I'll Have What He's Having

Farzan Alavi, a 37-year-old Iranian-American substitute teacher in Kansas City, is preparing a Persian dinner for a third date when the man he is seeing, Cliff, calls to cancel. Stung by another romantic failure, Farzan heads alone to Aspire, a new wine bar. Unable to make the host, Kyra, hear his name over the noise, he defaults to "Frank Allen," an alias he has used since childhood, when substitute teachers routinely mangled "Farzan Alavi."

David Curtis, Aspire's 37-year-old Black wine director, notices Farzan and is immediately drawn to him. When David sees "Frank Allen" on the wait list, he mistakes Farzan for a prominent food critic the restaurant's owner, Jeri Talbott, has been courting. David lavishes Farzan with rare wines, paired courses, and open flirting. Farzan flirts back, and by evening's end they leave together for Farzan's apartment. They spend the night together, and afterward David mentions the upcoming review. Farzan, confused, reveals his real name. The evening was built on a misunderstanding, but neither regrets it. They share cheap Malbec and watch My Big Fat Greek Wedding, a film Farzan's family loves for its parallels to Iranian family life.

The next morning, David declines breakfast and suggests they hook up casually again. Farzan, who does not handle casual arrangements well, is hurt but says nothing. David is studying for the master sommelier exam, a rigorous certification that would place him among the most elite wine professionals in the country. His test is roughly three months away, after which he plans to leave Kansas City. This ambition is driven partly by a desire to buy houses for both of his divorced parents, Kathleen and Christopher, and partly by emotional armor he built after his last serious boyfriend, Marcus, refused to follow him to Chicago years earlier.

Farzan recounts the evening to his best friends, Ramin, an assistant vice president at an advertising firm, and Arya, an event planner. They gather for their weekly dinner at Shiraz Bistro, the restaurant Farzan's parents Firouz and Persis opened over 40 years ago after emigrating from Iran. That night, Farzan's younger brother Navid, an aerospace engineer, announces his engagement. Farzan is happy for him but privately pained: His younger sister Maheen is a married OB/GYN, and Farzan remains the family's underemployed, perpetually single eldest child.

Shortly after, Farzan's parents reveal they are closing the bistro. Persis recently had a mild heart attack, and both want to retire. Devastated at losing the restaurant that represents his family heritage and the Iranian community's gathering place, Farzan impulsively volunteers to take it over.

Desperate for guidance, Farzan returns to Aspire and asks David for help with the business side of running a restaurant. David agrees in exchange for a study partner for his sommelier exam. Their sessions at David's house quickly blur the line between friendship and attraction: Farzan brings homemade Persian food, they quiz flash cards, and one evening David gives Farzan a handjob, framing it as stress relief. They formalize a friends-with-benefits arrangement tied to David's exam timeline.

Their bond deepens through unplanned encounters. Both are stood up by friends at a museum exhibit and spend the evening together, ending with a heated kiss in the parking garage. When Farzan's queer kickball team needs a last-minute player, David fills in and the team wins the championship. They skip the celebratory brunch to have sex for the first time at David's house. Afterward, David reveals that his friend Rhett Donnelly, a trans man who manages a new Los Angeles restaurant, has offered him a wine director position. Farzan congratulates him, but the news lingers.

The relationship shifts when David's father, Christopher, unknowingly takes David and his new girlfriend Deb to Shiraz Bistro for dinner. When Deb asks if Farzan is David's boyfriend, Farzan says no while David simultaneously says yes. Outside, Farzan tries to end things, insisting he cannot do casual anymore. David confesses it has not been casual for him either and that calling Farzan his boyfriend felt true. They agree to be boyfriends for real, for as long as they have.

What follows is a period of genuine happiness. When David catches a cold, Farzan makes him ash-e reshteh, a Persian herb noodle soup, and they watch The Muppet Movie. David's mother Kathleen stops by with soup of her own and meets Farzan warmly. Farzan brings David to a family dinner where Maheen announces her pregnancy, and Farzan stands up to his family when they rehash his career failures. Maheen privately asks him to be her baby's godfather. That night, David and Farzan say "I love you" for the first time.

When Rhett visits Kansas City, David begins questioning whether he truly wants to leave. He flies to LA to see the restaurant and finds it impressive but sterile compared to Aspire. His dream has shifted. While David is away, Farzan's bank loan to expand Shiraz Bistro by purchasing the closing nail salon next door is denied. He interprets the rejection as proof he is a failure.

In the car after picking David up from the airport, Farzan preemptively ends the relationship, insisting David should pursue his dream unencumbered. David, who had planned to announce he was staying, is blindsided. He tells Farzan he is "allergic to his own happiness" and always gives up when things get hard. Farzan drives away in tears.

Both men struggle in the aftermath. David reconnects with Ayesha, his best friend from Chicago, who challenges him to decide what he wants. He admits he wants Farzan and calls Rhett to turn down the LA job. Farzan burns tahdig, the crispy rice crust central to Persian cooking, for the first time in his life and botches the staff payroll. Ramin and Arya stage an intervention, offering to become business partners in Shiraz Bistro and provide the capital for expansion. Ramin tells Farzan that just as he refused to let his friends help, he never gave David a real chance either. Farzan resolves to fight for David.

David travels to Dallas and passes the master sommelier exam. At a celebration at Aspire, he tells Jeri he wants to stay permanently and heads out to find Farzan, only to run into him at the door. Farzan is carrying a Bundt cake, a nod to the running gag from My Big Fat Greek Wedding that they watched on their first night together. Farzan apologizes for making David's choices for him and for being too afraid to ask him to stay. David tells Farzan he turned down the LA offer because Kansas City is home and his dream means nothing if he cannot share it. They kiss in the doorway to cheers from the staff.

Six months later, an epilogue shows the grand reopening of an expanded Shiraz Bistro. Farzan, Ramin, and Arya have formalized their partnership, purchasing the adjacent space for a bigger kitchen, more seating, and an event venue. Kyra, who had served as Aspire's assistant manager, has become the bistro's general manager, and David, now Aspire's permanent wine director, has curated the bistro's wine list. Maheen's daughter Safa has been born, and Farzan cradles his goddaughter as family and friends celebrate around him. The real Frank Allen finally walks in. Swaying with David on the dance floor, Farzan reflects that this, his restaurant, his community, and the man he loves, feels like a dream come true.