Cyrille Soenen

Chef Cyrille Soe­nen, or CiҪou to his fam­i­ly and friends, was born in 1968 in Trem­blay-en-France. Raised in a culi­nary-lov­ing house­hold, he grew up on his grand­par­ents’ cook­ing, using the fresh­est ingre­di­ents from their garden.

So, it’s no sur­prise that a career in culi­nary was the path he chose to take. He took on an appren­tice­ship at the pres­ti­gious Ritz Paris, and worked in some of Paris’ best restau­rants, includ­ing the Miche­lin-starred L’Espadon at the Ritz Paris.

Hav­ing mas­tered clas­sic French culi­nary tra­di­tions, he moved to the Philip­pines some 20 years ago, work­ing as Exec­u­tive Head Chef for Inter­con­ti­nen­tal Mani­la, and Impres­sions at Resorts World Mani­la. The lat­ter of which won 2012’s Best Hotel Restau­rant: Fine Dining.

At the same time, he opened Brasserie CiҪou, intro­duc­ing Fil­ipinos to the most deli­cious and most authen­tic French food. He offered mag­nif­i­cent­ly and per­fect­ly pre­pared clas­sic fare. Every­thing he served was made with utmost care and love for food, some­thing that shone with every plate. It’s no won­der it won Best French Restau­rant in 2012.

And it’s also no won­der that he received the Mas­ter Chef of France title in 2015. It’s the most pres­ti­gious award from the Maitres Cuisiniers de France, a more than 60-year-old soci­ety of care­ful­ly cho­sen French chefs that uphold the strong and cen­turies-old tra­di­tions of clas­sic French cook­ing. Get­ting induct­ed is no light mat­ter. Think of it as the Pulitzer Prize for French chefs. 

Chef Cyrille Soe­nen is prob­a­bly best known to many local­ly as the one who brought in the now well-loved Kouign Amann. This but­tery, flaky pas­try from Brit­tany was an instant hit to the food-lov­ing Fil­ipino audi­ence. In fact, its ini­tials make up the name for his online bak­ery, KA Pastries.