Toscana puts a well known Danish chef in Tuscany where he tries to deal with his history and make some cash for his restaurant back in Denmark. There’s a woman who upsets his world view as he’s going through it all.
In Toscana, Theo (Anders Matthesen), the Danish chef, is struggling with his business. His business partner Merle (Lærke Winther) has set up a meeting with a potential investor. Theo completely blows it.
Then Theo hears that his father, who owned an estate with a restaurant in Tuscany, died. Theo inherited the estate. He decides to go to Italy and sell it to revive his business.
The first person he interacts with in Italy is Sophia (Cristiana Dell’Anna). They get off to a bad start before she realizes who he is.
Theo is angry at his father, who Theo felt abandoned by. Around Sophia, who he knew as a child, and around the people who knew his father, he begins to recall times he spent with his dad. He has a lot of processing to do about his father.
He also rediscovers an attraction for Sophia. Except she’s supposed to marry Pino (Andrea Bosca). Theo makes a deal to cater Sophia’s wedding as part of the asking price for the estate and a bargain is struck. The wedding happens, the estate is sold, Theo returns to Denmark. But things have changed in him so the third act is a total switch up on what he wanted when the film began.
I don’t need to tell you how beautiful Tuscany is. The food preparations were filmed as lovingly as the shots of the scenery. Theo can make me a sandwich any time he wants.
The plot had huge gaps where we had to make assumptions about what happened between scenes. However, the story was not complicated enough to make that difficult. Much of it was improbable, but with this kind of a story you expect improbable.
If I say something is a Hallmark movie or a Lifetime movie, you know what to expect. It’s getting that way with Netflix movies. You get something predictable, watchable but not outstanding, and the stars and settings are attractive. This Netflix movie uses Danish, English, and Italian. Sometimes all three in the same sentence. Maybe that makes it a little different.
Check out the trailer and see if it looks like something you’ll enjoy.
Lindo!