Baking!
Frying!
Slicing!
Saucing!
On "The Chef Show," Jon Favreau and his cooking buddy, chef Roy Choi do it all.
But do you know the real story behind this unlikely duo?
Come on into the kitchen and find out!
When he's not whipping up mouthwatering dishes – from succulent brisket to amazing breakfast
burritos — on Netflixs' "The Chef Show" – Jon Favreau's got a pretty cool day job,
producing television shows like the Mandalorian and films like Avengers: Endgame.
But that's not all — he also directs blockbuster films like Iron Man, and acts in them, too,
appearing in the latest Spider Man franchise as Spidey's mentor and Aunt May's sort-of-boyfriend,
Happy Hogan.
"Are you dating?"
"Yes."
"Not really."
"What?"
But Favreau's Hollywood history actually goes way back, from directing the now-classic Christmas
movie, "Elf" —
"The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear!"
— to a slate of other family-friendly films, like "Zathura", "the Lion King," "the Jungle
Book," and "Cowboys and Aliens."
As a producer, he worked on the iconic Avengers series, as well as the successful Disney television
shows "The Book of Boba Fett" and, of course, "The Mandalorian."
As an actor, he's appeared in many films, too, including "Rudy," "Swingers," the "Iron
Man" series, and "Spider Man."
He even had a recurring role on the iconic television series "Friends," playing Monica's
rich boyfriend, Pete.
But then, in 2014, Favreau shifted focus — directing and starring in his own passion project, a
small, personal movie called "Chef."
The film, which came out in 2014, tells the story of a temperamental but talented chef
who loses his job, then rediscovers his passion for cuisine — and life — when he buys
a food truck.
And even though "Chef" was indeed small and personal, it also featured plenty of big-name
stars in major roles, such as John Leguizamo, Scarlett Johansen, Sofia Vergara, Dustin Hoffman,
and Robert Downey Junior.
To ensure his film was authentic, Favreau turned to Roy Choi, a real-life chef best
known for his legendary Los Angeles food truck, Kogi.
Choi, a Culinary Institute of America-trained chef, has written cookbooks, created a line
of bottled sauces, and opened well-received restaurants in places like Los Angeles and
Las Vegas.
And, when Favreau brought him on as a consultant for the movie "Chef", a friendship was born.
Luckily for food fans, their partnership ended up continuing far beyond the film.
In 2019, inspired by the success of "Chef," the film, Favreau and Choi created "The Chef
Show" for Netflix, a spin-off which would follow Favreau and Choi on a culinary odyssey.
The show caught on with viewers, who were immediately hungry for more!
A second season debuted later that year, with a third season following in February 2020.
Throughout the series, Choi and Favreau were joined by celebrity friends and chefs in a
variety of locations, from Los Angeles, to Las Vegas, to Atlanta, to Austin.
"The Chef Show" serves up a feast with an eclectic array of guests, cooking demonstrations,
new techniques, and of course, FOOD.
And Favreau had this to say:
"So much of our culture lives in our food, and if you ate something growing up, you have
a taste for it, you seek it out, that's going to keep it alive."
Jon Favreau had never met Roy Choi when he first approached him about serving as a consultant
on his 2014 film, "Chef."
But as it turned out, bringing Choi onto the production was more than Favreau had bargained
for!
Because, while Favreau was used to being the boss on his movies, Choi took charge in the
kitchen, insisting that Favreau learn about the less-glamorous side of cooking — in
other words, grunt work.
He even assigned Favreau to an eight-hour prep shift!
But all of this work was necessary for viewers to believe that Favreau's character was, in
fact, a great chef.
Choi explained his reasoning in an interview with The Los Angeles Times:
"I told him, 'If I'm going to do this, we really need to honor the craft and the code
of cooking […] You're not coming into my kitchen until you're trained [...] You can't
make a movie about a chef if you don't understand what it is to be a cook."
"That's ok?"
"That's ok.
You have to learn this technique."
The working relationship on the film "Chef" evolved into a behind-the-camera friendship
for Jon Favreau and Roy Choi.
And when the filming ended, the friendship continued, though it had changed, as it no
longer involved cooking together.
This, as Favreau told People Magazine, was because, while cooking was Choi's job, his
job was making movies.
But then, Favreau had an idea: while reprising his role as Happy Hogan in "Avengers Endgame,"
he would cook for people on set, and film it, too!
Favreau took what he had filmed and began working on it like a documentary.
But as he later confessed to Eater, at first, he didn't really know what he was going to
do with the footage that would later become "The Chef Show."
"We ended up doing enough episodes to actually deliver a season, and it turned into a Netflix
show [...] [The Chef Show] became this thing that took on a shape through the editorial
process, like a documentary.”
On the first episode of "The Chef Show," Favreau goes into the topic further, telling guest
Gwyneth Paltrow how much he had missed cooking with Choi.
When they were filming "Chef," the film, Roy Choi generated all of the fabulous recipes
that Jon Favreau's character, Carl Casper, cooks on screen.
