La Flamme Bleue Claims Three Podiums at the Philippine Food Expo 2026

La Flamme Bleue Claims Three Podiums at the Philippine Food Expo 2026

Three categories. Three instructors. Three placements.

At the 18th Philippine Food Expo Culinary Challenge held in Manila in 2026, La Flamme Bleue Center for Culinary Arts competed at the national level and came away with results that no culinary school from Cagayan Valley has achieved in a single event: one champion's title and two second-place finishes, spanning Filipino breakfast, healthy pasta, and Filipino dessert categories.

What makes the Philippine Food Expo 2026 results more significant than the trophies alone is how they happened. Every instructor who competed did so alongside one of their own students, bringing students who are still studying their Culinary Arts course into a national competitive kitchen before they had even graduated.

What happened at the Philippine Food Expo 2026 Culinary Challenge? La Flamme Bleue Center for Culinary Arts (Tuguegarao, Cagayan Valley) claimed three podium placements at the 18th Philippine Food Expo 2026 Culinary Challenge. Chef Dianne Camayang won Champion (1st Place) in the PINASarap Breakfast category - defending the title LFB also won in 2025. Chef Kris Umblas placed 2nd in Healthy Pasta and Chef Phoebie Santero placed 2nd in the Creative Filipino Dessert Platter category. All three instructors competed alongside their own students at the national competition.

The 2026 Philippine Food Expo Results

The full results from the 2026 Philippine Food Expo Culinary Challenge for La Flamme Bleue Tuguegarao are as follows:

Category	Result	Instructor	Student Partner
PINASarap Breakfast	Champion (1st Place)	Chef Dianne Camayang	Antonino Chua
Healthy Pasta	2nd Place	Chef Kris Umblas	Richmond Mayo
Creative Filipino Dessert Platter	2nd Place	Chef Phoebie Santero	Vincent Barizo

La Flamme Bleue's 2026 championship placing in the PINASarap Breakfast category is not the school's first. LFB also claimed this title at the Philippine Food Expo in 2025, making 2026 a back-to-back national championship in Filipino breakfast cuisine for the school. It is the kind of sustained, verifiable result that speaks directly to the standard of culinary training LFB maintains year after year.

Full Results: All Three Categories LFB Competed In at the 2026 Philippine Food Expo

To put LFB's results in context, these are the full placings across the three categories the school competed in at the 2026 Philippine Food Expo. Competing schools included more than 40 institutions from Metro Manila, Region II, and across Luzon.

Category	Champion	2nd Place	3rd Place
PINASarap Breakfast	La Flamme Bleue - Tuguegarao City	Holy Angel University	CEU Malolos, Gordon College, NU Dasmarinas
Healthy Pasta	Jose Rizal University	La Flamme Bleue - Tuguegarao City	University of Northern Philippines
Creative Filipino Dessert Platter	University of Northern Philippines	La Flamme Bleue - Tuguegarao City	OLFU Antipolo Campus

Results as published by the Philippine Food Expo official organisers.

Back-to-Back: What the PINASarap Championship Means

Winning a culinary competition category once is an achievement. Defending it the following year at the national level, in a different competition cycle, against a new field of competitors is a statement of sustained excellence. La Flamme Bleue's back-to-back 1st Place in the PINASarap Breakfast category is the result that carries the most weight in establishing the school's national standing. The PINASarap Breakfast category is a Filipino heritage cuisine category, exactly the kind of culinary identity that LFB's curriculum places at the center of its training, through the Filipino cuisine module that covers dishes such as Sisig, La Paz Batchoy, Pinangat, and Sinigang Ramen.

What Was on the Plate: The 2026 Competition Entries

PINASarap Breakfast - Champion (Lead Instructor Chef Dianne Camayang with Student Antonino Chua)

Chef Dianne's winning entry was a three-component Filipino breakfast concept drawing on the Kadayawan Festival heritage of Davao City. The first component was a White Chocolate Mousse in a white chocolate shell filled with Durian Fudge, garnished with coral sugar tuilles, Davao Pomelo, and Tablea Streusel. The second was a Braised Pork Belly in Calamansi-Infused Broth, served with Ensaladang Lato (seagrapes), pickled tomato and shallots, and paired with a Dulong-Garlic Fried Rice Cake. The third component was a Toasted Corn Milkshake with popcorn and honey.

