The Hundred-Foot Journey certainly has an appealing title and the plot itself is equally heartwarming. Released in 2004 and produced by Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey, it tells the story of an Indian emigrant family who had to seek asylum in the UK after their home/restaurant was burnt down by a mob where they’d unfortunately, lost their mother.
This family did not like the noise from the Heathrow airport and decided to move to France to start a new life as cooks. It is here that ‘Papa’, the father decides to buy a property to renovate into a restaurant. But it is not just any property, it is one directly opposite a French restaurant owned by the proud Madame Mallory who already has one Michelin star and wants no competition. Certainly not one with loud Indian music directly opposite her place.
Hassan, the second son in this family is the one with the special cooking talent. On the day his father had decided to pack the entire family in his van to France where the brakes had failed, he’d met a kind young woman named Marguerite who had fed them fresh food made from the best ingredients that were homegrown and housed them. At the time, he had no idea she was the second in command(sous chef) at Madame Mallory’s restaurant and they’d struck a friendship already.
As you can imagine, getting customers with such direct competition would be difficult and in no time Papa and Madame Mallory started bickering at each other and finding faults to report to the authorities in order to see who would turn the heat up more effectively in order to get rid of the other. Like with all bickering, they eventually became closer enough to actually know each other, especially after an unpleasant episode where one of Mallory's chefs, Jean-Pierre desecrated the walls of Papa’s restaurant with unfriendly graffiti with the words ‘France to the French’ and firebombed their outer eating area. This scene actually got me very angry because of how traumatic I could imagine it felt. Unfortunately, Hassan got his hands burnt but not enough to render him useless.
Madama Mallory showed herself to be more human after this incident. She did not tolerate such cruelty and Jean-Pierre had to go. It was thereafter that Hassan got the idea of working for her. Madame Mallory was reputed to be able to tell from one bite of an omelete if a Chef ‘had it’ and he proposed to make her one. With his burnt hands though, he could only instruct her to make it under his guidance and with his recipe. That was how he got a position to train in her place in order to be able to cook ‘classical recipes’.
Marguerite, the sous chef who he’d caught feelings for was not too pleased about this and their love turned a bit sour, mostly from her end and understandably so as Hassan quickly outshone her and earned the restaurant its second Michelin star, making Hassan sought after Chef. He went to work in a two-star Michelin molecular restaurant where it was hoped that he’d earn them their third star.
Away from his family and from his love, Hassan began to lose his drive and he decided to leave everything behind to come home and earn that third star there. We see Madame Mallory speak about how she’s giving him and Marguerite control of her restaurant to run as they see fit. It’s a beautiful moment and guess which other couple is running their own thing? Papa and Madame Mallory :)
I loved this film because although it was predictable in a way( I certainly knew they would all become friends), it was a beautiful story about culture and how food is a gateway to memories and a way to bond deeply with loved ones.
It showed that envy and sabotage only hurt you and others but with understanding and tolerance and a genuine interest to know your neighbours and even those you consider to be competition, you can actually expand your own business and life as a whole. Also, love triumphs over whatever success we think we have. If there is no one to share it with at the end of the day or walk the journey with, it can feel lonely and depressing even at the top.
