It is really no surprise that Joey Herrera ended up in the food business. How can he not, when he grew up in a family of cooks, surrounded by the culinary readings of his mother, Nancy Reyes? The passion and talent for whipping up scrumptious dishes is strong in the famed Reyes-Aristocrat clan and Chef Joey has inherited it all.
“It’s a family thing,” he says of his craft. He admits receiving unsolicited advice in the kitchen especially from his lola Nena but lately the elders have learned to stay out of the way when he is behind the stove. “I make sure it’s good,” he describes his every dish. Despite his busy schedule, he makes time to prepare food for his family. Recently preparing an Asian Sunday lunch of Seared tuna with Thai salad, Egg drop Soup, Chap Chae, Miso-grilled chicken and Rib-eye served with yakiniku sauce. It’s just another weekend meal for them, no sweat.
Chef Joey has been playing with pots and pans since he was a very young lad. “I like working with food, knowing the effects of temperature on ingredients, I like the interplay of cause and effect,” he muses. At 10 years old, he attended classes at the Maya Kitchen. The idea of becoming an Ichthyologist crossed his mind in college but he later figured that the study of fish was not a very practical path to tread. So off he went to De La Salle-College of St. Benilde for a degree in Hotel, Restaurant and Institution Management. Later, he had the opportunity to sign up for a culinary course at the Regency Institute in Adelaide, Australia. His resume includes work experience at the Convention Center in Melbourne and the Atlanta Marriot Marquis in Georgia, USA, which holds a special place in his heart, having met his fiancée there. Chef Joey also dabbled in freelance food styling, and was an instructor at the Center for Culinary Arts Manila for five years.
Now he takes on a new challenge as the head of the culinary program of the spanking new Institute of Culinary Arts and Food Service and executive chef of Loop Creative Dining, a restaurant located in the same building of Institute of Culinary Arts and Food Service at Far Eastern University along Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue in Makati. He beams with pride as he shares the unique progressive model of education that they offer where students go through three levels and work in the restaurant after each level, ensuring that fundamentals are learned correctly and applied properly. They offer diploma as well as short courses. “Food aesthetics and plating techniques, product and equipment identification, safety guidelines, nutrition and healthy cuisine,” he rattles off just a few of what one can gather from their school.
“Cooking that’s all science isn’t good, when you put emotion and expression into it then it becomes art and science. But you have to perfect the technique before you can perfect the expression,” he states. And to reach greater heights, he believes that ambition is required. “If you want to get somewhere, you’ll get somewhere,” he points out. Judging from his Facebook account, one can tell that he is chummies with his students. “But you have to know where to draw the line,” he says admitting that he is quite strict as a leader. “They have to follow the standards,” he adds. And when they don’t, he is always prepared to intervene and find out how problems can be addressed and how the situation can be improved.
While many can cook well, not everyone can teach well. “There has to be willingness to also learn,” he speaks of what makes a good teacher. Personally, he takes this continuing education seriously, travelling all over to research. Which in his job translates to a lot of eating. “Travelling around the country and abroad will wake you up and inspire you and make sure you don’t get stuck in your comfort zone,” advises the winner of a gold medal in the 2008 Food and Hotel Asia Singapore Culinary Challenge. He just recently arrived from a tour of Europe and can still taste the oysters and French Onion soup from Paris and Black spada and Caracoles from Portugal.
He burns all the calories longboarding with his cousins, who also jam with him in their informal music group which he refers to as “The Reyes Family Cousins Band”. Chef Joey plays the drums and guitar.
When asked for words of wisdom to impart to the chef wannabes who may be going through tough times in the kitchen, Chef Joey was stumped. No, he doesn’t think it’s difficult to be a chef. And no, he doesn’t mind the long hours. Without a doubt, he enjoys every minute of what he’s doing. A lesson in itself.
