PACE Culinary School Celebrates Filipino Excellence

Professional Academy for Culinary Education or “PACE”,  one of Metro Manila’s fastest growing culinary schools, has made another history by winning 5 Gold, 5 Silver and 14 Bronze in the recently concluded Philippine Culinary Cup 2018 held in SMX Mall of Asia. This has been the second time I was made aware of the awards PACE won for their passion and excellence for curating dishes.

The first one I witnessed was in PACE’s school in BF Homes Paranaque. I can still remember some faces. Sense of pride was clearly on their faces. It was definitely a great victory for the students and instructors of PACE. Like all other victors, they couldn’t have done it without the help of others. Hence, as a way of showing gratitude, they showcased their award-wining dishes to those who gave support. You may read about that story here in this blog post — Tasting Culinary Excellence of PACE in BF Homes. 

Fast forward 2 years after, and I saw those shining pride once. Students and chefs couldn’t contain their excitement over their victory. Well, who wouldn’t? Winning a PCC cup is not an easy feat. Many chefs around the country (and even abroad) try to score some medals, but only a few succeed. Expectations are high, and the judges want something “unique”. And since these judges already tasted thousand of dishes already, it’s really difficult to break their expecations, yet PACE was able to successfully do so.



In light of their success, they held another victory and thanksgiving night in Rockwell, and I was fortnate to be invited to grace the event. But of course, as always, it felt like it was the other way around. It felt refreshing to try innovative dishes — those that I weren’t able to try before. In other words, UNIQUE.

PACE is also fortunate to have sponsors and culinary partners like the Antipolo City Government, Bakersfield, Best Value Factory Food Outlet, Heritage Philippines, La Filipina, Lowtemp Corporation, Polar Bear and Nature’s Spring. Together, they were able to contribute to the success of those who compete under the banner of PACE..



Chef Abner Lowell Cauilan, one of the co-founders of PACE, gave his gratitude to sponsors and supporters. He also introduced the chefs who won medals in the PCC. Below are some of the dishes showcased.

“Braised beef with barley blue cheese risotto, mushroom tortellini, cauliflower with browned butter puree, pickled radish and braised vegetables”



“Herbed Crusted Beef Fingers, red wine sauce reduction, Green pea puree, sauted vegetables and potato fondant”



“Deep fried buta ka kuni, oriental consomme, bacalao rice, teriyaki tamago and mushroom tempura”

I was fortunate to personally try this dish out, and it was completely mind-blowing. It has fantastic textures and the taste was just superb.





There were collection of desserts served, and they were as sweet as their victory. 

The night ended with an invitation to their soon-to-open branch in Araneta, Cubao which will be called Hapag, Filipino term for “table”. This branch will be offering the first Culinary Tourism Program which will showcase regional and authentic Filipino cuisine to the world. 

If you have zest for cooking and you want to level that up into a culinary expertise, PACE is a perfect place for you to begin your journey. The instructors here are all nurturing, not to mention award-winning, and they will assist you in your embarkation as an aspiring chef. If you want to know more about their courses and the schools, you can read more about it at www.pacemanila.com.