I particularly liked this film because it defied stereotypes—that women can’t be fantastic professional chefs, and a German woman in a country not known for their gastronomy doing fine dining… better yet, falling in love with an Italian chef.
I will refrain from writing a synopsis of the film because there’s so much more to this film, the food scenes, the factual information and the little nuances, pickled with a difficult and subsequent blooming romance. On the flip side, the Italian stereotype is in full force at play in this German movie, which is perfect to give that serious Germanness a little bit of romance.
The dialogue is thoughtful, the food scenes a cinematic spread. In one scene, upon learning her sister’s death, she contemplates a lobster’s death and how they eat themselves out when kept in the tank for too long and how throwing them into boiling pots of water (which people do often) is the most painful way to die.
