PASTA
Pasta (Hangul: 파스타) is a 2010 South Korean television series starring Gong Hyo-jin, Lee Sun-kyun, Lee Ha-nui and Alex Chu. The workplace romantic comedy is about the dreams and struggles of a young woman who aspires to become an elite chef
PLOT
"Pasta" is an unconventional love story that revolves around the kitchen of an Italian restaurant, La Sfera.
Seo Yoo-Kyung (Kong Hyo-Jin) started her career as a third-ranked kitchen assistant for three years at La Sfera and on the day she finally gets to become an Assistant Pasta chef, Executive Chef Totti is fired and a new chef takes his place. Chef Choi Hyun Wook (Lee Sun-Kyun) was trained in Italy and is one of the most talented chefs in Korea. He is out to reform the kitchen and fires all the female chefs after just one day. This seemed like a coincidence at first, but it turns out it was all planned from he beginning, because he clearly states that there is no place for a woman in 'his' kitchen. By contrast, he also wants to date Yoo-Kyung - outside of the kitchen.
The recurring theme of the cactus is a metaphoric picture that describes both Yoo-Kyung's journey to realize her culinary ambitions and the relationship that develops between Seo Yoo-Kyung and Chef Choi Hyun Wook. Full of both thorns and life, blooming only after much hardship, the parallels are unmistakable.
Also in the picture is an old rival, the beautiful and talented Oh Sae-Young (Lee Ha-Nui). Having known Chef Choi from culinary school in Italy, where she tampered with his ingredients to win the coveted first place in a cooking grand prix, her motives seem unclear and mildly sinister at first, evolving as the series goes on.
Kim San (Alex) is the mysterious "customer" who has secretly admired and loved Seo Yoo-Kyung for 3 years, never before revealing his true identity as La Sfera's real owner. His line "The customer is king," is a study in layered meaning, as well as how a line can be finely crafted with a minimum of words.
Lacking true villains, "Pasta" also has a dual-layered revenge plot running through it, as both manager Seol Jun-Seok (Lee Seong-min) and the Unnis (Ha Jae-Suk, Jeong Da-Hye, & Son Seon-Yun) conspire to get even with Chef Choi for the wrongs they think he has visited upon them. All agree Chef Choi should be fired, but the problem of how to make it happen is what drives the sub-plot along.
Comic relief is the role of Jeong Eun-Su (Choi Jae-Hwan), the lovable but slow-witted kitchen assistant whose late-night chance encounter in the kitchen makes for the oddest fulfillment of a fortune teller's prediction.
CAST
MAIN CAST
- Seo Yoo-kyung, played by Gong Hyo-jin
- The daughter of a Chinese restaurant owner whose mother died of cancer, she dreams of becoming a celebrity chef. Having graduated from a lowly culinary school, she starts the series as a kitchen assistant for 3 years at La Sfera. She has a spunky attitude and she finally gets promoted to cook in the first episode, but after a new head chef, Hyun-wook, is hired, she is fired. She is able to return to her job, thanks to the restaurant manager who intervenes on her behalf. But Yoo-kyung has a long way to go until she will earn any respect from chef Hyun-wook for her cooking skills. She makes an effort to learn as much as she can from Hyun-wook and he, in turn, starts to grow fond of her. However, when Kim San, the restaurant owner of La Sfera, returns, her relationship between Hyun-wook and Kim San change abruptly.
- Choi Hyun-wook, played by Lee Sun-kyun
- A chef who rose to the top of his profession after starting at the bottom in an Italian restaurant in Sicily. Offered a hefty salary and housing from the La Sfera restaurant, he decides to become the head chef of the establishment. He detests female chefs after having a bad experience in the past and proclaims, "There will be no women in my kitchen". When his ex-girlfriend Sae-young joins him at the restaurant as co-head chef, he frequently quarrels with her and then makes up as they create wonderful cuisine for patrons.
- Oh Sae-young, played by Lee Ha-nui
- She's Yoo-kyung's role model as well as her roommate. Sae-young has her own cooking show and is the most celebrated female chef in Korea. During her years in Italy where she went to culinary school, she dated Hyun-wook and ruined his recipe to win a grand prix cooking contest. After returning to Korea, she instantly became a celebrity chef but when she's reunited with Hyun-wook, she has conflicted feelings towards him.
- Kim San, played by Alex Chu
- He's the actual owner of the La Sfera restaurant, but he hides this fact and poses as a regular restaurant patron for 3 years. One day, he takes a peek at Yoo-kyung's notes and develops an interest in her. Nobody pays much attention to Yoo-kyung, who is a kitchen assistant, but Kim San watches her closely. He helps Yoo-kyung from behind the scenes unbeknownst to Yoo-kyung.
Korean trained cooks
Lee Hyung Chul as Geum Suk Ho
Jo Sang Ki as Jung Ho Nam
Baek Bong Ki as Min Seung Jae
Heo Tae Hee as Han Sang Sik
Italian trained cooks
Kim Tae Ho as Sun Woo Duk
No Min Woo as Philip
Hyun Woo as Lee Ji Hoon
Female cooks
Ha Jae Sook as Lee Hee Joo
Son Sung Yoon as Park Chan Hee
Jung Da Hye as Park Mi Hee
Other people
Lee Sung Min as Seol Joon Suk (La Sfera CEO)
Choi Min Sung as Ne Mo (head waiter)
Byun Jung Soo as Kim Kang (Kim San's sister)
Choi Jae Hwan as Jung Eun Soo (new kitchen assistant)
Yoon Yong Hyun as Kwang Tae
Jang Yong as Seo Jong Gyu (Yoo Kyung's father)
Kim Dong Hee as Seo Yoo Shik (Yoo Kyung's brother)
