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List Price: $19.98 | | Label: BBC Warner
Salesrank: 19795
Released: August 30, 2005 |
| Our Price: $13.43 |
| Used Price: $9.97 |
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MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD |
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| Features:
Closed-captioned Color DVD NTSC | |
Editorial Review:
Meet Britain's finest -- and most ill-tempered -- chef, Gareth Blackstock (Lenny Henry), of the prestigious Le Chateau Anglais restaurant. Each meal is a masterpiece. Just don't ask for salt. Chef Blackstock rules his kitchen with an iron ladle and puts up with no slacking. The trouble is that his underpaid and overworked kitchen staff is littered with slackers. Tuck in and prepare to double over in laughter with this hilarious and much loved comedy series from the BBC!
Description of Chef! - The Complete Series One:
Hungry for a laugh? The BBC serves up more than a few chuckles in this engaging sitcom about imperious chef Gareth Blackstock (Lenny Henry), a stern taskmaster who runs his kitchen with an iron fist, a lightning tongue, and a silver palate. The show combines some of the best elements of episodic drama and zany comedy, generously seasoned with sensual splashes of fine French cuisine. (Picture Julia Child crossed with Fawlty Towers' John Cleese following a script by the creators of thirtysomething and you get the general idea.) The first series introduces Blackstock as a brilliant, egotistical black chef running an all-white kitchen--until, that is, his wife maneuvers him into hiring an old school chum. Challenges mount as the restaurant faces bankruptcy and Blackstock decides to risk everything to buy it. Could fulfilling his dream wind up costing the king of the kitchen his home and savings? Supported by a talented ensemble cast, the dramatic story arc develops gradually enough to keep viewers wanting more, while individual episodes rest on more traditional sitcom gags--like when the new apprentice chef loses a Band-Aid somewhere in the kitchen but can't tell which gourmet dish it landed in. Later, Blackstock, the ultimate perfectionist, devises his most perfect mouthwatering meal and scours the shady underside of England's green and pleasant countryside for the perfect closer... the king of cheeses, an illegal unpasteurized stilton. Gradually the supporting characters are given more room to grow--especially charming young Everton (Roger Griffiths), the bumbling, insecure prep cook. When Blackstock's boorish Jamaican father (Oliver Samuels) browbeats the "serious professional" into abandoning haute cuisine for a night featuring Caribbean food, it's Everton's legendary dumplings that save the day. (Watching him carefully prepare his Guinness punch might be worth the price of the disc alone.) Those expecting the surreal hysteria of Monty Python or similar classic British comedies might not care for Chef's subtleties, but those interested in quality television mixed with fine food and sprinkled with a few decent laughs will be more than satisfied by what this show has to offer. --Grant Balfour
Chef! - The Complete Series One Reviews:
A delicious comedy 
2009-07-17 - The show is primarily about an imperious chef and his staff, running a kitchen in an upscale French cuisine restaurant. The pompous, "Britain's finest" Chef frequently bursts out in eloquent oratory, mainly on how low his lowlife employees are. The Chef is a perfectionist, to the extent that he will ignore the law by buying illegal, unpasteurized Stilton cheese to get the taste he wants. Then there is his beautiful wife, trying to reign-in his excessive spending on ingredients and feeling somewhat neglected. What is a bit unusual is that with one minor exception the show does not involve wine.
The writing is witty, engaging and sophisticated. It derives its humor from plausible situations, rather than stuff like sticking pencils in your nose to get a laugh, and it does not use profanity or vulgarity. The episodes are amusing, there are many funny moments, but you will not fall out of your chair laughing. To those more familiar with the culinary arts, there are more humorous moments in the preparation of certain dishes.
One thing the show does, it makes you want to cook, or at least eat something really delicious. Also, the people with high blood pressure who put salt on their food only in their dreams, may find the show helpful, as the Chef presents a most compelling and rational case against salting food. After watching that, one may feel perfectly fine not using salt and liking it.
Incredibly funny 
2009-02-17 - The Chef Series One was incredibly funny. I'm going to buy the other sets. The writing on this show is wonderful and the actors are superb. You won't regret owning this copy.
chef! the complete series one
2008-08-08 - i started watching on tv awhile ago i couldn't get it out of my head when i saw it was for sale on amazon i couldn't help myself but to buy it. i wasn't disappointed it was just as great as i remember it. it a classic and i would recommand everyone to watch this fantastic british show..it's funny it's down to earth . it shows the work a great chef goes thou at work and at home . belive me you have to buy it to understand just how wonderful this show is .i'm gonna to buy part 2 soon . it has three series to it and it worth the money.good luck and i hope you enjoy it just as much as i have it a wonderful item to have in your movie collection....
Chef! - British Comedy At Its Very Best (Season One)
2008-06-04 - I was a big fan of this series will working overseas. I could access the BBC television feeds and enjoyed Chef!, Monty Python and another must see but little known series called "Allo Allo". I agree with many of the other reviews found here about the series, seasons one and two are superior, it is a shame that season three fall short. There was a major change, director, writers, some characters and the format of the production in mass doomed what was a great and witty series. I can recommend season one and two without question, but stay away from season three unless you need to see the contrasting decline.
Better than sliced bread!
2008-02-11 - I have watched this so many times, I can quote it by heart. Lenny Henry makes Gordon Ramsay look like a kindergarten kid .... and Lenny is actually funny!
