Drama Digest
The drama portrays a restaurant romance between two boys. The main character, Yoon Do Gun, is a talented gourmet chef who clashes with a confident new hire, Choi Jung Woo, in the kitchen of Laura Dining, a top, critically acclaimed restaurant. Although the two begin on the wrong foot, adopting an adversarial stance towards each other, their relationship turns from sour to sweet after getting to know one another.
The Feel-Good Part
As expected from a rivalry-turned-love drama, there are several conflicts between the main characters. However, there is no unnecessary dragging of the conflicts. The characters act maturely and are both adult enough to discuss and solve it instead of compromising their relationship over miscommunication, which happens often in cliché love stories. We also see small considerate moments between the lead couple despite their rivalry, which surely makes the heart skip a beat.
The Disappointing factor
The overall plot of the drama is nonsensical; a Michelin star chef being forced to compete with a no-name worker to keep his job? Another flaw is the lack of background information about the characters. We get to know nothing about why they act the way they do, their goals, their motivation, or their hesitance to do something. The chemistry between the main characters is a bit off too, which makes the romantic scenes uncomfortable to watch because it looks like they’re not feeling it either.
In-Depth Analysis
My sweet dear begins with an eye-catching opening scene: the hot-headed chef showering shirtless, showing skin as much as Korean television would allow. It is basically to captivate the audience, who might be here for just that, and not for the plot and character development. The plot develops slowly in the initial episodes, then gets turned up high during the middle part of the series, and then abruptly dies down towards the end. The simple plot manages to create tension, but is snuffed out unceremoniously for the sake of a happy ending in a limited number of episodes. The scenes are also strung together loosely; they just leap from one thing to another without explanation as to how the situation in the previous scene was resolved or how it connects to the next scene. The depiction of the developing romance between two rivals is slow but unsteady. Nevertheless, the romantic scenes between Jung Woo and Do Gun are endearing and far more enjoyable than the main plot. Admittedly, the relationship is lightweight and doesn’t explore their attraction beyond a superficial level.
Star Power
Among all the choppiness of the scenes, the acting is really good, which is not a surprise considering both Jang Eui-soo and Lee Chan-hyung have experience to back up their performances. Lee Chan Hyung’s portrayal of the sexy and smug head chef is a treat to sore eyes. Jo Seo Ho also flawlessly plays Laura Kim, the stereotypical evil female character with no consequences.
Overall Opinion
All in all, it is fine to watch if you love gay romance and have nothing to watch, since korean BLs are already very limited, but I wouldn’t prioritize this over other shows. It has nothing out of the box and is fit only for a filler show.
