Favreau plays the affable Carl Casper, chef of an upscale Los Angeles restaurant who has his own ideas of what makes good food, which clashes with Dustin Hoffman as the owner who wants him subservient. Matters come to a head when Oliver Platt as the food critic Ramsey Michel, who has criticized Casper’s food, turns up and Casper unleashes a stream of profanity and invective at him. In keeping with today’s communication revolution, a smart phone video of the confrontation goes viral. Casper is out of a job.

There are other complications in his life. He has a 10-year-old son Percy (a sympathetic Emjay Anthony), who lives with Casper’s Latina ex-wife Inez (Sofia Vergara) and he hasn’t been a very attentive father to the boy. But Favreau concocts his screenplay to work all that out.

In the outlandish developments that ensue, Casper heads to Miami, where gets a beat-up food truck from businessman Marvin (a fast-talking Robert Downey Jr.), who preceded Casper as an ex-husband of Inez. A loyal co-worker of Casper from his lost job, the Hispanic Martin, played with exuberance by John Leguizamo, helps get the new food truck in shape and joins the venture. So does Casper’s son, who is on a school vacation, and the boy pitches in as a helper. (Child labor laws?) Off they go producing and selling delicious Cuban sandwiches and the like on a trip that takes them to Miami, New Orleans, Austin, Texas and back to L.A.

Needless to say, the new venture is a huge success, and that leads to another—well, why spoil the plot dessert? Rest assured, relationships work out as father and son bond and Casper gets closer to his ex. Another casting note: Scarlett Johansson has a small role as Molly, the receptionist at the restaurant from which Casper departed. Even in a cameo, she is luminous. Those inviting eyes and sympathetic smiles make her look great in the close-ups.

The film is filled with loads of food, and there is a lively salsa score that underlines the non-stop spirit of the culinary jaunt. “Chef” is an Open Road release. Reviewed May 27, 2014.