Gerardo’s announces the opening of enrollment for Certificate in Culinary Arts Batch 13 set to start in October 4, 2010. 24 slots are available for this batch.

“This will be the last batch for the year”, according to Chef Faith, Gerardo’s training director. However, she added that due to the demand batch 14 will start in mid-January 2011.

                Gerardo’s  graduates are now deployed in various countries overseas like Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Australia, United Kingdom and the US.

                “Many more are set to follow within the year”, says Chef Faith, “and the good news is that we are now starting to deploy our students to jobs onboard international vessels.”

                “The reason why our graduates can easily apply  for jobs abroad is that we have an excellent and very strict training programs making our graduates fundamentally sound in all aspects of culinary arts”, she said.

 

THE SILVER ANNIVERSARY CAKE of former mayor now Congressman Jun andDoctor Rose Acharon features an elaborate gumpaste flower arrangement.

The cake was done by Gerardo’s. Some of the flowers will be featured duringthe free gumpaste flowers demonstration this coming July 2 in Gaisano Mall of Gensan.

                The demonstration is in line with Gen. Santos City’s Yaman Gensan activity which honors small and medium scale enterprises.

                Gumpaste flowers are edible sugar flowers that are often used as decors for wedding and birthday cakes. There are only three schools in the country that teaches gumpaste flower making, and only Gerardo’s is based in Mindanao.

                “It is actually expensive to learn gumpaste flower making, but because of the request of the Dept. of Trade and Industry and Yaman Gensan whose intention is to promote small businesses in our city, we’re offering this for free on July 2,” says Chef Gerry Arbis, the school president.

                “Those who want to learn must be at The Atrium of Gaisano Mall by about 1:30 as we’re expecting lots of participants because we have not offered this subject for over a year now and this time it’s actually for free… “ he added.

                Interested participants can may contact (083)552-8385 or you may go straight to the demonstration venue.

Two Cake Decorators from Gen. Santos City and one from Iligan City were cited for their exemplary achievements in the field of cake decorating.

                The three are Nannete S. Guinto of Nanette’s Cake Creations Cakes, Jan Lloyd Chua of Aunt Ludy’s, and Dale Sharey Fajardo of Faj House of Cakes.

                The three are all students of Gerardo’s who took cake decorating to a higher level. Ms. Guinto now owns a very famous shop known for its customized wedding cakes. On the other hand, Ms. Fajardo is among the top cake artist in Iligan City.

Chua is a former national cake decorating champion while he was still in high school. His passion in cake decorating is a result of his family’s influence in him where everybody seems to be interested in baking.

Gerardo’s conducts basic and advance cake decorating training all over the country. Training sessions were conducted in Cotabato City, Ormoc City, Cebu City and Puerto Princesa City in Palawan. Gerardo’s other decorators are doing well in Australia, London, Ireland, and the US.

Gerardo’s School of Culinary Arts held its 2^nd Commencement Exercise last April 17, 2010, at the ABCD Stars Convention Center, in Purok  Matatag, San Isidro, Gen. Santos City.

                A total of 94 students graduated and were awarded with Certificate in Culinary Arts. Numerous awards and certificate of recognitions were also awarded to deserving participants.

                Among them are three exceptional cake decorators who received The Exemplary Award, all in the field of Cake Decorating. They are Ms. Nanette S. Guinto of Nanette Cake Creations in Gen. Santos City, Ms. Dell Sharey Fajardo of  Faj House of Cakes in Iligan City, and national cake decorating champion Jan Lloyd Chua of Gen. Santos City. (Read full story below).

Gerardo’s School of Culinary Arts and KCC Mall of Gensan will hold a free livelihood seminar every Saturday in the month of May in honor of all the Mothers in Gensan and the neighboring area.

                The subjects are Desserts on May 8, Meat Processing on May 15, Ice Coolers on May 22 and Cake Decorating on May 29. The session is held at KCC’s newly opened North Wing area where the kitchenware department is relocated.

                In an interview, Chef Gerry revealed that he is very enthusiastic to hold a session for the mothers of Gensan so that they can acquire a new set of skills. “If all non-working mom can generate income in their own households, I guess our nation’s problem is not this bad,” he said.