Philip Esteban, hailing from San Diego CA, is not only an accomplished Filipino chef but also a passionate enthusiast of biking and mountain hiking.

When he was a little one, he used to ask his grandma to cook cookies, “As a child that was a very high energy really kind of just followed my own rules. The early impression was my grandmother who’s a big inspiration to why I started cooking I would always ask her to make me this chocolate cake, so she got tired of making it for me, so she just taught me how to make it. It wasn’t until I was much older that I realized it was something that I really loved, and it wasn’t much later that.”

Despite the challenges and having a medical background, Philip's passion for cooking grew and he wholeheartedly embraced the demanding nature of his culinary profession.

“As the old school chiefs, you’re working 16-hour days standing on your feet all day long and typically not taking any breaks.

It’s a young person’s game but imagine working at a job standing on the line 16 hour days up until you’re 40, your back, your legs, your energy, everything starts to change and so sometimes they’re having a bad day the dish to me is just like dark but when someone’s having a great day and yeah they’re either singing or dancing on the line or they’re bringing an emotion into work where they just, they’re happy the food just tends to just give a little bit more love.” – he said.