CLASH OF THE TOQUE-EN ONES FINALE

Clash of the Toque-en Ones

CHEF SHARWIN TEE IS LIFESTYLE NETWORK’S FIRST EVER STAR CHEF

After an intense two-day live cooking demo followed by a month-long online voting, Lifestyle Network pitted two contenders  for Clash Of The Toque-en Ones: restaurateur Portia Baluyut and Chef Sharwin Tee, just  a step closer to fulfilling their dreams of having their very own food show and being crowned as Lifestyle Network’s first ever Star Chef.

Although the two share a passion for food and cooking, their backgrounds and cooking styles couldn’t be more different.

Rustic Heart

Portia is a self-taught cook, with only her grandmother as mentor, and books and the internet as her references. She left a career in advertising to finally give way to her true calling. She now owns Isabelo Garden restaurant in Marikina and according to her, life is now more delicious. Given the chance, her cooking show would be called Rustic Kitchen, which, simply, is cooking from the heart.

Kitchen Emergencies

Having his own cooking show has always been Sharwin’s dream, even at the young age of six, thanks in large part to the show Wok With Yan, his very first inspiration. A personal chef and a culinary instructor at Xavier School, he received his training from the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts in Vancouver, Canada. Sharwin firmly believes that anyone can cook, and if he wins, he plans to share his skills in an instructional cooking show called Kitchen Emergencies.

During the final challenge the two finalists, didn't just cooked before the judges, but also infront of a live mall audience. The judges during the final showdown were Clash Chairman Chef Myrna Segismundo, managing director of TV Food Chefs Inc.; Chef David Pardo De Ayala, executive chef of Discovery Suites; Chef Jessie Sincioco, owner and chef of Top of the Citi; Chef Jessie by the Rockwell Club, and Enchanté Restaurant; Chef Jill Sandique, owner of Delize; Antonio Ventosa, ABS-CBN Cable and Print Media Group Head, and Vice-President of ABS-CBN International, Leo Katigbak.

The final showdown was divided into 2 parts: A 1 Hour Cook-off and a 15 minute Cooking Show with a Partner Celebrity. During the cooking showdown, both contenders were given 1 hour each to prepare a main dish using coconut milk and dessert using mangoes. Both of them brought their own assistant and cooking paraphernalia. Chef Sharwin was given a 15 minute headstart to to do his thing. He started on his dishes with the sure hands of a winner---and finished cooking exactly on the dot. For me everything was impressive, although the judges reminded him to always ensure the correct temperature for his pasta dish. But even with that as minus point, Sharwin's rolled pasta laing dish bathed in coconut milk and topped of with burnt cheese was a winner.  For dessert, he created a sticky rice ball dessert on a caramel sauce with mango toppings. 

On the other side, Chef Portia was glamor personified during the cook off. Her variation of the Suman at Mangga theme was so simple yet appetizing to the eyes. For the dessert, there were rice rolls crusted with ground cashew nuts and topped with mango strips with condensed milk on the side as sweetener, which she called hubad na suman with mango toppings. For the hungry audience, the appetizing aroma of her deep fried tilapia fillets topped with drizzles of coconut milk sauce and served with steaming rice and a tomato salsa side-dish was heavenly. However, the judges found her tomato salsa too sweet for their tastes and she also failed to use coconut milk as her main ingredient. But she cooked so fast that she had enough time to cook one more dish if needed before her allotted time was over.


The objective according to the judges of the contest why they chose a Filipino theme for the dishes is to elevate our native Filipino products like the coconut and mangoes to world class status as cooking ingredients. And what they want is to show that although these are Filipino dishes, they want something different from the bahay-kubo concept of cooking, hence, making them at par with other world class cuisine.

Although I didn't stay for the 2nd round wherein Sharwin was paired with Phoemela Baranda and Portia was paired with Rovilson Fernandez for their 15 minute cooking show, I knew it in my heart that Chef Sharwin is going to be the winner. In this round, technical skill and visual appeal were the deciding factors.  Hence, two other ABS-CBN executives joined in to judge. And he did made it, Chef Sharwin Tee was declared the winner and the first Star Chef of the Lifestyle Channel for its soon to be cooking show. Kudos!

November 30, 4pm
Rockwell Tent, Powerplant Mall
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