Simply Irresistible is a 1999 American romantic comedy film directed by Mark Tarlov and was written by Judith Roberts, starring Sarah Michelle Gellar and Sean Patrick Flanery. It is Regency Enterprises' first film to be released by 20th Century Fox, instead of Warner Bros. Pictures. Plot Amanda Shelton inherits her late mother's restaurant, but lacks the ability to cook. The restaurant is failing when Amanda meets a mysterious and possibly magical man at the local market. He introduces himself as Gene O'Reilly and claims to be an old friend of her mother's. He sells her crabs, one of which escapes cooking to become her personal mascot. While chasing the crab, Amanda meets Tom Bartlett, a department store manager at Henri Bendel on Fifth Avenue, who is opening an ambitious new restaurant inside his store. Though they are clearly attracted to each other, Tom is involved with a clingy but beautiful woman named Chris. Later that day, Tom and Chris are on their way to lunch, where Tom plans to break up with Chris, but the cab driver drops them at the wrong location— Amanda's restaurant, the Southern Cross. Tom sees Amanda outside, and decides they should have lunch there instead. For unclear reasons, Amanda begins cooking her feelings into her food, and she miraculously becomes an impressive, creative chef. She makes a crab dish for Tom that is so delicious he's unbothered. Chris, driven by Amanda's negative feelings toward her cooked into her own food, breaks up with Tom and begins smashing plates in the restaurant. Amanda visits Tom at Henri Bendel so that he can replace the plates that Chris broke. When he shows her the space where the new restaurant will be, they have a shared fantasy wherein they dance flirtatiously and they begin a romance. Meanwhile, Tom's assistant Lois begins romancing Jonathan Bendel, the owner of Henri Bendel, seducing him after feeding him eclairs from Amanda's restaurant, which Amanda baked her passion for Tom into. As a result of her food improving overnight, the Southern Cross becomes increasingly successful. One night, Tom visits Amanda after the restaurant has closed and after tasting a dish of hers, they begin to kiss and start floating. Tom panics and breaks things off with Amanda, believing she is some kind of witch who is manipulating his feelings with magic. When Amanda goes to confront Tom one last time at his office,