Given that Choi created the dishes and then taught Favreau how to prepare them, it shouldn't
be surprising that they recreated some of them for "The Chef Show."
These dishes included the berries and cream Carl sells from his El Jefe food truck, the
chocolate lava cake he hated to serve at the restaurant, and the glorious aglio e olio
pasta he so lovingly created for Molly, played in the film by Scarlett Johansson.
In an interview with Food and Wine, Choi shared some deep-dive "Chef" movie trivia about this
pasta dish, including the reason he had Favreau's character thinly slice the garlic instead
of simply crushing it.
It was, Choi said, "to show how much he cared about this pasta."
During this episode of "The Chef Show," after they complete the dish — nicknamed "Scarlett's
Pasta" — Choi tells Favreau that the dish is best when it's plated and eaten immediately
after it's cooked.
Otherwise, as he puts it, rather dramatically –
"the magic dies."
Throughout his career as an actor, producer, and director, Jon Favreau has worked with
some serious Hollywood heavyweights, from Will Ferrell to James Caan to Beyoncé and
beyond!
And as a result, he's been able to entice his celebrity pals to lend their star power
to "The Chef Show."
So far, guest stars have included funnyman Seth Rogen, celebrity chef and "Ugly Delicious"
host David Chang, director Robert Rodriguez, comedian Bill Burr, plus Robert Downey Jr.
and Gwyneth Paltrow.
Chatting with Variety, Favreau said that after working together for over a decade, his Marvel
movie pals have become like family to him, something that's clear to any viewer of "The
Chef Show," or even "Spider Man."
"This is you"
"We're neighbors?"
"We're not room-mates.
Suit up."
In an interview with Variety, Favreau revealed something really cool — that it was actually
Paltrow who first brought him together with Roy Choi!
"My first time eating Kogi barbecue — the gourmet Korean taco truck Choi created — was
because [Gwyneth] brought the Kogi trucks to the set of Iron Man [...] the first screening
we did of Chef was at her house where we cooked with Gwyneth"
Paltrow has had a long relationship with Favreau, who's been her director in two Iron Man films
and her co-star in numerous other Marvel movies.
So it's really not surprising that she was one of the first celebrity friends he invited
to appear on The Chef Show.
Paltrow's appearance, however, was memorable not just for the meal, but for her hilarious
\ admission that she'd been in so many Marvel movies she literally couldn't remember them
all.
During their conversation in the episode, Favreau casually mentions being with Paltrow
in Atlanta while they were filming Spider-Man Homecoming.
And Paltrow's response?
"Spider-Man?
We weren't in Spider-Man."
"Yes we were."
But even after Favreau insisted that she was in Spider Man, Paltrow continued to insist
that she wasn't!
"I was in the Avengers."
Then, as Favreau keeps talking about her appearance in the Tom Holland film, Paltrow suddenly
remembers.
"That was Spider-Man?
Oh my God!"
Paltrow ended up addressing her mistake during a good-natured appearance on Jimmy Kimmel
Live, laughing at herself and admitting she had just gotten confused.
As she told Kimmel:
"There's so many of these wonderful Marvel interconnecting movies, and I thought that
it was an Avengers movie — but it was not."
As Roy Choi told Eater, "The Chef Show" was really about "going back to the essence of
the original cooking-to-camera shows."
He went on to name-drop cooking show pioneers like Julia Child and Paul Prudhomme.
As Choi described it, the appeal of these shows lay in their simplicity:
"you just put on the camera, get some food, start cooking, invite some friends over, and
see where it goes."
And as Jon Favreau told Eater:
"Chefs are all teachers.
You're being shown little things, you're picking up lessons all along the way.
And being able to ask somebody who's an expert questions is such a valuable thing.
I guess we figured if we liked it, other people might like it, too."
But if Favreau sees Choi as a teacher, Choi sees Favreau as an A-plus student when it
comes to picking up kitchen techniques.
As he told People Magazine:
"I have seen Jon go from not knowing anything in that specific criteria to being proficient
at it in literally five minutes [...] That is superhero level."
Chatting about The Chef Show with Eater, Jon Favreau and Roy Choi were asked to single
out their favorite moments.
For Choi, the first thing that popped into his mind was filming with barbecue guru Aaron
Franklin at the Hot Luck Festival in Austin, Texas.
According to Choi, he was given the privilege of unlimited access to all of the smokers.
For his top pick, Favreau settled on the episode when he worked in one of Choi's kitchens.
Not only did he get to learn the intricacies of Korean cuisine, he totally geeked out when
he met one of his food idols in that episode, celebrity chef David Chang of Netflix's "Ugly
Delicious" cooking show.
As Favreau explained,
"To be working in one of Roy's kitchens cooking Korean food and have David Chang come in and
they both taste my cooking, and think that it tasted good?
To me, that was a moment that I'll never forget."
"That's good, Jon"
"Yeah?"
"You could open a shop with just this."
After its debut, reviews for "The Chef Show" were glowing, bordering on ecstatic.
