Two years ago a Filipina pastry chef took a chance and applied for a job at the iconic Yamashiro restaurant in Hollywood, but just six months into her new gig, the pandemic hit and she thought “well, that was fun while it lasted.” Yamashiro, much like many businesses affected by the pandemic, downsized in 2020 laying off everyone, including the executive chef, deciding only to keep on five people. Chef Valerie Archer was fortunate enough to be one of those five retained and she was appointed as executive chef, becoming the first female to hold that title at the legendary establishment.

Archer, an Ilocana by heart, raised by her grandparents and born literally inside a bakery, now calls the shots at one of Los Angeles’ most iconic landmark. She has been the feature of many articles and interviews including with ABC Morning News, LA Times, Good Day LA, and CNN Philippines. Last summer she was featured in an episode of MYX Global’s documentary series “Making It in America”. Most recently, she filmed with celebrity chef Bobby Flay and his daughter Sophie for The Food Network.

The busy chef has hosted a number of Hollywood celebrities from Bruno Mars and Anderson Paak to Jennifer Hudson, H.E.R. and Christina Aguilera. Rapper 50 Cent is a regular as well as Black Eyed Peas’ Apl. de. Ap and J Rey Soul. She even appeared in Cardi B’s reality show Cardi Tries. And when he’s in town, Journey’s frontman Arnel Pineda hasn’t missed a visit to Yamashiro since the first time they met last summer.

Chef Val has also become a household name in Philippine Showbiz circles having hosted the likes of Piolo Pascual, Martin Nievera, Gary Valenciano and Vice Ganda. World famous boxer and Philippine senator Manny Pacquiao has visited a few times, even having a private date night with his wife Jinky one summer evening.

As a celebrity Chef, Archer is represented by one of the top Talent Agencies in the world. As a brand, you can avail of “Chef Val” merchandise – from hoodies to joggers, t-shirts and tote bags all available on Chefvallerie.com. No doubt, this Power Pinay is gaining admirers and fans from near and far as they learn more about her story: a former stay-at-home mom who just five years ago enrolled in pastry school and is now an executive chef.

This unstoppable Filipina continues to inspire and impress so it was only natural that Hiraya would want to get to know Chef Val inside and outside of the kitchen. I sat down with the boss lady and we talked about everything, from her favorite music to her hobbies, her advice on love and marriage, her Christmas traditions growing up, and her future plans and aspirations. Let’s get up close and personal with the Queen of Yamashiro.

WHAT IS YOUR IDEAL DAY OFF?

Hahaha, my ideal day off? Sleeping past 10 a.m.. And not having my dog licking my face or my husband calling to pick up the kids. Not having a call from a client or the office saying “oh we forgot this”, or remembering to turn off my alarm. Literally just stay in bed under the covers with the air conditioner below 68 degrees. Making sure my pillows are cold and just sleep. I literally don’t wanna go anywhere. And just watching Netflix. I binge watch every series. That’s my ideal day off.

HOW DO YOU START YOUR MORNINGS? DO YOU HAVE ANY RITUALS?

My alarm goes off at 6 a.m. regardless of what time I go in to work. And my ritual is basically, I lay in bed until I have to get up. Hahaha. Then I get up, get dressed, get Jamba Juice or Starbucks on the way to work. I guess that’s a ritual. Then I check who’s working. That’s the same routine I’ve had since I started working here (at Yamashiro). Check the reservations, who are the VIPs? For two years.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE COMFORT FOOD?

I love fine dining but growing up in the Philippines with my grandparents, I loved comfort food because it makes you full, you know? Like Pinakbet. Rice! Ilocano Longganisa. Those are the basic food I’ll eat and I’d be so happy and satisfied. Sometimes I would make Tinola. Oh my god! It’s easy to satisfy me with food.

YOU’VE COOKED FOR LITERALLY THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE; BUT WHO WOULD YOU WANT TO COOK FOR YOU? LET’S SWITCH IT UP!

