Renowned restaurateur Margarita Forés passes away
Award-winning chef and restaurateur Margarita Forés has passed away at the age of 65.
The tragic news was announced by her son, Amado, in an Instagram post on Feb. 11.
"It is with a heavy heart that I share the sudden passing of my Mom, Margarita A. Forés. Our family is mourning this unexpected loss, and we kindly ask for your prayers during this time," he wrote.
Amado didn't give any details about the cause of her death, but he said that they will "be able to share more in due time."
Cibo, the restaurant that she founded, meanwhile penned a heartfelt tribute honoring her "life and legacy."
"Her warmth, creativity, and unwavering spirit will continue to inspire us all. Thank you for sharing your heart with us, Chef Margarita. You will always be CIBO," they said in their social media posts.
Margarita ran a variety of restaurants in the country and was named Asia's Best Female Chef in 2016.
The Filipino chef grew up in Manila but eventually moved to New York City with her family when she was in college.
While she initially finished with a degree in accountancy, Margarita kickstarted her culinary career when she went to Italy in 1986 and studied under three chefs to master Italian cuisine.
Margarita started in the industry as a caterer, having created the company Cibo Di M. This eventually fostered her first Cibo restaurant in 1997 where customers enjoyed a wide range of authentic Italian dishes.
The brand now has more than 20 locations across the Philippines.
In her essay written for The Philippine STAR during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Margarita opened up about how her business faced its "biggest, nearly insurmountable challenge."
"The first few days of the lockdown left me and the rest of my team in an absolute tizzy! Nearly all of our employees were fearful for their health, and also had no way to get to work; sourcing ingredients was an absolute challenge, too. It took all of us and all our brands nearly two weeks to get our act together and reopen just for takeaway and delivery orders," she shared.
"Our revenues were not even a tenth of our pre-COVID sales, but we rolled with the punches, shifting our teams, too, just to stay alive. To this day, we still have our own shuttle services to get our staff to work to avoid the obvious risks," she continued.
Nevertheless, she saw a silver lining in the pandemic and saw this as a chance to become an even better chef.
"The challenge that this crisis has given to us stakeholders in this amazing industry has caused us to come together as a family, helping and supporting each other, lobbying for our causes as a team, uniting with one voice to help us get through this together," she said.
"We will make it and continue to do what we do best to offer you that magical dining experience that will allow you to celebrate life and its best moments together at the table," she highlighted.
In addition to the Cibo chain, she also controlled the restaurants Lusso, Grace Park, and Alta.
