AFTER going through several grueling cook-offs, lugaw and barbecue stall owner Jose Nestor ‘Jones’ S. Guevara II of Las Piñas emerged as the grand champion of SM Hypermarket’s Best Pinoy Street Food 2014 cooking competition.
The Grand Finals of the cooking competition took place at SM Hypermarket Cubao on November 28. The 10 finalists, representing their own branches of SM Hypermarket, faced off one more time in two rounds of competitions, with challenges posed by celebrity chef Pablo ‘Boy’ Logro.
The first round of competitions during the Grand Finals saw the 10 finalists being paired off into five teams to see how well they can work together and whip up delicious meals as teams. Chef Boy’s challenge was for the five teams to prepare a unique and delicious noodle dish, with planning, grocery shopping, cooking and plating to be done in one hour’s time.
The teams — Harrison Arcilla (SM Hypermarket Clark) and Ma. Concepcion ‘Maricon’ Luares (Cainta) as Group 1, Hercules Umali (SM North EDSA) and Merly Dulay Co (Adriatico) as Group 2, Mark Steven Loresca (Muntinlupa) and Pacita Limjoco (Bicutan) as Group 3, Jose Nestor ‘Jones’ Guevara II (Sucat Lopez) and Eloisa Cabrales (Batangas) as Group 4, and Jose Alejandro ‘Sandok’ Cruz (Baliwag) and Madel Lopez (Rosales) as Group 5 — were all able to do that.
Tasting their noodle creations and giving them scores were not just Chef Boy and the Board of Judges composed of Chef Niño Logarta of CDO, Chef Paulo Sia of Unilever Philippines, Chef John Volley of Purefoods and food blogger Anton Diaz of Our Awesome Planet, but also a hundred other people in attendance. Their votes were counted and emerging as the Top Two teams were Groups 2 and 4. So, emerging as the Final Four based on the noodle challenge were Hercules Umali of Star-BAKS Sizzling and Frappe in Quezon City (SM North EDSA), Merly Dulay Co of Merly’s Gotohan in Pasay (Adriatico), Jose Nestor Guevara II of Lola Ebeng’s Lugawan & BBQ-han in Las Piñas (Sucta Lopez) and Eloisa Cabrales of Cab’s Burgeria in Batangas (Batangas).
It was time to go solo once again for the final round of competitions. Chef Boy brought out a plateful of his signature Crepe Surprise, a savory seafood crepe, and had the four grand finalists take a look at it and then taste it. The ultimate challenge was for them to replicate the dish and give it their own take within 30 minutes. This time, it was just Chef Boy and the Board of Judges who decided on the grand winner and, after much discussion and deliberation, Jose Nestor ‘Jones’ Guevara II emerged as the grand champion of SM Hypermarket’s The Best Pinoy Street Food 2014 cooking challenge.
“Elementary pa lang, magaling na akong mangopya. Marami kaming street food vendors, pero dito (Best Pinoy Street Food), naipakita namin ang galing namin sa pagluluto, na ang kalidad ng pagkain namin ay di nalalayo ang lasa sa mamahalin,” says Guevara, who took home a prize package worth over Php100,000, including an SM Prestige Card loaded with 50,000 points, large food packs, ingredients, cooking equipment courtesy of SM Hypermarket’s Food Service Center.
*(“Back in elementary school, I was already a good copier. There’s plenty of us street food vendors, but here (Best Pinoy Street Food), we were able to show our skills in cooking and prove that the quality of the food we cook isn’t really far from gourmet dishes.”)
Guevara is also set to run his own food stall at SM Hypermarket, rent-free for a year, as part of his prizes. His small food business, Ebeng’s Lugawan and BBQ-han, occupies the garage of his family’s house in Las Piñas and is named after his mom. Since the church stood right in front of his house, his clientele is composed of parish personnel and church-goers. It’s open only on weekends to cater to this market, and so he is on the lookout for other ways to earn a living. As grand champion of The Best Pinoy Street Food 2014, he now gets the opportunity to operate a food stall at SM Hypermarket without having to worry about rent for a year.
Other sponsors were Purefoods Funstuff Nuggets, Tender Juicy Hotdog, Fiesta Ham, Crisp n’ Juicy, Star Chickn’ Tasty Hotdog, Thick Cut Bacon, Unilever Food Solutions, Nestle All Purpose Cream, Maggi, Knorr, Bounty Fresh Chicken, Bibbo Hotdog, Bibbo Cheesedog, CDO Ulam Burger, Funstastik Young Pork Tocino, Del Monte, P&G and Joy.