Who would I want to cook for me? Fantasy or real? Hahahah! OMG I would love..I would love for Arnel Pineda (Journey frontman) to cook for me! And Piolo Pascual (Filipino actor / producer) at the same time! Hahaha! While they are serenading me. That would be fun. Because I was with them last summer and I just love their personalities. So different. One is calm and one is funny. Or even maybe Yul (Session – Arnel Pineda’s road manager and stylist), hahaha! I can imagine Yul’s plating or cooking being very fantastic, nice table escape and everything!

WHAT’S ONE RANDOM THING THAT NOT MANY PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT CHEF VAL? OR VALLERIE?

About Vallerie. Well, Chef Val and Vallerie are different. What they don’t know about me is I like to crochet. If I can’t sleep, right underneath my bed there’s a little door where I have my yarn and my crochet hooks. I’ve crocheted a bikini, I can crochet scarves. I just like to move my hands around. I’m constantly doing something. People don’t know that. My grandmother used to crochet a lot, but she only taught me once when I was ten and I got fed up and didn’t wanna do it then about five years ago I started doing that for fun. I made a mermaid blanket. Took a week. I can crochet a scarf within two to three hours. I used to drop hoodies and knit caps. Stuff like that. I used to crochet too-too dresses for girls and I crocheted four flower girl dresses for someone’s wedding. I was at Joann Fabrics and there was this mother and daughter looking through stuff on how to crochet dresses and I said “oh my god I can crochet for you for free!” And you know what’s funny? They were my husband’s patients. Hahaha

WHAT IS YOUR ADVICE ON LOVE AND MARRIAGE?

Make sure you and your husband work opposite times so you don’t see each other. Hahahaha. You know this love and marriage thing, it’s tough. When I first met my husband I was like, I need to be with him all the time. I wanted to see him everyday. I wanted to go everywhere with him. I just wanted to be a part of his life because I thought if you’re with somebody everyday and you guys go everywhere together, that they can’t miss you, or they love you more but what’s healthy is when you guys have time apart to do your own thing that you enjoy. Spend time with your friends. You also have to have friends outside. I mean I’m not dissing anyone who love each other so much that they can’t spend time apart from each other but I think space, time, helps a lot. Have a little vacation here and there apart from each other and not always be on each other’s face. So that’s my advice: give each other space and time to miss each other and be supportive.

HOW DO YOU FIGHT YOUR DOUBTS?

Wow. I doubt myself every day. I feel scared every day. Everyday I think I’m not good enough or that I have what it takes but I think it’s because of that, I push through and I keep moving forward cause you know there are people who get higher in their career and they “know it all”. They may think “Ive been here, I don’t need to push myself anymore cause I’ve got it” but you still have to maintain it and being an Asian woman is tough because they look at you and say “you can cook at home, what do you know how to cook here? How can you handle the stress here? Cause you’re gonna go cry or go in the kitchen and start screaming, you’re gonna think with your emotions.” Can you tell a man that? That when he’s upset it’s just his emotions? No. There are different rules for a woman and for a man that if you get upset and assert yourself they will say “Oh she’s being a bitch” but if it’s a man “Oh he knows what he’s doing. It’s ok.” But I think my doubt still pushes me to be better, and do better and keep going. Plus I have a lot of people who are here to support me. You know what’s exciting is I did not know all these supporters that I have. And it’s the most amazing feeling.

YOU MENTIONED ABOUT THE PEOPLE THAT SUPPORT YOU. BUT THERE ARE ALSO PEOPLE OUT THERE HATING. HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH THEM? WITH YOUR DETRACTORS?

Hate is such a strong word, but you know what? I think it doesn’t matter where you are in your career or in your life, I think there will always be people that don’t like you. Or don’t believe in you, or will do anything to destroy you and they will only succeed if you allow that, they will only succeed if you believe that.

OUT OF ALL THE CELERITIES YOU’VE HOSTED AT YAMASHIRO, NAME A FEW WHO STOOD OUT.

There’s a lot. Anderson Paak. He is so kind. Bruno Mars is kind. You just never thought you’d expect them to be like that. Patrick Starr is also kind. They’re in the limelight so you would think they’d be stuck up.

