Chris Urbano is an Australian living in Manila who loves the people, culture, and food of the Philippines.

In sharing this passion, the Tagalog speaking foreignoy piloted the Maputing Cooking program on YouTube in 2013 with a mission to bring Filipino food global. “Maputing Cooking” simply means a white guy who cooks Filipino dishes on YouTube.

The Tagalog language fusion cooking show quickly attracted a strong following of Filipinos based locally and abroad who enjoy seeing their food and culture through the eyes of a foreigner. Urbano also gives his own twists to the rich traditional food culture and pairs them to his favourite Australian wines.

Filipino food is slowly, but surely inching its way on the world stage, and Urbano firmly believes that not only has the cuisine’s time has finally come out, but that Filipinos can and should enjoy the same quality, fine dining experiences matched with excellent wines that people enjoy around the world.

Prior to his career as an entrepreneur in the Philippines. Urbano graduated summa cum laude from the Australian National University with degrees in Economics and Asian Studies.
He was always drawn to return to Southeast Asia where he spent much of his high school and university days in Indonesia and of course, the Philippines. Urbano studied Filipino language and Philippine politics at the University of Asia and Pacific in 2007. He also speaks Bahasa Indonesia, after attending universities in Central and East Java and high school in Jakarta.

Urbano grew up with a passion for food and wine. With two working parents (and no yaya!), Urbano learnt to cook from the first grade and found food and cooking an amazing way to connect and bridge cultures with people he met throughout his travels in Southeast Asia. Wine and food are true complements, each enhancing the other – and Urbano is thrilled in helping thousands of Filipinos to experience a long overdue wine and culinary renaissance here in Manila!

Chris Urbano is also the owner of Winery Philippines, the leading wine online store with award winning wines in Manila.

The Mission

Our Mission is to create broad awareness and appreciation to the goodness of Filipino Cuisine and bring Filipino food into its rightful place, the global menu.

Maputing Cooking’s mission is to help Filipinos prepare their food that can represent its cuisine internationally even just eating at the comfort of their homes. You could say that among Filipinos, the dining table is the true heart of the home: eating as a family is often a household rule, and no celebration is complete without an indulgent spread.

Youtube: www.youtube.com/maputingcooking

Facebook: www.facebook.com/maputingcooking

Twitter: @maputingcooking

Instagram: @maputingcooking