BY KATIE AIZON
Journal Staff
Local chefs across Guam’s hospitality industry competed in culinary competitions at the Pacific Hotel & Restaurant Expo 2026 on Aug. 19 and Aug. 20.
During the two-day event, chefs were tasked with making dishes featuring products sponsored by local distributors. Chefs created recipes using premium cut pork and beef, plant-based meat, and Japanese eggs from Shizuoka.
On day two of PHARE 2026, chefs from the Hyatt Regency Guam, The Tsubaki Tower, Guam Community College ProStart program, and Asiga entered in competitions to use Impossible plant-based ground beef to make an entrée and Marufuku egg to make a dessert, products sponsored by Quality Distributors.
Representatives from the Tsubaki Tower were Grace Enriquez, senior sous chef, competing in the Marufuku egg competition and junior sous chef, Eldan Tulabot, competing in the Impossible plant-based meat competition.
According to Enriquez, because desserts typically always have eggs as an ingredient the challenge was to determine how to highlight and bring out the flavor of egg in the dessert. “We did our lemon opera cake, and each layer of the cake has [Marufuku] egg incorporated in it,” she said. “For example, the cake itself has whole egg, the buttercream uses just the egg yolk, and the decoration of the meringue batons are egg whites.”
For Tulabot, the goal was to find ways to enhance the flavor of the Impossible meat. He said other than flavor, there isn’t much difference between cooking plant-based meat and regular meat. “It’s an Impossible sushi roll so the inside is Impossible meat with some vegetables in it,” he said. “We char-grilled bell peppers, marinated it to give it a smoky flavor and before serving we hit [the sushi] with a smoke gun to give it a smokier flavor.”
Winners of each category received a cash prize of up to $500 for first place winners and had the opportunity to receive a people’s choice award with participants voting for their favorite entries. Winners of culinary competitions on PHARE 2026 day two were:
Impossible plant-based ground beef:
1st Place: Eldan Tulabot, The Tsubaki Tower
2nd Place: Marcus Mereb, Hyatt Regency Guam
3rd Place: Tristeijanaj Hernandez, Hyatt Regency Guam
People’s Choice: Eldan Tulabot, The Tsubaki Tower
Marufuku egg (dessert):
1st Place: Chef Karen Rose Quitugua, Nobert Castro, and Kekoa Duenas, GCC ProStart Southern High School
2nd Place: Alexandra De Chavez, Hyatt Regency Guam
3rd Place: Grace Enriquez, The Tsubaki Tower People’s Choice: Grace Enriquez, The Tsubaki Tower
The previous days competitions incorporated USDA-approved pork bulgogi cut meat sponsored by PDC Wholesale and certified angus beef short ribs sponsored by Triple J Five Star Wholesale Foods Inc. mbj
Journal Staff
Local chefs across Guam’s hospitality industry competed in culinary competitions at the Pacific Hotel & Restaurant Expo 2026 on Aug. 19 and Aug. 20.
During the two-day event, chefs were tasked with making dishes featuring products sponsored by local distributors. Chefs created recipes using premium cut pork and beef, plant-based meat, and Japanese eggs from Shizuoka.
On day two of PHARE 2026, chefs from the Hyatt Regency Guam, The Tsubaki Tower, Guam Community College ProStart program, and Asiga entered in competitions to use Impossible plant-based ground beef to make an entrée and Marufuku egg to make a dessert, products sponsored by Quality Distributors.
Representatives from the Tsubaki Tower were Grace Enriquez, senior sous chef, competing in the Marufuku egg competition and junior sous chef, Eldan Tulabot, competing in the Impossible plant-based meat competition.
According to Enriquez, because desserts typically always have eggs as an ingredient the challenge was to determine how to highlight and bring out the flavor of egg in the dessert. “We did our lemon opera cake, and each layer of the cake has [Marufuku] egg incorporated in it,” she said. “For example, the cake itself has whole egg, the buttercream uses just the egg yolk, and the decoration of the meringue batons are egg whites.”
For Tulabot, the goal was to find ways to enhance the flavor of the Impossible meat. He said other than flavor, there isn’t much difference between cooking plant-based meat and regular meat. “It’s an Impossible sushi roll so the inside is Impossible meat with some vegetables in it,” he said. “We char-grilled bell peppers, marinated it to give it a smoky flavor and before serving we hit [the sushi] with a smoke gun to give it a smokier flavor.”
Winners of each category received a cash prize of up to $500 for first place winners and had the opportunity to receive a people’s choice award with participants voting for their favorite entries. Winners of culinary competitions on PHARE 2026 day two were:
Impossible plant-based ground beef:
1st Place: Eldan Tulabot, The Tsubaki Tower
2nd Place: Marcus Mereb, Hyatt Regency Guam
3rd Place: Tristeijanaj Hernandez, Hyatt Regency Guam
People’s Choice: Eldan Tulabot, The Tsubaki Tower
Marufuku egg (dessert):
1st Place: Chef Karen Rose Quitugua, Nobert Castro, and Kekoa Duenas, GCC ProStart Southern High School
2nd Place: Alexandra De Chavez, Hyatt Regency Guam
3rd Place: Grace Enriquez, The Tsubaki Tower People’s Choice: Grace Enriquez, The Tsubaki Tower
The previous days competitions incorporated USDA-approved pork bulgogi cut meat sponsored by PDC Wholesale and certified angus beef short ribs sponsored by Triple J Five Star Wholesale Foods Inc. mbj
