Recorded on 6/3/202110

In this episode we review the movie Chef (2014) starring Jon Favreau, Bobby Cannavale, Sofía Vergara, John Leguizamo, Scarlett Johansson, Dustin Hoffman and Oliver Platt. WARNING: There will be SPOILERS..

The 3 Guys Podcast

  • Quick Synopsis

  • Released: May 9, 2014 (United States)

    Director:  Jon Favreau

    Screenplay:  Jon Favreau

    Stars:  Jon Favreau (Carl Casper), Emjay Anthony (Percy Casper), John Leguizamo (Martin), Sofía Vergara (Inez), Bobby Cannavale (Tony), Scarlett Johansson (Molly), Oliver Platt (Ramsey Michel), Dustin Hoffman (Riva), Amy Sedaris (Jen), Robert Downey Jr. (Marvin), Russell Peters (Miami cop)

    Plot:
    A head chef quits his restaurant job and buys a food truck in an effort to reclaim his creative freedom, while piecing back together his estranged family.  

    How did this movie do:
    Budget: $11 million
    Box office: $48 million

  • Food Truck

    • To get a permit to operate a food truck in multiple states takes awhile

    • S. Department of Labor: “Children under 14 years of age may not be employed in non-agricultural occupations covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), including food service establishments.”

    • Most states require food trucks to cook and store their food outside of a food truck at a commercial kitchen.
  • Spin-Off

  • Chef Reality Show on Netflix (2019) – 4 Seasons

    Writer, director and food enthusiast Jon Favreau and chef Roy Choi explore food in and out of the kitchen with accomplished chefs and celebrity friends. Starring: Jon Favreau, Roy Choi

  • Trivia

    • Promotional events centering on the fictional Cubano-serving El Jefe proved to be so popular, that Favreau and Los Angeles-based chef Roy Choi, who consulted on the film, have opened a series of pop-up restaurants and announced that they are thinking about making the track permanent.

    • Jon Favreau did his own cooking by training with food truck chef Roy Choi. Choi sent Favreau to a week of intensive French culinary schooling, where Favreau sharpened his knife skills and learned how to make sauces. “I brought him into the kitchen, and he just kind of fit in”, Choi recalls. “I threw him a couple of tests, like a case of chives, or a case of onions, or peel two cases of avocados. Just to see where his mind and his situation and his abilities were and how interested he was in these things. He just attacked them. He really became a part of it.”

    • Oliver Platt’s brother is a prominent food critic in the New York City metropolitan area and has invited Oliver on some of his restaurant visits.

    • The BBQ place in the movie is Franklin’s BBQ in Austin, Texas, which regularly sells out before noon and has long lines of customers waiting to get in.

    • Roy Choi only agreed to train Jon Favreau to cook, if Favreau promised to be absolutely authentic in his portrayal of a professional chef, from the way that his character Carl folds the towels at the beginning of the film, to the way in which he cleans his station.

    • Towards the film’s ending, the El Jefe truck is seen at a nighttime food truck event, along with many of Los Angeles’ most popular food trucks. This is an actual event in Venice called “First Fridays”. For a brief moment, you can see Chef Roy Choi’s Kogi truck, the food truck that started a gourmet food truck craze in the United States.

    • The short scene with Carl (Jon Favreau) and Percy (Emjay Anthony) in the cinema features the audio from Iron Man’s repulsor rays, as a nod to Favreau’s previous work with the Iron Man films.

    • Ramsey Michel (Oliver Platt) is likely named for two world famous chefs: Gordon Ramsay and Michel Roux Jr. Both chefs have owned restaurants that have earned three Michelin stars.

    • Aaron Franklin, from Franklin BBQ in Austin, Texas, appears in the movie. He has been awarded a James Beard Award in the category of Best Chef: Southwest.

    • While cooking in Austin, Carl tells Percy his phone is ringing, and Percy responds with “heard.” Cooks and other kitchen staff often respond with “heard” while working as a way to acknowledge instructions and information.

    • First non-Iron Man collaboration between writer and director Jon Favreau and Robert Downey Jr.

    • The video Percy (Emjay Anthony) watches on his iPad is Freddie Wong’s Medal of Honor Cat. This is a tribute to Jon Favreau and RocketJump studio’s previous partnership during the filming of Cowboys & Aliens (2011).

