ABC’s ‘Baker And The Beauty’ Fires Up A Romance Inside A Cuban Bakery
Latinos are getting the romantic comedy series we didn’t know we were salivating for in ABC’s “Baker and the Beauty,” which tells the tale of a Cuban baker falling for one of his customers. The customer just happens to be an “international superstar and fashion mogul.” Dominican-American actor Victor Rasuk will star alongside Peruvian-Argentine actress Nathalie Kelley as Daniel Garcia and Noa Hollander, respectively. Daniel works at his father’s Cuban bakery, entrenched in the wonders and frustrations of being part of a family business. During a life-changing moment at a restaurant, Noa takes pity on Daniel and invites him to go out on the town with her. The family business booms as Miami crowds learn of their romance and the two fall in love over the enticing smell of Cuban bread baking, and guava and cream cheese tenderly wrapped by Daniel’s expert baking hands. “He’s the baker and she’s the beauty,” Daniel’s cousin jokingly sings in the trailer.
Mix Cuban bread with a Latino-centered rom-com and you’ve got all the hype that the new trailer is officially buzzing.
The entire story is based off what can only be called an Israeli novela.
The show of the same name is one of the best-loved scripted series ever to air in Israel. Now available on Netflix Israel and Amazon Prime Video, the original follows the same plot of different cultural backgrounds: a working-class Yemenite baker and Ashkenazi supermodel fall in love as a means to touch on social divisions with more humor.
The Latino version will be set in Miami, Florida and follows the life of Daniel Garcia (Rasuk) who has done everything he’s supposed to do. He’s followed through on the family business and looks up to his parents’ romance as life goals. “They make each other better,” Daniel tells his new love interest in the trailer as we see the two dancing down the hallways of their home.
Then, one night, Daniel’s girlfriend proposes.
His whole family had been warning him that she’s going to want to get married soon. When they find out what restaurant they’re going to that night, they start cackling. “For that, you can spend a weekend in the Bahamas,” a primo warns. The family has made it clear: “a girl like that” is going to just want more and more. It’s clear that Daniel isn’t interested in taking their relationship to the next level and sputters when, at dinner, she calls the attention of the entire restaurant to propose.
Needless to say, she’s pissed when he publicly rejects her, ending their relationship.
Viewers, we get the twisted pleasure of watching Rasuk get splattered with what is likely an $87 bowl of soup in the trailer. However, since the restaurant his now-ex has chosen is filled with all the rich and the famous, the entire novela breakup is filmed on stars’ smartphones. One of those stars is the stunning Noa Hollander, played by Nathalie Kelley.
Kelley has said that the most powerful part of playing her character is that “while she’s this renowned beauty” she also feels “not good enough.” Kelley grew up as one of the few Latinas in a suburban Australian neighborhood and was teased constantly. “The more acceptance and love for ourselves that women can cultivate within themselves and then share with other women, the better for society as a whole,” Kelley told Variety reporter Danielle Turchiano.
The supermodel invites a pitiful man with soup all over his shirt to join her on a wild night on the town.
What started as a night that ended a serious relationship has become the beginning of a wild love affair. Like a bien portado Cuban son, Daniel is live reporting back to his family on the happenings of his evening. “Que caca me dices,” his mom incredulously asks until social media starts blasting photos of Daniel and Noa spending the evening together. From there, their business takes off as Miamians hope to bump into Noa at the panadería.
ABC Family is giving us another Spanglish rom-com that is as over-the-top as we deserve with familia at the center.
All I know is that I’d hate to be Daniel’s ex right about now. Carlos Gomez, Lisa Vidal, Dan Bucatinsky, Michelle Veintimilla, and David Del Rio are also cast members in ABC’s highly anticipated Israeli plotline turned novela.
You can watch the full trailer for “Baker and the Beauty” below!
The series is set to premiere on April 6 on ABC Family.
