movielex
movie
L
ex

Movies like Today's Special

Key Features:
Chef, Cultural heritage, Self-discovery, Passion, Manhattan, Food-centric, Culinary arts
Tone:
earnest, humorous
Target Audience:
Foodies, Culture enthusiasts, Inspirational stories
Emotional Arc:
Disconnection → Inspiration → Fulfillment

Today's Special

2009-10-14
Today's Special Poster - Find Similar Movies

Young Manhattan chef Samir rediscovers his heritage and passion for life through the enchanting art of cooking Indian food.

Genres
Comedy, Romance
Cast
Aasif Mandvi, Jess Weixler, Naseeruddin Shah, Aarti Mann, Dean Winters, Kevin Corrigan, Ajay Naidu, Kevin Breznahan
Crew
Jonathan Bines, Aasif Mandvi, Aasif Mandvi, David Kaplan
Rating
6.26(104 votes)
Today's SpecialToday's Special
Select exactly what you are looking for


Abe
Abe(2020)
6.929

A 12-year-old boy from Brooklyn tries to unite his half-Israeli and half-Palestinian family through cooking.



Chef's Special
5.673

Maxi thinks his life is perfect. He is a famous cook who owns a successful restaurant in Chueca and is living his life as a gay man without much complex. But when his son Edu and his daughter Alba appear, and a new attractive neighbor comes along, it will have a strong effect on his life resulting in his values being challenged for ever.



Spin
Spin(2021)
6.9

Rhea lives with her tight-knit multigenerational family. After her mother’s death, she has been her father’s emotional rock, and her life revolves around her family’s restaurant, her eclectic group of friends, and her after-school coding club. Everything changes when she falls for aspiring DJ Max and a long lost passion for music is reignited. Rhea discovers that she has a natural gift for creating beats and producing music that blends her Indian heritage, but must find the courage to follow her true inner talent.



New York
New York(2009)
6.2

New York is a contemporary story of friendship set against the larger than life backdrop of a city often described as the centre of the world. Omar has gone abroad for the first time in his life and soon enough he begins to see and love America through the eyes of his American friends - Sam and Maya. It is the story of these three friends discovering a new world together.



Ustad Hotel
7.5

When his father refuses to support his choice of a career, an aspiring chef tries to fulfil his dream by helping his grandfather run his small eatery.



East Side Sushi
6.7

Years of working in the food industry have made Juana, a working-class Latina, a chef of speed and skill. Searching for financial stability, she stumbles into a high-energy, male-dominated Japanese cuisine kitchen. The new atmosphere re-ignites her passions for food and life and makes her hungry to get mixed up in the flavors of this new world.



Heartbeats
6.7

When a bubbly American hip hop dancer goes to India with her family for a wedding, she is impressed by a new dance style and falls in love with the man who introduced her to it.



Wedding Season
6.275

Pressured by their immigrant parents to find spouses, two Indian-Americans pretend to date in order to survive a summer of weddings – but find themselves falling for each other as they struggle to balance who they are with who their parents want them to be.



English Vinglish
7.2

In the United States for the first time, an Indian housewife with a limited command of English turns Manhattan into her personal language school.



Julie & Julia
6.7

Julia Child and Julie Powell – both of whom wrote memoirs – find their lives intertwined. Though separated by time and space, both women are at loose ends... until they discover that with the right combination of passion, fearlessness and butter, anything is possible.



To Each, Her Own

Just as Simone works up the courage to tell her conservative Jewish family she's a lesbian, she finds herself attracted to a male Senegalese chef.



As Needed
As Needed(2018)
6.714

A 40-year-old world-famous chef with anger management issues is assigned to run a cooking class at a centre for young people with autism.



The Ramen Girl
6.476

An American woman is stranded in Tokyo after breaking up with her boyfriend. Searching for direction in life, she trains to be a ramen chef under a tyrannical Japanese master.



Chef
Chef(2014)
7.113

When Chef Carl Casper suddenly quits his job at a prominent Los Angeles restaurant after refusing to compromise his creative integrity for its controlling owner, he is left to figure out what's next. Finding himself in Miami, he teams up with his ex-wife, his friend and his son to launch a food truck. Taking to the road, Chef Carl goes back to his roots to reignite his passion for the kitchen -- and zest for life and love.



