The family of talented cook, Hassan Kadam, has a life filled with both culinary delights and profound loss. Drifting through Europe after fleeing political violence in India that killed the family restaurant business and their mother, the Kadams arrive in France. Once there, a chance auto accident and the kindness of a young woman, Marguerite, in the village of Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val inspires Papa Kadam to set up a Indian restaurant there. Unfortunately, this puts the Kadams in direct competition with the snobbish Madame Mallory's acclaimed haute cuisine establishment across the street where Marguerite also works as a sous-chef. The resulting rivalry eventually escalates in personal intensity until it goes too far. In response, there is a bridging of sides initiated by Hassan, Marguerite and Madame Mallory herself, both professional and personal, that encourages an understanding that will change both sides forever.

This movie is well-constructed, beautifully filmed, and rich in diversity. The story is poignant and heartwarming. Its a wonderful movie especially if you enjoy cooking movies. The critic in our local newspaper gave the film two stars out of 5, saying it was slow and too schmaltzy. A bit schmaltzy maybe, but who doesn't like a good love story centered around food. The characters were perfect and seeing Charlotte Le Bon for the first time was breathtaking. Helen Mirren was her normal fabulous self. the Indian cast was excellent. Besides Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey do not invest or make 2 star movies. We plan to see this movie again since the writing was so good we may have missed something.