Chef Vallerie Castillo-Archer, the first female and first Filipino-American executive chef of Los Angeles -based Yamashiro restaurant, has signed on as Philippine Airlines’ (PAL) new head of Catering Operations.
PAL president and chief operating officer Capt. Stanley K. Ng said, “Chef Val’s impressive track record and outstanding achievements in culinary arts make her an asset to PAL. She is a welcome addition to the PAL family. With her wealth of experience and creative vision, I am confident that she will pave the way for innovation and enhancement to the PAL inflight dining experience for our passengers to enjoy.”
As assistant vice president of PAL’s Catering Operations, Chef Castillo-Archer will introduce positive change to the art of preparing tasty meals for millions of passengers flying on PAL’s global network. “Leadership means making everyone feel part of the team. I look at teamwork as a dish. Every member of the team is a vital ingredient. All the ingredients will come together to produce desired results,” she explained.
To create the right momentum and synergy within the Catering Operations team, Chef Castillo-Archer said there are basic requirements. “I want to see passion for work, the right skills set for the job, communication and friendship.”
Chef Val and her team are re-designing the inflight menu and working with partners in the supply chain to get the best outcome. She will also be curating a special menu for PAL’s 82nd Anniversary, which will be launched this coming March for Business Class passengers of flights from Manila to North America and Australia. “The distinct change is going back to the basics. It is going back to our roots. It is understanding what service is all about. The engagement between PAL and crew must be memorable,” she said.
Chef Val, who had her own pastry business before her stint at Yamashiro, counts food safety, menu development, quality control and team management as her strengths. She has developed a wide network of contacts, which include Hollywood celebrities, in teh course of her career.
She also engages in humanitarian projects, such as donating shoes to the less fortunate in the Philippines and providing meals for free in US hospitals, have made her a popular and dynamic figure in the culinary world. PAL’s new Catering head was born in San Nicolas, Ilocos Norte.
“My Chef’s career started when I was born. I was born in my grandfather’s bakery in Ilocos Norte,” she shared. For the first six years of her life, she and her sister were raised by her grandparents. Her father worked for the US Air Force. This led the family to move to Hawaii, to Clark Air Base in Pampanga and eventually to California where she lived for 30 years prior to flying home last December 2022. It was during this visit that she was offered the post as PAL’S new Executive Chef .
