From Kitchen To Throne
starring: HALLE FLETCHER & ZANE CLAUDIO
The granddaughter of a deceased cooking legend returns to compete for the title of Ultimate Chef - and ends up winning the restaurant CEO's heart.
REVIEW
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Firstly whatever they paid all the cast on this was not enough. To get through all this without breaking, and indeed delivering lines about the Big Bang Turkey Slam with a straight face.... Geniuses all
It's total frickin madness and I love it
You just have to embrace the madness
- Of course Lena saves Ethan with a frying pan
- I was surprised when we find out there is a reason Ethan has the cane, I thought it
was just because
- the cooking challenges are increasingly crazy culminating with the money machine at the end (looks like a lamp off Amazon)
If you can lean into it there is so much to enjoy here
Halle Fletcher being the sunshine calm at the center of the chaos. She has to make us buy into it all and does so
Zane Claudio gets to be the good guy 🎉.very swoonworthy in the braces, and his face when Lena tries to take his trousers off will live with me forever
Ever since I found out Brad Hamler could ballroom dance I wanted to see this on screen, didn't expect him to be dressed as a turkey.
Everyone is awesome
- Zach Schanne who does some brilliant reaction shots and gets to carry Cassie out
- Matthew Liu who has the best shriek of outrage when Lena gets picked
- Bryan J Mangam as the world's most excitable line cook
- Aaron Fried who is all rage and anger as the initial Iron Chef
- Casie Maghran who gets the most Audrey Hepburn hat and look as Julia Child, and then thrown under the bus by Frank
- Gray Mortier as the dodgy host at the end who somehow manages to make us believe in that machine
- Jon Spano who has the best outfits ever and is truly terrifying as Alphonse
But my favorite is Harding Junior as Zane, gone too soon from our screens. Why wasn't he in the cooking finale? Best portrayal of a food critic ever. In a vert or on screen. It is perfection. The love of food, disdain/boredom of anything less than just so. It's just the best
And overall just so good to see something different and fun and not full of children stuck in hot cars or forcing people to kneel
It's FUN. It's SILLY and it all works so well
On Dramabox
💖 Top swoonworthy moment:
Well we need a sequel now don’t we! Poor Ethan stuck in the friend zone.
Convinced that man is smitten from the moment Lena saves him from death with a frying pan.
🦹🏼♂️ Top villain award:
We have Brad Hamler as Uncle Frank, who wants the hotel, will fix every competition, has tried to kill Ethan multiple times and then brings in Alphonse, the chef from hell. Now Uncle Frank should be top villain, but we do see him dressed as turkey and angel. So in fact I am giving it to Alphonse who had the best dress coat ever, Morpheus’s glasses and manages to get most of the competition to quit just through verbal threats.
😂 Comedy gold:
OK this show is total insanity and I LOVE IT
We have Ethan eating a sandwich which transports him to a field of rainbows
Chef Gaston won the Nobel Peace Prize for his desert
All the crazy food stuff like Lena and the chocolate Statue of Liberty
The machine that works out the cost of food - a trillion dollars anyone?
Little details at the end like one of Alphonse’s lackeys putting their hands over his ears so he doesn’t hear bad stuff
And then the greatest thing to ever happen in a vertical BIG BANG TURKEY SLAM
🎺 Unsung hero:
If you want to learn how to do a reaction shot, or make the most of a few lines watch this as the supporting cast all nail it
Loved Bryan Mangam and friend as the 2 Dorsia chefs who act as the chorus, and live a thousand emotions every episode
Cassie who shamelessly pledges his loyalty to Frank at the end, and then gets carried out on Marco’s shoulder shouting “Let me go. Put me down. Don’t put your hands on my suit”
But it has to go to Harding Junior as judge Zane. He is iconic, every wince as he eats substandard food, the flamboyant gestures, the accent. Gutted that he didn’t come back for the final cooking competition.
✍🏼 DETAILS
Director Yixian Chen | 2025
Writers: Vanesssa Lee, Crystal Martinez & Layla Cao
Available on Dramabox
