THE TASTE OF THINGS: two passions – culinary and romantic

Photo caption: Juliette Binoche and Benoit Magimel in THE TASTE OF THINGS. Courtesy of IFC Films.

The French romantic drama The Taste of Things is the story of a man consumed by two passions – an obsession with gastronomy and a profound love for a woman. It’s also one of the mouthwatering movies in the history of cinema.

The man is Dodin (Benoit Magimel), a famous gourmand in 1884 France, a key moment in the history of the culinary arts, when the master French chef Escoffier was still in his 30s. The woman adored by Dodin is Eugenie (Juliette Binoche), not coincidentally his live-in cook.

The Taste of Things begins with a long scene (15+ minutes) as Eugenie leads a team in producing an elaborate garden to table meal, with every ingredient prepared old school, the long and hard way. Fish quenelles are formed by hand, shrimp shells are boiled into a stock, and the quenelles are pached in the shrimp stock. It takes hours for a rack of veal turned into an OMG marvel. It turns out that this is a multi-course feast prepared for Dodin and his chatty four buddies. The guys all fall SILENT when the consommé appears, and then, as the courses pile up, don’t say anything more that isn’t about the meal itself or the history of gastronomy.

The fruit of Eugenie’s labor, exquisitely photographed, are the height of food porn. One highlight is a spectacular vol-au-vent. When Eugenue shows up with a giant croissant-like thing (a giant bioche?) that she and the four buddies dig into with their hands, there were audible gasps from the audience at the screening.

There’s even a scene with a culinary Holy Grail, now illegal in the US, fabled ortolans devoured as per tradition, with the diners’ heads under their napkins. Of course gastronomy, as any human endeavor, can be taken to silly extremes, which is illustrated by a dinner for Dodin and his friends, hosted by a prince under the mistaken impression that more is always better.

Eugenie prepares masterpiece after masterpiece for Dodin until her health falters, giving him the opportunity to express his love by preparing and serving her an even more formidable dinner.

The Taste of Things is a film by writer-director Anh Hung Tran, who certainly knows his way around movie passion and movie foods (The Scent of Green Papaya).

Benoit Magimel and Juliette Binoche in THE TASTE OF THINGS. Courtesy of IFC Films.

It’s always a pleasure to watch the radiant Juliette Binoche, especially when she’s playing an endearing character like Eugenie, who keeps resisting Dodin’s offers of marriage even as she values his culinary partnership and welcomes him into her bed. Their relationship is perfectly summed up in the epilogue when Eugenie asks Dodin a question and receives his answer with bliss. She feels loved – and on her terms.

The Wife liked The Taste of Things less than I did, in part because she was less entertained by the long scenes of meal preparation, which captivated me. (I am The Movie Gourmet, after all.)

We both, however, thoroughly enjoyed the character of the culinary child prodigy Pauline (Bonnie Chagneau-Ravoire), especially her reaction to her first Baked Alaska and her growing into a peer of Dodin’s.

The Taste of Things was France’s submission to the Academy Awards. It’s going on my list of Best Foodie Movies. It’s now available to stream from Amazon and AppleTV..

THE TASTE OF THINGS: two passions – culinary and romantic

Photo caption: Juliette Binoche and Benoit Magimel in THE TASTE OF THINGS. Courtesy of IFC Films.

The French romantic drama The Taste of Things is the story of a man consumed by two passions – an obsession with gastronomy and a profound love for a woman. It’s also one of the mouthwatering movies in the history of cinema.

The man is Dodin (Benoit Magimel), a famous gourmand in 1884 France, a key moment in the history of the culinary arts, when the master French chef Escoffier was still in his 30s. The woman adored by Dodin is Eugenie (Juliette Binoche), not coincidentally his live-in cook.

The Taste of Things begins with a long scene (15+ minutes) as Eugenie leads a team in producing an elaborate garden to table meal, with every ingredient prepared old school, the long and hard way. Fish quenelles are formed by hand, shrimp shells are boiled into a stock, and the quenelles are pached in the shrimp stock. It takes hours for a rack of veal turned into an OMG marvel. It turns out that this is a multi-course feast prepared for Dodin and his chatty four buddies. The guys all fall SILENT when the consommé appears, and then, as the courses pile up, don’t say anything more that isn’t about the meal itself or the history of gastronomy.

