It’s never too (choco)late
CHOCOLATIER DANILO GUEVERO IS hard put to explain how he creates his chocolate showpieces. He does not sketch, he says, grappling for the right words. He just sees the design in his mind, and translates it in chocolate. It is a combination of practiced skill and intangible, innate talent.
At his work station in the kitchen of the Holiday Inn & Suites Makati, Guevero gives STARweek a glimpse of the process. He tempers a small batch of milk chocolate and starts molding and rolling it, manipulating it like clay into a smooth curve, which he adds onto a chocolate centerpiece with delicately formed flower petals. The images just come to him while he works, he says.
“Kailangan ng pasensya (You need patience),” he says, sharing the secret to his craft. Right at that moment, the piece of chocolate he is attaching to the sculpture breaks, knocking off some of the thin petals with it. Unfazed, Guevero simply takes some more melted chocolate to start the process over again.
By looking at his finished products and witnessing his skill, one would not have any idea that Guevero is not schooled in culinary arts. In fact, he took up Information Technology but did not finish his studies.
“Hindi ako nakapagtapos, kaya akala ko hindi ako makakahanap ng magandang trabaho (I didn’t finish college, so I though I wouldn’t be able to find good work),” he says. He worked as a food server in a fast-food chain and made the rounds of different restaurants as a server, then doing utility and dishwashing.
One day, Guevero saw an opportunity in a Makati hotel as a waiter at the cafeteria, a job that he held for six months.
He met all of the hotel’s chefs, including Mike Sison, who hired Guevero to do food preparation and basic cooking as a seasonal commis for the Christmas rush. “I saw the attitude of this guy and his talent in chocolate making,” says Sison, who recommended that Guevero be hired as a regular, thus setting into motion the discovery of a talented chocolate
artist.
Though he had no background or experience in pastry work, Guevero says he was willing to train. “I wanted to be a chef. That’s my dream – ‘yung uniform, ‘yung ginagawa. And I love art,” he says.
While rising up the ranks, he met Bryan Dimayuga and Rizalino Mañas, pastry chefs who represented the Philippines at the World Pastry Cup in France. They became his inspiration to strive hard and improve. “Halos magkasingkami, pero ang
layo na ng narating nila (We’re about the same age, but they have achieved so much),” he says.
After his time at the hotel, Guevero started his own small online business selling cupcakes – mostly just to close friends, he says. But he realized that he enjoyed working with other people, in a busy environment.
Thus Guevero found himself working at the Holiday Inn, again under the wing of Sison, who is now the hotel’s head pastry chef.
“At first he didn’t impress me, but I saw that he was determined to learn. He wouldn’t sleep until he finished what I asked him to do,” Sison says in Filipino.
Guevero’s determination was rewarded recently when he won the bronze medal in the chocolate showpiece category at the 2016 Philippine Culinary Cup.
His piece was a hybrid war
rior, combining both samurai and gladiator influences. The armor is pieced together, one chocolate disk at a time. There is a string of heavy looking chain links. The helmet is smooth and solid. You almost cannot tell that it is made entirely of chocolate and is completely edible.
“It feels so good when you finish a piece that you worked hard on,” says Guevero.
“I keep practicing until now,” he says. “Almost everyday, I see the difference of what I do.” Guevero gets a lot of practice from creating chocolate centerpieces for the hotel, following whatever theme has been set for the month.
He also makes room pieces, much to the surprise and delight of special guests. Guevero enjoys his craft so much that he is known to create pieces even if they are not assigned or ordered – simply motivated by the joy and awe that the pieces will inspire in the hotel’s guests.
Aside from patience and determination, Guevero says that trust in himself has been an important factor in achieving his success. This was further reinforced by the support given to him by both Sison and Holiday Inn executive chef Elmer Marquez.
Marquez, who had worked at the Intercon hotel for 21 years, says his experience in the industry enabled him to see Guevero’s potential even after knowing him for just a month. He commends the young chef in the daily effort that he puts in the work he does at the hotel – not just in the competition piece. This work ethic will make him succeed in the industry, says the executive chef.
Marquez should know – he himself started out as a dishwasher. His dream was to become an executive chef – which has now become a reality.
Marquez and Sison, with their team, will be rolling out holiday specials this Christmas. They also have a giant gingerbread house on display. Since Marquez was a longtime chef at the Intercon, those missing the Prince Albert prime rib and the Café Jeepney crepe samurai will be delighted to find their old favorites popping up on the Holiday Inn buffet table. For the New Year, they have slated an array of healthy dishes to help us all with our (shortlived) New Year’s resolutions.
Meanwhile, Guevero plans to make more of his Santa Claus chocolate masterpieces and other festive confections.
To those aiming for success, he says he understands that it could be difficult, but selfconfi and motivation is the key, as well as continuous learning. “Kaya ko ‘yan – pagsisikapan ko (I can do it – I will work for it),” is his mantra.
Looking forward, he hopes to bring home the highest award for Holiday Inn in his next competition. As a chocolatier, his goal is to compete in France, just like his idols from Team Philippines. “Sana, kahit imposible, makalaban din ako (I hope I can compete one day, even if it’s impossible),” he says – to which Marquez is quick to correct him – “Walang imposible (Nothing is impossible).” Guevero reflects on the executive chef’s words and amends his earlier statement – “Siguro napatunayan ko na before diba – from dishwasher to chef. Siguro walang imposible.
Kaya ko rin. Magagawa ko someday. (I guess I have proven it already – from dishwasher to chef. Maybe nothing is impossible. I can do it. I will do it someday).”