Genting Star Tourism Academy's meet-and-greet Chef Frank Roland Schmitt

I was privileged to join the meet-and-greet with Chef Frank Roland Schmitt (thanks to Nonito for the short notice invite and of course the gracious and accommodating Mr. Jeffrey Uy) who is in town to recruit new staff to form his crew for the Star Cruise's Super Star Libra. He will be doing cooking demonstration as shown in the poster above of Southern Germany Cuisine.

In our meeting with him, together with Genting Star Tourism Academy Chefs' we were shown two easy to prepare dishes and a dessert. We got to taste those prepared dishes as well. For our meeting, he intentionally chose to demonstrate easy to prepare dishes that's like any regular family fare or dishes that is usually prepared and serve by moms.


Cheese Spatzle - pasta dish, but the pasta was home made and then baked (let me know if you are interested of the recipe so I can send it to you). Spatzle  can be also herb, spinach or mushroom. For Filipinos it can be compared as a Lasagna dish.

Vienna Schnitzel - well your regular pork chop that is breaded and deep fried.

Peach Melba - raspberry syrup with vanilla ice cream and presented nicely.

Here's the Professional Brief of Chef Frank Roland Schmitt, Executive Chef, Star Cruises - Super Star Libra (SSR). The text mostly taken from a flier distributed by Genting Star Tourism Academy with some minor modifications I made.

Chef Frank Roland Schmitt is currently the Executive Chef of Star Cruises-Super Star Libra. He has been in charge of the whole kitchen operations of the cruise ship after his culinary stint in Germany and other international hotels, including the US from 1984-1986 and onboard the Norwegian Cruise Line from 1992-1994 where he held various corporate positions. From 1994-2000, he began his career with Star Cruises as its Executive Chef.

Chef Frank's training and knowledge of a wide range of cuisines, including his expertise in operations and management were key elements of his involvement in handling significant positions in both land and sea-based hospitality industries.  He was engaged in series of executive consultancies helping in the setting up of bars and restaurants across Germany.

For his passion for gastronomic experiences across the high seas, in 2010 he rejoined once again Star Cruises as its Executive Chef.

With degree in Hotel Management from Germany and an unparalleled international culinary experience, Chef Frank continues to inspire and set the mark for excellence in European and Caribbean cuisines.

Genting Star Tourism Academy is hospitality and professional development training school for those aspiring to work in cruise ship, restaurant, hotels among others. The academy's training programs are TESDA accredited. It includes Food and Beverage Services, Commercial Cooking, Housekeeping/Accomodation, Front Office Services, Bread and Pastry, etc. that is 3 to 6 months long. For those who are interested to pursue a Diploman in Hospitality Management that is based on the Australian Qualification Framework (AQF) and through their partnership with  NSW Technical and Further Education Commission, a competency standard system allows their students to obtain a progressive qualification path from certificate to a degree level.


According to Mr. Christian D. Matro, Buss. Devt. Officer, the advantage of the academy compared to other culinary schools is that,  98% of its Culinary Arts graduates find employment upon graduation or even job placement during their internship with their Star Cruises' ships and group of hotels.

  

I requested to have a chit-chat with one of their students and I was introduced to Mr. Aziz Buenaventura. At an early age he already got introduced to the kitchen, his grandfather a well known cook and also her mom a good cook. Not contented with the usual fare of his pasta, he created his own flavors. His dream of travelling around the world made him thought that working as a chef on a cruise ship would be its realization. But now he thinks otherwise, he can be the best chef  for his own restaurant and travel the world. For that he even has a name,  Klazzico a bistro bar he would like to start when he finish his diploma course.

But what fascinates me is when he labeled French cuisine as traditional (definitely it is and has a long tradition and one of the finest dining experiences there is and even declared by UNESCO as "intangible cultural heritage"). Since his exposure and training is Australian,   maybe for him it is more apt to his gustatory style which is more modern and hip. Also, at his age and taste perhaps, the fusion of dishes espoused by most of the younger generations of chefs is the "new French cooking", a standard, style or trend  in cooking that is more vibrant and dynamic, a mix and match of old/traditional and new/modern, Asian and European and all other in-betweens of gustations and gastronomies.

It was an interesting experience for me to learn more about Genting Star Tourism Academy, their versatile chefs, students, and their courteous officers and staff. We were even toured in their classrooms and demonstrations areas where students applied their training.

Also, I got a chance to be toured to the only 6-star hotel in the country, Maxims Hotel, every room has a butler, they have three levels of casinos. On the Third Floor is the Genting Club, for members only where bets are in millions, the Second Floor is a casino for non-smokers and the ground floor which is the more rambunctious place for live-performers, bettors/gamblers, onlookers and different Asian nationalities with that all-pervading-strangling second hand smoke, yay! Resorts World is like a Nevada in Manila, a whole new world for me. A place to dine, gamble, shop, movie and theater and the many other things I failed to mention here.

For chocolate lovers or Pinoy Chocophiles please check my blog here pinoychocophile.blogspot.com

Related read from my good friend Renz:

http://renz15.wordpress.com/2012/09/13/marriot-hotel-manila-tour/#comment-775