Like so many of us, I’ve been thinking about Chef Margarita Forés quite a lot, ever since her untimely passing last February 11 at the age of sixty-five. As Women’s Month is closing and what would have been her 66th birthday, March 23, is approaching, I can’t help but reflect on the legacy she has left behind and how her being a woman has contributed to her success and influence well beyond the confines of the kitchen. 

The late great culinary visionary, Chef Margarita Forés | Photo: EAT Public Relations

In preparation for this article, I was rifling through my notes from my many, many past interviews with Chef Margarita (my earliest one may have been around 2003!). As I was scrolling through random voice memos recorded on my phone, I found one from nine years ago that I had completely forgotten about. I clicked play and immediately heard Chef Margarita calling my nickname: “Nanaaaaaa, thank youuuu for being there all those years!” in her recognizably raspy sing-song voice. The occasion of that recorded interview—and her profuse “thank you’s”—was a small press event held on January 12, 2016 to officially announce to the world that she had just been proclaimed “Asia’s Best Female Chef” by the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants organization. Hearing her voice again, I immediately pictured Chef Margarita holding court at her restaurant Lusso in Greenbelt, sporting her white chef’s jacket, hair slicked back in a ponytail, big white pearl earrings, with a glass of Champagne in one hand, smiling ear to ear, visibly emotional, and breathlessly sharing how huge of an honor this was.

At at the press event to announce Forés's recognition as Asia's Best Female Chef, January 12, 2016 | Photo: Anne Marie Ozaeta

The Asia’s Best Female Chef Award is, of course, a huge deal. And it so happened that Margarita Forés was the perfect awardee, not only because of her many accomplishments, but especially because she was able to parlay her title for an increased focus on the Philippines, and a chance to show the world the complexity of our cuisine, the diversity of our produce, and the vibrancy of our dining scene. I will even go out on a limb to proclaim that no other awardee has made as big an impact on their country as she has!

Forés with son, Amado, and mother Maria Lourdes 'Baby' Araneta-Fores | Photo: EAT Public Relations

As I sat down with Chef Margarita for that short interview, I asked her her thoughts about the ongoing debate on the idea of a chef’s award just for women. After all, the women awardees rarely ranked high on the Asia’s 50 Best and World’s 50 Best Restaurant lists which continued to be dominated by men. Even the late Anthony Bourdain famously tweeted back in 2013: “Why—at this point in history—do we need a “Best Female Chef” special designation? As if they are curiosities?” But rather than seeing herself as a “curiosity,” Chef Margarita regarded the title in a completely different light.“It’s a good thing,” she said. “I’m happy to be a female chef and I’m happy to have inspired a lot of younger women to choose this field. You know there are more female chef students than there are males. And I think that is an absolute, absolute achievement.” 

Forés at a 6-hands dinner at French restaurant Metronome where she collaborated with Chefs Mike Calo and Johanne Siy, a Filipino named Asia's Best Female Chef 2023 | Photo: EAT Public Relations

Chef Margarita recognized her gender as central to her success as a chef, considering it a superpower rather than a liability. “It’s about nurturing. That’s our maternal instinct… So we’re perfect for the industry,” she explained. She never had to act like a “guy” in the kitchen, but rather cultivated an innate warmth and generosity in her work, perhaps not unlike the Italian nonnas she learned from in her early years in Italy. And I believe her approach changed things for the better, bringing a less hierarchical, more collaborative ethos into the kitchen. “I think that [women] add this wonderful synergy with the men that have driven this industry all these years. So it’s great I think that it’s also made the industry warmer, the industry so much more caring.”

A young Forés as a culinary student in Italy | Photo: EAT Public Relations

Chef Margarita Forés may have become the most prominent and globally recognized among Filipina culinary figures—but she’s not alone. Philippine culinary history is peppered with prominent Filipinas like food scientist and banana ketchup inventor Maria Orosa as well as Teresita Reyes of Mama Sita fame. Chef Margarita was clearly cognizant of this history and made sure to pay homage: “Trudging along in the industry during that time and really getting inspired by Tita Glenda and Tita Nora and what they started. They were there when it was challenging and thanks to them, they opened up the doors for us. And Doreen who wrote incessantly about our food, up to this day, people like Myrna and Micky, and all of you.” She was referring to trailblazers like Glenda Barretto of Via Mare, the late great Nora Daza, the late food writer and academic Doreen Gamboa Fernandez, alongside Chef Myrna Segismundo and food writer and editor Micky Fenix. It felt so gratifying to hear her acknowledge these women with such respect, yet another example of the grace and humility she displayed during her crowning moment.

Forés holding Kulinarya, the book she co-authored with Filipino culinary greats Glenda Barretto, Conrad Calalang, and edited by Michaela Fenix | Photo: EAT Public Relations 

That recorded interview with Chef Margarita only lasted six minutes, but she managed to fill that short time with words of inspiration and gratitude: “In the end, it’s really [about] creating an awareness in the industry that’s more important than just putting out a great degustation menu. When I’m 70 and I look back, I think that will probably be the thing that I’ll be happiest about. That we had a mission and we did it. It’s been all for the better and I think it will be even better, not only for the industry, but for the people that bring the food to our tables.” While it is indeed tragic that Chef Margarita did not get to reach the age of 70, we can all look back and thank her for all she has done for the industry and for future generations of chefs and anyone working in food—of every gender.