I was in Europe when the news of Gaita Fores’ passing came. Friends shared the news and the sentiment was universal: her death was a loss to us all.

I knew Gaita both professionally and personally. She was one of our favorite caterers; her food bore the trademark grace that characterized who she was. Even in her exclusive catering jobs, guests would come up to her and ask her about the food she had prepared. Always she would find time to explain (with so much enthusiasm) the ingredients, the process and why she chose it for that particular event.

She was a go-to source when it came to restaurant recommendations, especially if you’re planning a holiday to Europe. If you’re ever visiting her beloved Italy (or any other place for that matter), just ask Gaita where the best food is. She doesn’t hold back and shares whatever knowledge she has.

Few people know this, but Gaita wasn’t a formally trained chef; she studied to be a CPA. Instead, she had mentors in the person of Italian signoras who taught her not only technique but gave her that spark to immerse herself in Italian culture and understand the pride the Italians had in their local produce.

She learned along the way the basics of running a food business, from quality control to portioning. She made mistakes but she didn’t quit, even if she had to drag the Filipino diner to try out Cibo’s food. You see, around the time Cibo opened its first branch in Glorietta, the Filipino diner was familiar only with the Italian-American concept of an Italian restaurant: the red and white checked cloth, vaulted ceilings, garlic and spices as wall décor, maybe Dean Martin singing “That’s Amore” in the background. At that time, you had on one end the fine dining restaurants like Cheval Blanc and Le Soufflé, in the middle were the popular American franchises like TGIFridays and Hard Rock Café, and then there were the small family-run casual dining places offering carbonara and iced tea.

In educating the Filipino diner’s palate, she discovered surprising intersections. Her first successful branch was in Shangri-La Plaza in Mandaluyong City, which had a predominantly upper middle-class Filipino-Chinese crowd. In that crowd she found that sweet spot where diners craved new and more nuanced flavors, away from what the current dining landscape offered. I do believe that Cibo’s success gave local restaurateurs the courage to offer new flavors to the Filipino diner. It primed us for the globalization of the dining scene, when Filipinos – their palates now introduced to so many cuisines because of more accessible travel – became open to new dining experiences.

Cibo’s success opened the doors to many more Gaita concepts. It made her brave enough to open new restaurants like Café Bola, Pepato, Lusso, even adjunct businesses like the Soztanza Health Line for those on the South Beach diet (remember that one?) and even flowers and tablescapes in Fiori di M, which dovetailed into her very successful catering business, Cibo di Marghi. More gifts to the Filipino diners followed: Grace Park Dining, The Loggia at Palacio de Memoria and even her son Amado’s acclaimed Italian restaurant, a mano.

But I think what resonated with me the most is how she paid tribute to her hero. She once told us that her inspiration is her grandfather, the great J. Amado Araneta. We even quoted her in one of our books in Go Negosyo: “A lot of whatever talent and skills I’ve used to get Cibo to where it is, I think I learned them from seeing him while I was growing up … He was a visionary. When a lot of people were telling him that the [Araneta] Coliseum wouldn’t work – even his own children and his wife, they were telling him it would be a white elephant – he went ahead and built it. He was always ahead of his time. His business sense was an inspiration.”

Now Gaita will forever serve as the inspiration to so many young chefs and aspiring restaurateurs. She is the mentor who educated our palates. Rest well, Gaita. You will be missed.