Rewatchables Reference

• Bill: Favreau flipping out on the critic Ramsey Michel – 'you're waiting for it, it's building, it keeps on going, it's a long scene, it's great.'
• Chang: Making pasta aglio e olio for Scarlett Johansson after service, and the grilled cheese scene.
• Also discussed: Dustin Hoffman vs. Favreau ('play the hits'), the Robert Downey Jr. scene, the South Beach Cubanos montage, Franklin Barbecue.

• The kid's performance (Emjay Anthony) – 'It is so hard to nail the little kid in these movies.'
• John Leguizamo and Bobby Cannavale – 'The most I've ever liked Leguizamo and Cannavale in a movie.'
• The soundtrack – Latin jazz, New Orleans jazz, and blues that shifts as they visit different cities.
• Gary Clark Jr.'s performance in Austin.
• Cornstarch on your balls – confirmed by Chang as a real kitchen practice.
• The critic telling the chef 'I was one of your early boys.'

• The importance/power of food critics (felt more realistic in 2014 than now).
• The onscreen Twitter graphics – 'primitive era of Twitter graphics.'
• 'My kid and I saw you on Tosh.0.'
• Chang: The food presentation itself – 'The only thing that ages worse than comedy is food and food design.' The Nike-logo swoosh plating, the shrimp dish.

• Bill: It's time for Chef 2 – Carl has been canceled, divorced, kid's grown up, putting his life back together in 2023/2024 food world.
• Chang's counter: The sequel should start 48 hours after the wedding/restaurant opening because 'that's like a real chef life' – everything falls apart immediately.

Favreau doing 'the John Favreau sad face' – watching the one-second-a-day video, dropping his son off, getting emotional.

Bill: Russell Peters as the police officer in South Beach.

• Chang: Amy Sedaris (the PR person) – 'the most believable conversation outside of Riva.'
• Bill: Robert Downey Jr. – 'just pops in and fucking hits like four threes in five seconds.' No other actor could have done it.

• Bill: Would add a Dave Chang cameo.
• Chang: Would replace Bobby Cannavale with Danny Trejo – 'Danny Trejo as a cook is like a real thing.'

• Leguizamo spent time as an actual line cook at The Lion in West Village.
• Filming locations: Versailles Restaurant and Fontainebleau in Miami, Cafe du Monde in New Orleans, Franklin Barbecue in Austin.
• 'El Jefe' nighttime event based on Venice First Fridays; Roy Choi's Kogi truck visible in background.
• Some road scenes used stock footage with the truck digitally added.

• Chefs: 'Definitely peak chef time' (2014).
• Cubano sandwich: Chang declares 'Apex Cubano' – 'When have Cubanos ever been used better?'
• Twitter: Peak Twitter – '2014, there was still something fun about Twitter.'
• South Beach: LeBron still there, Heat in finals four straight years.
• Food critics: Definitely apex.

Bill and Chang: The shot of all the meat at Franklin Barbecue.

• Why is Inez (Sofia Vergara) so wealthy? Backstory never explained.
• How did Carl Casper pull off landing Sofia Vergara?
• Would Twitter really drive that many people to a Cubano truck in the French Quarter in 2014?
• Chang: Carl's 'hit' dishes don't justify national fame.

• Bill: 'If they made this movie now, it's not a movie. It's an eight-episode series.' But likes that it's contained under two hours.
• Chang wants a prequel: Young skinny Favreau in Miami – the origin of Carl Casper.

• Danny Trejo – both agree.
• Chang: Kathryn Hahn as a more believable sommelier than Scarlett Johansson.

• Is it possible for the Cubano to have this much power? Chang: 'In real life, I don't think so.'
• Why aren't Cubanos more present in our lives?

• Bill: 'Swingers' + Chef (Favreau double feature).
• Chang: Eat, Drink, Man, Woman, or Ratatouille.

• Chang: Cornstarch on your balls.
• Bill: 'Do what you love' – the battle between the safe professional spot and following your heart.

• Chang: A gold coin that says 'Chef' on it – given to him by Favreau before the movie came out. 'Only the people in production got this gold coin.'
• Bill: The food truck itself.

Favreau – consensus. Also: Roy Choi, Cubanos, Franklin Barbecue. 'A lot of people win in this movie. It's a happy movie.'

Craig Horlbeck: 'I love this movie. I've seen it a million times.' Praises it as one of the most accurate social media movies ever made.