If food movies have taught me anything, it's that the key to spectacular cooking is balance. (Food movies have also taught me that life is a meaningless struggle to produce beauty that people will devour or dismiss, and that emotions are more communicable than salmonella. Food movies: educational!) Balance is the difference between perfectly seasoned and disgustingly salty; the difference between quietly sweet and unbearably twee. Balance is the hallmark of Mostly Martha.

But maybe more than anything, balance informs every loving, nearly-pornographic shot of the tidiest restaurant in the entire world.