2014 Tribeca Film Festival: Chef

I don’t really like saying I’m a “foodie.” It’s almost as if I were to say I’m a “breathie” or a “sleepie” but it’s a word that sticks around and apparently does not get that red line under it as breathie and sleepie get in word. So congrats foodie, you’ve made it to the big leagues.

So I really wouldn’t be exaggerating here when I say that Jon Favreau’s latest film Chef is food porn. Seriously, your mouth will be watering by the time you sit down, let alone when the movie’s finished. Chef is written, directed and produced by Favreau, who also acts as the lead character, Carl Casper, an amazing chef who just wants to cook.

The film centers on Casper bringing his food to everyone on the street with his sous chef (John Leguizamo) and son (Emjay Anthony). Why isn’t such a renowned chef in a restaurant you ask? Why is his son on the truck with him? Isn’t that dangerous/illegal? Well, you ask too many questions. But, Casper wanted room to grow in his LA restaurant, owned by Riva (Dustin Hoffman), and was denied this on top of losing job prospects due to his social media attack on food critic Ramsey Michel (Oliver Platt). And with his love of cooking steering the way for him, he takes on the food truck business and delivers food while getting closer to his son and friends.

Accompanying Favreau in this indie food film include the likes of Sofia Vergara, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Amy Sedaris, Bobby Cannavale, and more. The film even won the Heineken Audience Award for Best Narrative Film, in which audiences were given the chance to vote on which films they enjoyed the most and Chef came out on top, and the award was accepted by Cannavale.

According to the Tribeca website, Favreau stated, “I am so grateful just to be a part of this prestigious festival and to be recognized and honored by the audience of my hometown is truly humbling,” and that he would be donating his $25,000 prize to City Harvest, in keeping with the food theme and helping feed the homeless.

The making of the film sounds just as fun as the film itself. Trained by Roy Choi, an award winning chef who is noted as one of the founders of food trucks, Favreau does his own cooking in the film. The famous El Jefe food trucks used in the film were so popular that Favreu and Choi even decided to open a few pop up restaurants in LA and are considering making them permanent. And you stay for a cool scene after the credits when Choi teaches Favreau how to make a grilled cheese sandwich to perfection.

You can check out our interviews with Favreau and Anthony below and don’t forget to watch the trailer.

Emjay Anthony:

Jon Favreau:

Trailer:

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