If you’re going to eat a dish made by Chef RV Manabat, it’s guaranteed to be delicious. When it comes to food or even just a recipe from Chef Manabat, it’s definitely amazing! But who is Chef RV Manabat, exactly?

RV Manabat is a well-known name in the culinary scene, especially in baking. Don’t get me wrong, though. Manabat is not limited to his masterpieces from the oven. For example, if you search “chef rv youtube”, you’ll see plenty of recipes by Chef RV Manabat. Chef RV is also a teacher and manages his cafe in Biñan, Laguna. You can say he’s done (and is still doing) it all.

RV Manabat’s impressive skills are backed by an even more impressive set of credentials. But even if he has been mentored by some well-known chefs here and abroad, such as Chef Joey Prats and Toba Garret, Chef RV is still very much down to earth.

You see, he’s one of the people who know the value of hard work. Chef RV Manabat’s mother’s kitchen? That was the start of his restaurant. We can say he built everything from scratch.

Want to hear his story? Read on let’s get up-close and personal with Chef RV Manabat!

Chef RV Manabat’s humble beginnings

Chef RV Manabat’s real name is Rudolf Vincent Manabat. A Biñan, Laguna local, Chef RV started exploring the kitchen at the age of nine. He started with cookies and brownies. It’s safe to say that his creations before were not THE Chef RV Manabat cookies recipe or the brownies by Chef RV Manabat that we know now. However, it was then that he discovered his passion for cooking and baking.

He studied in De La Salle College of St. Benilde where he graduated with a degree in Hospitality Management and Culinary Arts. Gastronomy & I, the first book of Chef RV Manabat was published during this time. He was also named as the Philippines’ youngest cookbook author because of the aforementioned book. Talk about a young achiever!

Another Chef RV Manabat book, Baking Secrets, came out in 2012. It garnered multiple awards such as being in the top 5 of the Philippine Publication Bestsellers. The book also earned international recognition as the “Best Dessert Cookbook” by the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards.

Chef RV then became a culinary professor in his alma mater and other schools. In his free days, he started to teach baking classes in his Laguna home.

Man On A Mission

Come mid-2014, Chef RV decided to quit teaching in other schools. He started to formally hold classes in his hometown during the weekends. Why? Well, a lot of students wanted to attend his classes! It made him decide to leave his job in schools and focus on his hometown. He converted his mom’s old kitchen into his own make-shift kitchen class studio. RV Manabat’s Kitchen formally came into being. It was a culinary and pastry school that catered to both locals and those from outside Biñan. The school proved successful as students all the way from the metro flocked to avail of his classes.

While Chef RV was visiting another province and visited an iconic restaurant, a thought came into his mind. He realized that for people to want to visit a place, there had to be an attraction to visit. And because he wanted people to go to his hometown of Biñan, he thought of putting up a restaurant.

Intrigued by the challenge, RV thought if it was possible to make it happen.

Chef RV Manabat: Biñan Icon

Through careful planning and constant encouragement from his supportive students, friends, and family, Chef RV’s Café opened its doors by 2017. The restaurant is still part of Chef RV Manabat’s house. Originally, it was just supposed to be a tiny and cozy coffee shop. Because of insistent demands from patrons, Chef RV turned it into a full-scale restaurant.

The menu includes a deliciously moist chocolate cake, as well as spaghetti and tocino. However, a cheesecake by Chef RV Manabat became their main attraction. He proudly dubbed it as Biñan’s Quezo de Bola Cheesecake. Chef RV hopes for it to be recognized as one of Biñan’s official local delicacies one day.

The Biñan attraction idea worked too! People would pass by the café just to try out the delicious food, and just to get a glimpse of Chef RV. If you drop by, he won’t be very hard to find, as he is very hands-on in his restaurant. And if you want to have a picture taken with Chef RV, he will not hesitate to take a selfie or two with his patrons (pre-pandemic, of course).

However, even armed with Chef RV recipes, opening the restaurant was not an easy task.

Chef RV Manabat At Your Service

Chef RV had some hesitations before he opened his restaurant. Since he wanted to elevate Biñan, he had to think of the residents first. If the locals didn’t like or accept his food, the place may not be considered a true Biñan attraction. And according to Chef RV, the locals are hard to please as they have distinct preferences when it comes to their food. They also like making sure that they’re getting their money’s worth with the food. This got RV a little worried because his prices were higher than what they were used to. After all, Chef RV Manabat’s restaurant menu was of a different level of quality.

