Why you should watch and support Chef RV Manabat.
Since the pandemic barred everyone to physically dine outside, several chefs and restaurant owners have pivoted to online selling. Likewise, some of the F&B people are now going beyond just catering to orders, but have also begun to entertain and serve in other ways.
Certain chefs have turned to vlogging and content creation, like Manila Bulletin Lifestyles’ columnist Chef Gene Gonzalez, who have been making videos on the internet to teach diners how to create his signature dishes at home. Among today’s emerging vlogger-teacher chefs is Rudolf Vincent “RV” Manabat.
Before the lockdown, RV ran Chef RV’s café in Biñan Laguna on weekdays. He held culinary and pastry classes on weekends, and whenever time permitted him, he also did videos on cooking and baking. When the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) was implemented, he thought of devoting all his time to sharing food-related videos for diners and aspiring chefs alike.
While someone urged him to make his videos a paid online class, Chef RV declined. This was his passion project. Making money never crossed his mind. “I post cooking and baking tutorials on Facebook and YouTube so I could also help those people who are unemployed yet wanted to start on something. Since my business is still ongoing, I have a stable source of income. So it will be too much if I charge for something I could give for free,” says the chef.
His video on cheesy milky donuts paved way for his online popularity during the quarantine.
The comment section of the said video was filled with thousands of praises and appreciations. Pamela Mariano is one of the followers who was so grateful for the recipe. “I tried your donuts. My kids love them and I’m selling them now. I have a lot of orders, about 11 dozen a day, because customers really love your donuts,” Pamela wrote as a comment
The former culinary professor of De La Salle College of St. Benilde, where he also graduated with a degree in Hotel and Restaurant Management, has also uploaded videos on recipes that are trending and very profitable like puto, no-bake cheesecake, moist chocolate cake, banana cake, brownies, embotido, kimchi, and baked sushi. Because of Chef RV’s timely videos, many consider him a blessing as people have been trying to look for income in this difficult time. Karla Arcangel who has been selling moist chocolate cake can’t thank the chef enough. “Since I started selling them, I have three days of incomplete sleep because I have orders every day. I will try the fudgy brownies soon,” she wrote.
The 30-year-old chef would test his recipes three times before filming it. “Since I decided to do vlogging regularly, I might as well give my best because I want to make people happy especially during this time. I want to give people a spark of joy and feel like we can revive the economy through small ways. When you sell a doughnut, at least you keep the economy running. Then you make yourself, your family, your friends, and your neighbors happy,” RV shares.
He goes deeper and makes his viewers understand they need a specific ingredient for a certain type of recipe. For instance, in his embotido video, he made clear why the dish would require utilizing the thigh part of the chicken.
Chef RV also provides options on what to use if there are kitchenware or ingredients not available to you. Don’t have crabsticks for your baked sushi? He has the answer for that too.
The young chef teaches techniques replete with “scientific explanations.” For example, in his banana cake video, he would expound why cracks would happen when you dip an oiled flat scrapper on top before baking.
Is he credible enough, one might ask? He has a Master’s degree in Food Studies as well as certificates in Wine and Cheese program at the Boston University. He has a diploma in pastry studies at the Alaine Ducasse pastry school in France. He has also completed a cake decorating course under world-famous cake decorator Toba Garret at the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City. He has also attended culinary classes in Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, South Korea, South Africa, Australia, and Spain. Chef RV trained in the kitchen of The Manila Peninsula and was mentored by Filipino pastry chefs Joey Prats and Vicki Villanueva. The young achiever had already authored two cookbooks Baking Secrets and More Baking Secrets.
With all his accolades, he preferred settling in his hometown of Biñan, Laguna, to establish a must-dine-resto for tourists. Thus, Chef RV café was born three years ago. Yet, due to the virus scare, the well visited café is, as of the moment, open for takeout only. Nevertheless, Chef RV assures his customers that his establishment is following all health protocols to keep their products coronavirus-free.
A lot of his followers, some of whom are abroad, have already expressed their excitement to visit the café when the health crisis ends, so they could see their idol in person and also try the delicacies like the Sugar-free Cheesecakes, Homemade Ube Cream Cake, and especially his famous accidental cheese cake, the Biñan Quezo de Bola Cake. There’s a saying that you’ve never really been to Biñan if you haven’t tried the Quezo de Bola Cake.
Chef RV said that he would really love to accommodate and serve his supporters in the flesh.
His YouTube channel has now garnered the silver button, while his Facebook followers are nearing half a million. Meanwhile, the chef will continue to serve and contribute to society through his vlogs.