When I met Piolo (Pascual) I didn’t think he would be nice. Cause you know, he’s up there and you’re just a starting out chef, they don’t have to come here, they don’t have to be kind… Arnel (Pineda). Oh my god, he’s funny! When you meet him it’s like you’ve known him all your life. Martin Nievera. C’mon, he sang to me! Arci (Munoz), Tony Labrusca, it’s just amazing how friendly everyone is and how kind everyone is. Because you know, when you think of celebrities they have this status and they are not approachable. They don’t wanna talk to you, you know? But the ones I’ve met, I’ve been very impressed. When Gary Valenciano came I was just weak in the knees! C’mon this iconic person, he sings these beautiful songs, and you meet him and he says hi and I was tongue tied! Hahaha. It’s amazing and I love it!

WHO HAVE YOU NOT MET BUT WOULD LOVE TO HAVE AT YAMASHIRO?

I don’t know. I think I wanna meet every single celebrity if I can, while I still can. And it’s not just celebrities. I wanna meet everybody. I just love my profession so much that it doesn’t matter who you are, it’s just exciting to be here and to serve people; to feed people and to talk to them. I mean my day starts with talking on the phone and I end at night when I go home by saying bye to people. When I was a kid my mom said I ate the pig’s tail that’s why I’m madaldal (talkative). Hahaha. My grandma used to say I’m always talking and that I better find a job where I’m allowed to talk all the time. So this is what I do now. I talk every day and you can’t shut me up. So it’s not meeting only celebrities but anyone. I had a family who flew in from San Francisco so the dad can celebrate his birthday here. His daughter reached out to me. Now that’s amazing. They come down. They see you. And I had another lady who celebrated her 74th birthday. She came with her husband. They own a catering company. They were just this sweet old couple, and they were so happy, they wanted to meet me and take pictures and then he came and brought me Turon the next day. That to me is exciting. I wouldn’t trade that.

WHAT IS YOUR ADVICE TO OTHER STAY-AT-HOME MOMS AND TO EVERYONE WHO HAS A DREAM BUT ARE TOO SCARED TO TRY AND GO AFTER THEIR DREAM?

My advice to stay-at-home moms: Don’t stay at home. Hahahah. Go out and when I say go out I don’t mean go out shopping or go to Starbucks. Hahaha. Do what you feel you wanna do. Pursue what you wanna pursue whether it’d be finding a new hobby, working part time, but just don’t limit yourself. You know my worst fear was once the kids are gone and have their own lives that I’ll be home alone doing nothing and watching TV and constantly asking myself “Maybe I should’ve done this… “. I watched my mom, she was a teacher and she stayed home with us and I’m sure she’s content with her life because it was a different time but right now we have so many opportunities and I just wanted my kids to be proud and I can’t just imagine myself sitting in front of the TV and watching TV all the time. I need to go do something. You know, at 51, doing this, it’s amazing. I just never could’ve imagined and it’s been two years. So yeah, just go out there.

WITH THESE TWO YEARS OF DRASTIC CHANGE OF PACE, WHAT IS NEXT FOR CHEF VAL?

Well, I’m not gonna retire anytime soon. I’m young. There are two TV series I’m trying to do so we’re gonna start filming that. My main goal is to have a center for cooking classes. A lot of kids out there want to go to school and want to become chefs. And it’s hard for them to get an education, to go to school or to get a scholarship. Or once they are finished with school they don’t know where to go or they are not placed properly so I wanna be able to help. I would love to do that. That’s my main goal. And of course continue cooking and feeding people and get everyone fat. Haha.

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE BRANDS?

I’ve never owned tennis shoes or kicks in my life, I’ve always worn heels and it was recently that I’ve started a kicks collection. I love shoes, I love boots and I love colognes. I’m not into jewelry or bags because in my profession I can’t really use a Gucci bag inside the kitchen. When I started working I’ve always been on the hunt for really comfortable shoes. You can’t really wear the kicks that I wear inside the kitchen because you can slip and fall. A friend of mine who owns Cool Kicks gave me my first pair for my birthday. And I don’t know, my kids thought they were cool and I thought they were cool so I started saying maybe I’ll have one for each day of the week. When I started getting one for every day of the week I thought: maybe I should have a different pair for 30 days, and then when I started getting the different colors and different styles I was like: maybe I’ll have a different one each day for a whole year. Hahaha. When I’m into something, when I’m obsessed with something, it just grows and grows and grows. Then I move on to something new.

