22 November 2013 – Philippine Consul General in Honolulu Julius Torres met with Mr. Paul Rivera, Executive Chef of Hula Waikiki Grill, at the Philippine Consulate General on November 20 to extend his appreciation and offer his best wishes to the latter for representing Hawaii in the Professional Division of the 4th Kulinarya cooking competition to be held in San Francisco on November 23.
Chef Paul will be competing against other finalists from San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York in the 4thKulinarya, where Filipino professional and amateur cooks from different states in the US will compete to showcase their cooking prowess and skills in this prestigious Filipino culinary cook-off.
Chef Paul has over 27 years of culinary experience, with a passion for cooking and creating meals transpiring at an early age. Uprooted from the Philippines, Paul’s family moved to Wahiawa, Hawaii where he grew up concocting meals for his family in order to assist his parents who both worked to support their four children. Growing up eating mostly Filipino dishes and being exposed to other ethnic cuisines, he started creating dishes he grew up with and infusing them with local ingredients and ethnic cooking styles.
He graduated from Leilehua High School and enlisted in the Army Infantry for 14 years. He also graduated from Kapiolani Community College, earning an Associate in Science Degree in Culinary Arts.
Prior to his position as Executive Chef at Hula Waikiki Grill, Chef Paul had worked for various restaurants in the state such as the Waialae Country Club, Creations in Catering, Plaza Club, Sheraton Waikiki, Assaggios and The Cheesecake Factory. END