Burnt (2015)

Adam Jones is one of the finest chefs of his time in Paris. He works at one of the premier
restaurants in Paris, France, which is owned by his mentor Jean-Luc. He is a two-Michelin star
chef but his drug use and manic drive for perfection cause him to implode. Consequently, he
pulls down his career along with the restaurant and careers of many of his friends and colleagues.
Adam vanishes then wakes up and decides to punish himself by agreeing to shuck a million
oysters at a bar in New Orleans. Adam returns to London after shucking his millionth oyster with
the goal of reclaiming his former fame and pursuing his third Michelin star.

As soon as Adam reaches London, he begins looking for his former coworkers, starting with
Tony Balerdi, the former maître d'hôtel (head waiter or supervisor of a restaurant) of his mentor
and currently the hotel manager of the Balerdi family-owned Langham Hotel in London. Tony is
opposed to Adam's desire to take over the hotel's restaurant because of his actions in Paris. He
honestly believed Adam had passed away, especially in light of the fact that he skipped Jean-
Luc’s funeral. Adam regrets greatly as he misses his instructor and mentor, Jean-Luc’s funeral
because he was unaware of his death.

In the following scene, Adam goes to see an old acquaintance named Conti and compliments his
sous-chef Helene on her skills. However, she dislikes his imperious and arrogant behavior and
hence disregards him right away. Adam tracks down Michel, another of his friends from Jean-
Luc's. Adam was shocked to learn that Michel had launched his restaurant. He let rats loose in
Michel's kitchen and reported him to a health official, which resulted in the restaurant's closure.
After a brief fight, they talk, and Michel agrees to work for Adam. And then finally he goes to
meet Reece, one of his contenders from old times. They have a brief talk and we can see that
they aren’t on good terms. Reece does not forgive him and continues to hate him.

Unfortunately, some of Adam’s former drug dealer gets to know that Adam is back in Europe.
Therefore, they send boys to try to collect the debt from Adam. Eventually, Tony makes Adam
leave the hotel where he had been staying. Then Adam goes in search of rising chef David. Both
of them have a brief conversation. We can see that David respects and admires Adam’s skills as
a chef. Since Adam does not have a place to stay, he seeks a place to stay and he gets to stay in
David's flat in exchange for David working at his restaurant.

In the meantime, Adam goes to meet up with famous restaurant critic, Simone. He convinces
Simone to dine at Tony’s restaurant. Tony is reluctant to let Adam prepare meals because he
knows that Adam set this up, but the state of his kitchen would lead Simone to give bad reviews
and close his restaurant. Adam appears in the kitchen. He lets Adam cook since he has no other
option. Adam does this all to prove his skills to Tony and eventually, Tony is persuaded by
Simone's positive evaluation to rebuild the hotel's kitchen and appoint Adam as the permanent
head chef. Nevertheless, He puts a condition that Adam ought to do weekly drug tests with Dr.
Rosshilde, Tony's psychiatrist. Adam consents to the tests despite his lack of interest in
counseling and his intense focus on opening-day preparations.

During the time of preparations, Adam’s old friend Max gets out of prison and joins Adam in his
restaurant. On the other hand, right until Conti terminates Helene and assigns her to Adam's
kitchen, Helene rejects other job offers. After being dismissed, Helene is furious, but Adam
persuades her to work for him by tripling her salary and benefits.

In spite of all the preparations that are done for the opening, the opening becomes a disaster. We
can see that all of them are highly disappointed. Adam yells at his team members for their minor
mistakes due to which the dishes lack perfection. He orders his team members to clean up the
mess. Adam blames Helene for the disaster that happened and furiously he closes early. She
resigns after Adam publicly humiliates her and gets physically aggressive. The business goes
down because of the blunder that happened on an opening day. Adam goes for a talk show
interview that he had previously declined in order to promote the business. They plan for a
reopening of the restaurant. This time Adam takes all the responsibility upon himself.
Fortunately, a restaurant reviewer provides a favorable review on his second opening. This
success of Adam leads Reece to be frustrated. We can see Reece shattering and smashing his
restaurant dishes and furniture.

Tony pays a visit to Helene in order to persuade her to come back to Langham’s. He offers her
more money and also gives some explanation about Adam’s behavior to convince her. He states
that Adam was raised in an unhappy environment and has always been impulsive but excellent at
his work. Helene is convinced and she agrees to work. After she returns, Adam is more
respectful toward Helene. However, Adam refuses a day's leave for Helene on her daughter lily’s
birthday. Helene is very upset with the decision of Adam. Since Helene cannot spend time with
her daughter at home, Tony, being very kind, bring Helene’s daughter Lily to the restaurant.
Helene finds out that her daughter is in Tony's care at the restaurant. Helene is impressed when
Adam compromises and bakes Lily a birthday cake despite his anger. Adam, himself serves the
cake to Lily and also makes an effort to connect with her.

