The life of a top chef changes when she becomes the guardian of her young niece.
A master chef, Kate, lives her life like she runs the kitchen at upscale 22 Bleecker Restaurant in Manhattan--with a no-nonsense intensity that both captivates and intimidates everyone around her. With breathtaking precision, she powers through each hectic shift, coordinating hundreds of meals, preparing delicate sauces, seasoning and simmering each dish to absolute perfection.—AhmadMob
Kate is a terrific chef at a Manhattan restaurant, sent to therapy by the restaurant owner because she is cold, unyielding, rule-bound, and a pain in the neck. Kate's world is flipped over when her only sister dies and her ten-year-old niece, Zoe, comes to live with her. As Kate struggles to be a parent to a grief-stricken child, the one world she used to control - the restaurant kitchen - is changed utterly by the restaurant's hiring a second chef, the loose, operatic, Italian-trained Nick, who claims it's an honor to work in Kate's kitchen but who she suspects wants to replace her. Can the music of Puccini and the taste of good pasta soften Kate's heart?—<[email protected]>
In Manhattan, the workaholic Kate is the chef of the 22 Bleecker Restaurant owned by Paula, who sent her to a therapist because she had no other interest in life but cooking and controlling her kitchen. When her only sister dies in a car accident, Kate becomes the guardian of her niece Zoe, who can not overcome the loss of her mother. Paula orders Kate to take a couple of days off to care of Zoe; when Kate returns to the work, she finds that Paula hired the sub-chef Nick without her approval. Nick explains that he is honored to work with Kate, but the jealous Kate does not trust him and believes he wants her position. When Zoe gets close to Nick and invites him to have dinner with Kate and her, she changes her feelings for Nick. But when his work is recognized by the clients of the restaurant, Kate believes she committed a mistake.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Kate Armstrong (Catherine Zeta-Jones) is the head chef at the trendy 22 Bleecker Street Restaurant in Manhattan, New York, and one of the bests chefs of New York.
She is obsessed with the kitchen, with the preparation and presentation of the dishes, and she's an exaggerated perfectionist. Her therapist (Bob Balaban) can see this during their sessions. Kate's boss Paula (Patricia Clarkson) says she will fire Kate unless she goes to therapy, so when Kate goes to therapy she can't stop talking about dishes and cooking. In a session, her therapist asks her why she thinks she needs therapy but Kate is obvlibious about her obsession.
Kate is the best at her work. She runs her kitchen at a rapid pace as she coordinates the making and preparation of all the fantastic meals, and personally displays the food to perfection on every dish. She intimidates everyone around her, Kate hates to leave the kitchen when a customer wants to compliment her on one of her special dishes, however she is ready to leave the kitchen in an instant when a customer insults her cooking. But personally Kate has no life since her whole world is centered on the kitchen.
When Kate's sister is killed in a car accident, Kate's nine-year old niece, Zoe (Abigalil Breslin), must move in to live with her, as it was Kate's sister wishes if something happened to her. Kate is devastated by her sister's death and with all of her problems, Paula decides to give Kate a week off. During this time, Paula hires a new sous chef to join the staff, Nick Palmer (Aaron Eckhart), who is a rising star in his own right and could be the head chef of any restaurant he pleased. Nick, however, wanted to work under Kate since he's an admirer of her work. Kate meets him while one of her visits at the restaurant.
When Kate returns to work, the atmosphere in the kitchen is somewhat chaotic as Kate feels increasingly threatened by Nick as time went on due to his style of running her kitchen. Nick has an uplifting personality , he loves to listen to opera while he cooks and he loves to make the staff laugh. Nick also flits persistently with Kate and Kate finds herself strangely attracted to Nick. Nick's uplifting personality has not only affected Kate but Zoe as well, who has been coming to work with Kate.
One afternoon Nick comes to Kate's home and he and Zoe cook for Kate. That was the wish Zoe makes too Kate (since Kate promises she can ask her a wish to amend what Kate has done wrong for Zoe in the last days). Yet life hits her hard when Paula decides to offer Nick the job of head chef and Kate's relationship with Nick turns a sour note due to Kate's pride.
In the end: Kate allows herself to become vulnerable and tear down the walls she has built throughout her life so that she and Nick could start fresh. The movie concludes with Zoe, Nick and Kate having opened their own bistro.
