First, Chef could be described in several ways: It could be what Imdb says (“chef who loses his restaurant job starts up a food truck in an effort to reclaim his creative promise, while piecing back together his estranged family”), but that is truly misleading and inadequate. Or, it could be described as a Twitter placement commercial, and that might be semi-accurate, but would diminish the comedy aspect of Twitter’s actual role. Possibly as a family or fatherhood redemption comedy; one with a moral. Or even a road movie.

All of these would be wrong. This is a FOODIE movie and a darn good one. Think Tom Jones. Think Babette’s Feast. Think Big Night. All foodie comedies. Or even Sideways (technically a wine comedy).

This is Jon Favreau's paean to wonderful food, no matter the cuisine, no matter the sponsoring establishment (i.e., the restaurant’s owner), and no matter how mean-spirited a reviewer might be.

Favreau has multiple roles in this movie. He is its writer, its director, its producer (with others) and its star. (Honestly, though, the star of the movie is Emjay Anthony, an 11-year old boy who plays the chef’s son.)

This movie is laugh-out-loud funny. At the same time it is far from silly. It can be faulted for having a predictable and limited story line. But is mainly a visual feast. If you leave this movie without wanting a Cubano sandwich from a food truck, you have no taste for food. And that’s not even mentioning the fine dining or the Texas barbecued brisket or the beignets from the Café du Monde.

Ahh…the cast. Favreau draws upon his cadre of actors, often seen in his Iron Man films, to round out his story. These include Robert Downey, Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Bobby Cannevale, John Leguizamo (flat out terrific) as well as Sofia Vergara, Dustin Hoffman and Oliver Pratt. These actors must love Favreau for they have all taken secondary roles here. It is of course, Favreau’s movie; he is excellent in the role he created.

The film is R for mild language. I rate it DAMN FUNNY.

I know the movie has been out for a few weeks. Go see it. Enjoy the food!