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October 21, 2026 | 5:57pm
MANILA, Philippines — In Spain, they enjoy chocolate with olive oil and salt, and Chef Chele Gonzalez, a Spaniard who has made the Philippines his home for more than a decade, introduces that wonderful mixture of sweet and savory in his limited-edition collaboration that features four of his most popular dishes with a twist.
The chef, known for his Burnt Basque Cheesecake that even has its own branding and following, has collaborated with German brand Miele for a limited-edition pop-up store until Friday, October 23.
The Michelin chef took liberty with his Spanish roots to create what should have been initially three dishes but turned into four, he told Philstar.com.
His pop-up menu bears familiar names: two of them are cheesecakes, one is a chocolate shortbread, and another is a dish that features his signature New York-style pastrami.
It is a selection that plays on the senses with differing textures, both pleasing to the palate and the eyes.
Chef Chele came with two cheesecake varities for his collaboration with the 127-year-old German heritage brand, which is distributed in the Philippines by Focus Global Inc.
The Dark Beer and Pretzel Cheesecake combines Chef’s Chele’s popular Burnt Basque Cheesecake and German engineering. The creaminess of the cheesecake is enhanced with the Cerveza Negra, bringing it a malty note to an indulgent texture with the pretzel crumble base. The cake itself can be baked directly in its own packaging.
The other cheesecake, Coffee and Honeycomb Cheesecake, is an ingenious creation that encompasses the point of the collaboration: Chef Chele’s spin on the traditional German cheesecake complemented with Philippine coffee and artisanal honeycomb, a key ingredient that harkens to the German brand’s heritage.
Miele Brand and Experience Activation Manager Cynthia Farhat, a first-time Philippine visitor who flew in from Milan, Italy, explained to Philstar.com that the honeycomb is a subtle ode to the German brand.
“The honeycomb was the first patent that Miele developed, and it's inside our laundry care. The tunnel inside [our washing machine] has the texture of a honeycomb and it's very soft. When you put your most delicate clothes, so if it's silk or even stockings, they will never get destroyed or scratched or ripped inside our washing machine and laundry care. We were the first to develop that, and it's great that the chef also incorporated it in an indirect message as well,” Farhat told Philstar.com.
Miele introduced and patented its iconic honeycomb drum technology in 2001.
The third item in the pop-up collab is the Miele Chocolate Shortbread. It is a quick bite, but oozes with contrasting flavors of sweet and salty, the latter a surprise filling of caramelized German sausage. It is a three-way win for lovers of this god-tier combination as they bite into a bar made with 77% dark chocolate from Filipino chocolate brand Auro, silky toffee, and an almond sablee base.
“If you think about it in Spain, how we eat chocolate is with olive oil sometimes and with salt. If you think that way, it will have those notes of the sausage that is salty and savory. It's a little bit of that something that already, as a Spanish, I have been growing with,” the chef shared.
Chef Chele talked with a gleam in his eyes when he talked about the only fully savory dish in this collaboration, especially since it features his signature pastrami dish on a Spanish version of pizza. His Pastrami Sauerkraut Flatbread takes inspiration from Catalonia, a region in Spain.
“It will be something a little bit more comforting. In Spain, in Catalonia, we also have pizza. It's called Coca, and we do an adaptation of some of my signature pastrami, something that I think I'm the only one who developed from scratch pastrami in the Philippines. We cure, we smoke, we do the whole process. We also do the dough with fermented dough. And then we add a little bit of sauerkraut, that is also German,” the chef said.
The chef chooses to concentrate on his limited-edition collaboration with Miele, quipping that if any of these become a hit in the pop-up event, he might reconsider bringing it to his concepts.
A week from now, Michelin Guide will unveil its latest batch of restaurants that made the cut.
Chef Chele helms concepts that made last year’s inaugural list: his baby, the 14-year-old Gallery by Chele in Bonifacio Global City, and Asador Alfonso in Alfonso, Cavite. Gallery, originally Gallery VASK, is the country’s only Michelin Green Star, a recognition awarded to restaurants that maintain a high-level culinary excellence that put emphasis on ethical sustainability.
The chef said he has no expectations as he would just like to continue innovating and creating dishes for his many fans and followers.
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