Filipino food on spotlight in Piolo Pascual, Alessandra de Rossi, Sam Milby Netflix show 'Replacing Chef Chico'

MANILA, Philippines — Piolo Pascual and Sam Milby are no strangers to love triangles with both actors having starred in dramas where they were fighting over a woman, but their co-star Alessandra de Rossi is "new" and surprised to find herself in a love conflict with the two in their newest Netflix drama "Replacing Chef Chico."

When the teaser trailer of the upcoming first Filipino original Netflix series premiering today, November 24, dropped, viewers were pleasantly surprised to see the unmistakable tension between Alessandra as Chef Ella and Piolo as Raymund. 

Raymund is hired as consultant in the restaurant called Hain where Ella and the titular Chico (Sam) work in. The trailer shows how Ella takes the rein from Chico and tries to lead the kitchen when he left. 

At yesterday's press conference, the three actors were asked about the love triangle in "Replacing Chef Chico" and how it would be different from the many other shows that tackled this romance trope. 

Alessandra and Piolo took the question in a playful way, veering from their reel characters to pondering how they would deal with it if it ever happened to them in real life. 

"Kaya mo bang mapunta sa love triangle?" Alessandra asked Piolo, who was sitting beside her. 

Piolo smiled and replied, "Umm, bakit ako bigla?"

"Iniisip ko bigla, ano bang difference? Tapos, mapupunta ba ako ever sa love triangle, 'yung to the point na mag-aabot 'yung dalawang male leads? 'Yung hindi ko alam anong gagawin ko. Parang 'di mangyayari."

Piolo asked her what she would do if she found herself in one. 

"Hindi ko sila pagtatagpuin. Hiwalayan ko kaagad 'yun," Alessandra said. 

Sam, meanwhile, refrained from expounding on the love triangle aspect of their show to leave more room for imagination for their viewers. 

"I feel like to explain the love triangle, it would be spoiling the kwento. So it's hard to explain how this is different and it's something you'll see in the first two episodes," Sam said. 

Showrunners and directors Antoinette Jadaone and Dan Villegas shared their thoughts on the show they did for Netflix. 

"I think, 'yung Filipino food, lalong sumasarap kasi kinakain natin siya with the people we love. 'Yun 'yung lalabas sa bawat episode ng 'Replacing Chef Chico.' Yes, we feature Filipino cuisine, [like] Laing, Adobo, Kare-kare, pero in every episode, merong story na kumbaga parang kasama ka sa hapag-kainan," Jadaone said. 

Her perennial partner, Villegas, added: "For me, Filipino food is world-class talaga. Pwede nating ipagmayabang, ipagmalaki ang Filipino cuisine. It's high time na ma-recognize siya hindi lang dito sa ating bansa pero sa labas din."

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