I have a vested interest in this culinary line of work. Leave it to Hollywood to sap away its allure, all too often between this and drivel like 2021's Boiling Point. Chef is way too formulaic and frequently heavy-handed to be all that enjoyable of a plebeian chef's career study. Favreau has to go and shoehorn things in like a beyond cliched subplot with Dustin Hoffman (bleating lousy dialogue) as a blowhard, risk-averse restauranteur that leads to his own main character being fired and it bogs everything down for the worse. The Latino presence is also needless, token and off-putting, I bet nobody was remotely counting against Puente's Oye Como Va to turn up. And then there's Scarlett Johanssen slumming it up again in a tacked-on part. Favreau shows the right amount of spirit and zest in the lead role, he should have settled for a far better final cut screenplay. Could have used far more cooking or at least more easygoing inspired moments such as when Carl and his pals are karaokeing to Marvin Gaye's renowned Sexual Healing. 5.5/10