Hitting a snag, a chaebol heir retreats to the countryside to figure out a way to revive his business. There, he meets our food-expert heroine, a stark contrast to his personality.
They reluctantly team up despite their conflicts. However, amidst the fighting, a romance is bound to blossom.
Bunny S. watches Tastefully Yours on Netflix
Opening Week Ratings:
Tastefully Yours Opening Week Story
“We will never get a three-star rating with that kind of sloppy plating.”
Born into a chaebol family running a large food firm, our male lead, Han Beom-woo (Kang Ha-neul), is fixated on getting a 3-star appraisal for his fine dining restaurant. That way, he can defeat his brother, Han Sun-woo (Bae Na-ra), and inherit the company as the chairwoman promised to make whichever gets three stars first the company’s successor.
Not about to be defeated, Beom-woo scrambles over to get his hands on recipes of every famous restaurant out there and includes them in his restaurant menu, instructing the head chef, Jang Yeong-hye (Hong Hwa-yeon), to follow those recipes to a tee and present the food well. Yet, given how Yeong-hye cares more about promoting herself than making good food, it is no surprise that the dishes aren’t up to par.
Further complicating matters, another restaurant serves the same dish as Beom-woo’s. With uniqueness as his motto, Beom-woo can’t let his matter be. So, he drives to the countryside to meet the owner and try the food. Arriving at the destination, Beom-woo is surprised to see how small the place is. It isn’t a big fine dining restaurant as he thought, but a one-table restaurant located in a remote corner.
Making a snobbish entrance, the owner, Mo Yeon-joo (Go Min-si), isn’t pleased to meet that unwelcome visitor who stepped on her cabbage and wants to pay his way out of it instead of sincerely apologizing. Still, she agrees to serve Beom-woo the dish he requested, but only if he can get her a special type of beef.
Flexing off his money, Beom-woo deems it a piece of cake. But this task proves harder than expected, especially when Yeon-joo isn’t fooled after Beom-woo brings her random beef when he can’t find the right one. Unsurprisingly, Yeon-joo wants Beom-woo out, yet he pleads with her to make him this one dish. Despite finding him suspicious, Yeon-joo goes hiking with Beom-woo to pick mushrooms. He can’t grasp why she goes through all this when they can buy some at a supermarket. Yet Yeon-joo doesn’t compromise when it comes to picking ingredients.
Having achieved his goal of observing Yeon-joo cook, Beom-woo pays for the meal and tries to leave without tasting the food. Which is bad manners, considering how much effort Yeon-joo has put into the food. Then, he changes his mind and takes a bite. Of course, Beom-woo eats the whole thing and wouldn’t even mind getting another plate.
“I will do you the favor of acquiring it.”
Yeon-joo might be gifted. Yet, seeing the overdue bills and how she hides from the landlady, she doesn’t earn enough to keep the restaurant running. Listing the management flaws, Beom-woo offers to acquire the restaurant for a handsome amount of money. (He is only after the recipes.) As expected, he gets a no, thank you from Yeon-joo, who is further offended when Beom-woo suggests he invests and takes care of everything while Yeon-joo can do the cooking. Does he have any passion for cooking, or is he only a money-hungry man seeking profits?
Returning to Seoul, Beom-woo falls into a trap set up by Sun-woo. Not only does he get dismissed from the company, but Sun-woo will also run Beom-woo’s restaurant for now. Out of options, Beom-woo turns to Yeon-joo, who is still indifferent to the acquisition yet might give the investment offer some thought, but only if Beom-woo agrees to work at the restaurant for a month. She might find him annoying, but Yeon-joo needs money to save the restaurant. Likewise, with his money supply cut off, Beom-woo has no choice but to accept the job offer.
After bickering over the conditions, they sign the contract. During the one-month timeframe, Yeon-joo will be in charge of the kitchen while Beom-woo oversees the dining hall and the finances. After that, he will sign an investment contract with Yeon-joo. We had an ounce of hope Beom-woo might be sincere about this partnership after getting backstabbed by Sun-woo, but nothing has changed. He will stick here for a while, steal the recipes, and open a new restaurant.
Claiming they need to hire a kitchen assistant and add more tables to boost sales, Beom-woo tries to plant a spy to copycat the recipes. Yet, his plan fails when Yeon-joo hires Jin Myung-suk (Kim Shin-rok) for the job. Before long, Beom-woo butts heads with Myung-suk over their different approaches while also bothering Yeon-joo about making pretty food so he can promote the restaurant on social media.
Though some of his remarks are about imposing his working style on others, not everything Beom-woo says is wrong. Myung-suk reflects on her actions, and it would be nice if Yeon-joo objectively thinks about Beom-woo’s stance. (Which she somewhat does.) Likewise, Beom-woo should stop judging others and try to reach a middle ground.
Not all hope is lost for this trio, though. When they put their differences aside, they make for a great team. With some help from the district people, the restaurant gets many clients for the night. Celebrating their success, our trio goes for a team dinner. But this moment of peace gets cut short when Yeon-joo overhears Beom-woo’s plan about stealing her recipes. And it is on that note that we end the premiere week.
Tastefully Yours Opening Week Musings
That was an entertaining watch, mostly because the characters are layered and not painted as black and white. Beom-woo isn’t wicked, but so obsessed with getting the three stars that he sometimes fails to see the effect of his actions on others. He finally met his match in the shape of Yeon-joo, who won’t let him have his way and walk out with her recipes.
Just like Beom-woo, Yeon-joo has some growth to do, realizing there is more to running a restaurant than getting the taste right. She might be tenacious and hot-tempered, but she also cares about others, like when she handed Beom-woo a shirt to change into and food for lunch.
If anything, those two balance each other out the best, and if they put their brains together, they will go places. Their partnership will serve as a foil for the recent collaboration between Yeong-hye and Sun-woo, who have only joined hands since there is something to gain, and might as well jump ship if they incur any loss.
Lastly, we appreciate that the drama revealed Beom-woo’s intentions to Yeon-joo early on. That way, we won’t have to worry about it later in the story after they get together. It will be interesting to see how Beom-woo will get out of this predicament and convince Yeon-joo to go on with their deal. Honestly, it will be disappointing if this is a fake-out or if Beom-woo lies his way out of it. Instead, we hope everything gets out in the open and our leads start on a clean slate.
Photos and Videos: ENA
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