    • When Carl (Jon Favreau) and Percy (Emjay Anthony) go to the movies, they are watching Iron Man (2008). Jon Favreau directed and appeared in that movie.

    • Many critics have viewed this film as an allegory to Jon Favreau’s career as a director, by going back to his independent film roots, allowing him freedom to make his own decisions after his time working under the close and demanding eye of Marvel Studios, and after the comic book film adaptation, Cowboys & Aliens (2011) was a slight box-office failure. However, Favreau has denied the comparison.

    • Jon Favreau does not have tattoos in real life. However, many chefs (including Roy Choi, the chef who trained Favreau for the movie) get tattoos as a way of demonstrating their commitment to their cooking craft, so Favreau had some temporarily applied for the sake of authenticity.

    • Martin is shown making Cubano sandwiches in one afternoon. The entire marinating process, not even counting prep or cooking, for Cubanos takes at least 14 hours.

    • Inspired by the comedy-drama The Van (1996).

    • There are five cast members who previously appeared in Marvel-based films. Jon Favreau appeared in Daredevil (2003) opposite Ben Affleck, and went on to portray “Happy” Hogan in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Robert Downey Jr. appeared as Tony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man, and Scarlett Johansson appeared as Black Widow in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Oliver Platt appeared as a C.I.A. agent in X-Men: First Class (2011), and Bobby Cannavale appeared as Paxton in Ant-Man (2015).

    • Sofía Vergara and John Leguizamo were born in Colombia.

Released: May 9, 2014 (United States)

Director:  Jon Favreau

Screenplay:  Jon Favreau

Stars:  Jon Favreau (Carl Casper), Emjay Anthony (Percy Casper), John Leguizamo (Martin), Sofía Vergara (Inez), Bobby Cannavale (Tony), Scarlett Johansson (Molly), Oliver Platt (Ramsey Michel), Dustin Hoffman (Riva), Amy Sedaris (Jen), Robert Downey Jr. (Marvin), Russell Peters (Miami cop)

Plot:
A head chef quits his restaurant job and buys a food truck in an effort to reclaim his creative freedom, while piecing back together his estranged family.  

How did this movie do:
Budget: $11 million
Box office: $48 million

  • To get a permit to operate a food truck in multiple states takes awhile

  • S. Department of Labor: “Children under 14 years of age may not be employed in non-agricultural occupations covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), including food service establishments.”

  • Most states require food trucks to cook and store their food outside of a food truck at a commercial kitchen.

Chef Reality Show on Netflix (2019) – 4 Seasons

Writer, director and food enthusiast Jon Favreau and chef Roy Choi explore food in and out of the kitchen with accomplished chefs and celebrity friends. Starring: Jon Favreau, Roy Choi

  • Promotional events centering on the fictional Cubano-serving El Jefe proved to be so popular, that Favreau and Los Angeles-based chef Roy Choi, who consulted on the film, have opened a series of pop-up restaurants and announced that they are thinking about making the track permanent.

  • Jon Favreau did his own cooking by training with food truck chef Roy Choi. Choi sent Favreau to a week of intensive French culinary schooling, where Favreau sharpened his knife skills and learned how to make sauces. “I brought him into the kitchen, and he just kind of fit in”, Choi recalls. “I threw him a couple of tests, like a case of chives, or a case of onions, or peel two cases of avocados. Just to see where his mind and his situation and his abilities were and how interested he was in these things. He just attacked them. He really became a part of it.”

  • Oliver Platt’s brother is a prominent food critic in the New York City metropolitan area and has invited Oliver on some of his restaurant visits.

  • The BBQ place in the movie is Franklin’s BBQ in Austin, Texas, which regularly sells out before noon and has long lines of customers waiting to get in.

  • Roy Choi only agreed to train Jon Favreau to cook, if Favreau promised to be absolutely authentic in his portrayal of a professional chef, from the way that his character Carl folds the towels at the beginning of the film, to the way in which he cleans his station.

  • Towards the film’s ending, the El Jefe truck is seen at a nighttime food truck event, along with many of Los Angeles’ most popular food trucks. This is an actual event in Venice called “First Fridays”. For a brief moment, you can see Chef Roy Choi’s Kogi truck, the food truck that started a gourmet food truck craze in the United States.

