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Lechon Diva Dedet de la Fuente Brought Her Chorizo-and-Crab-Fat Lechon to Red House Seafood Singapore
For two months in 2026, the most talked-about Filipino dining experience in Singapore was at Red House Seafood, not at Lucky Plaza. Manila chef Dedet de la Fuente set up a pop-up that sold through. Here is what happened, why it worked, and what to watch for next.
For two months in 2026, the most talked-about Filipino dining experience in Singapore was not at Lucky Plaza or at a Filipino restaurant. It was at Red House Seafood, a Chinese seafood institution on the Singapore River, where Manila's Lechon Diva Dedet de la Fuente set up a pop-up that ran from 3 March to 30 April. The collaboration packaged her signature whole-roast lechon stuffed with chorizo and crab-fat rice into a S$788++ tasting menu for 10. It sold through.
If you missed it, this is what happened, why it matters, and what to watch for next.
Who Dedet de la Fuente is
Dedet de la Fuente is the woman behind Pepita's Kitchen and Lechon Diva, the Manila private-dining outfit that turned the standard Filipino fiesta dish into a layered tasting experience. Her signature is the whole-roast pig stuffed with chorizo, foie gras truffle rice, paella, or her newer Singapore-bound favourite, crab-fat (aligue) rice.
She built her name through invitation-only home dinners in Manila, then expanded into hotel collaborations across Asia. Her work has been profiled in SilverKris (Singapore Airlines's inflight magazine), Makansutra, and the local Manila food press.
She is one of a small handful of Filipino chefs whose name alone fills a guest list.
The Red House Seafood collaboration
The pop-up ran from 3 March to 30 April 2026 at Red House Seafood. The host venue is best known for Chinese seafood, dim sum, chilli crab and Cantonese banquet menus. The Lechon Diva collaboration was a deliberate cross-cultural experiment.
The tasting menu was priced at S$788++ per table, served for up to 10 guests. Each booking came with a complimentary bottle of red wine. The centrepiece was Dedet's lechon with chorizo and crab-fat rice stuffing, served whole, carved at the table.
Around the lechon, the Red House team plated their seafood programme to complement: live chilli crab, salt-baked prawns, steamed garoupa, hot tofu, vegetables in superior stock. The pairing was the point. Two cuisines that almost never sit on the same banquet table, sharing one.
For a group of 10, the price worked out to about S$95 per person before service and GST. For a Lechon Diva tasting in Singapore, that was a sharp price.
What the embassy said
The Philippine Embassy in Singapore co-promoted the pop-up as part of its Filipino Food Month 2026 programme. Ambassador Medardo G. Macaraig hosted the launch event. The embassy framed the collaboration as a cross-cultural showcase that put Philippine culinary creativity on a leading Singapore Chinese-cuisine stage, expanding the audience for Filipino flavours beyond the usual Filipino-restaurant circuit.
Mariterre Cendaña-Jose, head of Cultural Diplomacy at the embassy, attended along with media, KOLs and community guests.
Why it worked
A few things made the pop-up land harder than the average pop-up.
The venue. Red House Seafood is not a tasting-menu room. It is a Singapore Chinese seafood restaurant with decades of family-banquet history. Filipinos in Singapore booked it to bring their Singaporean Chinese in-laws, their boss, their cousins from Manila. The Lechon Diva piece was the conversation starter; the rest of the spread did the bridge work.
The price. S$788++ for 10 with a wine inclusion was sharp for the calibre. Premium Manila private dining at Lechon Diva starts higher per head. Singapore diners noticed.
The story. A Manila chef in a Chinese seafood institution carving a 10-kilo lechon stuffed with crab fat is a story that travels on its own. Instagram and TikTok did the marketing.
The window. Two months. Limited enough to feel special, long enough that Filipino families had time to gather a 10-person table.
What to watch for next
The pop-up has ended. The chef went home to Manila. The booking page on the Red House Seafood website remains as an archive of the collaboration.
The signals to watch:
A repeat or a sequel. Cross-cultural Filipino pop-ups tend to come back, often with a different host venue or a different theme. The Philippine Embassy's Filipino Food Month programme runs every April, and Red House Seafood's relationship with Manila chefs may continue.
Filipino food at Singapore hotels through 2026. Manila Meets Madrid at The Orchard Hotel launched on 18 May and runs through June. The Shangri-La Singapore is running Flavours of the Philippines at The Line. The Grand Mercure Roxy did an Independence-week Filipino buffet in 2025. Watch the embassy's Facebook page for the next addition.
If you want to taste Dedet's work, Pepita's Kitchen in Manila still hosts private dinners by booking. Worth planning into your next home trip.
How to bring the spirit of it to your next gathering
A few notes from what we observed.
Buy a small lechon from a Filipino caterer in Singapore. Heritage Lechon, Cebu's Lechon Specialist, and a handful of operators in Lucky Plaza and Tampines do whole and half pigs for delivery, usually with two days' notice.
Make the rice. Aligue rice is the Lechon Diva signature. A simple version uses jarred aligue (crab fat) from Lucky Plaza groceries, garlic, day-old jasmine rice, a hot pan, and a finishing knob of butter. Five minutes.
Plate with Chinese accents. A small bowl of soy-vinegar sauce. Steamed vegetables on the side. A jasmine tea or a glass of red. The two cuisines do meet on the same table; you have permission now.
What to verify
For Red House Seafood's current menu, see redhouseseafood.com. For Dedet de la Fuente's bookings in Manila, see Pepita's Kitchen on Facebook. For the Philippine Embassy's Filipino Food Month programme, see philippine-embassy.org.sg.
Last reviewed 25 May 2026. The Lechon Diva pop-up at Red House Seafood ran from 3 March to 30 April 2026 and has ended. Verify current dining options with the venues directly.
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#Lifestyle#Filipino Food#Lechon Diva#Red House Seafood#Pop-up#Filipino Food Month#Filipinos in Singapore
