National Food Showdown 2025

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

- CHIT U. JUAN

I let the Baguio edition of the 16th National Food Showdown (NFS) after having missed the Cebu and Iloilo editions this year. Thanks to Baguio Country Club and the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Baguio (HRAB), we had a beautiful mountain top experience, as always, my co-judges opined.

It was my first time to join this leg, as my previous judging experience for NFS was always in Batangas, it being easier to commit to and being close to Liberica or Barako coffee. Last year in Lipa, I even got to meet a Barako vendor at the Lipa Cathedral, and he then got featured in our newest book on coffee entitled “BREW.” That event actually hatched the idea for us to write a coffee book with the indefatigable founder of NFS, Chef Myrna Segismundo.

Chef Myrna is some kind of magician when it comes to mounting four or five NFS events a year. But she has arrived at the formula and the secret sauce: gather like-minded chefs, cooks, foodies to spend 4-5 days from their hectic calendar. No prima donnas. No celebrity chef with attitude. Just have fun while teaching students and professionals how to improve their craft. There we were with Chefs Robby Goco, Martin Kaspar, Thomas Wenger along with Rhea Rizzo, Tina Legarda, Angelo Comsti, Ginny de Guzman, Manny Torrejon — and you may wonder what do these star foodies have in common? They take schedules to heart, they are up at 5 a.m. to catch the 7 a.m. mocktails set up. Everyone stays until the last dish or display is judged, and reports and codes are sent to central HQ to tally scores.