For colognes I love Gucci, I love Christian Dior Poison, that was my all time favorite when I was in high school. I couldn’t afford it when I was in high school so I got the generic version, I think it was called Turmoil. HAHAHAH. Remember the cologne replicas back in the Philippines? They had different brands and I would get the knock off hahaha cause I could never afford (the real thing) and I love it so much and that would be the perfume I would always get. But anything floral. I used to work in the perfume department. I worked at Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s for the longest time, I was in their cosmetic department. I was a make up artist by all the perfume.

WHAT DO YOU LOOK FORWARD TO THIS HOLIDAY SEASON?

What I look forward to this Holiday season is to actually celebrate Christmas. These past two years that Christmas has come and go it hasn’t been the same due to the pandemic. I want to spend it with my family at home.

CAN YOU SHARE SOME OF YOUR CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS GROWING UP? AND HOLIDAY RITUALS WITH YOUR KIDS?

My holiday tradition with my family as a child was always exciting because I knew that there would be a huge feast with left overs the next couple of days. As a child my mom would drag us to the market where I would run around the produce department in awe. Then it would be a day in the kitchen watching, tasting and sneaking food because I simply could not wait. I used to greet guests at the doors to see what gifts they would bring but most of all what food item they would contribute to the feast. We would celebrate Christmas Eve and stay awake until midnight to open gifts. This tradition I passed on to my kids, the only difference is I don’t let anyone in the kitchen!!!

HOW WERE YOU AS A KID? WHAT WOULD YOU SAY NOW TO YOUR 10- YEAR-OLD SELF?

When I was a kid I had so much energy. I remember my grandparents would call me madaldal (talkative). I was the kid that asked too much, talked too much and ate too much. What I would tell my 10-year-old self is not to stop asking questions, keep talking, enjoy life but maybe lay off the sweets because when you reach 40 you will be mataba (chubby) !!!

THE NAME OF THE MAGAZINE IS “HIRAYA” WHICH MEANS FRUIT OF ONE’S HOPES, DREAMS, AND ASPIRATIONS: WHAT DO YOU STILL HOPE FOR, DREAM OF, AND ASPIRE TO BECOME?

I battled depression for the longest time because I didn’t know where I was going and I just hoped to be happy. For the longest time I didn’t know how to be happy. I’ve always been attached to a relationship, or thought that being in a relationship or finding someone to love me would make me happy. What I didn’t understand was loving yourself is what makes you happy. So I hope that I continue to think that way and continue to live my life that way.

I dream for my kids to be successful. I dream for them to have a happy, full life.

I dream for them to be content with their lives. And for them to achieve whatever it is they want to be.

I’m still aspiring to learn how to love myself; to accept myself and I aspire that people would do the same. Cause you know, we always try to fit in. Why are we supposed to be fitting in and turn into someone we don’t want to become? I remember my daughter telling me when she used to be bullied “Mom, I tried to fit in with people and did what they liked and how they did things that I lost myself”, thats the one thing that I learned from her when she was going through all that, just aspiring to be happy and be able to be comfortable in your skin.

2021 WAS DEFINITELY AN EXCITING YEAR FOR YOU WITH MANY, MANY HIGHLIGHTS. WHAT WERE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE MOMENTS FROM THIS PAST YEAR?

2021 has been a crazy year, not just for me but for everyone. One of the many moments of this year that I am grateful for – getting vaccinated!!!!!! I have not seen my parents for 2 years and to me that vaccine allowed me to see my parents, hug them and see them in person. I am also grateful for an amazing career, the love and support from everyone, especially from our Kababayan. The feeling I get when I walk out of Yamashiro kitchen into the dining room, I can’t find words to describe. To see our dream actually happening, is truly the best feeling. To be a part of elevating our culture, paving the way, working together, being one, is the highlight of 2021.

For more on Chef Vallerie: www.chefvallerie.com

Instagram: @chefvallerie

Editorial photos by: Francis Gum

Styling by: Sky JT Naval

Hair and Make Up by: Deborah Isshac