Tastefully Yours: Episodes 9-10 (Final) » Dramabeans

Tastefully Yours: Episodes 9-10 (Final)

by Unit

Our tasteful show wraps up with a last minute twist on the coveted three stars, and a high-stakes culinary restaurant war. Our OTP also resolves their issues, rival parties mend fences, and all’s well that ends well.

 
EPISODES 9-10

Yeon-joo tells Myeong-sook and Choon-seung about Beom-woo’s betrayal, and she temporarily closes Jungjae to nurse her broken heart at the temple. In the meantime, Chairwoman Han shuts La Lecel down to focus on the three-star Motto, and she puts Sun-woo in charge since Beom-woo has resigned. Then the Diamant Guide announces their decision to also confer a three-star rating on Jungjae, and everyone is shookt! It turns out Diamant’s editor-in-chief is the famous gourmet French Dad who visited Jungjae with his Korean in-laws! He really did come in handy for Yeon-joo.

Chairwoman Han responds to this shocking development with a heavy evil laugh. Then she calls a TV producer to pitch a cook-off show between Motto and Jungjae because only one restaurant can sit on the three-star throne. Like it wasn’t enough to pit her sons against each other! Beom-woo reiterates that he is done with the competition, and Mommy Dearest replies that the humans of Hansang are not allowed to give up or back out whenever they feel like it. She also threatens to get rid of Jungjae and exile Yeon-joo from the industry if Beom-woo refuses to play her game.

Left with no choice, Beom-woo returns to Jeonju. He apologizes to Myeong-sook and Choon-seung, and pleads with them to help him protect Jungjae by participating in the cook-off. Myeong-sook and Choon-seung initially lash out at him for his betrayal, but they eventually decide to fight for their beloved restaurant. Meanwhile at the temple, Yeon-joo is in the middle of deciding what type of chef she wants to be, who she wants to cook for, as well as what to do about the Beom-woo situation. The head monk informs her that Beom-woo visited, but he couldn’t bring himself to face her. Head Monk notes that Beom-woo seemed sincere, and she encourages Yeon-joo to return to Jungjae. You’ve got three stars and a cook-off, sis!

The theme of the cook-off is chicken. And to determine the diamond of the season Ultimate Diamant restaurant, 30 food influencers are selected as judges alongside Chairwoman Han and French Dad. Unsurprisingly, Chairwoman Han plays dirty by buying all the live chickens from Jungjae’s suppliers. But chef Myeong-sook forges ahead with frozen chicken and her secret sauce to put a spin on one of Yeon-joo’s recipes. Teamwork makes the dreamwork, and the humans of Jungjae will protect the restaurant even in Yeon-joo’s absence.

It turns out Chairwoman Han is merely using the competition to drum up publicity for a new brand that Hansang is set to launch. But good things can still come out of selfish intentions. For instance, Young-hye decides she’s done copying recipes and she wants to be original. Choon-seung’s dad — who happens to be one of the food influencers — tastes his son’s liquor and acknowledges Choon-seung’s potential. Myeong-sook also proves herself as a chef, and French Dad is impressed. I love it for her!

At the end, the results are tallied, and it’s Jungjae 93:89 Motto. Chairwoman Han announces that it’s a tie, and French Dad storms off in annoyance. I would have exposed her lies to the world, but that’s just me. Yeon-joo finally shows up when Chairwoman Han asks for a rematch, and she stakes her restaurant and recipes on a bet with Han. “Taste my food and I’ll admit defeat if you say it’s not good,” Yeon-joo says. Her confidence is admirable. But Chairwoman Han is equally confident in her ability to remain unimpressed, and she accepts the challenge.

