Filipino pastry chef bags James Beard Award
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 7) — A Filipino culinary artist was recently recognized as the Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker during the 2023 James Beard Awards, dubbed as the Oscars of the culinary world.
Chef Margarita Lorenzana-Manzke of the Los Angeles-based restaurant République won the prestigious title. She co-owns the popular all-day brunch place Wildflour with fellow chef Walter Manzke.
READ: How Wildflour’s Margarita Manzke went from ‘rubber muffins’ to international acclaim
Their other restaurants include Sari-Sari Store and Petty Cash Taqueria, which are also in Los Angeles, California.
During the awards, Filipino-French content creator Erwan Heussaff notched the James Beard Award in the Social Media Account category.
Meanwhile, Filipino chef Tim Flores and his wife, Korean pastry chef Genie Kwon, took home the Best Chef: Great Lakes Award. The couple owns Kasama, a Michelin-starred Filipino restaurant in Chicago.
Other chefs with Filipino roots who were nominated include Vince Bugtong for the Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker category and Aaron Verzosa for Best Chef in the Northwest and the Pacific category.
The awards were presented by the US-based James Beard Foundation, a non-profit organization with a "mission to celebrate, support, and elevate the people behind America's food culture and champion a standard of good food anchored in talent, equity, and sustainability."
