By Karan Dholakia

Favreau once again pulls quadruple duty in the form of Director, Co-Producer, Writer and Actor in this fantastic cinematic culinary pleasure.

Jon Favreau had been trained by professional chef, Roy Choi in order to prepare for this role which made his role as Carl Casper was a remarkably convincing chef, and gave the film legitimacy and made the audience invest in the character.

Favreau plays Carl Casper, a head chef in a restaurant under the management of Riva, played by Dustin Hoffman. Casper is a famous chef who has an opportunity to prove his talents as a chef when a famous food critic, Ramsey Michel (played by Oliver Platt) makes an appearance at his restaurant.

Casper decides he wants to produce a special menu; a menu that is very different to the traditional food that is otherwise served at this establishment- but Riva, much to Carl's chagrin, cockblocks his innovative idea which causes Casper to quit his job.

The opening scenes which take place in the restaurant are a wonderful, yet hilarious reflection on todays older generation and their inept ability to use technology. Favreau, understands how to communicate this through his amusing performance during the scenes where he's attempting to use Twitter during his flame-war with Michel. The irony here is that Favreau, in reality, is actually quite in tune with the social media of the interwebs.

It's when Favreau and Co. Begin their journey on the El Jefe food truck, that the film begins to pick up.

The occasional pop-up by Sofia Vergara gave the film the needed female presence it was lacking amongst the kielbasa, though ultimately, her presence wasn't the most powerful as all she provided was a subtle comic relief along with that infamous voice of hers.

Emjay Anthony, playing Percy, Casper's son, was a truly wonderful sight to see. His oft-neglected disposition injected some depth into the young star's character, strengthening the chemistry Favreau and Anthony had.

If food, culture, Robert Downey Jr and Jon Favreau are your things, then take a look at this film. Relish every moment. The clichéd "Dad's never there" and the "You should spend more time with you son" moments aside, Chef is still a hearty film providing 115 minutes of laughs and warm hearted scenes.

6.5/10