MASFLEX 25TH YEAR ANNIVERSARY:Celebrating 25 years of Innovation for the Love of Cooking + launches Chef Nancy Reyes Lumen as its brand ambassadress

Adobo Queen and Chef Nancy Reyes Lumen is Masflex brand ambassador

Purple Plum Fairy’s food blog, Security Blanket was invited recently to cover the 25^th Silver Anniversary of MASFLEX held at the Le Pavillion in Pasay City. MASFLEX brand is one of the leading cookware brands in the country since 1989. Back in the 80’s there were limited options for Filipinos for cookware, houseware, and kitchenware products.  Either they were forced to buy very expensive global brands which majority couldn’t afford; or the other option was to deal with the lower-quality locally-made recycled scrap material cookware that posed a health risk. 

Taken during the cooking demo and anniversary celebration

MASFLEX was derived from the vision to find market solutions to meet the demands of a Filipino homemaker. MAS was taken from the ‘Mass Market’ as they were trying to reach out and help the consumers in this product category. FLEX on the other hand, stemmed from the word ‘flexible,’ which was what the brand was trying to achieve, flexibility in terms of providing innovative solutions that were both affordable and of good quality for the Philippine market. 

Chef Chele Gonzalez: A man of culinary success and the partners that helped make it happen

Press release:

For many renowned chefs, success can be defined in a lot of ways. For Spanish-born Chef Jose Luis “Chele” Gonzalez, true accomplishment comes in the form of landing a place in the acclaimed list of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants of 2016 for his work at art gallery-cum-fine-dining restaurant Gallery Vask. The culinary destination has also been named as the Best Restaurant in the Philippines.

 

The annual list features a snapshot of the insights of around 1,000 international restaurant industry experts. For this year, Gallery Vask, a fine-dining space that serves modern cuisine inspired by local ingredients, took the 39th spot, and was the sole dining destination from the Philippines to make it to the list.

 

“Landing a spot in Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants, and being the only Philippine-based dining destination at that, is a huge responsibility and motivation for me and my team. It is a recognition for all the hard work we’ve done and it is an opportunity for us to keep growing so we can share the beauty of the Philippines,” Chef Chele explained.

 

From being a DJ to an expatriate chef armed only with his resume and determination, the man has definitely gone a long way ever since he was offered the idea of Gallery Vask by architect and artist Carlo Calma. His hard work definitely paid off when he started gaining interest with his Filipino-Spanish fusion menu that celebrates the historical connection between the two countries.

 

Chef Chele’s gastronomic creations are inspired by the Philippines and the many cultural influences he has collected from his travels around the country. As a true culinary luminary, Chef Chele celebrates the beauty of the Philippines through his cuisine.

 

Chef Chele also prides himself in understanding the ropes of every station in the kitchen. He trained to do starters, meats, fish, and desserts, fueled by the belief that he has to learn everything to work well. This has given him a deep perspective about the kitchen and placed him from a standpoint of a good judge when it comes to culinary appliances. 

 

Among these is iconic Australian brand BREVILLE® which supports him in the Philippines. The brand of kitchen appliances champions innovation and stays at the forefront of research and development. 

 

He is an advocate of BREVILLE®’s products which he personally uses in some of the most important dinners he has hosted. The brand recently supported Gallery Vask’s Kulinarya 3 Cultures 3 Chefs 1 Evening Bridging Cultures through Food open dinner as part of Madrid Fusion Manila, one of the most prestigious gastronomic events in the world.

BREVILLE® also lent a hand on the collaboration between Chef Chele and Chef Gaggan of Thailand-based restaurant “Gaggan” who took the top spot of Asia’s 50 Best 

 

Restaurants twice in a row now. The Gaggan Dinner collaboration was a venue platform wherein the cultures of India, Thailand, Spain and the Philippines were bridged through food. These dinners were in collaboration with “Cross Cultures,” an events platform founded by international journalist and editor Cheryl Tiu, where the premise is that food is one of the most accessible ways of exchanging cultures. 

 

Chef Chele is a good example that while passion, determination, and talent is important, getting support from the right people is essential to success. He had this back in Spain with the many masters he trained with and here in the Philippines with the partners he had found both in business and in the kitchen. 

 

And he is most proud of his partnership with BREVILLE® through Gallery Vask.  “Breville and Gallery Vask share the same values so working hand-in-hand complements both partners. I believe that BREVILLE® has unique, state-of-the-art products that are very good support for a Gallery Vask kind of kitchen. The juicer is one of my favorite equipment because it helped me create my best dishes yet. BREVILLE® has also helped us spread our philosophy through our dinner collaborations with some of the most important chefs of the world.”

 

Being a brand that he uses the most in his kitchen, he values the trust he had given the brand. “As a chef who has been working in a professional kitchen for many years, I can say that the quality of BREVILLE®’s products could be truly trusted. These products are user-friendly and will give us chefs high quality results,” Chef Chele related.

 

BREVILLE® products are distributed in the Philippines by IAJ Wellness Corporation and is available in appliance stores in Metro Manila and select cities nationwide. For more information, visit www.breville.com.ph.