“…both a cinematic and culinary masterpiece that stresses the importance of integrity, diligence, and family…”

The only thing I like as much as eating delicious food is watching it prepared. I can’t get enough of the attention to detail with colors, fresh ingredients, and the sharp sizzle sounds of cooking meat that makes your mouth water without needing to smell or taste the food itself. With the 15th and 16th seasons of Hell’s Kitchen starring Chef Gordon Ramsey green-lit back in 2014 and 6 seasons of Master Chef starring Gordon Ramsey, Graham Elliot, and Joe Bastianich sparking another competition show called Master Chef Junior in 2013, it is clear that the world will never get tired of reality cooking shows. When it comes down to it, everyone eats, and food provides us a way in which to express ourselves as individuals. When it comes to dining on the food served by others, we could be expressing our economic status by being able to afford expensive, gourmet meals, or we could be appreciating our cultural values by dining on ethnic-specific meals. Gordon Ramsey often asks the contestants on his shows to “put themselves on a plate,” or rather create something that defines them as people and as chefs. However, in every cooking show I’ve ever seen, besides putting something on a plate that shows people who you are, the importance of pride and in serving only the best dishes is stressed above all else. The film Chef (directed by and starring Jon Favreau, 2014) is both a cinematic and culinary masterpiece that stresses the importance of integrity, diligence, and family while deftly showcasing the new, 21st century world of social media.

Carl Casper (played by Jon Favreau) is an exceptional chef, bubbling over with creativity and skill that has made a name for himself in the culinary world. With the help from his kitchen staff, sous chef Tony (played by Bobby Cannavale) and line cook Martin (played by John Leguizamo), he intends to blow the taste buds right off blogger and food critic Ramsey Michel (played by Oliver Platt) with his ambitious and out of the box new menu. Unfortunately, he finds himself at the mercy of restaurant owner Riva (played by Dustin Hoffman), who orders Carl to play it safe and serve the menu people have grown to love for the last decade. After Ramsey Michel posts a scathing review, belittling Carl for his lack of creativity, lack of heart, and merely subpar food, Carl breaks down and becomes a social media sensation. Without a job or prospects from other restaurants, Carl’s ex-wife Inez (played by Sofía Vergara) encourages him to spend more time with his son Percy (played by Emjay Anthony) while also nudging him to take his culinary abilities to the food truck business where he could be his own boss and cook the food that makes him happy. Inez’s ex-husband Marvin (played by Robert Downey Jr.) provides him with the truck, but it is Chef Carl Casper along with his son and loyal line cook Martin who will make his business successful while turning him into a better father, a better chef, and a better person along the way.

Any foodie, like myself, who watches Chef will be amazed by the incredible dishes and techniques showcased throughout the film. Besides the high-class cuisine shown in the beginning, the film also shows how succulent and crowd-pleasing foods like home-cooked barbeque and even something as simple as a grilled cheese sandwich can be sexy and a work of art in itself. Make sure you watch the short clip after the end credits where Jon Favreau is shown being taught how to cook that grilled cheese sandwich. Every detail is agonized over, leaving nothing overlooked, from the hottest spot on the pan to when the chef needs to step back and allow the sandwich to be felt on its own. This is similar to the impressive style in which Jon Favreau tackled both starring in and directing this film. There is a pleasant balance between the cooking itself as well as the dramatic story shown throughout. His use of Twitter and of showing the tweets themselves pop up on the screen was a clever use of social media to drive the plot forward at times. It also showed just how important social media can be as a marketing tool while also expressing the generation gap where the younger generation of today has so much at their fingertips that the older generation couldn’t even fathom existing at one time.

The all-star cast in this film was beautifully blended and the story allowed for each actor and actress to give some of their best performances. While you could tell this story meant a great deal to Jon Favreau as director and lead actor (known for his work both directing and acting as executive producer on such projects as Ironman and The Avengers series), it was Sofía Vergara who helped give this story its soul. Known for her roles in the hit ABC television series Modern Family as well as the poorly received film Hot Pursuit alongside Reese Witherspoon, Sofía’s Columbian heritage is often the butt of the joke and the comedic relief. Yet here, in the film Chef, her Columbian heritage is celebrated, and her role as both a successful businesswoman and mother while always encouraging her ex-husband makes her one of the most likeable characters in the film. Her warmth and love for her family are reverberated in every aspect of the film, rubbing off on Jon Favreau’s character which essentially expresses the entire message of the film: stay true to yourself, give only your best, but don’t forget to be there for those who love and depend on you.

After seeing Chef pop up on my Netflix list of suggested movie titles, I saw its great reviews and interesting premise, but put off watching it until now. Now, I am so impressed at how great of a film this is that I want so much more from Jon Favreau. Obviously, he has made a huge impact in the super hero movie industry, but this work in an independent film was impressive. For this film in particular, he gets a whopping 10/10 from me. Perhaps I’m partial to this film given my love for the culinary world, but paired with the world of social media and the great messages about family and personal integrity, it is hard to argue with how sweet and well-made this film really is.