I’ve been lucky enough to talk with some of the biggest names in Hollywood, but this one really hit home. I recently sat down with Jon Favreau to talk about his film Chef, and let me tell you—this wasn’t just a movie. It was a passion project that reached into Jon’s soul… and pulled out Grandma’s lasagna.
I kicked things off with a morbid question: “What would your last meal be?” Without hesitation, Jon dug deep into his roots, reminiscing about his grandmother’s lasagna—something he hasn’t tasted in over a decade since her passing. He told me that food is about memory, about connection. Her lasagna wasn’t just pasta and cheese—it was Christmas Eve, it was Easter dinner, it was the feeling of being surrounded by family in the Bronx.
And that’s what Chef is all about.
Favreau shared that the inspiration behind the film didn’t come from studio meetings or box office formulas. It came from something very personal—his own journey through career, creativity, fatherhood, and reconnection. In Chef, he plays Carl Casper, a once-celebrated chef who’s lost his spark. After a public meltdown and career implosion, Carl hits the road in a food truck with his young son. What begins as a professional reset becomes a powerful story about rediscovering passion—and rebuilding a father-son relationship along the way.
We laughed about the magic of movies too. Jon has some serious knife skills on-screen, but even he admits to using a bit of “movie magic” to get those rapid-fire slices just right. “Iron Man can’t really fly either,” he joked. But he did train hard, working with legendary food truck pioneer Roy Choi to make sure everything—from the kitchen setup to the food prep—was 100% authentic.
And yes, the man can cook. Maybe not Gordon Ramsay-level knife work, but enough to impress food bloggers when he appeared on The Chew.
What struck me most was how fast this film came together. Jon wrote the first draft in a matter of weeks. “I hadn’t written something this way since Swingers,” he said. “It just flowed.” But don’t let that speed fool you—he’d been thinking about this story for a long time. It had been bubbling beneath the surface, waiting for the right moment to boil over.
Underneath the sizzling food montages and road trip vibes, Chef is about something deeper. “At its core,” Favreau said, “it’s a dad reconnecting with his son.” He even compared it to Kramer vs. Kramer, pointing out that food becomes a bridge—a way for a flawed man to show love, to grow, and to find his way back to what matters most.
That’s just part one of our conversation, and already I’m hungry—not just for food, but for more stories like this. Stay tuned for part two where we dig even deeper into the flavors and filmmaking behind Chef.
Until then—keep watching great movies. And maybe call your grandma!