A professional chef offers his review of the 2014 film Chef. The cooking-centric film is directed by Jon Favreau, who also stars in the film as nascent food truck owner Carl Casper. The film follows Carl as he quits his esteemed job as a head chef at a restaurant to pursue a passion project of running a food truck, all the while trying to piece his estranged family back together. In addition to Favreau, Chef features a talented leading cast including Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Dustin Hoffman, Bobby Cannavale, Sofía Vergara, John Leguizamo, and Oliver Platt.

A decade after its release, Chef receives a glowing review from professional chef Paul Liebrandt in his Insider interview. Liebrandt first breaks down a scene wherein Carl is working overnight to prepare his new dish.

The chef deemed this scene realistic, as he believed overnight time is the time to innovate without the cacophony and hustle of daily cooking responsibilities. Liebrandt went on to analyze Chef‘s food critic scene, admitting he himself has had his “run-ins with the critics.” Ultimately, he gave the Chef scene an 8 out of 10, with an explanation realized below:

To work overnight on creation, absolutely. You’re doing lunch and dinner during the day, your kitchen’s full of people. You have no time to be creative, so you have an overnight where at least you can have some peace and quiet. And you can focus on ideas, so it actually, yes I’ve done it more than once, yeah.

Yelling at the critic, I respect that. I’ve had my run-ins with the critics. I’ve thrown a few critics out of the restaurant in years gone by. It’s subjective, doesn’t mean it’s bad. But um, you know, the critique thing can be a double-edged sword, is what I would say. I would rate this scene a solid 8 out of 10. I think it’s pretty realistic, yeah.

How Was Chef Received?

In the food critic scene in question, Favreau’s character yells expletives at a flippant critic who dislikes his food. The real-life chef Liebrandt had great empathy for this scene, saying “I respect that” in reaction. It is fascinating to see this scene in particular get a good rating from Liebrandt, as it could seem on its face like an over-the-top scene that might be more cinematic than realistic. Even though Carl’s outburst is used for a character beat, it seems that its energy is not too far off from the frustration a real chef may feel.

Liebrandt was not the only to appreciate Chef. While the movie’s food critic was nasty, the film critics loved Chef when it came out. The Rotten Tomatoes rating for the film was as fresh as Carl’s best food, scoring an 87% among critics. Audiences had a similar appreciation for the film, giving Chef an 85% approval rating. Critics praised Chef‘s presentation of its central characters and its commitment to the food environment it depicts. The latter feedback seems additionally valid when reviewed by a real-life chef like Liebrandt.

Chef also fared decently at the box office during its release. An independent film made on an estimated $11 million budget, Chef ultimately took home $48.4 million at the global box office. This was great news for the movie, as it meant that it over quadrupled its budget, making its profit margins sizable. In the decade since its release, it is good to see the well-rated independent film still thriving among critics of all forms.

Source: Insider