Thankfully being a local and Biñanense himself, his food tapped their tastebuds in a familiar and positive way. And the rest was history. Chef RV’s café became THE destination of visitors of Biñan. The restaurant of Chef RV Manabat also got rave reviews from people everywhere.

The Credible Cook

Despite this seemingly charmed journey, Chef RV worked hard to get where he is today. After he graduated from the College of St. Benilde, he worked in the pastry kitchen of The Manila Peninsula Manila to hone his skills. He also got his Master’s Degree in Food Studies with a 3.42 GPA, and a certificate in Wine and Artisanal Cheese Studies at the Boston University, in Massachusetts, USA. He also made sure to learn from his colleagues who came from different countries.

Chef Manabat also earned a diploma in Perfecting French Pastry Arts at the École Nationale Supérieure de Pâtisserie in France. He also finished a Master Chocolatier Course in two schools: Ecole Choclat Professional School of Chocolate Arts and Callebaut Chocolate Academy in Belgium. This is probably why Chef RV is a brand ambassador for Belcolade Real Belgian Chocolates.

He has also finished a Cake Decorating Course in the Institute of Culinary Education in New York under Toba Garret. And he has not stopped learning! He had a lot more training abroad for various cuisines such as Asian, Spanish, and European. He has even attended various programs about coffee! Part of Chef RV’s philosophy is to just keep learning, and he’s definitely doing that.

The Chef With A Heart

With everything he has achieved, all that RV Manabat wants at the end of the day is to help people. When he was still in Boston University, his research paper was about helping farmers. And when he started teaching in Benilde, he made sure to include studies about stopping food shortage and poverty.

If you check out the Chef RV Manabat YouTube channel, he actually gives out free recipes! Examples are Chef RV’s no-bake cheesecake and mango cake. Why does he do this? Well, you can find out why in our interview with him. Watch the video below!

Of course, let’s not forget his exclusive classes with us here at The Bailiwick Academy. He has rave reviews and feedback. Chef RV also has a lot of messages of gratitude from people who benefited and earned from his free and paid classes.

If you haven’t experienced his classes yet, one fun thing to know is that there’s no dead air! All Chef RV Manabat classes are fun, filled with facts, backstories, and detailed explanations of each ingredient. Plus, before he releases or films a recipe, he makes sure to try the recipe several times. This is to assure us that he gives out easy-to-follow and earnable Chef Manabat recipes, even for those with no culinary background.

Aside from loving people, he is also a dog lover and a certified plantito.

Chef RV Manabat: An Inspiration

Don’t we all wish there would be more Chef RV Manabats around? His journey is a testament that no dream is too big. Also, you don’t have to be from a big city to be successful. Just be kind to everyone, and be a good person. Our fervent wish for him is that someday Chef RV and Biñan would be synonymous. After all, he works hard to elevate Biñan. That’s why his restaurant’s logo is the elephant – a hard worker.

One blog post may not be enough to talk about Chef RV’s accomplishments. After all, we know we’ll be seeing even more accomplishments from him!

While we wait for even more accomplishments from Chef RV, we can always do our best to emulate him. For example, we can be like him and use social media and the Internet for good! And we can always think of ways how to help other people.

Where to get Chef RV Manabat recipes?

As we mentioned above, you can check out Chef RV Manabat on YouTube for a lot of his free recipes. If you want to just eat (because why not?), you can go to his restaurant, but for now, they only accept take-out orders.

Of course, we encourage you to check out his exclusive classes with us! Click here to read about his Lechon and Paella class and here for his All-Natural Meat Processing class.

When you enroll with us at The Bailiwick Academy, not only will you get amazing recipes, you can also watch the videos as often as you like. So if you don’t get it right away, just replay the video! Instructors like Chef RV also give our students valuable tips and industry insider secrets. We also have a dedicated Facebook group waiting for you as a support system.

To make the long story short, enrolling in our classes means you are steps ahead of the people who depend on free recipes and video tutorials!

Ready to enroll? Here’s The Bailiwick Academy sign-up page! Enjoy your classes!

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Want to read about more chef features or anything related to cooking or baking? Check out our other articles here at The Bailiwick Academy blog.

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