This past Sunday I attended Food Network’s NYC Wine and Food Fest, an incredible celebration of delicious food and beverage featuring endless tasting booths of the highest quality ingredients (I’m still drooling over the lobster roll and kobe beef samples) and masterful live cooking demonstrations by professional and famous chefs.
It was during one of the latter that the unexpected highlight of the day happened for me. At the beginning of Andrew Zimmern’s demo (featuring an interesting fusion dish and a wonderful discussion of Mexican food), two seat numbers were chosen at random for a couple of amazing prizes. I sadly did not win the trip to Mexico, but tickets to the premiere of the new movie Burnt starring Bradley Cooper did just fine. 😉
The screening was at MoMA, and was definitely a bit of a surreal experience. The theater was downstairs off of an entrance a couple doors down from the main museum one and looked to hold about 300 people. There were tons of photographers both at the door and inside around an area set up set up in a hallway for pictures/interviews as the stars entered. Ticket holders were directed behind it and downstairs to the theater. Most of the cast was in attendance and was introduced by the director before the show.
The movie itself was fantastic. I adore glimpses into the cooking world, and Burnt is a love letter to that world, celebrating the drive and skill that goes into the art at its highest level without shying away from the problems and pitfalls that come with wanting to be the very best. The story of Cooper as a disgraced chef making a comeback to earn his third Michelin Star unfolds wonderfully and is anchored by a myriad of amazing performances and cinematography that draws the viewer right into their world. The director stressed that they had researched and trained extensively with chefs of the highest caliber and that all the actors did their own cooking. It really shows, adding an impressive feeling of authenticity and making the movie even more compelling.
A movie about the attempted comeback of a down and out chef won’t appeal to everyone, but I loved Burnt and highly recommend sharing Cooper’s journey when the movie comes out next week. Huge thanks to NYCWFF for the unique opportunity to attend the premiere.
Derailments of Thought 