Relish this on lots of levels

The characters are real and entertaining, the creation of the food is full of drama.

It`s Tribeca, New York, and Gigino`s is humming because of the new-found fame of it`s temperamental chef Udo, Edoardo Ballerini - the son of the owner Louis, Danny Aiello. Louis doesn`t want to think about making Udo a partner yet, he`s more concerned with protecting the junior chef Duncan, Kirk Acevedo, from his compulsive and ill- fated gambling. On this particular night of chaos in the restaurant Louis is faced with two murderous heavies from Queens who seem to think they have an offer he can`t refuse, a senior cop and his wife, an irascible art critic, Mark Margolis, who patronises the waitress, Summer Phoenix, and restaurant critic, Sandra Bernhard, whose appearance drives Udo into a frenzy. It`s an exhilarating night upstairs and down that`s possibly heading towards disaster. Dinner Rush is such an excellent film from award-winning commercials and music clip maker Bob Giraldi who shot it in his own restaurant from an original screenplay by two debut Chicago writers Rick Shaughnessy and Brian Kalata. The characters are real and entertaining, the creation of the food is full of drama, the direction embraces it all and so do the performers. This is a film to relish on lots of levels, including the soundtrack.Comments from David StrattonTerrific scenes of preparing and serving food in a smart New York Italian restaurant. Funny scenes in with director Bob Giraldi, who filmed in his own restaurant, mocks food critics and snobby clients. But the thriller/revenge plot seems a bit tacked on and unnecessary, at least as presented here.