From apprentice to sous chef to mentor

Fiesta Resort & Spa Saipan new sous chef Bernard Manansala poses with four of the hotel’s cooks. With 34 years of experience in the hotel and restaurant industry, Manansala is also serving the island as an instructor in NMTI’s Culinary Arts program. (Frauleine S. Villanueva)

After knowing he is a Filipino, I immediately asked Fiesta Resort and Spa Saipan’s new sous chef Bernard Manansala where in the Philippines he came from. And when he said Pampanga, I understood right away his passion for cooking.

Kapampangans are known in the Philippines as one the best cooks in the country and their cuisine is oftentimes sought after by locals and foreigners alike—as people in the CNMI would also know.

“My mom is a very good cook. When I was young, we had a restaurant and at the age of 10, I learned to cook. Back then I always cooked arroz caldo everyday and dessert like halaya ube, puto, and bibingka. At an early age, my mind was opened to cooking,” Manansala said.

While cooking may be in the blood of Manansala, his being Kapampangan isn’t the only thing that made him a great chef.

After high school, Manansala was offered a summer job at then Manila Hilton (now Manila Pavilion), a five-star hotel that served as the center of Philippine high society in its heydays through the ’80s.

There he served as a busboy while studying electrical engineering at the Central Colleges of the Philippines. At the Hilton, he saw how it was like in the kitchen.

“I saw the kitchen and it looked exciting. When I met one of the chefs, I told him I wanted to cook. It was fortunate that at the time they were starting an apprenticeship program,” Manansala said.

After being chosen among the 1,000 to join the two-year apprenticeship program, many doors opened for Manansala. He joined many competitions against different hotels in the Philippines and topped most of them including the longest-running culinary contests in Asia called Chefs on Parade in 1986 and 1987 where he was a gold medalist.

He was transferred to Shanghai Hilton in China in 1988 and then worked in a cruise ship for six years.

While in the cruise business, experience turned to be the best teacher for Manansala. And though he didn’t spend time in any culinary school, the places he’s been to while working became his training ground. He learned authentic and traditional cooking styles and techniques straight from each cuisine’s origin.

“Every time I want to learn something, they allow me to do it,” Manansala said, “If I want to learn authentic paella, they send me to Spain, leave me there for a week, and learn authentic paella.”

At the age of 27, Manansala became a sous chef. Coming to Guam, he held several positions in various hotels and even had his own restaurant during his 23 years on the island.

Manansala has been with Fiesta Resort for eight months now and has been leading the hotel’s efforts to uphold kitchen and cooking standards.

From apprentice to mentor
With his 34 years of experience in the hotel and restaurant industry, it is only fitting for Manansala to become a teacher in his field. Coming to Saipan, he realized the “need” to teach, not only for Fiesta’s but for the CNMI’s future as well.

Currently, Manansala is teaching six students under the Northern Marianas Technical Institute’s Culinary Arts program.

“I’m not going to stop until these guys are in the best shape,” Manansala said.

The program covers sanitation and food safety, food preparation, service, and interpersonal skills. Fiesta Resort’s kitchen serves as the student’s training ground as they consider career opportunities and prepare to enter the workforce.

According to Manansala, one of the things that he wanted to impart to them, aside from learning styles of cooking, is attitude.

He wants his students to be true professionals in the work place and have a drive—not just settle in some positions.

“Your purpose is not only to be a good cook, but to be a good manager or supervisor. Don’t aim low, aim high,” he added.

Manansala also wants his students to love working for their island.

“I told them, ‘you have to take your island back,’” Manansala said, “This is your place.”