Today’s Special (2009)

As we rapidly approach the end of the alphabet for our first time through in the A-to-Z challenge, our stop this week is the letter “T”. For this first-time watch I went with Today’s Special (2009).

Title: Today’s Special

Director: David Kaplan

Released: October 16, 2009

Runtime: 1 hour 39 minutes

Available to stream on: Tubi

IMDb synopsis: In this super-feel-good foodie comedy, young Manhattan chef Samir rediscovers his heritage and his passion for life through the enchanting art of cooking Indian food.

Samir (Aasif Mandvi) is a top-notch sous chef in Manhattan and figures to be a lock for a promotion. However, when his boss (Dean Winters) passes him over and tells him the reason he didn’t get the promotion was because Samir’s food lacks magic and is too paint-by-numbers. Samir decides, on the spot, that he is quitting and going to Paris where he’ll stauge (apprentice) with French chef Jacques Renaud.

However, Samir’s plan gets turned on its head when his father (Harish Patel) suffers a heart attack. In order to help the family, Samir agrees to take over his father’s restaurant, Tandoori Palace. There’s one big flaw with this plan though, Samir doesn’t know how to cook Indian food. As an interim work-around, Samir orders meals from another local Indian restaurant. His luck would change though when he happens to meet Akbar (Naseeruddin Shah).

Akbar says that he used to be a top chef in India. He agrees to mentor Samir and show him how to get back to his roots. His big lesson is that food must be cooked with your mind, your heart, and your stomach. When you cook using all three, it shows in your food and your customers can taste it.

But will Samir be able to abandon his technical cooking ways and embrace cooking with his heart and stomach as well? Will his mother (Madhur Jaffrey) stop trying to play matchmaker for him? And what happens to Tandoori Palace?

I am a sucker for any movie involving food and/or cooking. So, it was not going to take much for me to enjoy Today’s Special. Yes, the story is one that has been told numerous times before and will be told numerous times to come. But just because you’ve seen the story before doesn’t mean another variation of it can’t be enjoyable.

Aasif Mandvi, who also co-wrote the film, is thoroughly enjoyable in the lead as Samir. While mainly known for his humor, Mandvi gets a chance here to showcase his dramatic chops. His parents, Carrie, Akbar, everyone in the supporting cast, they all contribute and connect in ways that make the story feel genuine.

The family drama, the romance angle with Carrie, whether or not the Tandoori Palace will survive, and the journey into Indian cuisine taken by Samir all intertwine into an enjoyable ninety-nine minutes.

Not every movie you see has to change your world or be destined for awards success.

Sometimes a feel-good story that happens to revolve around food is all you need.

Well, those are my thoughts on Today’s Special (2009) but what are yours? Tell me all about it in the comments below or by reaching out on social media!

Next week we’ll tackle the letter “U”. If you’ve got a suggestion for what the movie should be, you’ve got until Wednesday morning to get them in!