I just saw the Tasting Menu and I’m full of delight about this foodie film inspired by the likes of El Bulli the eponymous restaurant (rumored to be the best in the world) located in Roses just outside of Barcelona, Spain founded by Ferran Adria and closed in December 2011 at the height of their game. Unlike El Bulli the documentary, the Tasting Menu is a passioned homage to this famed restaurant.
Your gastronomic senses be piqued, so will your soul. This film is a practice in impermanence. Change is the one absolute in our lives. Whether it’s the reignited spark between a sober pediatrician Marc (Jan Cornet) and best selling author Rachel (Claudia Bassols), the loss of a happy go lucky husband by a wistful countess or an unexpected d’alliance between a reserved Japanese businessman and a reckless Spanish hostess. Vicenta N’dongo plays Mar Vidal (interestingly translates to the Sea of Life), a grounded black female (perhaps sephardic) best chef in the world. Once Mar was driven by the art of creating food that challenged every fiber of our palettes with extraordinary flavors and textures. Mar is swept up by the waves of change and is moved to close her restaurant la Chakula on the Costa Brava at the pinnacle of it’s success to pursue another path. Her driven American business partner and love Max (Andrew Tarbet) has other plans to open a new restaurant in Japan with the help of two ruthless Japanese investors.
A perfectly staged last supper is produced with utmost care and strategic planning. Tables and personalities are assigned to polished and primed wait staff. Ethereal wines poured and objets d’art are plated like faceted gems in handcrafted settings. Fodder for a foodies dreams. At 11PM, the arrival of a surprise delivery of desserts served beachside serenaded by a jazz band is foiled by a call from the Coast Guard detailing that the arc floating the postres and band have sunk offshore.
I hope you get a chance to see this film and enjoy it as much as I did.
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