Menus Plaisirs – Les Troisgros
Another <PERSON> banger... I was locked in from the moment the <PERSON> men (a multi-generational family of chefs) started planning their menu, discussing julienned rhubarb and the specifics of their almond purée. 1010
The son, <PERSON>, proposes soy sauce in the purée; his father, <PERSON>, is hesitant about that flavor; funny to learn, hours later into the film, that <PERSON> was an outlier in French cooking due to his early Japanese culinary influence.
I expected the kitchen behind-the-scenes to be more frantic and stressful but there's such a rhythm and poetry to it, I could watch many, many more hours of that; perhaps this sense of order comes from the way <PERSON> has his kitchen laid out — open, no divisions, uniformed countertop heights. <PERSON> makes it feel like it's more of a privilege to witness these sacred moments — with detours into the farms, markets, and cheese factories that play a part in the menu — than to be one of the elite dining in the room. "Any allergies or dietary restrictions?" "I'm allergic to the bill." 132