Arizona Culinary Institute welcomes Chef Santos Villarico, who recently joined us from Le Cordon Bleu at Scottsdale. Chef Villarico will be teaching our Advanced Cuisine class, which cooks daily for our restaurant guests.
Chef Villarico was born in the Phillipines, but moved here 32 years ago. He worked at the Fairmont Princess Resort for seven years before teaching at LCB (formerly Scottsdale Culinary) for eleven years. Chef Villarico is really enjoying teaching here with the smaller class sizes, as well as the camaraderie that is shared, particularly at family meal time every day.
Chef Villarico has wowed the students with his incredible vegetable and fruit carvings. He became fascinated with the art and enjoys sharing about the background of some of the artists from Thailand. Those artists originally were skilled in carving ivory and wood. As tourism slowed down, they took their talents to the restaurant kitchen.
What advice would he give to students coming into the industry ? “Humble yourself, be willing to learn- never stop learning until they close your coffin. When you practice a skill, don’t practice with mediocrity, or that is the type of food you will serve. And lastly, don’t settle for excuses !”
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