Today's Special

Today's Special (2009) is a warm comedy-drama directed by David Kaplan, ready to watch online on iFILM. Samir is an ambitious sous-chef at a high-end Manhattan kitchen, dreaming of French cuisine and a place of his own. Passed over for a promotion, he quits on the spot and books a ticket to Paris.

Then an accident lands his father in the hospital, and Samir has to take over the family's modest Indian restaurant in Queens. He neither knows nor respects home cooking — until a chatty cab driver named Akbar, who treats spices like poetry, teaches him to trust his palate and his memory instead of a recipe.

Asif Mandvi, familiar from The Daily Show, stars and co-wrote the script; the cast includes Indian screen legend Naseeruddin Shah and Jess Weixler. It's a light, good-hearted story about finding your roots through food — life, as the tagline goes, has no recipe. Stream Today's Special online on iFILM.