To say that Filipinos are massive fans of iconic chef Gordon Ramsay is an understatement given the droves of people—mostly culinary students—who came out to see and cheer on the British celebrity chef and restaurateur in person as he came up on stage for his exclusive meet in Manila.

It also marks the first time that Ramsay has visited Manila, a few months after opening Gordon Ramsay Bar and Grill at Newport World Resorts, which he said started just over two years ago.

“I arrived at 5 a.m. yesterday, had breakfast with the kids in the kitchen, got up to speed, understood where they’re from and what it meant to them, but more importantly, they’ve done such an amazing job. It’s very hard open a restaurant that is fully booked from day one. So what they’ve achieved and how hard they’ve worked. Some of them are traveling four hours round trip per day to go to work. And that means so much to me because it reminds me of myself at 22. I think our youngest in the kitchen is 17. We are blessed with such talents, so I’m happy to be here.”

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Happiness also seemed to be the key theme surrounding the event as Ramsay—who advocates for balance in life and competes in two triathlon races every year—expressed his appreciation for Filipino cuisine and the talents both locally (such as Abi Marquez who transformed his signature beef Wellington into her lumpia version) and internationally (including the incredible guys of Serai in Melbourne).

“I think that Filipino cuisine has permanent holes amongst global cuisines. Some of the best restaurants in New York are headed up by amazing Filipino chefs. London is awash with Filipino restaurants. I was in Melbourne recently and Serai again, another number one restaurant across Australia.”

“And also just the culture and the complexity of Filipino cuisine, it’s so regionalized as well, which is so lovely. The fish and chips for instance is an amazing staple from Bar and Grill. And we’re using the local fish, lapu-lapu, and we’ve now created this unique Filipino fish and chips. I couldn’t do it without ingredients from Manila.”

Unquestionably, one of the highlights of the event was the mini-Masterchef edition where Ramsay challenged CCA student Danica Lucero, chef and social media personality Ninong Ry, “Junior MasterChef” host Judy Ann Santos, and Gordon Ramsay Bar and Grill head chef Bea Therese Qua participated in a 10-minute halo-halo showdown to win a signed Ramsay chef’s jacket. But it was the promising Lucero who bagged the win whose halo-halo with kamias compote had an “edge in terms of the contrast and balance,” according to Ramsay himself.

So what else did we learn from the charming chef? Let’s break it down below:

“We focus on training. Consistency is crucial for us. We have several academies now. They’re popping up around the globe, and as opposed to these two-, three-year-long culinary classes, we’re doing sort of 60, 90, 120- day intense training purely on the dishes. We also depend on the feedback from customers on a daily basis. I love that intrusion from social media because we could be in New York and there could be a guest eating lunch here at Bar and Grill, and we’ll get the feedback instantly. So the whole team are on it, and we take negativity very seriously. We listen to the comments, we listen to the critics.”

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“Heritage is incredible. It’s our responsibility to continue that evolution. And so we take the basic recipes for multiple generations and we, we, we evolve it. We don’t disparage it. We evolve respecting ingredients. Whatever that is, we will respect the DNA. And then it’s every chef’s responsibility. It’d be very ignorant of us to come over and ignore the prized possessions they have. So I said it before, Filipino cuisine, for me, is like the sleeping beauty of Asia. It’s now prominent, and it can give Southeast Asia, it’s big kick up the ass and really become one of the frontrunners across Asia.”

“Every young chef today needs to understand the importance of marketing. These kids are going to be like football stars because they’re going to own their own DNA, their own cookbooks, and their own IP and so they need to know how to market themselves. There’s a percentage of chefs I think that are a little bit awkward about the intrusion of social media. And so I teach all our kids to embrace it. It’s a great way of establishing confidence. It’s a great way of looking at yourself and judging yourself on a global platform. And they deserve the following. Media is part of food today because it’s never been as good. What that intrusion does it gives you such evidence you can learn from that. And more than anything, it gives them self-awareness, a lot of confidence because they have to sell themselves. So they have to become entrepreneurial, and I think that social platform will really help them get there.”

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“Like every busy chef, we need to find our balance. And so twice a year, I have a date every six months or a trial. So the next one is in Luxembourg, in Germany, we’re doing an Ironman. And wherever we go in the world, there’ll always be a walk, a hike, a run or a quick bike ride. When you take time out from that busy zone and you contemplate and refresh, training actually becomes therapeutic because you process everything. We need time away and that is crucial to find that balance. And if you don’t get that, you get consumed.”

“There’s such an abundance of info out there now. Which ones I pass on? The gimmick ones—wit starts to get a little bit silly. So how do you stay ahead of it? Understand what’s important for you, what’s missing in your culinary program, and then focus on that. The YouTube videos are incredible, and getting to understand other culinary techniques is crucial.”

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“Get comfortable being uncomfortable. Don’t get too comfortable. Between the ages of 18 and 26, you have to be the most energetic sponge. And food is like medicine. Understanding different cultures is crucial. And travel is of the essence. Traveling into different cultures. You never get up to speak with a language, but you can speak through the food, and understanding what they’re about and how to master what they’re about is crucial. So never take any job or any salary or any increase in salary because it’s not the money you need, it’s the knowledge. And so you just have to keep on going up and down, and when you sat down again in the next kitchen, you just learn so much more rather than going in a higher position, taking more responsibility on; it’s not about the responsibility in your 20ssuperace88, it’s about the education. So do that three or four times in your career, and you’ll build out this plethora of knowledge that only you will have, and you can dip in those little nuances that you learn, and then you start formulating your own style, because you have three or four good mentors.”