A Chef in Love is an ebullient and entertaining film about a free spirit whose creative expressions of cooking and love are prodigious. In the 1920s Pascal Ichac (Pierre Richard), a globe-trotting chef on the lookout for new tastes and physical pleasures, meets Princess Cecilia Abachidze (Nino Kirtadze). He woos and wins her heart with his cuisine and sexual passion despite the fact that he is 30 years her senior. Then, thanks to his phenomenal sense of smell, he saves the President of Georgia from a bomb. When Pascal opens the New Eldorado, his dream restaurant, the head of state is there for the festivities.
However, the chef's easy ride to the top is waylaid by the Russian Revolution. Zigmund Gogoladze (Teimour Kahmhadze), a young officer, forces Cecilia to marry him and takes over her home. Pascal is banned from the New Eldorado and exiled to the building's attic. Even in these diminished circumstances, he survives by writing a cookbook which will become famous around the world. Years later, Cecilia's son learns that his real father was Pascal, not Zigmund.
Georgian director Nana Djordjadze's A Chef in Love is a robust romantic film that celebrates the firepower of creativity, sensual passion, and the pleasures of the palate. Pierre Richard gives a near perfect performance as Pascal, a connoisseur of food, festivity, and the spiritual practice of play.