Chef (2014 film) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Chef
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Jon Favreau
Produced by	Jon Favreau Sergei Bespalov
Written by	Jon Favreau
Starring	Jon Favreau Sofía Vergara John Leguizamo Scarlett Johansson Dustin Hoffman Oliver Platt Bobby Cannavale Amy Sedaris Emjay Anthony Robert Downey Jr.
Cinematography	Kramer Morgenthau
Editing by	Robert Leighton
Studio	Fairview Entertainment Aldamisa Entertainment Prescience Altus Media Kilburn Media Fetisov Teterin Films
Distributed by	Open Road Films
Release date(s)	March 7, 2014 (2014-03-07) (SXSW) May 9, 2014 (2014-05-09) (United States)
Running time	114 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$11 million
Money made	$46 million

Chef is a fun 2014 American road comedy-drama film. It was directed, written, and co-produced by Jon Favreau, who also stars in the movie. The story is about a chef who loses his job after a big argument with a food critic. He then decides to start a food truck with his young son.

The film also features famous actors like Sofía Vergara, John Leguizamo, Scarlett Johansson, Oliver Platt, Bobby Cannavale, and Dustin Hoffman. Robert Downey Jr. also makes a special appearance. Jon Favreau wrote the script because he wanted to make a smaller, more personal film about cooking after working on many big-budget movies.

A real food truck owner and chef named Roy Choi helped with the film. He made sure all the food looked amazing and oversaw the menus. The movie was filmed in July 2013 in cities like Los Angeles, Miami, Austin, and New Orleans. Chef was first shown at the South by Southwest festival on March 7, 2014. It was released in theaters on May 9, 2014, and critics really liked it. The movie earned $46 million, which was much more than its $11 million budget.

The Story of Chef

Carl's Restaurant Troubles

The movie starts with Carl Casper, a talented head chef at a restaurant called Gauloises in Los Angeles. He loves being creative with his food, and his kitchen team and hostess Molly really like him. However, Carl often disagrees with the restaurant's owner, Riva. Riva wants Carl to stick to classic dishes, but Carl wants to try new, exciting ones. Carl also has a difficult relationship with his son, Percy, who is very good with technology, and his ex-wife, Inez.

One day, a famous food critic and blogger named Ramsey Michel comes to the restaurant. At the last minute, Riva makes Carl cook his old, classic dishes instead of the new ones he prepared. This leads to Ramsey writing a very bad review. Carl gets angry and insults Ramsey on Twitter, not realizing that everyone can see his message. This makes Carl's tweet go viral, and he gains many followers online.

Carl tries to make a new menu that his staff loves and invites Ramsey back for a "rematch." But Riva still insists on the old menu, so Carl leaves the restaurant. At home, Carl cooks the amazing new menu he wanted to serve. Meanwhile, his assistant chef, Tony, serves Ramsey the same old dishes from his first visit. Ramsey tweets more negative things about Carl, which makes Carl go back to the restaurant and confront him. Videos of Carl's angry outburst quickly spread online, making him feel embarrassed and unable to find another job.

A Fresh Start: The Food Truck

Carl reluctantly goes with Inez and Percy to Miami. There, he rediscovers his love for Cuban cuisine. Inez encourages him, and her ex-husband, Marvin, offers Carl an old, rundown food truck. Carl and Percy start to bond while fixing up the truck and buying groceries. Carl even gives Percy a special chef's knife. Martin, Carl's friend and former cook, decides to leave his promotion at the restaurant to join Carl. This makes Carl excited about cooking again.

A Journey of Food and Family

Carl, Martin, and Percy begin their journey, driving the food truck across the country to Los Angeles. They sell delicious Cuban sandwiches and yuca fries. Percy helps promote their food truck on social media, which helps them become very popular. They find great success in cities like New Orleans and Austin. In these cities, they add special daily dishes like po' boys, beignets, and barbecued brisket, all made with fresh local ingredients.

Success and New Beginnings

When they finally return to Los Angeles, Carl's relationship with Percy is much stronger. Carl is happy to have his son continue helping with the food truck, and Inez also joins them. Ramsey, the food critic, visits the truck. He explains that his bad review was because he was a fan of Carl's early work and was disappointed by a meal he felt wasn't Carl's best. Impressed by Carl's renewed passion for cooking, Ramsey offers to help Carl open a new restaurant where Carl can cook whatever he wants.

Six months later, the new restaurant is very successful. It's closed for a special private event: Carl and Inez's remarriage ceremony!