The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir

Ajatashatru Lavash Patel has lived all his life in a small Mumbai neighborhood tricking people with street magic and fakir stunts. He sets out on a journey to find his estranged father but instead gets dragged on a never-ending adventure.



Bangla
Bangla(2019)
6.1

A 22 year-old Bangladeshi-Italian Muslim boy meets a beautiful, exciting Italian girl who makes him re-analyze his beliefs and culture.



Chandni Chowk to China

A cook from Chandni Chowk gets mistaken for the reincarnation of an ancient peasant warrior by the residents of an oppressed Chinese village.



Toscana
Toscana(2022)
5.84

When a Danish chef travels to Tuscany to sell his father's business, he meets a local woman who inspires him to rethink his approach to life and love.



The Mistress of Spices

Tilo is an Indian shopkeeper in America with an ability to see the future and a magical connection to powerful spices, which she uses to help her customers satisfy their various needs and desires. One day she falls in love with an American man. But the spices forbid it.



Daphne
Daphne(2017)
5.7

Daphne is a young woman negotiating the tricky business of modern life. Caught in the daily rush of her restaurant job and a nightlife kaleidoscope of new faces, she is witty, funny, the life of the party. Too busy to realise that deep down she is not happy. When she saves the life of a shopkeeper stabbed in a failed robbery, the impenetrable armour she wears to protect herself begins to crack, and Daphne is forced to confront the inevitability of a much-needed change in her life.



American Loser
5.186

A dramatic comedy about a self-induced attention-deficit disordered, learning disabled, Tourette's syndrome suffering, balance impaired, ex-alcoholic young man from the Upper East Side of Manhattan and the gold-digging girl who inspires him to try to get it together.



Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi
7.082

A lonely 40-ish man, likely to remain a bachelor, has a chance to find the love of his life when he falls for a vivacious young woman.



Soul Kitchen
6.882

In Hamburg, German-Greek chef Zinos unknowingly disturbs the peace in his locals-only restaurant by hiring a more talented chef.



Uncorked
Uncorked(2020)
6.118

Elijah must balance his dream of becoming a master sommelier with his father's expectations that he carry on the family's Memphis BBQ joint.



#Iamhere
#Iamhere(2020)
5.562

Stéphane lives a quiet life as an eminent French Chef but when he decides to visit Soo, a mysterious Korean lady he fell in love with on Instagram, he'll embark on an adventurous journey full of discoveries.



Alone
Alone(2008)
6.136

Alper is a renowned chef in his 30s at his own luxury restaurant. He lives an isolated life and spends his nights with one-night stands and paid intercourses. One day, his life changes utterly when his path crosses with Ada and gets enamored by her casual and modest outlook at life. As they start to get romantically involved, Alper must also overcome his chronic feeling of desolateness.



The Hundred-Foot Journey

A story centered around an Indian family who moves to France and opens a restaurant across the street from a Michelin-starred French restaurant.



Delicious
Delicious(2021)
6.9

France, 1789 - just before the Revolution. When talented chef Manceron is dismissed from his prestigious position by the Duke of Chamfort, he loses the taste for cooking. But when he meets the mysterious Louise, together they decide to create the very first restaurant in France.



The Reluctant Fundamentalist

In New York, a Pakistani native finds that his American Dream has collapsed in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.



Ramen Shop
6.9

Masato is a young ramen chef in Japan. When he finds his late mother's journal after the sudden death of his emotionally distant father, he takes it with him to her native country, Singapore, hoping to piece together the story of his family and his life.



The Way to the Heart
9.853

Ava, an award-winning chef at a big-city restaurant, has lost her spark. Her boss sends her out to find herself to save her menu and her job. She returns home and finds little to inspire her, but when she reunites with her childhood friend Logan, Ava has to get her head out of the clouds and her foot out of her mouth to rediscover her passion for food.



Caramelo
Caramelo(2025)
7.79

After a life-changing diagnosis, a promising chef finds hope and humor with the help of a fur-midable dog friend.



