Tuesday, September 02, 2008 Senate hails Pinoy chef in Beijing Olympics
THE Senate acknowledged Filipino cook Ryan Jaranilla who served as senior executive chef for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
During Monday's session, Senate President Manuel Villar Jr. said: "We are proud of our countryman who has displayed the Filipino excellence in the culinary field and ensured the best nutrition for the world's best athletes in the recent Olympics."
Jaranilla, a native of Iloilo, was second in command in nourishing 12,000 of the world's elite athletes, reporting to the directing chef.
He is a regional manager and executive chef for Aramark Corporation, which has been serving the Olympic Games for the last 40 years.
Jaranilla had heard about the opportunity to serve as chef for the Olympics through his employer, where all managers were invited to submit their applications.
In an interview process that lasted several months, he was one of 11 manager-level applicants chosen over 250 others. He received the news he was going to Beijing last February.
The successful chef, a son of a soldier, earned his bachelor's degree in Hotel and Restaurant Management from the University of the Philippines. He immigrated to the United States in 1991.
Villar is set to sponsor livelihood training in cooking in Iloilo with Jaranilla as mentor. (Press release)
