Chef Giovanni Sias Appointed Executive Chef of Manila Pavilion Hotel

Manila Pavilion Hotel’s general manager Jimmy Hideyuki Boyles has announced the appointment of Giovanni Sias as Executive Chef.

“Chef Giovanni got the passion and character to build on and reinvent the hotel’s menus and kitchen operations in general.  We are delighted to welcome him as Manila Pavilion’s new Executive Chef where he will lead a dynamic culinary team,” Boyles said.

An Italian-American decent, Giovanni graduated from the Italian Culinary Institute of Sassari in Sardina, Italy. He refined his skills in top-notch hotel restaurants, such as the Grand Hotel Majestic in Pallanza Verbania, the Hotel Printemps di Pila in the Aosta province and Hotel Morensco di Santa Teresa di Gallura. He had been exposed to challenging roles but was able to maintain the highest professional food quality and sanitation standards. His experience has broadened in the culinary world through a number of travel and work assignments that brought him to different corners of the world from Europe, to U.S.A and to Asia. Further trainings and key management positions with other luxury hotel groups worldwide have extended his culinary and business knowledge of city-based properties.

In 1995, Giovanni established the restaurant, Face, in Davos Switzerland and from 1997 to 2001, he served as sous chef in Jolly Hotel Carlton in Amsterdam which was touted as the best Italian restaurant in the Netherlands.

During his many years of formal training, the one thing Giovanni craved was freedom to experiment with ingredients. He envisioned a more innovative Italian cuisine and wanted to integrate traditional recipes with contemporary flavors to yield dishes that would be inventive.

Prior to his Manila posting, Giovanni became executive chef of another Jolly Hotel restaurant, the upscale Jolly Hotel Madison Towers in New York City. Giovanni has since opened Ristorante Cinqueterre and established himself as one of the leading chefs in New York. While having a flourishing career as a chef in New York, he has also been part of a cook book called Italian Cooking & Living: Cooking with Olive Oil wherein several of his masterpieces have been featured. It was also in New York where he met his wife who is a Filipina and they are now living in the Philippines with their two loveable kids.

Giovanni discovered that his greatest satisfaction comes from cooking for others and watching as they try something new. For him, the secret to cooking is the feeling that goes into it. “Coming from a family of Italian gourmand plus my varied experiences showed me a wide assortment of traditions, flavors, presentations, and motifs for cooking and eating. I cook what I feel,” Giovanni remarked.

With the addition of Chef Giovanni Sias, a wide array of new and innovative flavors fused with unique culinary traditions from around the globe will soon beckon in Manila Pavilion’s restaurants.