Aziz Ansari: Right Now

In a comedy special directed by Spike Jonze, Aziz Ansari shares deep personal insights and hilarious takes on wokeness, family and the social climate.



Le Chef
Le Chef(2012)
6.195

A veteran chef faces off against his restaurant group's new CEO, who wants to the establishment to lose a star from its rating in order to bring in a younger chef who specializes in molecular gastronomy.



The Guru
The Guru(2002)
5.277

Bored with Bollywood movies but fascinated with their Hollywood counterparts from his youth, Ram dreams to become a singer and actor in America, the country where dreams are made. He is encouraged when his American-based close friend, Vijay Rao, comes for visit, and brags about driving a Mercedes and living in a penthouse.



Daawat-e-Ishq
6.887

A deliciously romantic coming together of Gulrez “Gullu” Qadir a Hyderabadi shoe-sales girl disillusioned with love because of her encounters with dowry-seeking men; and Tariq “Taru” Haidar a Lucknawi cook who can charm anybody with the aroma and flavours of his biryani and kebabs.



Outsourced
6.419

After his entire department is outsourced, an American novelty products salesman heads to India to train his replacement.



This Is Not What I Expected

Lu Jin is a handsome, wealthy hotel executive whose drive for perfection is matched only by his taste for fine cuisine. When he checks into the Rosebud, he's dissatisfied with everything he sees and is ready to take action... until flamboyant female sous chef Gu Shengnan creates the perfectionist what may be a perfect meal. Now, these bitter rivals find themselves brought together in the kitchen in this light-hearted romantic comedy, infused with fun and flavors to create a delicious dish that foodies around the world wouldn't dare to miss.



Here Today
6.939

Veteran comedy writer Charlie Berns, who is slowly but surely losing his grip on reality, befriends a talented young New York street singer Emma Payge. Together, they form an unlikely yet hilarious and touching friendship that kicks the generation gap aside and redefines the meaning of love and trust.



Christmas As Usual
5.828

To celebrate their engagement, Thea takes Jashan home — but his Indian roots and her family's Norwegian traditions clash in a chaotic Christmas.



French Girl
6.253

Sweet Gordon, an affable English teacher in Brooklyn, has beaten the odds; a French Girl has fallen in love with him and he’s fallen even harder back. But their future is thrown into limbo when she interviews for an executive chef position in her hometown of Quebec City. To Gordon’s dismay her future boss also happens to be her former lover, a celebrity Chef with oceanic eyes and a hit TV show. Good luck Gordon.



The Namesake
6.7

After moving from Calcutta to New York, members of the Ganguli family maintain a delicate balancing act between honoring the traditions of their native India and blending into American culture. Although parents Ashoke and Ashima are proud of the sacrifices they make to give their children opportunities, their son Gogol strives to forge his own identity without forgetting his heritage.



Recipe for Love
5.913

Lauren Hennessey has always loved to cook and is a proud perfectionist at her job at "Food & Entertainment Magazine's" test kitchen while she dreams of being able to finally afford culinary school in Paris. When her boss offers her a bonus if she agrees to ghostwrite the cookbook of a difficult celebrity chef, Lauren sees her dream becoming a reality as soon as she can tame the notorious bad boy chef in question, Dexter Durant. Slowly peeling back the layers of Dexter's tough-guy persona, she starts seeing a different, vulnerable side to this big-shot chef. Suddenly, their dueling culinary styles become the perfect complement in the kitchen and an attraction between them starts to boil over.



A Dash of Love
6.239

A young woman who dreams of opening her own restaurant lands a job at a prominent restaurant whose head chef becomes her unlikely ally when the restaurant's unscrupulous owner, a Master Chef herself, plots to return the place to its former glory by presenting her new assistant's recipes as her own.



Love Steaks
5.213

Clemens works as a masseur, Lara as a cook, but their clientele is the same: the guests of a luxury hotel. As sparks begin to fly between the two, his sensitivity clashes with her more fiery temperament—opposites attract, but harmony is nowhere in sight.



