While ZombieMamma is out-of-communication for the week, I have taken over her Friday duties! For this Friday Night Drama, I’m taking you back a ways to a show about the restaurant world, where chef is pitted against chef, and not even the goldfish are safe! Having worked in several different calibers of food establishments in my life, the basic premise of Pasta intrigued me greatly, so when I started watching it, it quickly became a marathon.
The basic premise of Pasta is this: Seo Yoo Kyung, who has endured the grueling job of kitchen assistant at high-class restaurant La Sfera for two years in hopes of being promoted to chef. Things are looking up as she meets a handsome stranger on the street who ends up being the restaurant’s new head chef. His first day on the job, however, he fires all the female cooks, including Yoo Kyung. Yoo Kyung, too stubborn to let go of her dream, is willing to do whatever it takes to get her job back. Yoo Kyung struggles as she butts heads with the new chef while trying to learn everything she can from him at the same time, and sparks begin to fly. Things are complicated by the presence of Kim San, a charming customer with an eye for Yoo Kyung who seems to have mysterious ties to the restaurant, and Oh Sae Young, a famous TV Chef and former love of Hyun Wook, not to mention the kitchen politics that get in the way of their budding romance.
So what the synopsis doesn’t tell you is that the struggle to get back into working at the restaurant turns the entire building into a war zone. There are two sides made of the Italian-trained chefs and those who learned their skills in Korea. And it’s not just the chefs who are at odds. The entirety of the establishment is brought into it as even the waitstaff take sides and the manager happens to be a little shady. Love triangles, or maybe squares, form… it’s a fun time.
While the plot can be considered a little bit cookie cutter, it was an absolute delight is seeing so many familiar faces in this ensemble cast, albeit very YOUNG versions of the actors and actresses we know today. Gong Hyo Jin, Lee Sun Gyun, Chu Alex, Lee Ha Nui, No Min Woo, Choi Jae Hwan, Choi Jin Hyuk… so many people were part of this production and you will recognize 80% of them!
Basically, I’m telling you if you want a feel-good drama that will make you wonder why you don’t cook more often and how you can learn to make every dish you see, you should watch Pasta!
Loved that drama, so quirky, so fun, and just delightful, even though the romance is super understated. Lee Sun Gyun is so attractive in this drama, I love him in this role. My favorite thing about this is the two lead characters are like, do we like each other and why? And they are like we don’t know why lol. This is where Gong Hyo-jin really experimented with the passive aggressive pouty female behaviors to get her way acting persona that she put into play in full force Gong Shil in Masters Sun. I find Choi Jin-hyk barely recognizable in this drama from his current self. So strange.
I actually did not recognize Gong Hyo Jin at first because I started watching without reading anything about it. I kept asking myself why I knew her and then it clicked. She’s really great with off-beat characters, so I appreciated this role more because it was another challenge that led her to be the caliber that she was for Master’s Sun. Then I started seeing more and more faces that I knew and I kept wondering how I had missed the drama. Fun fact though, Choi Jin Hyuk isn’t actually billed by that name for this drama. I found it interesting. You can definitely tell that he was inexperienced, but he was trying so hard. I think he became more nature throughout the series.
Yes, he changed his stage name after that drama! I read that GHJ had input in creating the character in Pasta. The character was supposed to be the cliched spunky girl that gets picked on but sticks up her chin and argues back. She thought that a passive aggressive little girl type pouter that wheedled her way was more interesting. I actually did not like that about the character, or the about Gong Shil in Masters Sun either. I find this kind of behavior really damaging to women, and part of the dynamic of men treat women as lesser beings or as children. That said, it’s how a lot of women operate in real life, so you can say she brings realism to her work lol. However, drama wise, the characters were able to remain likable characters that did not turn me off completely. (Her Best Love character was also passive aggressive but in a mutter under her breath smart ass way, which was funny.) I really hope she does something different character wise in it’s Okay It’s Love though. Thanks for bringing this quirky little drama out for a little attention, I hope your post garners it some new viewers!
I agree. I can’t stand GHJ in these type of passive characters. In fact, I spent the whole drama frustrated with Pasta. I still have the last two episodes I didn’t watch. Well, maybe one day, if I feel up to it. I don’t like characters who are in the clouds all the time. She never gets overly mad and that makes me uncomfortable. I love Lee Sun Gyun’s performance in this drama though. He has never done a prickly role like this before and it’s so refreshing to see him as someone who doesn’t easily get along with others. At the time, I was watching the American show, Dr. House, so I loved watching guys who were geniuses but had no manners. Haha. The Pasta story itself was really ridiculous and over the top. I can’t imagine why anyone cares to stay or even cares about La Sfera after they get fired. Alex was weak as a second lead with zero story line. Honey Lee’s character felt forced. The female cooks had zero story line. I don’t know why they bother following up with them. This is also the first time I noticed Lee Sung Min. Who knew his acting would become so memorable later on? He also partnered up with Lee Sun Gyun at least two more times in other dramas (Golden Time and Miss Korea). It’s good to watch this drama to see everyone in their “underdog” status, but the story line is too crazy, dramatic, and boring. I don’t know why we should care about the welfare of the characters. Even Lee Sun Gyun’s character spent most of the time not really dating Gong Hyo Jin’s character or officially dating her because of his personality and that frustrated me. I’m not sure what the ending is like, but I’m not curious enough to watch it right now.
But there will be one thing that will be on your minds after watching this show: The way Gong Hyo Jin says, “Chef!” That was like it phrase I used for weeks!
Me too! I still catch myself saying “Yes Chef!” every now and then and then I start laughing and everyone around me looks at me like I’m crazy because they have no idea why that phrase is funny to me… *sigh* Such is the life of the lone K-Drama addict, I suppose. At least I know I’m not the only person in the world who can’t say “Chef!” without thinking of Gong Hyo Jin and Pasta. 😉
I’d like to clarify that I said the GHJ character of Yoo-kyung in Pasta was passive aggressive. There is a difference. Yoo-kyung was not passive, she was manipulative with the martyr complex and the little girl pitifulness and it worked on Chef. Despite not liking that kind of behavior in women, I liked this drama very much and it is one of my favorite dramas. I thought Alex was quirky awesome and much more interesting to watch than the typical trope 2nd male lead. I think you might be missing a plot point with why Chef was the way he was about workplace romance and his conflict his like for Soo-kyung, it was not his personality, it was his past experiences. One of my favorite parts was when she asked if he liked her, and he’s like I don’t know! That still cracks me up.
Hi Randomsoju, we have two different perspectives about the drama. To me, GHJ’s character was all passive and not aggressive enough in my opinion. She did manipulate the Chef somewhat, but I feel like he still did whatever he wanted anyway. To me, Alex’s character had no story line and it was pitiful how he didn’t try to pursue Yoo-Kyung openly. I thought he would have had a chance if he did. Eh, either way, Chef’s preferences about banning women is wrong and I wonder if that’s even legal. He shouldn’t let his personal problems affect the workplace. My favorite moment is when the two leads met while crossing the street (beginning of episode 1) and then it went downhill from there (in terms of their relationship).
I finally watched this drama over the past week and loved it! It was cute and predictable, yet the characters were likeable (and darn good looking!!). I didn’t find GHJ to be passive aggressive. She didn’t intemtionally try to manipulate anyone with her pouting. Rather, I felt that she was stuffing down her feelings and preferences in order to survive in her environment. As time went on, she learned to speak up and fight for herself, and I liked that about her. She grew in confidence and became a better cook and person. I wouldn’t read too much into it.