Even though Tony agrees to pay off his debt, Adam continues to avoid his drug dealer.
Gradually, the restaurant’s reputation is being set and now, he sets his sights on three Michelin
stars. Adam informs his team members that he has invited Michelin judges to judge their food.
He further explains that the Michelin judges do not inform before coming to the restaurant, we
can only guess on the basis of some particular behavior of Michelin judges. They visit the
restaurant as normal customers, order their food, taste them and then judge based on their
experience. So he instructs his team members to cook each dish perfectly.

Meanwhile, Adam invites Helene to go with him after he receives an invitation to Reece's
restaurant's reopening as per Tony’s suggestion. Reece and Adam are able to get along, but the
evening is ruined when Adam sees Jean-Luc's daughter Anne Marie. Reece tells Helene that they
formerly dated. Given that he abandoned Anne Marie three years ago and skipped her father's
funeral, Adam is surprised when Anne Marie shows him kindness. Anne Maries shows up to be
clean and sober and wants to give Adam her father’s cooking knives.

Adam spends the entire evening being lost and reflecting on what went wrong in Paris. Because
of his skill as a cook, Jean-Luc served as more of a father figure to him than his own father. He
flourished in the chaotic, fast-paced ambiance of the kitchen. After abusing drugs, he eventually
became insane. He now aspires to greatness but is unsure of how to deal with failure.
The next morning, Helene and Adam find each other at the fish market. Helene shows her care
for Adam and Adam shares his feelings with her. They share their first kiss in front of the
restaurant that morning. Tony interrupts them as the drug dealers' henchmen have returned and
those men take Adam with them. Helene is worried for Adam. Tony aims to convince Helene
that Adam will take care of himself and not worry. Later that night, Helene finds Adam beaten
and wounded, outside the kitchen door. Before they can do much more than clean up, Tony and
Helene find that two Michelin judges have arrived at Langham's. Adam is barely able to keep it
together as everyone rushes about in a frenzy. Adam also steps into the kitchen preparing their
order showing mistrust towards his team members. The waiter returns with two dinners that were
not consumed after they finish serving the judges' meals. Their soup was extremely spicy, so the
judges had to return it. Michel, who had earlier told Adam that he had tested the soup, now
acknowledges that he added too much pepper. He takes his revenge for Adam's treatment of him
in Paris. Adam feels broken as now he won’t get his third star.

Adam walks through London. He ascends the Westminster Bridge railing and appears to be
thinking of jumping. However, he doesn’t jump and only throws a dairy that he always kept with
him. He returns later and knocks on Reece's restaurant's windows until Reece allows him inside.
Adam acts erratically in the kitchen as he is drunk. Reece asks all of his kitchen staff to leave
them alone. While he is drunk he seems to suffocate himself and die by putting his head in a
small plastic bag. Reece rips the bag off Adam's head after he puts a tiny plastic bag over his
head and starts to cry. When Adam stumbles to the ground, he holds him and lets Adam stay the
night.

The following morning, Reece prepares breakfast for Adam and both of them talk over breakfast.
Reece claims that he is aware that Adam is a superior cook to him. He still values Adam's work,
though, because it encourages him to continue trying new things. They say goodbye on much
better terms. After leaving Reece’s place, Adam goes to see Dr. Rosshilde. Adam shares his
feeling and she counsels him. After that, Adam finds out that Anne Marie has settled the drug
dealer's debt when he gets back to the hotel. In addition, she hands him her father's knives and
begs him to treat Helene well.

In the following scene, Tony and Helene come to him with good news. The two men the
previous night were not Michelin judges, even though they behaved just like them. Adam is
overjoyed and kisses Tony in his happiness. He is very happy to have another opportunity to earn
a Michelin star, but kissing Helene once more makes him even happy. They start dating.

Towards the end of the movie, Adam is seen to improve his behavior. He becomes less arrogant
and learns to respect others' opinions. As a result, he changes the way he runs his kitchen. He
pays more attention to Helene and Max, and he gives David more encouragement. He
collaborates with the other chefs, especially Helene, to prepare a fantastic lunch for the genuine
Michelin judges when they visit Langham's. This time he trusts his team members with their
work as per Helene’s suggestion. When they get their third star, Tony and Adam are happy and
they celebrate.