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Meet the Executive Chef, Enrique Awe, from the World Renowned
Running W Restaurant at the San Ignacio Resort Hotel in San Ignacio Belize. He was recently featured in a
Forbes.com article about introducing brunch in Belize, uniquely infused with Belizean ingredients and flavors.
Enrique is a native of San Ignacio Belize, but he is fairly new to the Belize food scene, having spent 18 years in the United States building a highly successful culinary career. At the Age of 21, Enrique admittedly did not know how to cook so much as an egg. As he tells it, he didn’t know how to cook but he knew he liked food. That is when he emigrated from Belize to the United States and where he started his journey to becoming an executive chef. Through hard work and dedication he rose through the ranks in the kitchen at various establishments in the US, and eventually serving as an executive chef for one of the world's largest food service companies. He has come full circle, bringing his extensive experience and expertise to help new up and coming Belizean culinary students.
His daily goal for his staff is to improve on their professionalism. Enrique leads a team of highly motivated kitchen staff at the RWR facilities. He attributes his childhood and his mom's cooking as one of the biggest inspiration in the kitchen. He also travels throughout the country, networking with other culinary professionals and learning about different foods in Belize as he rediscovers his roots and the unique flavors of the different cultures in Belize.
Cooking in Belize is certainly a challenge when coming from world-class facilities and resources in the United States, to having limited resources in Belize. It requires a different level of creativity in the kitchen. Nevertheless, Chef Enrique has risen to the challenge and in short order he has enhanced the profile and offering at the San Ignacio Resort Hotel. They now have a revamped menu that continues to be improved.
Chef Enrique tells us that he uses only local products and ingredients in his kitchen. They are able to offer excellent cuts of steak from their sister company, the Running W Brand Meats company, the namesake of the hotel's restaurant. They also get fresh seafood from Placencia, a fishing village in southern Belize. Most importantly, he gets all his produce directly from local farmers. The San Ignacio farmers market is well known as one of the best in the country, so he takes full advantage of having it right at his doorstep.
Update: Visit Chef Enrique at his new Grab n Go restaurant: The Artisan by Chef Enrique Awe.
The San Ignacio Resort hotel's Running W Restaurant is located at #18 Buena Vista Street in San Ignacio town.
The Running W Restaurant is the Hotel’s all-day dining restaurant that offers a newly remodeled air-conditioned dining hall boasting exceptional views of the hillside property. Everyone is invited to dine at the Running W Restaurant. The menu is international with all the flavors and the best of Belizean cuisine featuring meats from the Running W Meats company. Dining outdoors very often includes the visit of resident birds, including toucans that come to feed on nearby trees making for a unique “dining with the birds” experience.