Original subtitles

Next!

You can put it on the pasta.

Then we have the uni .

So it is very, very fresh.

Next!

One mee siam.

Man: Are you stupid or what?

-I think... -You think?

You think?

You were hired to serve.

Seriously, if you could think,

would you still be a waiter?

I've been with a bank four years here now.

I didn't expect it, but I've really

fallen in love with Singapore.

Bit by bit.

It's the Singaporean women.

They're slightly... Oriental

but at the same time

completely accessible.

Spicy motherfuckers.

Swear to God, I don't even like French women!

Satay!

-Hi! -Satay for you?

Uh, yeah, so...

-you have satay? -Satay, yes, it's meat on skewers.

-Okay. -So, how many of you, sir?

Um, we are seven people here.

Okay, seven... I think 60.

Twenty each, we have beef, mutton, and chicken.

-Okay. -For you, okay?

-So you have a seat then. -Okay.

-I'll serve them to you. -Thank you.

I'm sorry! I'm sorry!

I'm sorry, sir.

I'm sorry, we're sorry,

my daughter is just a little girl.

Sorry, sorry!

We're sorry.

It's okay, it's okay. You don't have to pay. It's free. Yeah.

I'm sorry.

You are a bad father!

-Huh? -Say that again.

You say that again.

You don't think you can come here and do shit to us,

you understand?

You are not welcome here!

(mocking): You are not welcome here!

You go!

Go!

-Next! -Hello.

Uh, we were there the other night.

I, I just came to say

I'm so sorry, and also I--

I realize everyone left

and nobody paid, so...

-It's fine. It's fine. -No, no, it's not fine.

We don't need your money.

It's really not fine.

I am so, so sorry.

Uh, hello, hello?

You wanna eat something?

Right, wow, the broth is incredible.

Really.

No, I mean it. I'm not just saying this.

I really mean it. What is it called again?

-Mee siam. -Mee siam.

I mean...

You know, it's-- it's rich

but it's not too heavy.

I feel like it's...

it's part sour, part sweet,

part savory, part spicy.

What do you put in it?

Uh, spices and assam .

Assam?

-Uh, tamarind. -Oh, tamarind.

Oh, that's why.

For a Mat Selleh.

You can't really take the spices.

For a what? Mat Selleh.

Uh, your friend still upset?

Oh no, that's not my friend.

He's just a colleague.

Also, what he did,

that was so not cool.

I'm so sorry.

He's really an asshole.

So, you work here?

I mean, I thought you all are tourists.

No, no, I work here.

Um, it's been a few months now?

I work in a French restaurant.

Restaurant, so...

you're not working today?

No, for lunch it's only open

three times per week.

-Three times per week. -Yeah.

-Good life, huh? -Yeah.

Must be very atas .

What's atas ?

Uh...

High class.

I mean, I think

the food you cook here is no less complex.

To be honest, I would not know where to start

for example, to create this dish.

It's nice of you to stop by

but you don't have to keep praising the food...

-...because of what happened. -No, I really--

Sorry, I've got to go.

Uh, no hard feelings.

-I'm Ifran. -Julie.

Hello!

-Hi! -One mee siam , please.

Mee siam ?

Yeah, okay, take a seat.

Okay.

-Thank you. -Here you go.

Thank you very much.

You know, I've been trying other stalls

and yours is still the best.

-Really. Yeah. -Thank you.

Something-- something different, no?

Sorry?

Something is different about the mee siam .

It's not the same taste as last time, no?

How-- how different?

Well, I don't know, it's--

I mean, it's thinner.

The taste is-- the taste is not the same.

I don't know.

I'm... sorry.

I... didn't mean it.

Hey, hey, what are you doing!

No, no, no!

What are you doing?

Look, my mom cook all the--

all the food that we sell.

She fainted over the weekend

and the doctor asked her to just stay at home and rest.

Now I'm left alone.

So I did all the cooking today.

That's why it tastes different.

Okay.

Man: Excuse me?

One mee siam, please?

Yes, no problem. Coming right away.

You should get her to teach you, you know?

What do you care?

Well you should care.

It's your stall's reputation anyway.

Hawker stalls are for people

to eat because it's cheap.

Reputations are for people like you, not me.

Well, I disagree. I'm a chef

and I tasted magic here.

Anyway, it's none of your business.

You know you will regret that you didn't

learn while you still had the chance, right?

Are you okay?

Just give me a second.

I'm so sorry about your father's death.

All I think is what sucks is that just...

we always, like

argued and

and I think because we were both chefs,

you know, like we always--

we were always so proud and

nobody wants to make the first step

and we didn't talk for so long and...

and then when I--

then when I realized it was too late.

And...

I didn't get to tell him that I love him.

Thank you.

You're so nice.

Oh shit, I'm gonna be late.

My boss is gonna kill me.

Thank you so much, yeah?

You saved my life.

No problem.

-Okay. See you. Bye. -See you.

-Hey. -Hey.

I thought you weren't going to come.

What? No.

I really, really want to learn from your mother, you know?

-Okay, okay. -Yes!

Oh, and this is for her.

No.

I asked you to come as a friend not...

-...for the money. -No, it's okay.

Take it back, let's go.

Let's go, let's go, come.

So this is the shop

that I always buy my magic stuff from.

Yes, come let me show you.

Assam . Remember this, assam ?

-Tamarind. -Yes!

-So you put it in? -Right, you have to break it.

And use what's inside.

You put it in water.

Very nice. They're very nice.

I'll show you the chili. Come.

Yes!

So these are the dried chilis.

Thank you so much for today.

Really, it's been by far

the most interesting thing I've done

since I got here.

