Review: Chef

10th May 2015

Chef is a film you should not watch hungry, in the same way you shouldn’t go shopping on an empty stomach – you want everything in sight. In fact, even having ate I wanted every single dish that appeared on screen. The grilled cheese sandwich scene sets the tone of this film demonstrating the chef’s passion for food. It also highlight’s Jon Favreau’s tenacity and success in being able to do what others before him have failed to do. He managed to make a film about a chef without glamourizing what is undoubted one of the most stressful jobs. He highlights the food and the passion of those in the kitchen but also the destructive impact that single minded passion can have on the rest of their life if they want to be successful. As the saying goes: you can’t have your cake and eat it too.

The story of the film is that of chef Casper, played by Jon Favreau, who runs the hottest restaurant in town. He gets into a twitter showdown with the food critic in town, loses it all but like a phoenix rises from the flames to run a uber successful food truck and make the kind of food he loves and wants to make.

Chef works because Jon Favreau put in the time: doing research, learning the craft and talking to respected chefs including Roy Choi. It is Favreau’s hands you will see slicing onions at chef speed and skill or making that grilled cheese sandwich. Passion oozes through this film in the same way it oozed the grilled cheese sandwich on the grill. The supporting cast of John Leguizamo, Bobby Cannavale, Dustin Hoffman, Sofia Vergara, Robert Downey Jnr and Scarlett Johansson (although the list goes on) aren’t too shabby either and the soundtrack make this a visual and auditory feast.

Chef is currently available on Netflix and other digital platforms.

Still hungry for more then you can dowload some of the receipes used in the film here: http://www.bakespace.com/cookbooks/detail/’CHEF’-the-Film-Cookbook%3A-Recipes-from-El-Jefe/1323/

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