THE TRAVELING CHEF

Chef RV MANABAT traverses the world over in search of culinary bits of wisdom to share

- EDU JARQUE

He was baptized Rudolf Vincent T. Manabat. However, he is commonly known as Chef RV Manabat—a name familiar to some, due to his massive online presence, with approximately 185,000 YouTube subscribers and 675,000 Facebook followers. And it consistently grows each time he opens his oven!

This 30-year-old kitchen whiz from Biñan, Laguna has regularly explored the world, immersing himself to as many culinary experiences as possible. This he does so he can successfully share his lessons learned back home to whoever is interested.

And he has not stopped. Ever!

Armed with a Culinary Arts degree from the School of Hotel, Restaurant and Institution Management of the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde in 2012, he opted to teach at a local college in Sta. Rosa, Laguna for a year. This was in preparation to pursue a postgraduate Masters in Gastronomy, Major in Food, Wine and Cheese Studies from the Boston University, a private research institution by the Charles River.

With a passion to further impart his expertise locally, Manabat became a chef-instructor at the Maya Kitchen Culinary Center Manila, which is a mainstay household brand for nearly five decades. He followed this up by a teaching stint with the Christian Brothers at his alma mater.