Chef

With the popularity of Babette's Feast, Eat Drink Man Woman, and Big Night, foodie films have become a savory genre. In this latest entrée, celebrated Los Angeles chef Carl Casper (Jon Favreau) infuriates his conservative restaurateur boss (Dustin Hoffman) when he confronts crotchety food critic Ramsey Michel (Oliver Platt)—and their Twitter and YouTube rant goes viral. It quickly becomes obvious that Carl needs a culinary change, which comes in the form of an invitation from his ex-wife Inez (Sofía Vergara) to join her and their social-media-savvy 10-year-old son Percy (Emjay Anthony) on a trip to Miami. Here, Carl acquires a battered, secondhand food truck from Inez's first husband, Marvin (scene-stealing Robert Downey Jr.). Teaming up with his son, and Hispanic line cook Martin (John Leguizamo), Carl dubs his renovated truck “El Jefe” and takes scrumptious Cubano cuisine on the road, embarking on a poignant, redemptive trip back to the West Coast, which includes stops in New Orleans and Austin. Writer-director-actor Favreau—who guest-starred on TV's Top Chef—aces the atmosphere of a working kitchen, although few real-life chefs have love interests like Scarlett Johansson and Vergara. A succulent, sweetly simmering, appetizing amusement sure to appeal to foodies, this is recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by writer-director Jon Favreau and chef/co-producer Roy Choi, deleted scenes (11 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are bonus DVD, digital, and UltraViolet copies of the film. Bottom line: a solid extras package for an engaging film.] (S. Granger)