'Chef' Favreau Talks Food, Films, & Miami

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Jon Favreau is cooking up some comedy in his new flick "Chef" which was filmed partially in Miami.

Favreau plays Chef Carl Casper who quits his job at one LA's hottest eateries after refusing to allow his boss to bully him into making yet another boring, safe meal.  So what's he going to do next?

This is the premise of the new charming comedy "Chef" with an all-star cast including Robert Downey Jr, Dustin Hoffman, Sophia Vergara, John Leguizamo and more. It's also written, produced, directed and stars Jon Favreau.

"Have you always been a foodie?" CBS4's Lisa Petrillo asked Favreau in a recent one-on-one interview.

"I don't know if I would qualify as a foodie but I've always loved food. I've had my specific things I like but now having trained for movie, my eyes have been opened and I qualify as a foodie now," explained Favreau.

With "Chef", the filmmaker has taken a break from the big budget films he's done before such as "Ironman".  Here, he's returned to his indie roots, immersing himself in the food world while training one on one with top chefs.

"All of them were concerned with one thing: let's get it right," he said. "So often Hollywood doesn't get the kitchen culture right. Just like with 'Ironman' I thought let me get comic books fans into it, here I wanted the food fans and the people who live that life to see that I put my homework in."

A chunk of the film was shot here in Miami, specifically at the famous Versailles restaurant in Little Havana.

"It was great shooting here because I love the authenticity. I said I wanted to be at the real Versailles. I want the authenticity to show, what that experience is like because food and music reflect the culture and it's not arbitrary. It's specific to each place," said Favreau.

Specific to Miami is the Cuban sandwich, a sandwich Favreau knows very well.

"We show how pork is prepared, how it's marinated in mojo and slow cooked and then sliced up on Cuban bread. I know that recipe because now I cook," said Favreau proudly.

Social media, as it does it real life, plays a huge roll in this film. First it causes the chef a career catastrophe and then it's turned around for a twitter triumph!

"Chef" is cooking in theaters now.