A 'MARRIAGE OF BLUES'

Describing the partnership, Dr. Antonette P. Angeles, Vice President for the Professional Schools, said it best: “It is a marriage of blues [referring to the 2 institutions’ blue insignias], a marriage of 2 institutions that stand for excellence. We promise our publics only the kind of excellence both institutions represent: the best education, best faculty, best facilities, and best co-curricular experiences.”

“ It took us more than a decade to bring this project to fruition but we guarantee that it is worth the wait,” says Dr. Angeles.

 
Dr. Angeles was among those who spoke at the Le Cordon Bleu Ateneo (LCB Ateneo) institute launch held April 5 at the George S.K. Ty Innovation Wing of the Areté.
 
Students of LCB Ateneo, Angeles said, will have the unique opportunity to benefit from Ateneo’s “wholistic liberal arts education and Le Cordon’s long tradition of gastronomy and management expertise.”
 
More than helping students pursue their culinary passion, LCB Ateneo hopes to stir their innovation and entrepreneurial spirit.

According to Dean Rodolfo Ang of the Ateneo Graduate School of Business, LCB Ateneo teaches “students to mobilize the resources available for them to create opportunities and employment for our countrymen right here.”

“We want to make sure that LCB Ateneo is for students who are passionate about being magis - of being the best that they can do,” said Mr. Rodolfo Ang, Dean of the Ateneo Graduate School of Business. “We would like to infect (sic) in our students the vision of the University; for anyone who is passionate about national building and wanting to this his/her share in this challenge of building a nation.”
 
University President Fr. Jose Ramon T. Villarin echoed the sentiment, reflecting on how the program addition could strengthen Ateneo’s role as a catalyst in nation development. “We are in the business and mission of building people, reshaping culture and strengthening communities. If food can feed that mission, if food can multiply the 5 loaves that God has given to us, why not food then?”

University President Fr. Jose Ramon Villarin, SJ says, “ Food can be a portal to many good things.”

The momentous occasion was also attended by Le Cordon Bleu representatives, headed by its president and CEO André Cointreau, who spoke of how the 2 institutions share the same value, that of being of service to others.
 
“We have the same core values. I believe that the success of our students is really because they understand, they have the competence given by good training and dedication and also integrity to have strong core values which allow you to make good decisions.  This is what Ateneo teaches and this is what we at Le Cordon Bleu are trying to do.”

Le Cordon Bleu president and CEO André Cointreau notes that the 2 institutions share the same values, making them ideal partners.

 
Chef Thierry le Baut, LCB Ateneo’s Technical Director, was also introduced at the launch.  He then gave a culinary demonstration, making Black Squid Risotto and Pan Seared Red Snapper with Malunggay Foam.

Chef Thierry le Baut and student make finishing touches to the dish.