The fruit of Eugenie’s labor, exquisitely photographed, are the height of food porn. One highlight is a spectacular vol-au-vent. When Eugenue shows up with a giant croissant-like thing (a giant bioche?) that she and the four buddies dig into with their hands, there were audible gasps from the audience at the screening.

There’s even a scene with a culinary Holy Grail, now illegal in the US, fabled ortolans devoured as per tradition, with the diners’ heads under their napkins. Of course gastronomy, as any human endeavor, can be taken to silly extremes, which is illustrated by a dinner for Dodin and his friends, hosted by a prince under the mistaken impression that more is always better.

Eugenie prepares masterpiece after masterpiece for Dodin until her health falters, giving him the opportunity to express his love by preparing and serving her an even more formidable dinner.

The Taste of Things is a film by writer-director Anh Hung Tran, who certainly knows his way around movie passion and movie foods (The Scent of Green Papaya).

Benoit Magimel and Juliette Binoche in THE TASTE OF THINGS. Courtesy of IFC Films.

It’s always a pleasure to watch the radiant Juliette Binoche, especially when she’s playing an endearing character like Eugenie, who keeps resisting Dodin’s offers of marriage even as she values his culinary partnership and welcomes him into her bed. Their relationship is perfectly summed up in the epilogue when Eugenie asks Dodin a question and receives his answer with bliss. She feels loved – and on her terms.

The Wife liked The Taste of Things less than I did, in part because she was less entertained by the long scenes of meal preparation, which captivated me. (I am The Movie Gourmet, after all.)

We both, however, thoroughly enjoyed the character of the culinary child prodigy Pauline (Bonnie Chagneau-Ravoire), especially her reaction to her first Baked Alaska and her growing into a peer of Dodin’s.

The Taste of Things was France’s submission to the Academy Awards. It’s going on my list of Best Foodie Movies. It’s playing in a few arthouses now; I’ll let you know when it releases on VOD.

DVD/Stream of the Week: YOU WILL BE MY SON

YOU WILL BE MY SON

Niels Arestrup (A Prophet, War Horse) stars as the owner of French wine estate who places impossible expectations on his son, with lethal results. The poor son has gotten a degree in winemaking, has worked his ass off on his father’s estate for years and has even married well – but it’s just not enough for his old man. The father’s interactions with the son range from dismissive to deeply cruel.

The father’s best friend is his longtime estate manager, whose health is faltering. The son is the natural choice for a successor, but the owner openly prefers the son’s boyhood friend, the son of the manager. The first half of You Will Be My Son focuses on the estate owner’s nastiness toward his son, which smolders throughout the film. But then the relationship between the sons turns from old buddies to that of the usurper and the usurped. And, finally, things come down to the decades-long relationship between the two old men.

Deep into the movie, we learn something about the father that colors his view of his son. And then, there’s a startling development that makes for a thrilling and operatic ending.

It’s one of several good 2013 films about fathers and sons, like The Place Beyond the Pines and At Any Price. (This is also a food porn movie, with some tantalizing wine tasting scenes that should earn a spot on my Best Food Porn Movies.)

You Will Be My Son is available on DVD from Netflix and streaming from Tunes, Vudu, YouTube and GooglePlay.

Stream of the Week: ELLA BRENNAN: COMMANDING THE TABLE – one woman’s climb to a culinary legacy

ELLA BRENNAN: COMMANDING THE TABLE
ELLA BRENNAN: COMMANDING THE TABLE

The documentary Ella Brennan: Commanding the Table tells the story of the New Orleans powerhouse restaurateur – and it’s one compelling story.

