Being avid world travellers and aspiring bon vivants, it's no surprise that we at FoieBlog are great fans of Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations." Sure, the episodes can be a little hit or miss at times, but unlike many TV journeymen, Bourdain consistently "gets it," and he remains head and shoulders above the banal travellers of pretty much every other food centric travel show. $40 a day? We'll gladly pay more.
But wait, what's this? Advertisements for a "No Reservations" movie? Where's Tony? Who's that guy in the toque?
We may never understand how a country with such excellent copyright protections allows this sort of thing, but the folks in Hollywood clearly have no remorse hacking titles from respectable properties on to their made-by-consensus drivel like this formulaic romantic comedy. Still their onslaught of advertising is hard to ignore, and that Catherine Zeta Jones is one spicy meatball, so we thought we'd take a - slightly - closer look.
No, we couldn't bring ourselves to actually go to the theater and plunk down $25 to sit through this heartbreaker about a couple of bickering chefs who fall in love and all that, but we did discover a very interesting plot twist that may earn this one a spot in our Netflix queue six months from now.
It seems those West Coast smutmeisters managed to sneak not one, but two four-letter words into this PG-rated family film. Apparently, there's a scene where Zeta Jones' perfectionist chef, Kate, storms into the restaurant to confront a patron who's complaining that his Foie Gras isn't done properly. We can feel our thumbs starting to point upwards - at least we think those are our thumbs.
Considering that the deals that led to this film were probably made over lunch at some of Wolfgang Puck's LA eateries, having Kate's restaurant serving Foie Gras is like standing outside Buckingham Palace singing the Sex Pistol's God Save the Queen. Maybe we've been a little hard on the liberal Hollywood elite. Nah, we haven't, but we'll take what we can.
Sadly, the film's setting, 22 Bleeker Street, only exists in the imagination of No Reservation's screenwriters, but don't fret. To prepare for her role, Zeta Jones spent an evening working at New York's Fiamma Osteria where you can enjoy a Pan Seared Duck Foie Gras with Roasted Garlic Rhubarb, Vin Santo Zabaglione, Brioche and Marcona Almonds.
Down in front!
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