The Culinary Passport - S3 EP6: Neil Abrahams - New World Resorts - Manila
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SEVEN YEARS AND COUNTING. NEIL’S CULINARY PASSPORT IS IMPRESSIVE
2019 marked a big change in the career of Neil Abrahams.
He was well known in Australia through his work with the Australian Culinary Federation, and recognised internationally for his leadership in competitions and his role mentoring young chefs.
His job with the Royal Canberra Golf Club created a stable income for his family, but “I still wanted to push some boundaries with food and the ACF gave me that opportunity”.
Competing in international competitions as a member of the Australian Culinary Olympic team in 2004 and 2008 (when his was co-captain) had also given him a taste for travel and his culinary passport began to take shape.
“I still wanted to push some boundaries with food and the AFC gave me that opportunity”
Adventure beckons in Papua New Guinea
His first move overseas was to the Hilton hotel in Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea where he ran a number of restaurants including one called Mumu. “The concept of Mumu is not new”, he said. “Diners can see chefs cooking the food in an open kitchen and interact with them”
“But Mumu is still quite special as a restaurant serving local dishes like lamp flap skewers, skordalia and pickled pitpit and is showing what the local cuisine can be at an elite level”. “Yes Port Moresby has its challenges but PNG is a beautiful country. Some of the islands are amazing, the people there make you very welcome and it was during this time that I first took up diving”.
His position in Port Moresby also gave Neil the chance to pursue his role as Continental Director for Worldchefs in the Pacific Rim, the world’s largest network of chefs with members in over 100 countries. “If you’re a certified commis chef the certificate is recognised all over the world and part of my role while I was at the Hilton was to make sure members of my team got a trade qualification”.
Atlantis Paradise Island
Neil’s next overseas move came out of the blue when he was asked to take on a big role at Atlantis Paradise Island in the Bahamas. “When I got the first call I wasn’t sure it was for real but a month later I was contacted again and I packed my bags”, he said.
The Atlantis resort is big in every sense of the word. It has more than 3,500 rooms, over 40 restaurants and 15 thousand people visit daily many of them from numerous cruise ships in the region. “It is a massive operation one of the biggest integrated resorts in the world and it taught me a lot because during my time there I had to re-develop the production areas”.
Flying High in Dubai
It also gave him a great launchpad to take on his next move to Dubai. “I’d been there a few times with competitions and during transit stops. It is a fantastic city and it’s quite amazing what’s been achieved there in just a few decades.
“My job with Emirates Flight Catering was product development. We didn’t just produce meals for one airline but for every carrier that went through Dubai airport so we were producing over 250,000 a day”. “There are only a handful of airlines in the world that do this well and Emirates is one of them”.
Newport World Resorts
The last seven years have been busy ones for Neil and his current job as Director of Kitchen Operations with Newport World Resorts in Manila keeps him on his toes and still learning something new every day. He moved there in 2025 and says: “I don’t think the Phillipines has been recognised by the rest of the world yet for its cuisine but I can tell you the food here is phenomenal and ready to be on the international stage. “I’m also excited because the tourism market here is still relatively untouched”.
Newport World Resorts is another integrated operation and incorporates around 70 outlets. With its casino, and situated near the airport, it attracts visitors from China, Japan and Korea and other countries across the region. But Neil’s on-going commitment to training is also very much part of his role. “I have some amazing staff here who have some amazing skills but often they spent their entire career working in one area”. “But the more you know the more you grow and that’s one of my main aims during my time here.
“The more you know, the more you grow”
“We’ve started an ‘on the job’ apprenticeship program similar to what we do in Australia and I’m hoping that’s going to produce some great results for Newport World Resorts and for the future of those we train”.
Neil also loves living in Manila. “This place is amazing and if you’ve never visited you need to put it on your bucket list. “Manila’s another big city but what it gives you is a gateway to paradise”.
