Summary
Tastefully Yours continues to open the story outwards and push it forwards in Episode 2, but the question remains whether its tropey structure will be able to sustain long-term interest.
Tastefully Yours has a comfort that comes from familiarity. In Episode 2, it’s largely going through the motions, opening the story up a little and shunting it forward, but not threatening to veer off in any unexpected directions. That predictable style was apparent in the premiere; it’s a big part of why the show is working (so far). Some aspects of it might be pitched ever so slightly wrong – a little too much seriousness here, some performances veering toward the melodramatic there – but for the most part, it’s happy to be serviceable above all else.
What remains to be seen is how much this archness can sustain the drama. More obstacles are gradually being introduced, so Beom-woo and Yeon-joo are going to have their share of difficulties getting where they’re going, but the risk is that it all starts to feel too obvious to be engaging. I see the future clearly enough; the inevitable bonding and shift in perspectives, the obligatory falling-out when Beom-woo’s attempts to take advantage of Yeon-joo’s recipes backfire, the probable make-up and happy ending. But will we still care by the time we reach those standard mile markers? We’ll have to wait and see.
In the meantime, Beom-woo agrees to work in Yeon-joo’s restaurant for a month to convince her to be acquired by Hansang. Beom-woo has little choice but to agree to those terms, but his position in the company is tenuous, so he doesn’t have the time to waste. He plans to use his control of the dining hall to swipe Yeon-joo’s recipes and use them elsewhere, which is standard corrupt money-man business, certain to backfire.
The irony is that Yeon-joo could do with some help. Her controlling every aspect of the business and being adamant about doing things a certain way isn’t the most optimal way to run an establishment, leading to bickering about cost-cutting, hiring, and delegation. Almost to spite Beom-woo and his various suggestions, Yeon-joo hires a local named Jin Myung-sook instead.
Tastefully Yours Episode 2 is big on Beom-woo’s transition into a different guy, sometimes in quite funny – albeit obvious – ways. Because Hansang has cut him off financially, he’s forced to exchange his jacket for a hotel room and his watch to get the tables and chairs for the restaurant that he vowed to Yeon-joo he’d acquire by morning. So, it isn’t just his perspective that’s changing, but his physical appearance; he’s shedding his fancy possessions and comforts to get into the thick of running the restaurant.
This doesn’t stop him from constantly clashing with Yeon-joo, mind, and their bickering results in some lost opportunities for promotion, even though it doesn’t seem like Beom-woo’s usual contacts are particularly interested anyway. Yeon-joo’s place has to grow organically, which it does when the grocer, butcher, and local football team all stop by and have a nice time. Slow and steady wins the race.
A bit of conflict emerges as we go between Myung-sook and Chan-seung, who turns out to be the son of the owner of the restaurant Yeon-joo headhunted her from. It’s something of nothing – Myung-sook bluffed to try and get a better offer, leading Chan-seung and his father to think she left for a significant raise and a promotion to chef (which she ultimately gets anyway) – but it exists to give an increasingly annoyed Beom-woo a reason to intervene and stand-up for his new colleagues. The camaraderie is beginning to develop.
Not that this necessarily cheers Beom-woo up in the short term, since he continues to struggle with his circumstances, and he’s clearly just looking for someone to lash out at. But that instinct has to count for something. Yeon-joo ends the episode asking why he’s really there, which is a question with an answer she won’t like, but I don’t expect Beom-woo to be totally honest about that just yet.
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