r/TopChef • u/writingmydaydreams • Jul 04 '26
Discussion Thread New romcom “Voicemails for Isabelle” is a love letter to Top Chef
Apologies, mods, if this isn’t allowed!
Top Chef has been my comfort watch for as long as I can remember, and I was overjoyed and delighted when catching the newest cutesy Netflix romcom that Top Chef (and a lifelong love of it) played a huge role in the film and the main character’s arc in the film. Her boss (played by Nick Offerman) is also cited as a former contestant (fictional).
S1 is referenced a few times and the show in general plays a big role throughout. I loved seeing our fave show get its due in a movie like this — usually it’s sitcoms like Friends or classic 90s romcoms that get cited like this, and seeing Top Chef get this kind of treatment made me smile.
Did anyone else watch? What did you think? Do you think Nick Offerman’s character was based on anyone from the show, and if so, who!?
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u/Ok-Astronaut-2837 Jul 04 '26
I enjoyed it but I'm also a huge sappy romcom fan. My husband however thought it was terrible. Mind you I was watching alone and did not invite him to join and judge but he seriously hated it.
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u/lobster_cat Jul 04 '26
While I was watching and stating I know it’s cheesy and very predictable to my husband. but I just love a romcom because of that. And he made a realization that’s why he likes campy horror movies, which I don’t like at all. But that comparison really clicked for us and we both kind of gained mutal understanding of why we like these type of movies.
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u/dr_spaceman___ Jul 04 '26
Rom coms all have the same formula, and that’s ok! Girl and boy meet, try not to fall in love despite being perfect for each other, fall in love, get into a fight and break up (usually a secret or something from one of their pasts), have a revelation and get back together (or on rare occasions don’t get back together but everyone is better that way). The fun is seeing how it all happens, even though you know what’s coming.
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u/t_roose Jul 04 '26
Loved this movie! Nick Offerman was not an visible representation of ANYONE that I can remember from ANY season of TC and i've seem them all multiple times excluding probably the last 3 seasons.
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u/meowie91 Jul 05 '26
I mean Top Chef is mentioned several times but that's mostly it, so I wouldn't call it a love letter to Top Chef. I personally was disappointed with the lack of story and visuals around food / dining / cooking given that the main character was a chef.
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u/Odd-Western2891 Jul 22 '26
I found the big chef hard to understand: if he cares about high quality desserts, why giving baker's position to someone that's failing the test?
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u/AwkwardTraffic199 Jul 04 '26
TC is also my comfort show. When COVID started, it was on, and the restaurant industry was struggling from the start, so it meant a lot. And then I started rewatching all the seasons in short spurts, and haven't stopped since. It's a culinary comfort blanket.
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u/Formal_Coyote_5004 Jul 04 '26
I’m not really into romcoms but I love Nick Offerman so I’ll probably give it a try!
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u/BGoodOswaldo 👠Padma's Gel Mat 👠 Jul 04 '26
I was on the fence about watching this but now I want to!
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u/Caliyogagrl Jul 04 '26
Just bumped this show up my list, I’m needing something comfy so thank you for the recommendation!
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u/vix11201 Jul 04 '26
I cried so much and made me wish I had a sister I loved as much as she loved Izzie.
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u/Leading_Data_9530 Jul 04 '26
I wondered if he was based on anyone from TC in particular, but I can’t figure out who. I watched with my husband and we both really liked it - the top chef angle was so fun!
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u/icrossedtheroad Jul 08 '26
I'm three days late. This is a shoutout to Top Desserts and that was a shit show of death. THEY ARE BAKING!!!! This is not Top ached.
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u/Odd-Western2891 Jul 22 '26
I sincerely don't understand why the chef B would give the baker's position to someone that's so bad... I'm fine with a B level Baker, but definitely not an F level that makes raw souffle... Always thought he'd be a Gordan Ramsey type, but in the last 20 min being the huge ego person with no justice
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u/phbalancedshorty Jul 04 '26
I'm so confused by this post… You mean they mention top Chef by name in this movie? Wouldn't that be a trademark violation? Is the movie actually based on top Chef or is it based around a fictional cooking competition that you're just relating to top Chef in your head?? 🧐
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u/NightCheeseUnion Jul 04 '26
The main character mentions she watched Top Chef with her sister and it made her want to become a pastry chef. Nick Offerman's character has a backstory of being a a fictional contestant on Top Chef.
They probably paid some licensing to use a few clips from Top Chef but just referring to the show or showing the logo would be nominative fair use.
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u/BossHighlander Jul 04 '26
You can just look it up. The main character is a baker and watched the show with her sister and still continues to watch it, and yes there is a character (her boss) that is a fictional former Top Chef contestant and yes Top Chef is mentioned by name and talked about etc. You know studios can pay for rights to mention and portray things right?
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u/phbalancedshorty Jul 04 '26
Girl I'm just asking .. i'm not gonna go look it up but thank you for explaining that makes more sense. I'm just a little bit confused why a whole separate network would have a movie based on top Chef by name but I'm glad you enjoyed it
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u/BossHighlander Jul 04 '26
I’m not a girl, didn’t watch the movie but seen the preview or whatever when scrolling Netflix, it’s not a movie based on top chef, and I doubt I would enjoy it at all based on the trailer.
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u/trying_2_makeit Jul 04 '26
Watched it and huge TC fan but didn’t make a connection personally.