New Year’s Chef

On New Year’s Eve, Victor’s fashionable restaurant faces disaster when his head chef and entire team walk out just hours before the celebration. Salvation unexpectedly arrives in the form of Olesya, a humble home cook from a nearby village, who stops by to deliver pastries Victor had ordered and forgotten about. Realizing her extraordinary talent for creating dishes that evoke people’s most cherished memories, Victor begs her to step in as chef for the night. Olesya refuses at first — she promised her young son Kirill a magical New Year with fireworks. But moved by Victor’s faith in her, she agrees. Together, they must pull off a culinary miracle: save the restaurant, delight the guests, and still keep Olesya’s promise to her son.

Lead actor Pavel Priluchny revealed that his role mirrored a real-life passion of his — he enjoys cooking in his free time and even shared a childhood memory of making dumplings with surprising fillings.

Actress Zoya Berber described the film as more than a comedy — for her, it’s about capturing the magic of the holiday season and giving audiences that fairy-tale feeling.

The story takes place on New Year’s Eve at a chic Moscow restaurant, and in a twist of fate the main character’s night turns around thanks not to a high-profile chef but to a home cook from a nearby village.

The film’s director, Vasily Rovensky, didn’t just direct; he also contributed to the screenplay and served as a producer, making this quite a personal project.