The dish was anchored in the cooking traditions of the Matigsalug, one of the 11 recognized tribes of Davao City whose forest foraged, fire focused approach to ingredients formed the philosophical backbone of the concept. The result was a plate that honoured indigenous Filipino culinary identity through contemporary fine dining technique: calamansi as a braising acid, durian as a confectionery base, and tablea as a textural element.

Healthy Pasta - 2nd Place (Trainee Instructor Chef Kris Umblas with Student Richmond Mayo)

Chef Kris entered a pumpkin pasta ravioli built around Davao's identity as the seafood province and fruit basket of the Philippines. The ravioli was filled with Lima beans and shimeji mushrooms in a tomato and vodka sauce, accompanied by sauteed broccoli, zucchini, cherry tomato, and Lima beans, and finished with fresh tuna kinilaw and pomelo, two of Davao's most recognized produce exports, alongside okra seeds.

The dish demonstrated the technique range that defines LFB's pasta curriculum: pumpkin flour dough hydration ratios, gluten development in non-standard pasta bases, and the cold-acid balance required to execute kinilaw correctly alongside a cooked sauce component.

Creative Filipino Dessert Platter - 2nd Place (Chef Phoebie Santero with Student Vincent Barizo)

Chef Phoebie's entry was a three-piece platter celebrating Davao's agricultural heritage. The Davao Heritage Malagos Tart paid tribute to the Philippines' chocolate capital: a Malagos Dark Chocolate tart filled with toasted Davao Cashew praline, layered with single-origin chocolate-coconut ganache, and finished with tangy goat's cheese frosting. The Mindanao Panlayam was a deep-fried Lumad and Muslim-Filipino delicacy using stone-ground glutinous rice, coconut milk, and Davao muscovado, served with a coconut caramel sauce. The third piece was a Durian Yema Entremet: a contemporary recreation of Davao's signature fruit in the form of a durian mousse with a yema center on a vanilla microsponge, enrobed in a white chocolate shell.

The dessert platter is the kind of multi-component pastry work that sits at the core of the Certificate in Pastry and Baking curriculum, from classical technique execution through to original concept and plating design.

Why LFB Instructors Competed Alongside Their Own Students

At the 2026 Philippine Food Expo, every La Flamme Bleue instructor who entered a category did so with one of their own students as their competition partner. Chef Dianne competed with Antonino Chua. Chef Kris brought Richmond Mayo. Chef Phoebie competed alongside Vincent Barizo.

This is not an incidental detail. It is a deliberate expression of how La Flamme Bleue approaches culinary training. Students at LFB do not only practice in classroom kitchens, they stand alongside working professionals in real-pressure, 5 star and Michelin rated workplaces and compete in and win national competitions all before they graduate.

Chef Martin Bower, Academic Director of La Flamme Bleue Tuguegarao, coached all three teams in the weeks leading up to the event. "The students saw their teachers step into the same arena they will one day enter," said Chef Martin. "That experience, competing at the national level while still in school, is something they will carry through their entire career."

Chef Martin brings to LFB's academic leadership an Executive career spanning Marriott properties, Mercure Hotels, and Swissotel across the UK and Asia. The combination of international and 5 star experience being channelled into LFBs academic direction and mentorship for the schools instructors who continue to compete and win at the national level in 2026 is what defines the standard LFB's students are being trained toward.

What the 2026 Philippine Food Expo Results Mean for Prospective Students

The techniques the Philippine Food Expo judges recognized in 2026 (calamansi braising, kinilaw acid balance, chocolate tempering, pumpkin pasta dough handling, multi-component dessert construction) are all covered within LFB's core curriculum. The chefs who placed at the national competition are the same instructors teaching these skills inside the school every week.

For prospective students from Cagayan Valley, Northern Luzon, or anywhere in Region II, the 2026 Philippine Food Expo results answer a question that matters more than marketing language: do the instructors at this school still work at the level they teach? The answer, confirmed by an independent national panel of judges in 2026, is yes.

