Lecheng Sarap: The Glorious Return Of The Lechon Diva

“Hindi ka pa laos.”

Those words cut through the applause and laughter after the last bite of Lecheng Sarap, the latest—and most personal—tasting menu from Dedet de la Fuente, known to many as the Lechon Diva. The words hit us, hard. After five years out of the spotlight, Dedet was back, stronger and sharper than ever. And with this new menu, she wasn’t just staging a comeback—she was writing a love letter. Twelve handwritten courses of flavor and memory, each one signed with her unmistakable flourish.

The Lechon Diva is back—bold, brilliant, and never laos | Photo: Paul del Rosario

I remember the night it all began. November 2011. An email from Tetta Arroyo Tirona landed in my inbox—an invitation to a private degustation at the home of her friend, Dedet de la Fuente. Stuffed lechon was on the menu. Not just one, but several, each roasted to perfection and filled with something unexpected.

The whole thing had been arranged by Spanky Enriquez, the consummate restaurant marketing guru—and the kind of man who always knew where the next food revelation was coming from.

That night, Dedet welcomed us with her signature warmth—cheerful, chatty, impossible not to like. But behind the laughter and easy charm was a quiet force. Even then, you could sense it: a deep resolve, unshakable pride in Filipino food, and the kind of inner grit that doesn’t need to raise its voice.

Dedet reimagined lechon as a bold new culinary experience | Photo: Paul del Rosario

Dedet may be bubbly, but she is also fiercely determined. Stubborn in the best way. She had a vision—and she wasn’t letting go.

Her earliest dishes were deceptively simple in idea but extraordinary in execution: lechon stuffed with laing, sisig, or German sausage. But even then, it was clear—Dedet wasn’t just cooking. She was building something rare: a culinary point of view so original it felt both familiar and entirely new.

In time, Pepita’s Kitchen —the private dining brand created by the Lechon Diva herself—became a phenomenon. The private dinners turned legendary. Balut Salpicao. Sipit Sarap (crab pincers drowning in coconut gravy). Hiplog (prawns in salted egg yolk, the kind of dish that flirts shamelessly with your senses). These weren’t just side dishes. They were bold expressions of Filipino cooking: confident, inventive, and impossible to forget.

Soon, the world came calling.

Anthony Bourdain: “How do I sneak this lechon out?” | Photo: ABS-CBN News

Adam Richman of Man vs. Food visited her Magallanes home and filmed a tribute episode. He dubbed the menu “Richman’s Degustación” and was floored by the truffle rice–stuffed lechon. 

Anthony Bourdain, before catching a flight, locked eyes with her laing rice–stuffed lechon and asked how he could smuggle it home. After the meal, he asked his team to pack the leftovers—pinabalot niya—and hand-carried it back to his van and hotel, later sharing it with Singaporean food personality KF Seetoh. The final frame of the short film he posted as a farewell to Manila? It showed her lechon, drenched in Divalicious sauce, with the words “Goodbye Manila.” A quiet, unforgettable tribute.

Martha Stewart met Dedet’s gaze across the table, declared the lechon “soooo good,” and went back for seconds.

Her food has traveled, too—lighting up food festivals in New York, Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong, even the Las Vegas Strip, where people queued for hours just to taste her glorious lechon.

Then, silence.

For five years, there were no new menus, no grand reveals. But the Lechon Diva wasn’t gone; she was simply simmering. In that stillness, something deeper began to take shape—a quiet remembering. Of summers in Bulacan, where her father’s roots run deep. Of eating staples from all their Parañaque festivities on her mother’s side—flavors that have remained in her heart and on her taste buds. Of tutubi and fiestas, and kitchens where you didn’t measure ingredients because you just knew when it was right.

Now, she returns with Lecheng Sarap, a journey back to flavor and self—her seventh tasting menu and her most personal. This 12-course experience, served in vessels carved from bamboo and fruit, feels like a walk through Dedet’s culinary memory. Each dish holds a story, a playful wink, or a pang of nostalgia.

