In the movie, a short-tempered Chinese cook named Wang Qing Kuo runs a restaurant called Little Shanghai in Kanazawa. One day, a representative from the local department store, Takako, shows up to discuss the possibility of opening an in-store branch of Little Shanghai. Wang brushes her off, but she returns every single day afterward to sample different dishes and prod him further. When Wang suffers a stroke that leaves him partially paralyzed, he makes the unlikely decision to take Takako on as his apprentice and eventual successor.