Haute Cuisine

Hortense Laborie is a respected chef from the Périgord region, known for her hearty, authentic French cooking. When the Élysée Palace asks her to take charge of the President's meals, she leaves her farm behind for Paris, unprepared for the jealousies and bureaucratic obstacles waiting in the corridors of power. Her dishes win the President over and the two develop a close working rapport, but her straightforward manner does not sit well with the palace staff.

The film is a comedy-drama directed by Christian Vincent, who wrote the screenplay with Étienne Comar. It is the second of the three features listed in Vincent's directing career, following Beau fixe and preceding Courted. Catherine Frot plays Hortense, with Jean d'Ormesson as the President, Arthur Dupont, Hippolyte Girardot, Jean-Marc Roulot and Arly Jover among a credited cast of twenty-four. Released in September 2012 and running 95 minutes, the production took around 11 million dollars worldwide.

Audience scores are modest and closely aligned: on IMDb the film holds 6.4 out of 10 from roughly 7,100 votes, while on TMDB it has 6.2 out of 10 from about 310 votes. A critics' rating of 6 out of 10 from 33 reviews places professional assessment in much the same range as the general public's.