Chef

Equal helpings of comedy and cuisine are served up amiably in Chef, a foodie movie that’s predictably more about what takes place outside the kitchen than in it.

The film brings actor-director Jon Favreau back to independent comedies after spending a decade primarily helming summer blockbusters. He’s directing his first screenplay since Made in 2001, and doesn’t appear to have lost a step.

Social media plays a significant role in Favreau’s story of a chef in a trendy Los Angeles restaurant who is forced to re-invent himself by launching a food truck — a business model that practically depends on Twitter and Facebook just to survive.

Favreau stars as Carl, whose creativity in the kitchen has earned him the respect of his peers, even if his boss (Dustin Hoffman) is more concerned with the number of diners in his restaurant as opposed to what’s being served. Their dispute boils over when a food critic (Oliver Platt) pans the bland menu, and a Twitter war ensues that Carl cannot win.

After being fired, he reluctantly starts over by taking the advice of his ex-wife (Sofia Vergara) and launching a food truck serving Cuban sandwiches in Miami, where the workaholic Carl finds time to bond with his 10-year-old son (Emjay Anthony), whose interest in cooking and knowledge of social media make him a valuable asset.

The film’s strong supporting cast — which includes Bobby Cannavale, Scarlett Johansson and John Leguizamo as Carl’s colleagues, and Robert Downey Jr. in a cameo as his ex-wife’s other ex-husband — brings depth to the smaller roles.

The sharply written script appreciates good food and knows its way around a kitchen, while also capturing the trendy nature of the foodie community. The obligatory food shots are of the mouth-watering variety.

Favreau also conveys some intriguing character dynamics, both in the kitchen and with his family, even if the idealism of Carl’s absentee father becomes annoying and the film loses some momentum in the second half as a result.

Chef sometimes feels strained in its efforts to convey the food truck as a fresh start both personally and professionally, but it’s a perceptive crowd-pleaser that could satisfy both the brain and the tongue. It makes you hungry enough that they should hand moviegoers a cookbook on the way out.

Rated R, 115 minutes.