Meet the Cast

• Jon Favreau as Carl Casper, the main chef
• Emjay Anthony as Percy Casper, Carl's son
• John Leguizamo as Martin, Carl's friend and fellow cook
• Sofía Vergara as Inez Casper, Carl's ex-wife
• Bobby Cannavale as Tony, Carl's sous-chef
• Scarlett Johansson as Molly, the restaurant hostess
• Oliver Platt as Ramsey Michel, the food critic
• Dustin Hoffman as Riva, the restaurant owner
• Amy Sedaris as Jen
• Robert Downey Jr. as Marvin, Inez's ex-husband
• Russell Peters as a Miami cop

Some real-life people also made special appearances, like musician Gary Clark Jr. and Franklin Barbecue owner Aaron Franklin.

How the Movie Was Made

Jon Favreau wrote, directed, and starred in Chef.

The Idea Behind Chef

Jon Favreau, who wrote, directed, and starred in Chef, wrote the script very quickly, in about two weeks! He had always wanted to make a movie about food and chefs. He felt that this story would be perfect for a smaller, independent film instead of a huge movie with a big budget. He was inspired by other food-focused movies like Jiro Dreams of Sushi and Big Night.

The story of Chef was partly based on Jon Favreau's own life. He included parts of his experiences as a busy father and coming from a "broken home" into Carl's character. Favreau also compared his own career as a director to Carl's journey as a chef. He decided to step away from directing big studio movies to go "back to basics" with Chef, much like Carl leaving a fancy restaurant to work in a food truck.

Favreau reached out to Roy Choi, a famous chef who created the Kogi Korean BBQ food truck. Roy Choi became a consultant for the film and later a co-producer. Before filming, Jon Favreau spent time with Roy Choi in his restaurants and even worked in his kitchen after training at a culinary school. Roy Choi made sure all the food prepared for the movie looked real and delicious, and he created the amazing Cuban sandwiches that are so important in the story.

Getting Ready to Film

Besides Jon Favreau, the first actors to join the movie were Sofía Vergara, John Leguizamo, and Bobby Cannavale. To get ready for his role as Martin, the line cook, John Leguizamo actually spent time working as a real cook in a restaurant! In May 2013, it was announced that Robert Downey Jr., whom Favreau had directed in two Iron Man movies, would also be in the cast. Scarlett Johansson and Dustin Hoffman joined later that month. Favreau felt that having such a great cast was one of the movie's biggest strengths. He was especially impressed by Emjay Anthony, who was only ten years old during filming.

Filming Across America

Scenes in Miami were filmed at the Fontainebleau Hotel (left) and the Versailles restaurant (right).

Filming for Chef started in July 2013 in Los Angeles. Then, the crew traveled to Miami, Austin, and New Orleans. Jon Favreau chose these cities because they all have a "rich food and music culture," which fit perfectly with the movie's story.

In Miami, they filmed at famous places like the Versailles restaurant, the Fontainebleau Hotel, and the Cuban restaurant Hoy Como Ayer. In New Orleans, some scenes were shot at Café du Monde in the city's French Quarter. In Austin, filming took place at Franklin Barbecue and Guero's. The scene where they buy kitchen supplies was filmed in Los Angeles at Charlie's Fixtures. After filming, the cast and crew got to eat all the delicious food that was prepared for the movie! Much of the talking in the food truck scenes between Favreau, John Leguizamo, and Emjay Anthony was made up on the spot. This helped make the conversations feel natural, like real kitchen banter.

The Music of Chef

The soundtrack for Chef was released on May 6, 2014. The music is a mix of Latin jazz, New Orleans jazz, and blues. These different styles of music match the journey of the food truck as it travels through Miami, New Orleans, and Austin. The film's music was chosen by Mathieu Schreyer, and additional music was composed by Lyle Workman.

When Chef Came Out

Chef first premiered on March 7, 2014, at the South by Southwest festival. Jon Favreau, John Leguizamo, Emjay Anthony, and Oliver Platt were all there. It was also shown at the Tribeca Film Festival in April. The movie was officially released in theaters on May 9, 2014. It started in a few theaters and then expanded to many more. By November 2, 2014, it had earned $31.4 million in the United States. Outside of the U.S., Chef did very well in Australia, the United Kingdom, Spain, and Mexico, earning almost $15 million in other countries.

More Chef Adventures

In 2019, Jon Favreau and Roy Choi created a cooking show for Netflix called The Chef Show. In this show, they try out their favorite recipes and cooking techniques. They also cook with famous people from the entertainment and food worlds. A second season of the show was released in 2020.

Chef Around the World

In 2017, the movie Chef was remade into an Indian comedy-drama. This new version was also called Chef and was directed by Raja Krishna Menon. It starred Saif Ali Khan and Padmapriya Janakiraman in the main roles.

See also

In Spanish: Chef (película) para niños