Chit chat with the Best Pastry Chef

Demi Hewamanna

Chef Stanley Perera is a man of few words but has amazing talent when it comes to mixing up some fresh and very mouth watering pastries that have had people want more and more of his creations at the Hilton Colombo. Chef Stanley was recognized as the Best Pastry Chef at the 5th Annual Sri Lanka Tourism Awards 2011.

I got the chance to speak Chef Stanley on his big award and get to know the man under the hat.

"I have an artistic talent and I had an aim to be a chef", Chef Stanley said.

My cooking career took off in 1978 as a trainee cook in Pegasus and then I began working at the Air Lanka catering services in 1980 as a Demi Chef and flew to Oman in 1994 as the Pastry Chef at the Three Forces Defence Hotel in Sultanate.

He began working at the Hilton in 1990 as a senior Chef de Partie and has been one of the chefs to be in the pioneer team of the hotel.

He has been working with Chef Gerard for the past 24 years and owes his gratitude to him for everything Chef Gerard has taught him in his career. He stressed that it was Chef Gerard who had guided him and taught him most of the things he knows now together with Chef Rohan Fernandopulle (Executive Chef at the Hilton).

Chef Stanley together with Rohan and Gerard participated in many competitions that brought glory to Sri Lanka. He himself has won many awards as well, such as the Silver medal at the Food Olympic in Germany plus another Silver at the Black Box competition held in Japan (2004), Bronze award for Petit Four Food Asia in Singapore (1994) and a Gold and Silver awards for plated desserts, show pieces and petit fours at the Sri Lanka Culinary Art Competition.

Today after everything he has achieved in his life, he got another title in his life and that is the title of a "grandfather". He has two sons and daughter. His daughter works in a bank while the younger son wants to follow in his father's footsteps and is following a course at the hotel school.

Chef Stanley shares a very close relationship with hotel even after working in other countries and has many stories that he has shared with the people he has worked with in his 30 plus years of cooking.