After completing the 12-month Diploma in Culinary Arts, LFB graduates access OJT placements with some of the most recognized hospitality brands in the Philippines. Current confirmed partners include Gordon Ramsay Bar and Grill Philippines at Newport World Resorts in Manila, Marriott Manila and Mama Lou's Italian Kitchen. Students from La Flamme Bleue's first graduating cohorts are already being hired, not waitlisted, at these properties.

About La Flamme Bleue Center for Culinary Arts, Tuguegarao

La Flamme Bleue was established in Tuguegarao, Cagayan Valley, in 2019. The school is TESDA-accredited and has produced over 300 graduates since opening. Four concurrent batches run each term, across morning (8am to 12pm) and afternoon (1pm to 5pm) schedules on Monday-Wednesday-Friday and Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday.

The school currently offers the 12-month Diploma in Culinary Arts (₱275,000, all-inclusive) and the 2-month Certificate in Pastry and Baking (₱29,900). The next batch opens June 1, 2026.

To reserve a place for the June 2026 batch or to inquire about the 2026 program schedule, visit laflammebleuetuguegarao.com or send a message to @lfbculinaryph on Facebook and Instagram.

Frequently Asked Questions About La Flamme Bleue and the Philippine Food Expo 2026

Did La Flamme Bleue win at the 2026 Philippine Food Expo?

Yes. La Flamme Bleue Center for Culinary Arts claimed three podium placements at the 2026 Philippine Food Expo Culinary Challenge: 1st Place (Champion) in PINASarap Breakfast by Chef Dianne Camayang, 2nd Place in Healthy Pasta by Chef Kris Umblas, and 2nd Place in Creative Filipino Dessert Platter by Chef Phoebie Santero.

Is this the first time La Flamme Bleue has won at the Philippine Food Expo?

No. La Flamme Bleue also won the PINASarap Breakfast category at the Philippine Food Expo in 2025. The 2026 championship is a back-to-back national title, making it two consecutive years the school has claimed 1st Place in Filipino breakfast cuisine at the national competition.

Who competed from La Flamme Bleue at the Philippine Food Expo 2026?

Three La Flamme Bleue instructors competed: Chef Dianne Camayang (1st Place, PINASarap Breakfast), Chef Kris Umblas (2nd Place, Healthy Pasta), and Chef Phoebie Santero (2nd Place, Creative Filipino Dessert Platter). Each instructor competed alongside one of their own LFB students: Antonino Chua, Richmond Mayo, and Vincent Barizo respectively.

How do I enroll at La Flamme Bleue culinary school in Tuguegarao in 2026?

La Flamme Bleue's next batch starts June 1, 2026. The school offers a 12-month Diploma in Culinary Arts and a 2-month Certificate in Pastry and Baking. Visit laflammebleuetuguegarao.com or send a message to @lfbculinaryph on Facebook to begin the reservation process.

What OJT partners does La Flamme Bleue Tuguegarao have?

La Flamme Bleue's confirmed OJT partners include Gordon Ramsay Bar and Grill Philippines at Newport World Resorts, Marriott Manila and Mama Lou's Italian Kitchen. Students from the school's early graduating cohorts are already being hired by these hospitality properties.

Can I study at La Flamme Bleue while working full-time in 2026?

Yes. La Flamme Bleue runs four concurrent batches each term across two schedule options: Monday, Wednesday, Friday or Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, in either a morning session (8am to 12pm) or an afternoon session (1pm to 5pm). This gives working adults the flexibility to choose a schedule that fits around existing commitments. The next batch opens June 1, 2026.

Is La Flamme Bleue the right culinary school for students coming from outside Tuguegarao City?

La Flamme Bleue draws students from across Cagayan Valley, Northern Luzon, and Region II. The school runs morning and afternoon schedules, making it accessible for students who need to travel or arrange accommodation in Tuguegarao. With over 600 graduates and OJT partners including Gordon Ramsay Bar and Grill Philippines and Marriott Manila, it is the most established culinary school in the region.