Filipino chefs are increasingly making their mark on the global culinary stage – as is Filipino food.
The plethora of Michelin stars awarded to restaurants in Manila and Cebu back in October 2025 has done much to raise the visibility of Filipino cuisine, and the Filipino chefs behind the celebrated menus.
But the path to ‘making it’ in the kitchen, or being recognized as a Filipino chef may not always be a straightforward one.
Abi Marquez, otherwise known as the Lumpia Queen, will make her Australian culinary debut at the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival 2026 this March.
Partnering with chef Morris Danzen Catanghal – winner of the Italian cooking competition show “Gino Cerca Chef” – the pair will present a special one-day, two-sittings-only Boodle Brunch, in collaboration with South Melbourne café Nine Yards.
In this, part two of our exclusive interview, Abi and Chef Morris discuss the unusual paths that have got them where they are today, the opportunities that can arise from Filipino chefs being open to all possibilities, and taking that leap of faith.
From TikTok fame and sleepless food experiments to kitchens in Cambodia and Sicily, Abi and Chef Morris reveal how curiosity, risk-taking, and a willingness to embrace the unexpected, shaped their careers and global visibility.
Their journeys show aspiring Filipino chefs and content creators that success often comes from saying “yes” to opportunities that others might walk away from.
Abi Marquez: Choosing The Unconventional Path
When Abi Marquez went viral on TikTok during the pandemic, she was in her final year of college, submitting applications for management trainee roles, and interviewing with major brands.
I first started posting on TikTok in January 2022, and maybe within two to four months I was posting on Facebook and Instagram too.
I don’t really remember when I first saw that people were calling me “Lumpia Queen”. But my first Lumpia content was in February 2022, so it was maybe one to two months later that I started to see “Lumpia Queen” in the comments from my followers.
I was unsure [about it] at first because – one – it almost sounded like a Filipino business brand name and – two – I didn’t want to be boxed in to being only known for one thing. But honestly now it feels like it was one of the best things to ever happen to me.
It gave people recall, they would remember me. I would go places, like the mall, and people would shout “Hey, Lumpia Queen”.
I was totally fine with them calling me that instead of Abi, because it helped them remember me.
There’s a level of fulfillment in creating content that I have never felt with anything else, and I was always focused on what to do for my next piece of content.
If I hadn’t gone viral, my life would definitely be different – she admits.
Content creation gave Abi something else: the opportunity to raise the visibility of her Mission – showcasing Filipino food on a global scale. In 2023, Abi found herself on the Forbes’ 30 Under 30 List.
I was in America with my managers from NYMA, Miss Scott and Miss Karen. The moment I opened the email and I saw that it was from Forbes, I began to read “Congratulations, we are happy to…” I didn’t even finish reading it. I called them from their rooms, and we all just jumped for joy.
I’d never ever imagined that I would get that kind of recognition, because when I started, I was just in my parents’ kitchen, trying to have fun with TikTok showing the things that I cook at home.
It was really with the help of my managers, and the people I work with, who introduced me to these types of recognitions. And the Forbes recognition was one of the best steps forward for my Mission.
Despite never having worked in a professional kitchen, a six-month food business – born out of a two week college requirement – taught Abi some things about the life of a Filipino chef no textbook could.
Abi recalls – I was waking up at 3am, standing in the kitchen for more than 24 hours. Your feet hurt so much you feel like you’re going to die.
Abi’s small food business centered on making and selling Filipino-style Lasagna. Her Lasagna was so popular that Abi was encouraged to continue beyond the two-weeks, and expanding to offer other Filipino dishes, and catering as well.
Mistakes became her teacher: blown dough batches, batch cooking time adjustments, service recovery calls, rescheduled deliveries and customer care management.
These are the areas you miss when you haven’t been professionally trained – they are also the things I’m excited to learn more about from Chef Morris when we collaborate in March.
Chef Morris: A Filipino Chef And A Career Built On Random Opportunities
Chef Morris admits that he never had a “five-year plan”.
I love chasing adventure and learning through real experiences in different places. I’m always curious about what’s waiting on the other side.
From starting out in fast food at Jollibee and KFC, Chef Morris jumped straight into a grab-the-opportunity application for a Personal Chef gig in Cambodia – a position he admits he had little preparation for.
Discovering that he needed to cook five completely different fresh meals every day, plus snacks, and with no days off – urgency became his classroom.