Ella Brennan is a woman who, before she was thirty, started running restaurants in the pre-feminist 1950s.  Ella Brennan started as the little sister and became the matriarch of the famous New Orleans restaurant family.  She launched Brennan’s and Commander’s Palace, the latter still the greatest of New Orleans Creole restaurants.  On her journey, she had to overcome Mad Men-era sexism,  a slew of business cycles and hurricanes – and even family betrayal.

We see a woman with old-fashioned obsession with detail and very high standards.  We also see culinary and marketing creativity that can only be described as genius.  Ella Brennan is responsible for Bananas Foster, the Jazz Brunch and a host of food trends.  Along the way, she mentored the celebrity chefs Paul Prudhomme, Emeril Lagasse and Jamie Shannon.  Here’s a New York Times profile of Ella Brennan that mentions this film.

I saw Ella Brennan last fall at the Mill Valley Film Festival. Ella Brennan: Commanding the Table can be streamed from Netflix Instant.

Cinequest: NEW CHEFS ON THE BLOCK

NEW CHEFS ON THE BLOCK
NEW CHEFS ON THE BLOCK

In the pleasantly addictive documentary New Chefs on the Block, we follow the course of two restaurant start-ups from financing and the initial lease, through remodeling and set-up, hiring staff and opening for the public and for professional food critics. One start-up is a trendy fine dining establishment in Washington, DC, and the other is a pizza place in the DC suburbs. It’s the movie equivalent of a page-turner – we’re always wondering what will happen next.

Both chef-owners are passionate and driven, and the restaurants are manifestations of their dreams. Each has bet his family’s prosperity on the endeavor, and the high stakes fuel the drama.

The stories of both restaurants take dramatic turns – and one is wholly unexpected. It turns out that writer-director Dustin Harrison-Atlas set out to document the journey of his brother-in-law’s new pizza restaurant. That guy is a remarkable subject. But his choice of the other aspirational chef was an act of either genius or stunning good luck – wait until you see how that story comes out!

In his first feature, Harrison-Atlas shows a gift for creating vivid portraits of his subjects. We come to know the two chefs and a remarkable number of their family members and employees

Harrison-Atlas also brings us some talking heads to provide an inside perspective on the business. I’ve watched more than my share of restaurant make-over reality television, and I know some real life restauranteurs, so I’ve understood that it’s hard to start a restaurant and easy for one to fail. Intelligent, personal and genuine, New Chefs on the Block is among the best treatments of this subject matter.

Cinequest hosts the world premiere of New Chefs on the Block.

DVD/Stream of the Week: YOU WILL BE MY SON

YOU WILL BE MY SON

Niels Arestrup (A Prophet, War Horse) stars as the owner of French wine estate who places impossible expectations on his son, with lethal results. The poor son has gotten a degree in winemaking, has worked his ass off on his father’s estate for years and has even married well – but it’s just not enough for his old man. The father’s interactions with the son range from dismissive to deeply cruel.

The father’s best friend is his longtime estate manager, whose health is faltering. The son is the natural choice for a successor, but the owner openly prefers the son’s boyhood friend, the son of the manager. The first half of You Will Be My Son focuses on the estate owner’s nastiness toward his son, which smolders throughout the film. But then the relationship between the sons turns from old buddies to that of the usurper and the usurped. And, finally, things come down to the decades-long relationship between the two old men.

Deep into the movie, we learn something about the father that colors his view of his son. And then, there’s a startling development that makes for a thrilling and operatic ending.

It’s one of several good 2013 films about fathers and sons, like The Place Beyond the Pines and At Any Price. (This is also a food porn movie, with some tantalizing wine tasting scenes that should earn a spot on my Best Food Porn Movies.)

You Will Be My Son is available on DVD from Netflix and streaming from Amazon, Vudu, iTunes and Xbox Video.

DVD/Stream of the Week: You Will Be My Son

YOU WILL BE MY SON

Niels Arestrup (A Prophet, War Horse) stars as the owner of French wine estate who places impossible expectations on his son, with lethal results. The poor son has gotten a degree in winemaking, has worked his ass off on his father’s estate for years and has even married well – but it’s just not enough for his old man. The father’s interactions with the son range from dismissive to deeply cruel.

