The performances were compelling enough to tear my eyes away from the pasta, the music gut wrenching and food styling delicious. There was even a Nine and a Half Weeks-esque moment, which you know I ate up. But the execution of the food? That would be where any chef would, unfortunately, have a bone to pick with this delicious little romance.

The romance between the story's stars, a pair of dueling chefs, (played by Catherine Zeta-Jones and Aaron Eckhart - who wears chefs whites better than any Food Network star ever did), is sparked in an argument over desserts. Now I’ll grant you chocolate is an aphrodisiac, but what were the executive and sous chefs doing serving up bon bons? When was the last time you saw Wolfgang Puck plate a dessert?
 
And, reflecting on Aaron Eckhart's heart skipping whites, why were they always white? They were, in every scene, straight from the dry cleaner white. Zeta-Jones stayed equally immaculate. I know both stars studied hard to develop culinary skills for the project. But without wearing a little saffron sauce as a badge of honor, what's the point of perfecting your chef skills?
 
Lastly, I really have to take issue with Zeta Jones' signature dish. The film's pivotal food was a secret saffron sauce. At the film's climax, she reveals the sauce's secret ingredient: kaffir lime leaves. Saffron and lime leaves? Bitter on bitter? Couldn't the secret ingredient have been chocolate? A rare cheese? Heroin?... All jokes aside, the film is a sweet afternoon escape and a tasty tease for the eyes and heart.

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