Wow, who let the awesome dogs out over at PTS? While GTV and SETTV duke it out for frothy idol-fare and CTS and CTV barely hang in there airing crap filler dramas, PTS has long been the home for the good stuff that doesn’t always catch my eye. The last time a PTS drama won my everlasting love was Black & White back in 2009, but this new baking-themed drama looks about as amazing as it gets. Premiering this Saturday night, the teasers and long trailer for Amour et Pâtisserie (Chinese title 沒有名字的甜點店 the literal translation is The Patisserie with No Name) is wonderfully moody and funny, poignant and romantic. This is the quality drama I’ve been wanting but haven’t seen around in ages. The leading lady is Sandrine Pinna, in her first drama leading role since Endless Love with Wilbur Pan in 2010. I didn’t use to like her despite her being an award-winning actress in film, but she totally blew me away last year when she did a web-movie playing the gay ex-girlfriend of Rainie Yang and here she looks lovely and plays a super cool pastry chef. Her two leading men are Liu Yi Hao (the Taiwanese Lee Chun Hee) and Xiu Jie Kai, both of whom look to have different but equally rich chemistry with Sandrine onscreen.

Sandrine is Tian Tian (her name borrowing from Candy Candy fame), a no-nonsense prickly pastry chef running a patisserie with no name, making only three desserts a day based on her daily whim. Liu Yi Hao is Allen, a guy who stumbles on the patisserie after he gets his stuff stolen and ends up working there for room and board. And Xiu Jie Kai is Shang Yu Yen, a fellow master patissier and Tian Tian’s ex-boyfriend. The drama went abroad to film in Paris at Le Cordon Bleu, which is all sorts of cute since Sandrine is half-French (though born and raised in Taiwan). The story follows the denizens of the patisserie and the eccentric customers who encounter this odd little place. In the long preview you meet some of them and I haven’t laughed this sincerely in ages at how sweet the humor is, especially with the over-the-hill actress who always play evil mother-in-laws in dramas and the actor stuck playing dead people. The scene where the gang makes a French king cake for the unlucky actor to “luckily” bite into the hidden figurine made me awwww so hard when after he leaves everyone spits out the figurine hidden in their mouths but for one dude who accidentally ate his. This one looks like a quality winner and I’m dying to watch the first episode tomorrow. I will probably gain 10 lbs after the drama is done because the glorious baking scenes will made me crave sweets like mad. Continue reading →