Eat Pray Love
6.248

Liz Gilbert had everything a modern woman is supposed to dream of having – a husband, a house and a successful career – yet like so many others, she found herself lost, confused and searching for what she really wanted in life. Newly divorced and at a crossroads, Gilbert steps out of her comfort zone, risking everything to change her life, embarking on a journey around the world that becomes a quest for self-discovery. In her travels, she discovers the true pleasure of nourishment by eating in Italy, the power of prayer in India and, finally and unexpectedly, the inner peace and balance of true love in Bali.



Mississippi Masala
6.319

Years after her Indian family was forced to flee their home in Uganda, twentysomething Mina finds herself helping to run a motel in the faraway land of Mississippi. It's there that a passionate romance with the charming Black carpet cleaner Demetrius challenges the prejudices of their conservative families and exposes the rifts between the region's Indian and African American communities.



Amreeka
Amreeka(2009)
6.696

Eager to provide a better future for her son, Fadi, divorcée Muna Farah leaves her Palestinian homeland and takes up residence in rural Illinois -- just in time to encounter the domestic repercussions of America's disastrous war in Iraq. Now, the duo must reinvent their lives with some help from Muna's sister, Raghda, and brother-in-law, Nabeel.



Yesterday
Yesterday(2019)
6.689

A struggling musician realizes he's the only person on Earth who can remember The Beatles after waking up in an alternate reality where the group was forgotten.



Cocktail
Cocktail(2012)
6.1

A shy simple traditional girl leaves her family in India for her new husband in London, where she meets a shameless flirt and a complicated party girl.



The Other Side of Hope

A restaurateur befriends a Syrian refugee who has recently arrived in Finland.



Upgraded
Upgraded(2024)
7.186

Ana is an ambitious intern dreaming of a career in the art world while trying to impress her demanding boss Claire. When she's upgraded to first class on a work trip, she meets handsome Will, and Ana pretends to be her boss– a white lie that sets off a glamorous chain of events, romance and opportunity, until her fib threatens to surface.



In America
7.17

A family of Irish immigrants adjusts to life on the mean streets of Hell's Kitchen while also grieving the death of a child.



Mascarpone
5.9

Antonio is a 30 year old family man, whose life finds an unexpected twist when he's suddenly dumped by his husband, whom he depends both psychologically and economically: he needs to find a new place to stay, a job and a new purpose in life. Antonio finds a room in an apartment owned by Denis and starts to work in a bakery owned by Luca, while attending pastry school. Through this process he discovers that it was wrong of him to give up his independence for the sake of his relationship in the past.



Kitchen Brigade
6.4

Cathy is a sous-chef wanting to open a restaurant. With financial difficulties, Cathy accepts a job at a shelter for young migrants. At first she hates the job then her passion for cuisine starts to change children's lives.



Hotel Mumbai
7.541

Mumbai, India, November 26, 2008. While several terrorists spread hatred and death through the city, others attack the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel. Both hotel staff and guests risk their lives, making unthinkable sacrifices to protect themselves and keep everyone safe while help arrives.



The Lunchbox
7.361

A mistaken delivery in Mumbai's famously efficient lunchbox delivery system (Mumbai's Dabbawallahs) connects a young housewife to a stranger in the dusk of his life. They build a fantasy world together through notes in the lunchbox. Gradually, this fantasy threatens to overwhelm their reality.



Man Push Cart
6.86

Every night while the city sleeps, Ahmad, a former Pakistani rock star turned immigrant, drags his heavy cart along the streets of New York. And every morning, he sells coffee and donuts to a city he cannot call his own. One day, however, the pattern of this harsh existence is broken by a glimmer of hope for a better life.



Bacon on the Side
4.865

Djalil Boudaoud and Justine Lacroix are a surgeon and a television reporter who enter a romantic relationship despite the objections of their families to the cultural gap.



Bittersweet
7.494

An Egyptian-American returns to his homeland after twenty years abroad, filled with nostalgia and high hopes. But as he reconnects with his roots, he finds himself caught between two worlds—and begins to experience the reality of a country he thought he knew.



Shortcomings
6

When his girlfriend leaves for New York City on a 3-month-long internship, a strongly opinionated Berkeley arthouse movie theater manager begins exploring life as a bachelor.



Delicacy
Delicacy(2011)
6.344

A French woman mourning over the death of her husband three years prior is courted by a Swedish co-worker.



