Jesse Yabut
Chef Jesse and the “Art” of Cooking
Conference guests, students, faculty, and staff at the School of Medicine have been enjoying healthy but innovative dishes created by a talented chef who is now only rediscovering his Filipino culture. Meet Chef Jesse Yabut, the culinary talent behind Catering at LKSC, Med Café, and other SHA retail cafes on campus, and read about some of his exciting celebrity connections
By Ernesto Moya
Photo by Herschell Taghap
Jesse Yabut is the executive chef of catering at Li Ka Shing Center at the Stanford School of Medicine. He has been with Residential & Dining Enterprise for 12 years. He looks forward to working and cooking his famous Salmon-Orzo salad in Med Cafe and sharing his cooking techniques with his cooks and upcoming chefs to help further their careers in culinary arts.
Chef Jesse was born in Manila, Philippines, and moved to the United States when he was about five years old. He never knew anything about the Philippines growing up. His parents did not talk about their life in the Philippines. His dad did most of the cooking at home and made some Filipino dishes, but Chef Jesse knew nothing about Filipino cuisine or culture.
After realizing that he was just a natural cook, this mild-mannered culinarian wanted to be a chef. His first love was drawing, and cooking came second. He was cooking and drawing at the young age of eight and thought he would end up having a career in the Arts as cooking was just something he loved doing on his own. He went on to have a degree in Graphic Design but ended up making his love of cooking a source of livelihood. He feels more fulfilled and accomplished when he cooks than when he does art.
Chef Jesse has had the opportunity to work alongside great chefs like Xavier Solomon, Maitre Cuisinier de France, Daniel Boulud, and Michael Mina. He even “partied” with Chef Hubert Keller, owner of Fleur French Bistro, and his favorite, Sam Choy from Hawaii, who, according to him, “is very humble and a very “down-to-earth” person for a well-known chef.” Chef Jesse had the chance to directly work with him a couple of times.
The soft-spoken chef also witnessed the rise of a legendary Stanford icon in the world of sports; he was part of the kitchen crew during the 100th US Open in Pebble Beach, California, where Tiger Woods won his first US Open title. The kitchen crew solely produced meals for special guests like Clint Eastwood, Arnold Palmer, and Jack Nicklaus. He also had the chance to cook meals for Pat Riley, Beck, Tony Bennett, and Pierce Brosnan.
Growing up as a Filipino American, his wife helped him investigate his roots and discover the Filipino culture. He and his wife got married in the Philippines, his first time back in the country after 30 years since his family moved to the United States. For him, it was a very eye-opening and educational experience to behold a culture with which he was unfamiliar.
“I cherished the opportunity to glimpse the Philippine way of life, and it made me realize more about what it meant to be Filipino American,” he explains. “ I only cook a few Filipino dishes at home like pansit and lumpia, but I look forward to expanding my Filipino culinary repertoire!”
When not at work, Chef Jesse would spend some time at home, work out, cook his favorite tuna-tomato omelet, munch on salt and vinegar chips, and bond with his 8-year-old daughter, who also loves drawing at an early age, just like her dad.