‘Replacing Chef Chico’: First Filipino-Produced Series Puts Love on the Menu

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For Filipinos, romance and food make a sizzling combination, and the first local Netflix production in a series format serves up a zesty love triangle set against the backdrop of a high-end fine dining restaurant.

Replacing Chef Chico is the brainchild of director Dan Villegas, assistant director Joi Bayan, and showrunner Antoinette Jadaone. It stars three of the biggest names in the local entertainment industry — Piolo Pascual (My Amanda), Alessandra de Rossi (My Amanda and What If) and Sam Milby (A Family Affair).

Offering a glimpse into the high-stakes and competitive culinary world, the series’ trailer introduces viewers to the main characters whose lives become intertwined at Hain, a fictional up-and-coming fine dining restaurant that specializes in customizing each dish to mirror their diners’ unique life stories. But things take an unexpected turn when titular character Chef Chico (Milby) gets into an accident, leaving him in a coma. The fate of Hain is suddenly left in the hands of his sous chef Chef Ella (de Rossi) and a newly hired consultant Raymond (Pascual), who has more than just the restaurant on his mind.

Speaking to a panel of press and outlets in the “See What’s Next” event on September 18, acclaimed showrunner Antoinette Jadaone (Fan Girl and That Thing Called Tadhana) shared that her inspiration for Replacing Chef Chico came from her love for food-related shows.

Recommending the series for holiday viewing, she added: “I think it’s perfect for the Christmas season because, at its core, it’s about love, friendship, and acceptance. Each episode tells a story of family, friendship, and love, all celebrated over food.”

Both Jadone and Villegas (Exes Baggage and Always Be My Maybe) also expressed their excitement over the evolving media landscape and what it means for the future of streaming and media consumption in the Philippines. Replacing Chef Chico was produced for Netflix in association with CS Studios and Project8.

Catch Replacing Chef Chico on November 24, only on Netflix.

ABS-CBN unveils newest drama “Love Will Lead You Back”

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ABS-CBN formally announced the upcoming small screen team ups of Jericho Rosales, Yen Santos, Yam Concepcion, and Sam Milby in its newest drama about marriage, family, and love titled “Love Will Lead You Back.”

“Unlike the other shows which focus on infidelity, we went the other way around. The thrust of our show is how to stay faithful in your marriage. You are also going to see real characters that will struggle on how they will fix their respective marriages,” said Jericho in a the media announcement held recently in ABS-CBN.

“Love Will Lead You Back” marks the first time Jericho and Sam will work on a teleserye together. The show also serves as a reunion project for Sam and director FM Reyes.

“Direk FM was my director in my first teleserye, which was ‘Maging Sino Ka Man.’ After 12 years, we will be working with each other again so I am really excited” shared Sam.

Yam and Yen, meanwhile, return on the spotlight as the show’s leading ladies and are both equally excited to start taping.

“Before, I was only watching them on TV. Now I have the chance to work with them,” Yam shared.

“My character here is different from what I have done before, which were light roles. Here, I’m more mature and I’m also married,” explained Yen.

Aside from the media announcement, the production of “Love Will Lead You Back” surprised Jericho, who celebrated his birthday last Sept. 22, with an AVP video of birthday greetings of the Kapamilya stars he worked with like Claudine Barretto, Anne Curtis, Bela Padilla, Erich Gonzales, Maja Salvador, and Piolo Pascual.

He also got emotional with the tribute video for his career milestones that proved his worth being the Asian Drama King. Most of Echo’s teleseryes are now being enjoyed in Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe, and Latin America.

Also joining the cast are Allan Paule, Lotlot de Leon, Amy Austria, Cris Villanueva, Christian Bables, Hero Angeles, and Gab Lagman.

“Love Will Lead You Back” will be under the production unit headed by Ruel Bayani.

For updates, follow @lwlyb_abscbn on Instagram, @RSBDramaUnitNew on Twitter and like the show’s official Facebook page athttps://www.facebook.com/rsbunit/.