Chef Him Uy de Baron, a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu in Sydney, Australia, returned to Manila in 2007 and put up the catering company Chef Cuisine. Together with his roster of chefs, they take personalized service up a notch by allowing customers to choose their preferred menu, cuisine and the chef to prepare the feast, all according to one's budget.

Chef Him is also behind some of Manila's innovative menus. His consultancy and research and development projects include infusing healthy Filipino dishes at Travel Café Philippines and diversifying the eats at East Café, located at the second floor of Rustan's Makati.

Chef Him talks food trends and guilty pleasures with SPOT.ph:

What got you started in being interested in food?
I started being curious with food and the surprise elements of flavor and textures at a very young age. I hung out in my mom's kitchen especially during holidays. I started considering taking it seriously when I went to College of St. Benilede for a degree in Hotel and Restaurant Management. I got to know more about food and learned the French system and fell in love with the professional kitchen.

Favorite dish?
Sometimes I binge on dimsum and noodles, sometimes on Pinoy comfort food like sinigang and mongo. But my favorite meal to indulge in is breakfast. Also, what makes me happy is simple food made without any pretentions but prepared with great care and love, using good ingredients, shared with extraordinary people (like my wife and two girls).

Guilty pleasure?
KFC, I just can't kick the habit. I really binge sometimes, especially after a really long run.

Culinary idol?
Right now, Heston Blumenthal rocks. He's really on top of his game in terms of creativity, refinement, and execution. There are other great chefs I admire but I haven't really met. I recently cooked for Martin Yan, and totally dug the guy. I spent three days catering for him and I got a lesson on humility and being a real person. I've met some celebrity chefs but this guy would chat me up and he'd talk with me like I was his lost Chinese apprentice. Maybe I was just imagining it, but the whole vibe for that three-day event was cool and fluid.

Culinary secret?
Eat out, learn, learn, learn, and listen to people. One of the fundamental areas of cooking people neglect is understanding flavors, individually and collectively. That's why it's important to taste ingredients by itself and discover new flavor combinations. I try and learn as much when I do this and I believe this makes for an excellent cook. Building and developing flavors is what food is all about and there's no end in terms of learning.

Any surprise restaurant finds in Manila in 2009?
A lot of restaurants are coming out and most of them are bold with a statement to, well, state. I like independent restos with a lot of character and less pretense. I tried out Adarna for the first time and I really liked the vibe of the whole experience. I love going to hole-in-the-walls and discovering a winner.

What do you think will be the dining trends in Manila in 2010?
More independent chefs opening up personalized cuisine. I expect to see more refined and mature restos. After seeing restaurants pop up and eventually die down these past few years, I think the chefs and the restaurateurs have become more mature and have established a firmer footing on what they want to do.

How do you feel about this year's contenders for the Nescafe Gold Spot Awards?
Tough crowd. The competition is tight, the scene is upping its game because people know more about food and demand more, there are kick-ass bloggers prowling about pounding hard on their keyboard because of a bad meal or experience and there's just more competition. There are more chefs now opening their own restos, and chefs can be the competitive lot.

Voting is until January 31. Vote for your favorite restaurants now.

Photos courtesy of Chef Him Uy de Baron (taken by AC Miranda).