Collider called the show "an absolute delight," describing the stars' chemistry as "infectious."
And The London Evening Standard pointed out how "The Chef Show" "doesn't feel indulgent.”
A review from Uproxx doled out even more accolades, praising the series for being "fun, light,
and hunger-inducing," while also inspiring "a fair bit of friendship envy."
With reviews like that, it shouldn't be surprising that "The Chef Show" has earned a perfect
score on Rotten Tomatoes, achieving a coveted 100-percent rating.
Jon Favreau first burst onto the Hollywood scene in the 1993 football movie "Rudy," playing
Sean Astin's tutor.
His next big break came alongside pal Vince Vaughn in their 1996 indie-film darling "Swingers."
And while it's obvious that Favreau has been comfortable in front of the camera for a long
time, the same cannot be said for Roy Choi.
In an interview with Grub Street, Choi admitted he's definitely not the typical extrovert
that might seem destined for television stardom.
"Hey what up y'all, welcome to food vlog number thirteen.
It's kinda fitting that the taco finally made it to the vlog on numero trece."
But Choi also went on to say that the desire to appear on television is actually something
that's been brewing inside of him for a long time, and only recently has he felt ready
to embrace the challenge.
As Choi explained:
"I've been a shy kid for almost four decades now of my life.
And I'm ready for the second chapter [...] I've got a lot to share with the world.
I just didn't know how I could share it.
It just all came together in one year, and I'm not going to shy away from it anymore."
Choi credits Favreau with exposing him to the world of entertainment, admitting he'd
been approached by "everyone under the sun" to make a show, but that the time wasn't right
until "The Chef Show" came along.
"Cooking is one of the most zen things, you have to be there, you have to be present in
the moment."
There are many reasons why Jon Favreau has been so successful in film — and one of
them is the meticulous approach he takes with his work.
And he's applied this same trait to "The Chef Show."
As Favreau told Grub Street:
"I've watched all these episodes a dozen times in the process of making and defining the
show.
Every little thing, a lot of care went into it."
Favreau compares the process of creating The Chef Show to that of cooking a spectacular
meal for friends, telling Grub Street:
"It's just really nice to share.
[…] It's like you cooked a meal you want to eat, and now you've invited people."
One aspect of "The Chef Show" that sets it apart from other television cooking shows
is its warts-and-all approach.
One episode, for example, shows Roy Choi and Jon Favreau making a batch of New Orleans
beignets using a prepackaged mix from the Big Easy's famed Cafe du Monde.
But when Choi bit into the beignet, he realized the mix was old.
He ended up tossing the whole batch in the trash!
It's moments like this, Choi told Uproxx, that underline the central message he wants
viewers to take away: Not everything in the kitchen is going to go perfectly, but that's
OK it's all part of the experience!
When viewers see Roy Choi on The Chef Show, he's always equipped with a small-but-essential
array of professional kitchen tools, and this is no accident.
In an interview with HypeBeast, Choi revealed the contents of the mobile cooking kit he
keeps packed away in a nondescript backpack carried with him at all times.
The kit includes a set of knives he splurged on for Chef, as well as a wooden spatula.
As he told HypeBeast:
"Food to me tastes better when cooked with a worn wood spoon or spatula.
I feel like it transfers soul — or maybe splinters!"
Also on hand in Choi's cooking arsenal is an array of seasonings, including small bags
of salt and pepper as well as three small, mysterious seasoning tubs labeled "Spicy,"
"Cheesy," and "Sweety."
But the most important item in the bag is a special Chef Show coin symbolizing his friendship
with Jon Favreau.
As Choi told Hypebeast, the platform he's been given has given him a new zest for life.
He loves being involved in something so honest and meaningful, working on a show that inspires
people to cook.
The coin, he explained, reminds him to never lose sight of the truth.
"I make recipes that you're actually going to cook."
Gwyneth Paltrow and Robert Downey Jr. weren't the only members of the Marvel Cinematic Universe
to appear on "The Chef Show."
One episode featured "Spider-Man: Homecoming" star Tom Holland.
And when Roy Choi learned that Holland had never eaten a raw oyster on the half-shell?
Well, he instantly made it his mission to change that.
In the episode, Jon Favreau and Choi are visiting a seafood restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia,
along with Holland, Avengers Endgame co-director Anthony Russo, and Marvel Studios president
Kevin Feige.
After Holland selects his oyster, Choi fixes it up with some cocktail sauce and hands it
over.
"That'll be your first oyster!"
"Slurp it down!"
"That was really good."
As you can see, it was a great success, and for Choi, introducing Spider-Man to the joy
of raw oysters gave him some extra cred with a special someone in his life.
As Choi recounted in an interview with Variety:
"I am forever a hero with my kid because I gave Tom Holland his first oyster ever, in
his life.
That can never be done again – by anyone."
With a fifth season rumored, though not yet confirmed, fans of "The Chef Show" have their
fingers — and wooden spoons — crossed for the return of this deliciously dynamic
cooking duo.