Earlier on, Show made Yeon-joo learn about Beom-woo’s backstory from an apologetic Sun-woo and Yoo-jin, in a bid to help her understand his motivation for betraying her. In summary, Hansang is more important to Chairwoman Han than her sons. The boys were raised by their grandmother while Han was building her company, and Han didn’t even attend Halmeoni’s funeral because she was on a business trip abroad. Beom-woo was only trying to earn his mommy’s approval by stealing recipes to get three stars, but he’s now a changed man thanks to Yeon-joo. Aw. *rolls eyes*

In the present, Yeon-joo sits the Hansang family together for a home-cooked meal, then she admits defeat to Chairwoman Han. Girl, what? “I didn’t cook this dish to be judged. I was taught that food should be cooked for those eating it. I cooked it with all my heart for the three of you.” *Facepalm* I will never understand Yeon-joo and her choices — whether it’s giving up a job she loved to protect an undeserving boyfriend, or staking her restaurant to give a sentimental speech that nobody asked for!

Unsurprisingly, Chairwoman Han doesn’t suddenly grow a heart after the speech. She also doesn’t settle down to enjoy the meal with her sons. But, she nibbles a few bites and compliments the food — and she can pretend all she likes that it was just for the cameras, but it’s obvious she liked what she tasted. Yeon-joo promises to shut down her restaurant as per terms of their bet. But Han already has all the cook-off footage she wants for marketing purposes, and she knows Yeon-joo will go open Jungjae somewhere else. So she tells Yeon-joo to just keep running the restaurant as is.

To wrap up the show, Yeon-joo forgives Beom-woo because she likes him. K. The Han brothers set aside their rivalry and become somewhat friendly again. Young-hye quits Motto and opens a burger truck with Yoo-jin. Myeong-sook is officially a chef at Jungjae, and Choon-seung has taken over his father’s restaurant. We get a double meta Park Ji-hoon cameo (as the lead actor of Myeong-sook’s fav drama, and as a familiar face from Choon-seung’s high school. *coughs* Weak Hero *coughs*). The Jungjae arsonist gets his restaurant back in a franchise deal with Hansang (and the takeaway here is that crime actually pays). Smh.

The drama ends with Beom-woo and Yeon-joo kissing as they monologue about finding the taste of each other. But the real romance in the show has to be the friends that were made along the way, because I’m not sure how to feel about Beom-woo and Yeon-joo as a couple. We saw him falling for her, and experiencing character growth as a result of that love. But I’m not sure at what point she fell for him, and I don’t see what the relationship did for her character in return. I also think she forgave him too easily. But they all lived happily ever after, and that’s what matters.

For a drama set in the world of food, I personally don’t think we had enough of the pretty cooking and plating visuals. I wanted more. Show also missed the opportunity to give us a healthy rivalry between the two female chefs — highlighting their individual approaches to the art of cooking. This is what I expected after their food truck competition. Instead, Yeon-joo was busy dealing with the backstabbing men in her life, and Young-hye wasn’t allowed to grow past her self-doubts and achieve the three stars on her own merit. Young-hye deserved better than a last-minute “I don’t want to be complacent/I want to serve my own food” epiphany.

In addition to the found family dynamics, we had an intriguing setup of owner parents vs. their inheriting children (Hansang mom and her sons, and Choon-seung and his dad), and Show could have further explored this complexity. Towards the end of week one, Sun-woo alluded to Beom-woo’s lack of sincere interest in the food industry. Beom-woo also mentioned that he double majored in architecture, and I wonder why Show gave us the impression that he wanted to pursue a life outside of the family business if we were not going to explore that.

This drama had a lot of material to work with, but why give interesting plotlines room to breathe when you can simply dwell on a needless ex-boyfriend/Japan side quest? My only highlight from the Japan trip was when the taste of Yeon-joo’s ramen induced chef Tatsuo’s lucidity. I loved the few times food was used as a tool to break barriers and connect with people (like the Korean/French couple, and the cake girl at the temple), and Show might have benefited from having more of these poignant moments.

At least now we know a short drama doesn’t always equate to a great one. You’d expect a 10er like Tastefully Yours to have a more focused and tighter writing. Alas… At the end of the day, I’m stuck with a feeling that isn’t disappointment, but not satisfaction either. I don’t hate the drama, but I don’t love it. I’m happy Beom-woo and Yeon-joo found their taste, but excuse me while I go scrub off the lingering taste of this show’s wasted potential from my mouth.

 
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