Carême is an orphan blessed with god-like culinary talent, who dreams of only one thing: to become the most famous chef in the world and to give letters of nobility to a new art, the “Gastronomy.” Carême’s ambition attracts the attention of the most Machiavellian man of his time, Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, who has elevated French politics to a fine art. Talleyrand ensnares Carême, who could become a great chef … but must first become a spy for France.