Lecheng Sarap is bold, beautiful, and brilliantly Filipino | Photo: Paul del Rosario

There’s the Bulaga Ball, a cloud of bread cradling Balut Salpicao, paired with her signature Mang Tomas butter sauce. Fried Chicken Skin arrives playfully dressed in Jollibee-style spaghetti sauce with hotdog bits—a joyful tribute to childhood and fast-food nostalgia.

Big flavors start small: Bulaga Ball, Fried Chicken Skin, Laing Okoy | Photo: Paul del Rosario

The Laing Okoy is crisp, tangy, and earthy. South Sea Pearls shimmer with scallops, sago, chili oil, and shellfish essence. A Bone Marrow Bite, inspired by bulalo, comes topped with marrow-naise and pickled banana flower.

Elegance meets indulgence in the South Sea Pearls and the Bone Marrow Bite | Photo: Paul del Rosario

Her Sigarilyas Salad crunches with winged beans, green papaya, cashews, and dilis, all wrapped in pandan gata. The Halaan Soup, simmered in bamboo with papaya, tastes like a memory of the sea.

A warm sip, a crisp bite—soup and sigarilyas | Photo: Paul del Rosario 

Then comes the return of Sipit Sarap, crab claws slathered in Thai-Filipino coconut-based sauce, best eaten with puso rice. Calamansi Sorbet with lambanog jelly resets the palate before Inasal Rice served in a suha shell—smoky, citrusy, layered.

A bold bite, then a bright reset | Photo: Paul del Rosario

The Rebel’s Chicken came with sabachara—a playful twist on acharang saba—and a rich muscovado paste for dipping. Her iconic Hiplog—shrimp in salted egg yolk—is back, as rich and indulgent as ever.

Not your lola’s inasal | Photo: Paul del Rosario

The Hiplog is golden, glossy and gone in seconds | Photo: Paul del Rosario 

And finally, the crown jewel: Stuffed Lechon, a golden cochinillo filled with binagoongan rice, kamatis, green mango, salted egg, and her signature Divalicious chili sauce.

The stuffed lechon still steals the whole show | Photo: Paul del Rosario

Dessert is the Super Suman Mini, which closes the meal like a final signature on a letter—sincere, satisfying, and unmistakably hers.

Course after course, the metaphor grows clearer: every bite is another line in the love letter, every aroma a post‑script of memory.

Small suman, big finish | Photo: Paul del Rosario

Each dish feels like a chapter in Dedet’s story, rooted in childhood flavors, reimagined with bold, inventive twists, and driven by unmistakable pride. The lechon remains the star, but it’s no longer alone. Now, it’s part of a full ensemble that transforms the meal into something richer, more complete and truly unforgettable

Dedet is back, and this time, her doors are open even wider. The private dinners have returned, now with a lower minimum of just four guests. In the early days, the minimum was 12 to 15. She dreams of bringing Lecheng Sarap overseas again, perhaps to the same cities where people once lined up around the block just to taste her lechon.

Dedet de la Fuente is a force, a feast, a fierce joy to be with | Photo: Paul del Rosario

Dedet still doesn’t overplan. “I just say yes,” she shrugs. “Every dinner is a surprise, even to me.”

But make no mistake: what she’s created here is intentional. This is a return shaped by experience, clarity, and craft. Dedet never chased food fads. She stayed true to her vision, and now she’s serving it with more heart and purpose than ever.

After twelve courses of laughter, awe, and the kind of deliciousness that makes you close your eyes and smile, someone leans over and says it again: “Hindi ka pa laos.” This time, we all nod. This love letter was never out of date. She was simply waiting for the right moment to give it to us.

Lecheng Sarap, a 12-course Filipino tasting menu by Pepita’s Kitchen, is available by private reservation only. Follow @lechondiva on Instagram for updates, or call 0917 866 0662 to book. Come hungry for heritage—and leave with a story to tell.