If there is a sense of urgency, you have no choice but to move forward. [Cambodia] pushed me to learn more recipes – and quickly; I had no choice but to learn.
But the burnout the Cambodia gig delivered pushed him away from kitchens for the longest time.
I loved meeting new people, and cooking for them, but it was so hard and I was sleep-deprived.
So, I stayed there [Cambodia] for a year and then returned to the Philippines saying: “I’m done with the kitchen, I don’t want to do it anymore”.
He studied multimedia for two years, and freelanced as a photographer while singing in the evenings, until random opportunity came knocking once again.
My sister called me. She was in China, singing in a band with my brother-in-law.
They’d lost the singer and guitarist of the band. And I thought, if I go and work there for a couple of years, I can save up money for my dream photography and videography studio back in the Philippines.
I wasn’t thinking about cooking – or being a rising Filipino chef – but expanding my artistic and creative side.
Instead, the hotel gig in China brought him love, which then took him to Italy.
I stayed there for a couple of years, working in the hotel and singing in a bar. It’s where I met my ex-girlfriend – now my wife. She’s Italian.
We got married, and then after, thought about where we would go next.
It turned out to be Italy, or Sicily to be exact.
And it was in Sicily where this Filipino chef saw a career in cooking returning. A direction he accepted reluctantly – until his creativity finally flourished.
My in-Laws had a Trattoria – a restaurant serving classic Italian dishes, but the business was a bit up and down. I still didn’t like the long hours, and having no time for myself, or family.
I had no time for my singing, my photography and arts. Cooking just wasn’t in my heart.
And I was cooking Sicilian food – a Filipino chef cooking Sicilian food!
The business was struggling but my Mother-in-Law really believed in me, and in what I can do, so we discussed changing the menu.
I wanted to do a Filipino-Italian fusion. There’s a big difference between each cuisine, but I really thought it could work if I could input some Filipino flavors, using Italian techniques and ingredients.
When I created my first Filipino-Italian dish, I realized I loved what I was doing. That was when the creative spark hit!
I could be creative by creating my own Filipino-Italian dishes. I can give harmony to my dish, give dynamics, contrast to my dish, everything.
It’s a different art form to singing or photography but it’s still art. That’s when I started appreciating cooking.
That belief and appreciation carried him through cultural resistance, empty dining rooms, and eventually onto Italian TV cooking show Gino Cerca Chef – at his mother-in-law’s insistence.
Chef Morris beat hundreds of chefs who applied and took part in the TV show. And he went on to win the competition, and the opportunity to work in Chef Gino D’Acampo’s soon-to-open London restaurant.
I never thought I could win it. I was a Filipino chef up against Italian Chefs – and cooking for an Italian. I was so shocked.
Sadly, despite winning, Chef Morris was unable to accept the position in London. Shortly after, the Covid pandemic swept across the world, shutting down restaurants, hotels and travel.
Filipino Chefs: Different Roads, Different Art Forms, Same Courage
Abi and Chef Morris may have taken wildly different paths but both have built careers by trusting their instinct, trying something new, embracing discomfort, and refusing to quit when the path disappeared or became difficult.
This March 2026 sees another opportunity. One of collaboration – along with the pressure of introducing the concept of a Filipino food, and a Boodle Feast to Australian diners.
Chef Morris:
We decided that the best way to share Filipino food with Melbourne was through a Boodle Feast. Filipino food is about eating together, being with your loved ones, eating with your hands and sharing the food with everyone.
We will be recreating all the Filipino dishes by incorporating them with local ingredients from here in Australia. This will make it more familiar for the diners, so they will easily adapt to it.
Their collaboration at the 2026 Melbourne Food and Wine Festival celebrates not just their own personal growth and successes – but the growth in recognition of Filipino cuisine on the world stage.
If you missed Part 1 of this interview you can find it here. Part 3 will be published soon!
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The Boodle Brunch will be held on March 28, at South Melbourne café Nine Yards (228-230 Dorcas St, South Melbourne, 3205).
With two sittings available. Diners will enjoy a four-course communal feast which will – of course – include Lumpia.
Tickets for the Boodle Brunch are selling out fast but can be bought via the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival or Nine Yards websites.
Follow MY RANGGO to be one of the first to read the third and final installment of our interview with Abi Marquez and Chef Morris Danzen Catanghal, where they each reveal their most memorable Filipino food experiences.
Abi Marquez: Instagram Facebook TikTok YouTube
Chef Morris: Instagram Facebook TikTok YouTube
