Weekend Cooking: Toscana

Well, it was bound to happen. Covid finally made it into our house this week. My son picked it up, presumably from work, and of course then I caught it.

Whilst I sound like I have a head cold and have a cough at night, my main symptom is being exhausted, and yet I am having trouble sleeping. What that has meant is that I have only been working partial days. I haven't really been able to concentrate on reading so on Friday afternooon I was flicking through Netflix looking for something, no, anything to watch, when I stumbled across a Danish movie called Toscana.

Chef Theo is a grumpy, driven, perfectionist chef in a fancy restaurant. He is trying to attract an investor so that he can create his ideal restaurant which will be high end dining at it's most precise. Unfortunately, Theo loses his temper with the investor, blowing the deal. 

Coincidentally, Theo's estranged father had recently died, leaving Theo a crumbling Tuscan estate. Now that there is no investment forthcoming, he needs to find another way to raise some capital, and so a plan is made. He will fly out to Italy, sell the estate and then return to Denmark and his dreams. Easy.

What he finds in the small restaurant on the estate horrifies him. The waitress who initially serves him is unfriendly,  the food is average and the kitchen is not as clean as he would like. On his first night, he decides to make himself a late night sandwich but feels like he needs to spend 3 hours cleaning the kitchen to get it to his very, very high standards first. Let's not mention how his plan to get in and out of Italy quickly is derailed by the Italian way of doing business.

Make no mistake, there is not a lot new here. I am sure that you would have a fair chance of determining what happens next. Grumpy chef realises that there is value in a simpler way of life, realises the unfriendly server is a actually a lovely woman, starts to deal with his daddy issues, realises that the place is worth more than money. The End.  And, yes, there are no denying that there are strong elements of this familiar path to this film, but it isn't quite as neat as all that. That might all sound a little bit negative, but the reality is that I liked that there was a familiar arc to follow, and that I knew what I was going to get. And just like reading a crime novel where there is a crime committed and our detective solves it by the end, or a romance novel where two people meet, fall in love, and live happily ever after, it is the detail and the journey which makes each story different.

Two of the most enjoyable parts of this movie are the sights of the Tuscan countryside and the food, which are as much the stars of the movie as the actors themselves, and the film makers definitely played this up for the camera.  It took me a while to warm up to Theo, and I am not sure that totally happened. I think he was still loosening up after the main part of the film ended. In the very end scene, which would have been an epilogue if this was a novel, he had maybe relaxed enough to suggest that his character arc was well on the way to completion.

This was a enjoyable film to watch, and it has made me think that a weekend of foodie movies might be just the ticket given that I am stuck at home for the next few days. Or maybe I'll sleep. We'll see.

Weekly meals

Saturday - 

Sunday - 

Monday - Mexican chicken rice

Tuesday - Creamy pumkin soup with gnocchi

Wednesday - Green Curry Chicken Pie

Thursday - Steak with mushrooms and peas

Friday - Takeaway Friday

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page