The collar awarded to the winners of the Meilleur Ouvrier de France (Best Craftsman in France) is more than the ultimate recognition for every pastry chef - it is a dream and an obsession. The 3-day competition includes everything from delicate chocolates to precarious six foot sugar sculptures and requires that the chefs have extraordinary skill, nerves of steel and luck. The film follows Jacquy Pfeiffer, founder of The French Pastry School in Chicago, as he returns to France to compete against 15 of France's leading pastry chefs. The filmmakers were given first time/exclusive access to this high-stakes drama of passion, sacrifice, disappointment and joy in the quest to have President Sarkozy declare them one of the best in France.
Soul explores the secrets of gastronomy where two cuisines apparently so opposite in their philosophy, conception and experience, have both earned the highest culinary recognition, three Michelin stars.
Founded in 1930, Troisgros has held three Michelin stars for 55 years. The children of the fourth generation, Marie-Pierre and Michel's sons are continuing the family business: César runs the Michelin-starred restaurant, "Le Bois sans feuilles" ("The Leafless Wood"), and Léo is in charge of one of the other two Troisgros restaurants, "La Colline du colombier" ("The Dovecote Hill"). From the daily market to the cheese maturing cellars, via the vineyard, the cattle farm and the vegetable garden adjacent to the restaurant, Menus-Plaisirs is an intimate, sensory journey through the kitchens of one of the world's most prestigious restaurants.
A creative journey into the unique mind of René Redzepi, chef and co-owner of Noma, voted best restaurant in the world four times.
Two elderly sisters share the delicate art of making traditional Hungarian strudel and reveal a deeply personal family story about their mother, who taught them everything they know.
The diaspora of millions of Italian emigrants marked a strong nutritional influence of this nation on the American continent. The documentary collects the similarities and differences between the dishes adapted to the American taste and his native Italy.
Somm takes the viewer on a humorous, emotional and illuminating look into the mysterious world of the Court of Master Sommeliers and their massively intimidating Master Sommelier Exam.
Chef André Chiang is returning his Michelin stars, and has publicly declared that he is returning to his roots after 30 years. What would make him do so? How does the perfectionist define success? What haunts him at night? Following Chef André weeks before he officially closes his restaurant, we chart his emotional journey, and dive into nostalgic elements of his life. From how he first fell in love with cooking as a result of his mother’s influence, to the challenges that he faced when he first learnt cooking in France, we tell the story of a passionate and determined individual, now ready for the next season of his life.
Drama, controversy, and hilarity abound as uniquely talented and passionate pizza makers battle it out as they attempt to go for the gold against their international counterparts. Their quest is followed while exploring the pizza industry. The amazing and highly competitive world of acrobatic pizza-dough tossing is examined as competitors vie for spots on the U.S. Pizza Team and the chance to compete for the gold medal at the World Pizza Championship in Italy where teams perform choreographed dough-tossing routines to music while being scored by a panel of judges.
Danish culinary entrepreneur and Noma co-founder Claus Meyer has kickstarted a gastronomic revolution in Bolivia’s capital of La Paz with the opening of Gustu, a fine-dining restaurant and cooking school for the country’s impoverished youth. Kenzo, a hunter raised in the Bolivian Amazon, and Maria Claudia, a native of the Andean altiplano, have resettled in La Paz in order to pursue a career in the culinary arts. Under the tutelage of Meyer, these young Bolivians are working towards a better future as they attempt to establish their country as the world’s next great culinary destination.
En avant guinguette!
Marcella Hazan didn’t just teach Italian cooking—she changed the way America eats. Fearless, passionate, and exacting, she introduced authentic recipes to millions. Julia Child called Marcella “my mentor in all things Italian.” Featuring Jacques Pépin, Danny Meyer, April Bloomfield, and Lidia Bastianich, this intimate portrait reveals the bold woman who forever shaped home kitchens.
Through the unrelenting winter in the north of Japan, a small group of workers must brave unusual working conditions to bring to life a 2,000-year-old tradition known as sake. A cinematic documentary, The Birth of Sake is a visually immersive experience of an almost-secret world in which large sacrifices must be made for the survival of a time-honored brew.
The landscape of the olive grove is the protagonist of the Mediterranean territory and is shown in this documentary at ground level and from a bird's eye view, in different unique locations of the Iberian Peninsula. From the Somontano de Barbastro in Aragón, to the south of Andalusia, with a sea of olive trees, in the mountain ranges or in the fertile plains and riverbanks. A humanized territory that, for centuries, has been sculpting history and this, not only giving a characteristic identity to our landscape, but also outlining the gastronomic tradition and culture of the Mediterranean.
The film talks about dough dishes from different regions of Ukraine through stories of Ukrainians who, in their own way, preserve the traditions of Ukrainian cuisine, develop, study and modernize it.
Battering, breading, frying – Berta has prepared thousands of schnitzels in her old cast-iron pan over the years. This 83-year-old landlady’s life on the family farm with adjoining guest house in the Upper Palatinate has been marked by constant hard work. A life that her granddaughters Monika and Hannah never wanted to lead. Now, the deeply indebted farm is on the brink of collapse. Despite having an academic background and contrary to her intentions, Monika, in her early thirties, decides to give up her modern life and save the family business. The two women join forces and give themselves a year to sort out the farm’s problems.
In restaurant kitchens, tight quarters, high pressure and hot tempers combine to create toxic conditions that make it difficult for anyone to survive, let alone climb the ladder to head chef. For women, the situation is even worse. Running a successful restaurant is a daunting challenge, even more so when the odds are stacked against you. But as women take charge at more of the world's top dining establishments, a cultural shift is dismantling the macho environment that made celebrities out of "bad boy" chefs. From New York City's star chefs Anita Lo and Amanda Cohen to the queen of French cuisine Anne-Sophie Pic, seven chefs share their struggles to overcome a system of inequality and harassment while delivering delicious dishes and redefining the dining experience. An appetite for change has taken hold and there's no turning back
À nos terres : Autonomia paisana
After years of overproduction, the Reagan administration unloads over 500 million pounds of surplus cheese on the American public in the 1980s. The pungent dairy product comes to be known as 'Government Cheese.'
When asked to make a documentary about her friend’s mother—a Parisian astrologer named Juliane—the filmmaker sets off for Montmartre with a Bolex to craft a portrait of an infectiously exuberant personality and the pre-war apartment she’s called home for 50 years.