Big Night
Big Night(1996)
6.9

Primo and Secondo, two immigrant brothers, pin their hopes on a banquet honoring Louis Prima to save their struggling restaurant.



Love's Kitchen
5.3

Rob Haley, an up-and-coming chef and restaurateur in London, is grief-stricken when he loses his wife. With encouragement from his infamous friend and real life TV Chef Gordon Ramsay, Rob decides to spice up his life by turning a run-down country pub into a gourmet restaurant. His food catches the eye - and taste buds - of beautiful American food critic Kate Templeton and they soon both write a recipe for love that leaves both their hearts - and their stomachs - in full.



A Rainy Day in New York

Two young people arrive in New York to spend a weekend, but once they arrive they're met with bad weather and a series of adventures.



Spy
Spy(2015)
6.8

A desk-bound CIA analyst volunteers to go undercover to infiltrate the world of a deadly arms dealer, and prevent diabolical global disaster.



Haute Cuisine
6.2

The story of Danièle Delpeuch and how she was appointed as the private chef for François Mitterrand.



My Name Is Khan
8

Rizwan Khan, a Muslim from the Borivali section of Mumbai, has Asperger's syndrome. He marries a Hindu single mother, Mandira, in San Francisco. After 9/11, Rizwan is detained by authorities at LAX who treat him as a terrorist because of his condition and his race.



Eating Out: All You Can Eat

Tiffani attempts to help her geeky but very cute friend Casey find true love - or at least a sexy hunk. Taken under Tiffani’s wing, Casey pretends to be Ryan, Tiffani's hot, straight, stripper ex-boyfriend, in order to seduce the smoldering Zack online, which works, until the real Ryan shows up!



Dough
Dough(2015)
5.8

An old Jewish baker struggles to keep his business afloat until his young Muslim apprentice accidentally drops cannabis in the dough and sends sales sky high.



Natale in India
4.866

Destinies intertwined for two antithetical people who meet during a trip to India, where lots of misunderstandings and funny situations will take place.



Quasi orfano
6.069

Valentino Tarocco invents a new life as a famous Milanese designer. He has removed all connection with the past, but an accident will bring him back to his twenties, causing him to recover his Apulian dialect and love for his origins.



La Cocina
La Cocina(2024)
6.978

In the sweltering back kitchen of a Times Square restaurant, undocumented cook Pedro is caught between mounting pressures at work and a complicated romance with waitress Julia. When money goes missing, suspicion spreads, igniting tensions that threaten to upend the fragile hopes of the staff.



Biwi No.1
Biwi No.1(1999)
5.821

A woman tries to win back her husband when she discovers he's keeping a model for a mistress.



I Carry You with Me

An epic love story spanning decades is sparked by a chance encounter between two men in provincial Mexico. Based on a true story, ambition and societal pressure propel an aspiring chef to leave his soulmate and make the treacherous journey to New York, where life will never be the same.



Befikre
Befikre(2016)
5.1

What starts as a crazy one-night stand ends up in a relationship. But Dharam and Shyra fall out of love just as quickly. Where will life take them now?



Just Add Romance
6.4

When Carly and Jason, exact opposites, compete on a famed cooking show for the chance at their own restaurant, what will matter more – their culinary careers or their potential love?



Grilled
Grilled(2006)
4.912

Maurice and Dave sell high-end cuts of beef, but after hitting a patch of no sales, they're facing being fired. Maurice needs money to enroll in his final semester of acupuncture school, and the recently-separated Dave needs money for his daughter's birthday gift. Their final client card—a beautiful woman—is attracted to Maurice, but a desperate call from a suicidal friend interrupts her signing the contract. Still hoping to close the sale, they offer to drive her to the friend's house—where their troubles multiply.



It Lives Inside
5.7

Desperate to fit in at school, Sam rejects her Indian culture and family to be like everyone else. However, when a mythological demonic spirit latches onto her former best friend, she must come to terms with her heritage to defeat it.



Swades
Swades(2004)
7.3

A successful Indian scientist returns home to his village to take his nanny back to America with him, and in the process rediscovers his roots.



The Other End of the Line

An employee at an Indian call-center travels to San Francisco to be with a guy she falls for over the phone.



