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Chef Joseph Margate has quite a studded culinary career in the US. He is an alum of renowned restaurant Eleven Madison Park in New York, and was also a nominee as People’s Best New Chef of Food and Wine magazine in 2012.
(Photo: starchefs.com)
But the full-blooded Filipino (dad’s from Samar while mom’s from Batangas), who moved to the US at age eight, dropped everything, including his stint as executive chef of Clink in Boston, to go back to his home country after seeing the progress of the restaurant scene in Metro Manila.
He wanted to be a part of it and, luckily, restaurateurs Stephen Ku and Erwan Heusaff of Mothership company saw his potential and snatched him for their upcoming project: soon-to-open Bait’s in Makati.
Erwan recounts, “A year and 10 months ago, I posted online that our company was looking for very creative chefs, for people who wanted to do their own food. Then I got an email from him. ‘Hey my name is Joseph and I’m planning to move back to the Philippines. Maybe we can talk and put up something.’ I said, okay for reference, can you send me your CV? As soon as I saw it, I freaked out.”
As perhaps anybody in the industry would have.
After finishing studies in the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, Joseph worked in Jardinière under chef/owner Traci Des Jardins. “I shucked oysters for free for four months until there was a position available for me,” says Margate.
He worked there for a couple of years then moved to Seattle, where he became the chef de cuisine at the widely popular market-driven restaurant called Lark, under James Beard award-winning chef, Johnathan Sundstrom.
“I wanted to mix it up and I was bored in Seattle so I moved to New York for something different. I got promoted to Sous Chef at Eleven Madison Park,” he says.
After that, he transferred to Boston where he worked as the executive chef at The Liberty Hotel’s CLINK for six years.
He will soon be opening Bait’s restaurant in Makati where he will be serving lots of fresh seafood. “It’s a concept that makes sense. It’s a big challenge but you can expect very modern, light and bright flavors. I’m a white wine drinker so a lot of the stuff I make compliment that,” he says.
Just before Christmas snuck in, he cooked for a handful of friends at Mothership’s latest crib, The Red Light along Felipe Street in Makati. He gave them a taste of things to come, including a standout dish inspired by something he ate in one of the oldest restaurants in Hanoi, Vietnam.
He swapped catfish with tilapia, dusted it with turmeric and other spices then pan-fried it. Chef Joseph served it on finely grated cauliflower, reminiscent of couscous, that’s been bathed with nuoc cham.
Bait’s will open in Makati in mid-January 2015 and judging from the meal we were served, it certainly deserves much anticipation. Chef Joseph Margate is just about ready to rock the Manila dining scene.
Red snapper crudo, sambal, green tomato water, katsuoboshi
Crab meat, scrambled egg, sorrel, homemade seaweed brioche
