1940: Raoul, the Executive Head Chef of 'Le Meurice', fights back in occupied Paris, the only way he knows how.
1940, Paris falls to the occupying Germans. Raoul, fat Executive Head Chef of Le Meurice, the top hotel of Paris, is nonchalant. He is content to wait for Pétain to make peace and for everything to return to normal. He wants to get on with life and admire his demi-sous-chef, Natalie with unrequited love.
When the Germans begin to cut out the Jewish staff and finally threaten Natalie, he realises he can no longer ignore what is happening.
Hauptsturmführer Schiller, the SD officer who has taken over the hotel, insists upon more German food, and Raoul acquiesces as he hides Jewish members of staff in any nook or cranny he can find in the hotel. In the end, even the wine cellar is occupied by refugees.
On the night of a big German military banquet, Schiller discovers Natalie in the kitchen. When Rolf kills him defending his woman, he has to dispose of the body.
He discovers there is more in a chef’s inventory than Béchamel sauce.