Delhi-6
Delhi-6(2009)
6

Roshan, an NRI, arrives in Old Delhi with his ailing grandmother and starts to rediscover himself before getting caught in a religious dispute that shakes the once peaceful neighborhood.



Photograph
6.7

A struggling street photographer, pressured to marry by his grandmother, convinces a shy stranger to pose as his fiancée. The pair develops a connection that transforms them in ways that they could not expect.



Five Minarets in New York

Two Turkish anti-terrorist agents are sent to New York City on a mission to find and bring back the dangerous Islamic leader codenamed "Dajjal", believed to be hiding in there. Working with the FBI and NYPD, the agents orchestrate the arrest of Hadji Gumus, a well-respected Muslim scholar and family man who years before fled to the United States after being released from a Turkish prison, where he served time for murder. This tale love, friendship, peace and prejudices, takes us on a journey seeking to answer the question of whether innocence or guilt even matters to one who lusts for vengeance.



What You Wish For
6.726

A talented chef with gambling woes flees to a Latin American villa to visit an old friend who appears to be living an extraordinary life as a private chef. Envy soon turns to greed and then to something deeply unsettling for the chef when he assumes his friend's life and discovers the motives of his mysterious clients.



Duplicate
Duplicate(1998)
6.2

Seeking vengeance on those who double-crossed him, an escaped prisoner impersonates an unsuspecting chef.



Two Many Chefs
6

Mikel, a young cook, meets with his father Juan, who had been missing for 30 years. While trying to keep his restaurant afloat, Mikel has to take care of crazed Juan, a former cook who suffers from a mental condition that prevents him from recognizing neither the aforementioned time gap nor his son Mikel.



Michael Che Matters
6.848

"SNL" star Michael Che takes on hot-button topics like inequality, homophobia and gentrification in this stand-up set filmed live in Brooklyn.



Six Degrees of Separation

The story of a young, gay, black, con artist who, posing as the son of Sidney Poitier, cunningly maneuvers his way into the lives of a white, upper-class New York family.



Chopsticks
6.08

A gifted but insecure woman is in for a transformative experience when she enlists the help of an enigmatic con artist to recover her stolen car.



Hunger
Hunger(2023)
7.273

A talented young street-food cook pushes herself to the limit after accepting an invitation to train under an infamous and ruthless chef.



Antique
Antique(2008)
6.2

Jin-hyeok opens a cake shop in an old antique shop, hiring Seon-woo, Korea's best pastry chef, who fell in love with him in high school. Also there, are Su-young, crushing on Seon-woo, ex-boxer Ki-beom, and Seon-woo's French ex-boyfriend.



The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love

An adventurous love story between two young women of different social and economic backgrounds who find themselves going through all the typical struggles of a new romance.



Summer in the City
6.046

When a small town woman with southern charm is given a big promotion managing a store in the Big Apple, she tries to adopt a big city personality and it leads to disastrous results.



Mexican Garañon
5.664

Elver is an indigenous man who arrives in the capital in search of opportunities and by a twist of fate comes to work at Don Toribio's residence, where the women discover his enormous sexual attractiveness.



Partisan
Partisan(2015)
6.1

On the edge of a crumbling city, 11-year-old Alexander lives in a sequestered commune alongside other children, their mothers, and charismatic leader, Gregori. Gregori teaches the children how to raise livestock, grow vegetables, work as a community - and how to kill. With the birth of a new baby brother weighing on his mind, Alexander begins to question Gregori’s overpowering influence on the children and their training to become assassins. Threatened by his increasing unwillingness to fall in line, Gregori’s behavior turns erratic and adversarial toward the child he once considered a son. With the two set dangerously at odds and the commune’s way of life disintegrating, the residents fear a violent resolution is at hand.



The Proposal
7.151

When she learns she's in danger of losing her visa status and being deported, overbearing book editor Margaret Tate forces her put-upon assistant, Andrew Paxton, to marry her.



Tortilla Soup
6.3

A Mexican-American master chef and father to three daughters has lost his taste for food but not for life.



Love Aaj Kal
6.2

Two lovers break up after they realize that their career goals are pulling them in different directions.

AboutPrivacy PolicyTerms of ServiceContact Us