  • The short scene with Carl (Jon Favreau) and Percy (Emjay Anthony) in the cinema features the audio from Iron Man’s repulsor rays, as a nod to Favreau’s previous work with the Iron Man films.

  • Ramsey Michel (Oliver Platt) is likely named for two world famous chefs: Gordon Ramsay and Michel Roux Jr. Both chefs have owned restaurants that have earned three Michelin stars.

  • Aaron Franklin, from Franklin BBQ in Austin, Texas, appears in the movie. He has been awarded a James Beard Award in the category of Best Chef: Southwest.

  • While cooking in Austin, Carl tells Percy his phone is ringing, and Percy responds with “heard.” Cooks and other kitchen staff often respond with “heard” while working as a way to acknowledge instructions and information.

  • First non-Iron Man collaboration between writer and director Jon Favreau and Robert Downey Jr.

  • The video Percy (Emjay Anthony) watches on his iPad is Freddie Wong’s Medal of Honor Cat. This is a tribute to Jon Favreau and RocketJump studio’s previous partnership during the filming of Cowboys & Aliens (2011).

  • When Carl (Jon Favreau) and Percy (Emjay Anthony) go to the movies, they are watching Iron Man (2008). Jon Favreau directed and appeared in that movie.

  • Many critics have viewed this film as an allegory to Jon Favreau’s career as a director, by going back to his independent film roots, allowing him freedom to make his own decisions after his time working under the close and demanding eye of Marvel Studios, and after the comic book film adaptation, Cowboys & Aliens (2011) was a slight box-office failure. However, Favreau has denied the comparison.

  • Jon Favreau does not have tattoos in real life. However, many chefs (including Roy Choi, the chef who trained Favreau for the movie) get tattoos as a way of demonstrating their commitment to their cooking craft, so Favreau had some temporarily applied for the sake of authenticity.

  • Martin is shown making Cubano sandwiches in one afternoon. The entire marinating process, not even counting prep or cooking, for Cubanos takes at least 14 hours.

  • Inspired by the comedy-drama The Van (1996).

  • There are five cast members who previously appeared in Marvel-based films. Jon Favreau appeared in Daredevil (2003) opposite Ben Affleck, and went on to portray “Happy” Hogan in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Robert Downey Jr. appeared as Tony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man, and Scarlett Johansson appeared as Black Widow in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Oliver Platt appeared as a C.I.A. agent in X-Men: First Class (2011), and Bobby Cannavale appeared as Paxton in Ant-Man (2015).

  • Sofía Vergara and John Leguizamo were born in Colombia.

The 3 Guys Rating

3.25/5

About The Movie From IMDB

Chef (2014) Adventure, Comedy, Drama | 114min | May 30, 2014 (United States) 7.3
Director: Jon FavreauWriter: Jon FavreauStars: Jon Favreau, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett JohanssonSummary: Carl Casper is an acclaimed chef with a family life that seems as decaying as his artistic freedom. Those frustrations boil over into a raucous viral-videoed public confrontation against a restaurant critic who panned his cooking of food that his boss ordered him to make against his instincts. Now with his career ruined, Carl's ex-wife offers an unorthodox solution in Miami: refit an old food truck to offer quality cooking on his own terms. Now with his young son, Percy, and old colleague, Martin, helping, Carl takes a working trip across America with that truck to rediscover his gastronomic passion. With Percy's tech savvy and Martin's enthusiasm, Carl finds that he is creating a traveling sensation on the way home. In doing so, Carl discovers he is serving up more than simply food, but also a deeper connection with his life and his family that is truly delicious in its own way. —Kenneth Chisholm (kchishol@rogers.com)

Photos


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Videos


See all videos >>

Cast

...
Carl Casperas Carl Casper
...
Marvinas Marvin
...
Mollyas Molly
...
Rivaas Riva
...
Martinas Martin
...
Tonyas Tony
...
Percyas Percy
...
Inezas Inez
...
Ramsey Michelas Ramsey Michel
...
Jenas Jen
...
Miami Copas Miami Cop
...
Vendoras Vendor
...
Mr. Bonetanglesas Mr. Bonetangles
...
Floraas Flora
...
Abuelitoas Abuelito
...
Band Memberas Band Member
...
Band Memberas Band Member
...
Band Memberas Band Member

See full cast >>

Countries: United StatesLanguages: English, SpanishBudget: $11,000,000 (estimated)

Quotes From The Movie

Chef (2014) 114min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama | May 30, 2014 (United States) Summary:
Countries: United StatesLanguages: English, Spanish

Quotes

Carl Casper: I may not do everything great in my life, but I'm good at this. I manage to touch people's lives with what I do and I want to share this with you.