The father’s best friend is his longtime estate manager, whose health is faltering. The son is the natural choice for a successor, but the owner openly prefers the son’s boyhood friend, the son of the manager. The first half of You Will Be My Son focuses on the estate owner’s nastiness toward his son, which smolders throughout the film. But then the relationship between the sons turns from old buddies to that of the usurper and the usurped. And, finally, things come down to the decades-long relationship between the two old men.

Deep into the movie, we learn something about the father that colors his view of his son. And then, there’s a startling development that makes for a thrilling and operatic ending.

It’s one of several good 2013 films about fathers and sons, like The Place Beyond the Pines and At Any Price(This is also a food porn movie, with some tantalizing wine tasting scenes that should earn a spot on my Best Food Porn Movies.)

You Will Be My Son is available on DVD from Netflix and streaming from Amazon, Vudu, iTunes and Xbox Video.

Haute Cuisine: chef battles sexism and bureaucracy

Haute Cuisine is the French foodie saga of the woman who rose to work as personal chef to France’s president, based on the true story of Daniele Mazet-Delpeuch.  She is remarkably obsessed with sourcing premium ingredients, and it’s not hard for her to satisfy the President, who prefers simple country cooking.   But palace intrigue takes its toll as she battles both sexism in the downstairs kitchens and a soul-killing bureaucracy upstairs.

Veteran French actress Catherine Frot successfully portrays the chef’s determination and moxy.  Haute Cuisine is watchable, but not particularly compelling.  The food, however,  is outrageously tantalizing, and Haute Cuisine goes on my list of Best Food Porn Movies.

You Will Be My Son: a good movie with a great ending

YOU WILL BE MY SON

Niels Arestrup (A Prophet, War Horse) stars as the owner of French wine estate who places impossible expectations on his son, with lethal results.  The poor son has gotten a degree in winemaking, has worked his ass off on his father’s estate for years and has even married well – but it’s just not enough for his old man.  The father’s interactions with the son range from dismissive to deeply cruel.

The father’s best friend is his longtime estate manager, whose health is faltering.  The son is the natural choice for a successor, but the owner openly prefers the son’s boyhood friend, the son of the manager.  The first half of You Will Be My Son focuses on the estate owner’s nastiness toward his son, which smolders throughout the film.  But then the relationship between the sons turns from old buddies to that of the usurper and the usurped.  And, finally, things come down to the decades-long relationship between the two old men.

Deep into the movie, we learn something about the father that colors his view of his son.  And then, there’s a startling development that makes for a thrilling and operatic ending.

It’s yet another good 2013 film about fathers and sons, like The Place Beyond the Pines and At Any Price.

(This is also a food porn movie, with some tantalizing wine tasting scenes that should earn a spot on my Best Food Porn Movies.)

Hey Bartender: today is the Golden Age of cocktails

HEY BARTENDER

Hey Bartender explores the new wave of Craft Bartending.  This is not about watching guys cry in their boilermakers at the neighborhood dive.  It’s about the new application of culinary sensibilities – fresh ingredients, creativity, presentation and hospitality – to the cocktail.  If you enjoy striking a blow for liberty now and again, this movie is cocktail porn – in fact, I’ve added it to my Best Food Porn Movies.

Hey Bartender takes us to the Museum of American Cocktail, and we learn that there is such a thing as a Cocktail Historian.  We spend time at the New York City’s Employees Only, recognized as the world’s best cocktail bar.  We meet the nation’s current celebrity bartenders and contrast them with the proprietor of a struggling family owned joint in Westport, Connecticut.  We tag along with attendees at the major craft bartending convention, Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans.  And we see the featrured bartenders mix some delectable looking concoctions.

Because I streamed Hey Bartender at home, I was able to pause it at the 55-minute mark to make myself an Ellis Island (Makers Mark, Carpano Antica and a swish of Strega, shaken and served neat in martini glass, which I discovered at San Francisco’s Poesia.).

Hey Bartender is having a very limited theatrical run (a single showing this week in one local theater) and is available streaming fro, Amazon, Vudu, iTunes and other VOD outlets.