and developed by Chef Neil Abrahams, Director for Kitchen Operations at Newport World Resorts, this comprehensive program connects academic funding with world-class professional training.
Structured across 12 monthly rotations, the internship provides hands-on experience in butchery, bakery, pastry, international and Filipino cuisines, banquet production, culinary administration, pre-opening operations, and kitchen leadership. Complementing the practical training, quarterly leadership modules cover essential skills in food safety, food costing, event logistics, and pre-opening management.
Upon completing the program, interns will earn a Newport World Resorts Culinary Leadership Certificate, with top performers positioned for fast-track placement into demi chef roles at Narra Palm Resort & Villas or partner luxury properties across Newport World Resorts.
More Than a Medal
The Philippine Culinary Cup is ultimately a test of what chefs can do when technique, creativity, teamwork, and time are put under pressure.
For Newport World Resorts, this year’s competition offered an opportunity to put those qualities on display across five teams and a wide range of culinary categories.
More than 80 medals later, the results speak for themselves.
But perhaps the more interesting story is what sits behind the tally: chefs learning from one another, working across different kitchens, and continuing to develop their craft—and young culinary talents being given a pathway into the professional world. And while the wins are definitely worth celebrating, the bigger achievement may be building the kitchens, opportunities, and people that make the next win possible.
If the Philippine Culinary Cup 2026 showed anything, it’s that culinary excellence isn’t built on a single winning plate. It comes from creating an environment where chefs can keep learning, testing themselves, and eventually passing what they’ve learned to the next generation.
The medals are the part that gets celebrated first. The skills behind them are what lasts.
As part of WOFEX 2026, the 2026 Philippine Culinary Cup was held at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City, Metro Manila from July 29 to August 1.
Frequently Asked Questions
Newport World Resorts’ five teams won more than 80 medals, achieving the largest medal haul by an integrated resort at this year’s competition.
The delegation was made up of five teams representing different hotel properties and culinary operations within the resort, including Sheraton Manila Hotel, Manila Marriott Hotel, Hilton Manila, and Hotel Okura Manila.
Developed by Director for Kitchen Operations Chef Neil Abrahams, Newport World Resorts sponsored 12-month paid culinary internships for scholarship finalists. The program offers monthly rotations across various kitchen disciplines, quarterly leadership modules, a Culinary Leadership Certificate, and potential fast-track placement into demi chef roles.