[trailer abridged version]


Martin: Here you go, little man.

[hands Percy a bottle of beer]

Percy: Are you sure? Is this beer?

Martin: No, of course not, I would never hand you beer. That's *cerveza*.

Percy: I'm 10, I can't have beer.

Martin: You're not 10! You're kitchen staff, kitchen staff doesn't have an age.

Percy: Dad?

Carl Casper: You can have a sip.

[Percy takes a sip from the bottle and makes a disgusted face]

Carl Casper: Huh? Like piss, right?

Percy: Worse!

Carl Casper: You remember that when your friends offer you a beer.


Riva: Look, if you bought Stones tickets and Jagger didn't play Satisfaction, how would you feel? Would you be happy?

Carl Casper: No.

Riva: No! You'd burn the place to the fucking ground.


Percy: Where are we?

Inez: This is Little Havana.

Percy: Like in Grand Theft Auto?


Carl Casper: I'm like a cat playing a piano.


[last lines]

Ramsey Michel: I just thought you and me bury-the-hatchet would be a good story. Reservations out the door. More importantly, you know, you just cook your ass off. In the meantime, you just tweet me where ever you are, and I'll come running. All right? 'Cause this shit's good. Delicious. Delicoso. Mucho goodo...

[walks away]

Martin: Hey hemet, that was a lot of talkin' and you not punching him. So what did the asshole say, huh?

Carl Casper: I think that asshole might be our new partner!


Percy: [sets up a Twitter account for Carl] Okay. So, what do you want your username to be?

Carl Casper: Carl.

Percy: You can't just put "Carl". It's got to be "at" something.

Carl Casper: At Carl Casper.

Percy: At Carl Casper. Taken.

Carl Casper: Somebody took my name?

Percy: At Chef Carl Casper? Is that cool?

Carl Casper: Yeah, that's good.

Percy: At Chef Carl Casper.

Carl Casper: So is this for sex?

Percy: Ew. No. Is that what you're doing this for?

Carl Casper: No, I'm not doing it for that. Someone wrote something bad. I wanna see what they wrote.

Percy: Good. Oh, shit.

Carl Casper: Hey! You can't talk like that. I don't care if mommy's not around. I don't want you cursing around here.

Percy: That review went viral.

Carl Casper: What does that mean?

Percy: It means it got picked up and re-tweeted everywhere.

Carl Casper: So, all these people have read the review?

Percy: Yeah.

Carl Casper: Oh, shit.


Percy: Dad?

Carl Casper: Yeah.

Percy: You got 1,653 followers since last night.

Carl Casper: Oh, is that good?

Percy: It's amazing.

Carl Casper: Oh, good. What does it mean?

Percy: It means that 1,653 people are reading your Twitter feed.

Carl Casper: Mmm-hmm. I thought it was like texting.

Percy: Did you post anything since last night?

Carl Casper: No.

Percy: Are you sure?

Carl Casper: Yeah, I just sent a private message to somebody.

Percy: To who?

Carl Casper: To that a-hole food critic.

Percy: You can only send private messages to people who are following you. I think you might have posted that publicly.

Carl Casper: No, he wrote something nasty about me and then I hit "reply" and it let me send a message to him.

Percy: Dad, replies are public. Everybody can read them. And it looks like he re-tweeted it to all his 123,845 followers. And he wrote back.

Carl Casper: What did he say?

Percy: I don't think I should read it.

Carl Casper: Just... can you read it to me, please? Read the... read the reply.

Percy: [sighs] "At Chef Carl Casper, I would rather have you sit on my face after a brisk walk on a warm day than suffer through that fucking lava cake again."

Carl Casper: He wrote that to me?

Percy: He wrote it to everybody.


Tony: You're trending bro.


