The man behind the viral Dubai Chocolate teams up with Miele Philippines for a dessert series that bridges nostalgia and innovation.
A honey cake with honey and calamansi, a tart filled with Barako ganache, and a pastry topped with kunafa. Three desserts, simple on the surface but layered with story.
They’re the center of chef Nouel Catis’ latest project with Miele Philippines, the first run of its Innovation Series at the brand’s showroom in BGC. “The inspiration is really bridging two cultures together,” he said. “We have Miele representing Germany and myself representing the Philippines. Since it’s all about innovation, we had to rethink how we create desserts that are flavor-forward and approachable. The only way to do that was to bring in the nostalgia factor.”
Three desserts built on memory
For this collaboration, Catis created three desserts that combine Miele’s German heritage with Filipino flavor. The Honey Cake merges apple strudel and bee-sting cake (Bienenstich) with calamansi-apple curd, burnt honey, vanilla cream, and cinnamon dark-chocolate mousse. The citrus cuts through the sweetness, giving it a familiar brightness.
The Green Forest, his take on the Black Forest cake, replaces sponge with laminated dough and fills it with pistachio and cherry-brandy cream. It’s topped with a kunafa crisp, a nod to his years in the Middle East.
The Barako-Dalandan Torte sits on a hazelnut crust with Barako coffee ganache and toffee-dalandan caramel. The roasted coffee and citrus meet in balance, still recognizably Filipino, but more refined.
“The flavor profile reminds you of our heritage as Filipinos,” Catis said. “There’s something for everyone. One that’s light, more experimental, and very flavor-centric.”
He wanted to explore desserts with local ingredients like ube and pili nuts, treating them the same as he does in his pastries.
Collaboration as a habit
Catis has built a pattern out of collaborations. Each one expands how Filipino food can look and taste.
Earlier this year, he teamed up with chef Sonny Mariano for Khaiba, a pop-up at Balmori Suites that reimagined Filipino food with Gulf influences like sourdough bibingka with liver pâté and date honey, beef sinigang turned into kebabs with tamarind-prune glaze, and halo-halo made with ube cheesecake and phyllo crisps.
This October, he and Mariano reunited for The Matcha Tokyo × Nouel Catis. The menu included matcha butter mochi glazed with Dubai chocolate, cookies with matcha soft serve, and lattes topped with pistachio kataifi. It gave matcha a fresh, approachable edge.
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Now, with Miele, Catis moves from restaurant kitchens to brand collaboration, guided by the same curiosity.
“The good thing about collaboration is that it showcases my versatility,” he said. “It shows that I’m not one-dimensional. I’m not defined by chocolate, but by my artistry. I want to keep popping up and surprising people—‘Oh my God, chef is doing this now!’ Because when you’re on the world stage, everyone is waiting for you to do something wrong. What we want to show is the positive side—being behind iconic recipes that have moved the world.”
He added, “I love doing collaborations not just with food brands but even those not related to food. That’s how you showcase creativity and innovation.”
Past the viral label
Catis caught global attention in 2024 with Dubai chocolate, a pistachio-kunafa bar that went viral for its glossy shell and pistachio core. The dessert quickly spread across social media, inspiring countless recreations and cementing Catis’s name as one of the chefs who helped shape the craze.
“Actually, I don’t feel the pressure,” he said. “Those who are copying me, I’m feeling pressure for them because they won’t know what else I’m hatching. To be copied is flattery, but to continue the legacy is another thing. The best thing to do is to keep continuing my process of innovation, to keep setting the trends.”
For Catis, imitation just means the idea worked. “If people don’t copy you, it means your success only goes so far,” he said with a grin. “But when they start copying, it means you’ve done something that ruffled their feathers too. So, thanks.”
He’s now channeling that momentum into new projects: an ice-cream line collab, a new concept opening at BGC High Street in early November, and more collaborations already planned for 2025. “It’s going to be a big year,” he revealed.
Always making something new
Miele’s philosophy, Immer besser or “Forever better,” runs parallel to how Catis works: focused, consistent, and always looking for better ways to do things. He spends most of his time in pastry, breads, and desserts, but he’s been exploring beverages and ice cream too.
“I like exploring every kind of creativity,” he added. “It’s more about being a creative force than a chef defined by one section of the industry.”
That curiosity makes him a fitting start for Miele’s Innovation Series, which looks at how food can connect heritage and process. For Catis, the goal isn’t perfection. It’s to keep creating flavors that remind people where they’ve been and show them what’s possible next.
The Miele Innovation Series runs until November 6 at the Miele Flagship Showroom in Bonifacio Global City, open Monday to Saturday from 10am to 5pm and Sunday from 1pm to 5pm
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