‘Little Martha Stewart’ chef brings la dolce vita and her love of genuine Italian cuisine to her restaurants in the Philippines
- Philippine chef Margarita Forés learned about Italian food at source: from Italians in Italy
- In her restaurants and bistros, she blends Italian dishes with produce from her home country
When Margarita “Gaita” Forés threw coins into Rome’s Trevi fountain for good luck on her first visit to Italy in the summer of 1971, little did she know that her wish to return to the country would be fulfilled so richly – and frequently – over the years.
She is now one of Asia’s most celebrated female chefs, and a household name in her home country of the Philippines, with restaurants that include the farm-to-table Italian joint Grace Park, and Cibo, a chain of Italian bistros. But the chef didn’t learn her craft by attending culinary school; instead, she gained her knowledge through visits to Italy, and by spending time cooking at home with Italian women.
A year after that first visit to Italy, Forés and her family were forced to move overnight from Manila to New York when dictator Fernando Marcos imposed martial law in the Philippines. Her family’s business and political connections meant that staying even a day longer was untenable.
Forés found herself living in New York during one of its waves of Italianisation. Authentic Italian restaurants were opening, serving risotto and fresh pasta, in marked contrast to the long-established places serving a very different cuisine: Italian-American. It also helped that she was working at luxury fashion brand Valentino, where she was exposed to authentic Italian cooking. She began preparing meals for her friends. “It was the time of Martha Stewart and I wanted to be little Martha,” she recalls.
In 1986, Forés went back to Manila after the EDSA “People Power” revolution had toppled Marcos. She found the pace of the city slow after New York, however, and asked her mother for permission to move to Italy and learn more about the country’s food.