Taking It To The Barangay: The 2017 Marriott Asia-Pacific Culinary Workshop's Chef's Challenge

Over forty of the very best chefs from Marriott's thirty brands across the Asia-Pacific region converged at the quiet Barangay 76 Zone 10 in Baclaran for an epic food fight. It's the much awaited Chef's Challenge, part of the 2017 Marriott Asia-Pacific Culinary Workshop...

Manila Marriott Hotel recently hosted the 2017 Marriott Asia-Pacific Culinary Workshop last July 31 to August 3, 2017, bringing together Marriott's best chefs from Asia-Pacific to exchange and share new culinary ideas and best practices. The culinary workshop also featured an intense off-site Chef's Challenge at a local barangay where chefs from the different Marriott hotels in the region showcased their skill and creativity in a unique food fiesta to the delight of local residents. After a light yet satisfying seafood lunch at Marriott Cafe (see my earlier post, A Light Seafood Lunch at Marriott Cafe), it was time for the food fight at Barangay 76 Zone 10...

Manila Marriott Hotel's Executive Chef, Meik Brammer (L), and Meliomar Inc.'s General Manager, Christian Schmidradner (R), welcomed the international delegation at Barangay 76 Zone 10 in Baclaran for the Chef's Challenge. It was a festive affair, as local residents cheered the arrival of Marriott's team of international chefs.

After a few welcome remarks from the Marriott team, the chefs get down to work preparing an epic feast using the freshest sustainable seafood from Meliomar (for more on Marriott's long-running advocacy on Sustainable Seafood, see my post, Sustainable, Traceable, Fresh and Right at the 2nd Sustainable Seafood Week Launch).

After each team's representative picked a main seafood ingredient provided by Meliomar Inc. for their featured dish from a glass bowl, the different teams set off to create their dishes, gathering more ingredients. The off-site set-up was impressive, with Manila Marriott Hotel bringing all the fresh ingredients, including kitchen equipment, to the barangay. 

With their haul of fresh sustainable seafood, each team preps the ingredients as the once quiet barangay is transformed into one bustling open kitchen...

...and the sounds and aromas coming from each station fill the air, the Chef's Challenge goes into high gear. Each station is set up with their own burners, with a separate area for deep-fryers, grillers, and chillers at another area. It's a logistical feat in itself, as Manila Marriott Hotel transported an entire kitchen, hook, line, and sinker for the off-site Chef's Challenge in Baclaran.  

Each little corner spread out over the barangay buzzed in a dizzying flurry of activity, with vegetables chopped in one station and a boiling pot in another station. The barangay's festive atmosphere was accompanied by light yet competitive banter among the different teams, as local residents eagerly awaited the feast.  

More fresh ingredients were prepped, and slowly, the dishes from each station were beginning to take shape. Just how many ways can you use the freshest sustainable seafood? Simply leave it to the chefs from Marriott's Asia-Pacific properties to show you how with their inventive dishes.

Some of the stations are down to the final touches...

...while a chef from another station delicately preps some plump prawns for the grill. Just seeing all these chefs in one place is an experience in itself.

Manila Marriott Hotel's Executive Chef, Meik Brammer, is a virtual rock star and crowd favorite, as he hammed it up with residents in a group selfie. Very cool. 

Loud cheers from the residents greeted Manila Marriott Hotel's staff as they set-up a makeshift charcoal pit for the Lechon (L). Manila Marriott Hotel's Chef Adrian Esteban (R) of Cru Steakhouse (more on Cru Steakhouse on my post, The Meat of the Matter...at Cru Steakhouse.) takes advantage of the fiery hot charcoal for his team's dish (R).

No fiesta is complete without the mandatory lechon, and Manila Marriott Hotel adds traditional local flavors to the food fiesta at Barangay 76 Zone 10 in Baclaran. At the end of the allotted time, the stations then presented their sustainable seafood dishes...

And what a feast. Dishes included the impressive fresh Grilled Prawns with Apple, Cucumber, Pine Nuts, and Ngoc Chan Dressing, a traditional Vietnamese dip made with lime juice, lemon grass, and spicy chili...

and the elegantly presented fresh Mahi-Mahi in Pineapple Salsa...

...to Grilled Tuna topped with tomatoes and fresh chili. The rich and diverse flavors represented the best of the region made with the freshest sustainable seafood.

A light and refreshing Tartare on fresh cucumber was another notable dish prepared at the Chef's Challenge capped with the tart notes of lime.

Breaded Fried Fish Cutlets with Apples and Onions were just some of the heartier dishes prepared at the Chef's Challenge...

...along with the flavorful Grilled Prawns on Spaghetti with Tomatoes and Onions. Each elaborate dish featured complex layers of rich flavors while retaining the fresh and clean notes of the seafood. And there's more...

Perfectly tender Grilled Squid with Pineapple Salsa combined the briny sweetness of fresh seafood with the tart notes of pineapples for another vibrantly flavored yet balanced dish. 

And it just doesn't get fresher than this. A pair of ceviche-inspired dishes with squid...

...and fresh fish rounded up the dishes prepared by Marriott chefs from the Asia-Pacific region. And the feast began at Barangay 76 Zone 10...

Residents and barangay members lined up for the feast, as chefs from the different teams served their sustainable seafood dishes to never-ending lines. The residents also had the chance to vote for their favorite dish, and for the competing chefs, that meant bragging rights to last the remainder of the 2017 Marriott Asia-Pacific Culinary Workshop.

The unique event showcased Manila Marriott Hotel's culinary prowess to the delight of the barangay's residents, as they lined up for second servings (L). As the residents enjoyed their seafood feast, it was the turn of the chefs to enjoy local flavors of adobo, pancit, and caldereta (R)...

...and the native Lechon for a taste of local pork love, fresh from the charcoal pit.

The Chef's Challenge at the 2017 Marriott Asia-Pacific Culinary Workshop not only highlighted creative and inventive ways of using sustainable seafood, it also featured the wide and diverse regional flavors mastered by Marriott's talented chefs. In the end, it was good food and good vibes all around at Barangay 76 Zone 10.

And which team won the Chef's Challenge? It didn't really matter. Both the barangay's residents and the chefs were the real winners that afternoon. A fiesta down at the barangay, with an array of sustainable seafood dishes prepared by the very best chefs from Marriott, it's a different kind of Marriott experience.

Marriott's regional presence and pool of culinary talent adds to the wealth of rich regional flavors that local chefs can draw inspiration from, making your dining experience at Manila Marriott Hotel special. To the entire team of Manila Marriott Hotel, here's to a job well done...

...and a toast to a successful Chef's Challenge down at Barangay 76 Zone 10 where everyone was a winner.

Manila Marriott Hotel is located at 2 Resorts Drive, Pasay City or call 632-988-9999 for inquiries and more information.

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