Ramsey Michel: You started a flame-war with *me*. Are you kidding me, I buy ink by the barrel, buddy. What are you doing picking a fight with me? I wouldn't challenge you to a cook-off.


Carl Casper: [passing around the corn starch] Want some? Here, it's like baby powder. Cool your nuts... It's nice, right?

Percy: Nice.

Carl Casper: What's good is, in the morning, you can dip your nuts in oil and make hush puppies.


Percy: What are you doing?

Martin: Dude, I'm putting a little corn starch on my huevos, man. It's a little too humid down here.

Percy: Dad, wake up. Martin's putting corn starch on his balls.

Carl Casper: [passes the corn starch] Want some? Here, it's like baby powder. Cool your nuts... It's nice, right?

Percy: Nice.

Carl Casper: What's good is, in the morning, you can dip your nuts in oil and make hush puppies.


Carl Casper: [excitedly reading Ramsey Michel's review] "Gauloises: Eager to Please. Ten years ago, I had the good fortune to dine at Chef Casper's revelatory Miami bistro, Marrow. The sheer audacity of this fresh, brave voice of the culinary scene reminded me why I write about food as a vocation. It is nearly impossible to separate my glowing regard for Chef Casper and how much he inspired me from my expectations as I sat down to dine at the recently remodeled Brentwood Gallic staple, Gauloises. Oh, how times have changed."

[not so enthused]

Carl Casper: "Over the last decade, Carl Casper has somehow managed to transform himself from the edgiest chef in Miami to the needy aunt that gives you five dollars every time you see her in hopes that you will like her, but instead causes you to shrink from her cloying embrace which threatens to smother you in her saggy, moist cleavage. The signature app, intended to impress the country club brunch crowd, is the caviar egg. A shirred egg topped with a dollop of caviar is an excuse for the chef to overcharge us for his insecurity and lack of imagination. Carl Casper can be best summed up by the first bite of his needy, and yet, by some miracle, also irrelevant chocolate lava cake. Casper didn't even have the courage to undercook the cake, thus curiously lacking its signature molten center. This sad dessert is emblematic of Carl Casper's disappointing new chapter. His dramatic... weight gain can only be explained by the fact that he must be eating all the... food sent back to the kitchen. Two stars."


Carl Casper: I just wanna say one thing. I just wanna say one thing. Just one thing.

Riva: Let's go to the kitchen.

Carl Casper: Stop it. Stop it for a second!

Riva: Let's just...

Carl Casper: I have been waiting to talk to this prick for a long time.

Riva: Ok.

Carl Casper: [Talking to Ramsey Michel] I am not cloying. I am not needy. I don't care what you think. You're not getting to me. I'm not needy! Chocolate lava cake is not just undercooked chocolate cake. That's not what makes the center molten. You take a frozen cylinder of ganache and set it in the ramekin so that as the outside cooks fully, the inside becomes molten!

Riva: Ok, Ok.

Carl Casper: [Carl Casper grabs and crushes a chocolate lava cake to show the center] It's molten, see? It's fucking molten, you asshole! And you don't do anything. What do you do? You sit and you eat and you vomit those words back. To make people laugh. You know how hard I work for this shit? Do you know how hard my whole staff works? What sacrifices I make to make you happy and then you just smugly just fucking shit on my shit?

Riva: Ok.

Carl Casper: It hurts.

Riva: Yes.

Carl Casper: It fucking hurts when you write that shit! It hurt you

[talking to Riva]

Carl Casper: .

Riva: It does. It does.

Carl Casper: He was... he thought you were going to close his fucking restaurant down! You asshole! And what do you do? You just write shit to... you just make shit up! It was molten! It's fucking molten! Asshole! You're not getting to me.

Riva: Ok, ok.

Carl Casper: You're not getting to me!

Riva: Ok, Carl.

Carl Casper: He's not getting to me!

Riva: No, he's not.


Martin: Whose Bacon is this?

Martin: Huh?

Martin: I gotta watch this too?

Martin: When I found out you better grab your ankles! Cuz here comes Papi Chulo


Martin: Fuck Twitter. Come on, get out of here.

Carl Casper: Why should I fuck Twitter?


Tony: Chef Big Dog up all night cooking!


Carl Casper: Why should I fuck Twitter?

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