Hey, no worries.

Anyway...

what makes you want to travel so far from home.

When I first got to Singapore,

I didn't really have a plan.

But I just knew I had to get out of France

after my father passed away.

He was a very famous chef.

Yves Legrand, he sold so many cookbooks,

but we would just always argue like all the time

over the smallest things.

We never agree on anything.

Sounds like my ex-wife.

Do you know that the word "chef"

is actually a French word?

It means "chief."

-No. -Yeah.

I think that's why because everyone listens to him in the kitchen,

my father thought he could be the chef of my life.

You know?

He wanted to control everything, like,

from how I should cook the most simple dish

to every little aspect of my life.

He was the one who taught me how to cook actually.

But everything had to be, like,

very precise, methodical, perfect.

Luckily, my mom isn't like that.

When I told him I wanted to--

to go somewhere else, to learn with other chefs,

he went crazy.

He could not understand why--

why his teachings were not enough but

I just wanted to go see the world for myself,

you know, like, outside of his kitchen.

You know?

Sorry I talk so much.

What, what about you?

-Me? -Uh-huh.

Um...

My wife left me about

three years ago.

So it's just, uh,

me, my daughter, and my mom.

-I'm sorry. -No, it's okay.

But...

I learned a lot.

Julie: What did you learn?

Um...

perseverance.

And, um...

taking care of my daughter, alone.

That's good.

It's, uh, difficult but

I see a lot of my wife in her,

in my daughter.

Is that a good thing or...?

I think it's, uh...

at least I--

I don't miss her so much, you see?

I get to see her through my daughter.

But, um...

I'm happy with my life right now.

-She's so cute. -Yeah.

She's expecting you.

Hello.

Julie, this is my mom.

-How are you? -I'm good, how are you?

Thank you so much.

Please.

Julie: Who's that?

My father.

Really?

-That's your father? -Yeah.

Okay.

And so you can play music too?

Why?

I mean, I don't know. Just asking.

-Maybe. -Okay.

So, are you gonna play for me one day?

Yes?

Uh, Julie, maybe you want to help...

-...taking this out? -Yes.

Take this one?

It you pound it, it will be more fragrant.

Okay.

Julie: Like this?

-Like this? -Good.

I love how she cooks everything by instinct, you know?

There's no cookbook or no measures.

Yes. In Malay we call it campak-campak.

-What? -Campak-campak.

-Campak-campak. -Throw-throw.

Uh, so sorry. She's very shy.

No problem.

Thank you so much.

You're a great teacher.

Yana, say bye.

Bye.

-Bye. -Okay. See you.

Are you here?

Okay, I'm coming.

-Julie: Hey. -Ifran: Hey.

-You made it. -Of course.

Ifran: Come on, let's go.

Julie: Come in.

Julie: Come.

Voilà ! Welcome.

-Nice kitchen. -Yeah, thank you.

So, you're gonna need to wear this.

-I wear this? -Yes.

Like this, and then you tie it in the back.

-Yeah, of course. -You know?

-I wear this almost every day. -Okay.

It's nice.

-Really? I look good? -Very nice.

Ready to assist you, Chef Julie.

So my concept is

mee siam infusd bouillabaisse.

-Boo-lah-base? -Bouillabaisse.

Oh, boo-yah-bas.

It's a traditional soup from south of France.

Okay.

So you're going to put the mee siam ingredients

into your... boo-yah-bas?

-Yes. Bouillabaisse. -Bouillabaisse. Okay.

What do you think?

Uh...

-Let's do it! -Do it?

All right.

So why boo-yah-bas?

-Bouillabaisse. -Bouillabaisse,

Bouillabaisse.

I think because it was my father's favorite dish.

He used to say it was a very simple dish

but it was the best way to celebrate

nature's gift to us.

All right.

Moment of truth.

-Let's do this. -Yep.

-Something's missing, yeah. -Missing something.

Missing something.

Wait.

Julie: Are you sure? More tamarind?

Ifran: Yeah.

You know, more assam to give it kick.

Let me try again.

-Yeah. -That's really good!

-It's good. -Mmmm!

It's good.

What do you think?

I think it's great.

-Thank you. -Oh.

I'm sorry.

It's just my lawyer, I'm sorry.

Uh, it's late. I think I gotta go.

Bye.

-Hi. -Hello!

-Hi. -Hello. How are you?

Late as usual.

But I have something for you.

-Very nice. -Thank you.

-You like it? -Good!

So how was it?

Really good. Actually, my boss

confirmed my contract, so...

That's good.

But I said no.

Why?

I think I have to go back to France

to take care of my father's restaurant.

So you're going to cook his dishes?

I'm going to cook his recipes

but with my interpretation.

So you come to say good-bye?

No, I came to say thank you very much.

Thank you.

Julie, about the other night...

So, are you going to come to see me?

Depends on...

how much I miss your mee siam boo-yah-bas.

Mee siam bouillabaisse.

Bouillabaisse.

-I have something to show you. -You do?

Come, let's go.

-Now? -Yeah.

♪ Caught in your eyes ♪

♪ There's nowhere safe to hide ♪

♪ Lost without soul ♪

♪ Can't say what I feel inside ♪

♪ Out of the firestorm ♪

♪ Yes, there is love ♪

♪ Burning like the sun ♪

♪ Yes, there is love ♪

♪ La, la, la, la ♪

♪ La, la, la, la, la, la ♪

♪ La, la, la, la ♪

♪ La, la, la, la ♪

♪ La, la, la, la, la, la, la ♪

I cannot focus really.

I love it.

-It's for you. -It's beautiful.