A number of Korean films and TV series have adopted “food” as their main theme in recent years. Successful food dramas on the small screen include the 2003 costume drama “Jewel in the Palace,” which became a huge hit both at home and abroad, the 2005 romantic comedy “My Lovely Sam-soon,” and the 2007 soap “Coffee Prince.” The 2010 sleeper hit “Pasta” follows this successful streak of culinary dramas. As the audiences may surmise from the title, “Pasta,” the drama is set in an Italian restaurant. But the focus is not placed on well-dressed diners enjoying delicious Italian food. Rather, the film is centered on the hard-working chefs and assistants in a busy kitchen and their fierce competitions, dreams and romance.

The story revolves around an ambitious novice cook, Seo Yu-gyeong. She finally becomes a cook at a famous Italian restaurant, La Spera, after working as a kitchen porter for three years. But her delight is short-lived as a new chef, Choi Hyun-wook, enters the kitchen. The fastidious new chef seems to have been modeled after Gordon Ramsay, a quick-tempered chef who became known for his rigorous training in the American TV series “Hell’s Kitchen.” Anyway, the picky, charismatic chef in the Korean drama dominates the kitchen quickly. The bad news, especially for the heroine, is that the master chef believes that his kitchen doesn’t need female chefs. He does love women, but he doesn’t think a woman could be his friend, much less colleague in his kitchen. In fact, he carries the painful memory of being betrayed by the woman he loved, who was also a chef, during a food contest in Italy. This led to his mistrust of women. He attempts to drive all the female cooks out of his kitchen for different reasons. But Yu-gyeong, who aspires to become a recognized chef at the restaurant, appears undaunted, never caving to pressure. The chef is gradually attracted by this eager assistant who struggles to survive in the ruthless kitchen, like a weed pushing through rocks.

This soap opera gives the audiences an inside view of life behind the scenes in a busy, competitive kitchen and the process of making of Italian food. It also brings to light kitchen romance between a chef and his highly motivated junior. It seems that food and romance complement each other well. While learning life lessons in the kitchen, the lead characters pursue their dreams through ceaseless efforts and great passion. Model-turned actress Gong Hyo-jin who performed the role of a novice cook who falls in love with her chef earned a nickname “Gongvely,” a combination of Gong and lovely, thanks to her natural acting in the drama.

The gourmet romantic comedy series got off to a slow start but began to gain a solid fan base, especially among young women audiences, as the food romance evolved. Inspired by the growing popularity, four more episodes were added to the original 16-episode drama, which ended with a high viewer rating of 21 percent.