40 Years of service as chef par excellence

GOLDBAR Chef Jesie Sincioco is the most in demand chef for fine dining and catering today. —CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

It’s one thing to break into the scene, to be the celebrated chef of the moment. It’s another thing to stay in the game for over a year. Or for over 10 years. And it’s epic to be at the top of your game for 40 years!

A rare few have achieved this. One of the rare few is Chef Jessie Sincioco, who is still the most in demand chef for fine dining and fine catering today.

Last Feb. 8, Chef Jessie Rockwell celebrated the restaurant’s 18th anniversary. What started out as Le Souffle in 2005 later matured to become Chef Jessie and has kept customers coming back, with generation after generation loving and building a relationship with the restaurant.

While talking to her about what it takes to stay a celebrated chef not just for years but for decades, she realized that in fact, she is celebrating more than 18 years of Chef Jessie Rockwell because this year, she also celebrates 40 years as a pastry chef!

It was in 1983 when she won the Great Maya Cookfest by cooking a mango cake using a recipe of her Auntie Lita. She continues to serve this cake to this day, calling it “My Tita’s Special Treat.”

She rose from the ranks, starting out as a trainee at the Intercon before establishing herself as the first female Filipino pastry chef in the industry in 1990.

The following year, she joined former Intercon head chefs to put up the hugely popular Le Souffle in Greenbelt. And in 2005, Le Souffle Rockwell was born, which became Chef Jessie in 2009.

The halls of this restaurant carry way too many memories. For me personally, I remember the book launch of Slow Food, a collection of food essays by winners and finalists of the Doreen Fernandez Essay Writing Contest; the anniversary of ManilaSpeak, a commentary website; my mother’s 70th birthday; and countless dinners with friends.

Some have frequented the restaurant so many times that Chef Jessie has placed their names on the menu.

Among the celebrities who have made it to the menu are Judy Ann Santos, Tessie Tomas, Vilma Santos and Jose Mari Chan. All have a salad named after them.

Some tycoons have likewise made it to the menu. The late business tycoon Manolo Lopez also has a salad named after him while Landmark’s Teddy Keng has the Teddy Keng Chocolate Gateau.

But Chef Jessie, in her holiness, dedicated not only a dish but an entire menu for Pope Francis. This replicates the menu that she served to His Holiness when she was appointed as his personal chef on his apostolic visit to Manila. It includes beef consomme, roast US Black Angus beef and flambeed mango with Mantecado ice cream.

Yet with all these big names, Chef Jessie remains grounded, working hard as if she was just starting out in the industry.

This is the secret to her success. “Success is primarily about hard work,” she says.

She has also remained humble. No work is beneath her. She has remained hands-on and will be quick to clean and serve, aside from cook.

She also continues to do works of charity. She quietly undertakes feeding programs for the poor, supports priests and generously teaches aspiring chefs if they need tips.

Certainly, she will be at the top of her game not only for another 18 but another 40 years and more! And the Chef Jessie name will be synonymous not only with delicious food but with excellence for generations to come!