Well, well, well—seems that you, dearest Fork Frenz (TM) really took our advice from last week and watched that show The Bear. To be fair, some of you were already watching it or had already finished, but we absolutely adore getting emails that read like, “Did that thing you said, you’re totally right!” And we did get a few of those. Oh, and if you’re just joining us, we suggested in last week’s Fork that folks oughta check out the new FX/HULU show The Bear, a love letter to cheffing it up starring Shameless alum Jeremy Allen White.
Many of you did just that (though some found it a little too stressful, they tell us) and wrote to us with charming tales of enjoying the Wilco jamz in the soundtrack, loving White’s performance or just recalling your own halcyon youths spent on a line, washing dishes or otherwise kitchen-ing. And so we thought, why stop there? Let’s rec some other food-based filmed media for our dear readers. We get that some of you have likely seen some of these, but if you haven’t, you’re welcome!
Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011)
One of the only docs we can think of that has a Usual Suspects-caliber twist at the end. OK, that’s kind of overselling it, but by the time you realize what’s really going on in Michelin-approved chef Jiro Ono’s kitchen, you’re bound to be all like, “Oh, no way! That was that guy?!”
Chef (2014)
Wherein Jon Favreau (being the guy from PCU who gets so stoned that he believes an elderly woman is asking him to “blow me where the Pampers is,”) leaves the stressful world of brick and mortar for the even more stressful world of food truckin’. As anyone who has worked in a food truck can tell you, it’s HARD, but this is still a real feel-good movie wherein food is just as much a part of the story as the guy is.
Julie and Julia (2009)
So this is that movie wherein Amy Adams starts a blog about making Julia Child food and Meryl Streep is Julia Child and people in both their lives are like, “I don’t understand!” and they’re just like, “Don’t bug me—I’m cooking!”
Sideways (2004)
This one’s more about wine if you miraculously somehow missed it, but it’s also about relationships, we guess. Still, it brought us the wonderful line “If anyone orders Merlot, I’m leaving. I am not drinking any fucking Merlot.” Bro, we get it.
Off the Menu (2018)
The tale of a guy who works for a Taco Bell-esque chain and is sent to New Mexico to basically mind-jack chefs for their killer recipes, this totally awful movie is at least fun because it was filmed here and New Mexican food is THE BEST.
Salt Fat Acid Heat (TV Series, 2018)
This-here Netflix show based on the book of the same name by Samin Nosrat (who is also in the show) gets down to the four cardinal cooking elements while showcasing some of the best looking food you’ve ever seen in your life. Some chefs cook by feel, while others are technical. Some fall in between, and those are the chefs you want...like, the ones who KNOW their stuff, but also they work by taste and stuff.
The Trip Movies (2010, 2020)
We’re in the camp that thinks, “Why do we want to watch a rich guy like Stanley Tucci or Phil fucking Rosenthal travel around eating and experiencing things we’ll likely never experience?” But there’s something about watching British comic royalty like Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon traveling around, eating and talking shit that’s so funny and fun. Will you come away wishing you, too, could eat like a king in Greece? Big time.
How about you, dear readers? What food-heavy films and shows do you love? Bonus points if they’re not some reality television nonsense wherein everyone is mean to everyone else.
We bet some of you thought we made that Favreau thing up, huh? Well, we didn’t.
Also
-Our BFFs at Edible New Mexico released the winners of their 2022 Local Hero Awards, and there are some notable Santa Fe names on that list. Paloma took home the Best Restaurant Award, while Radish & Rye’s Dru Ruebush took top chef, though we wanna give a shoutout to ABQ’s Ray Naranjo (Santa Clara Pueblo for his win, too.) Second Street Brewery topped the Beverage Artisan category, while Iconik Coffee Roasters came away with the Café award. Kudos as well to YouthWorks! for its award in the nonprofit category, and Squash Blossom Local Food for being named an Innovator for Food Justice!
-Turns out there were some other Wine Spectator Awards in Santa Fe, too, and not just over at The Compound (which we told you about last week). Hats off to the folks at Geronimo, Andiamo!, Sazon, Luminaria, La Casa Sena, La Boca, Sassella and Terra Cotta Wine Bistro! We’d link them all, but what are we? Made of minutes? We’re sure you’ll find them if you really need to. Jeez.
-Did we already mention the Southside Farmers Market (aka Market del Sur) is up and running? We can’t remember. We also can’t remember why we don’t just look up last week’s Fork to make sure. Anyway, we’re telling you again, so go forth and do that.
-Santa Fe’s Fourth of July tradition Pancakes on the Plaza returned the other day after years of not going down due to the stupid pandemic. And while the thought of eating Bisquik pancakes with a bunch of nerds is our own personal hell, we LOVE that the Santa Fe Children’s Museum benefitted. We probably should have mentioned it last week—especially since we kind of loathe things that are like “A thing happened and you can never experience it!” But here we are. Anyway, long live the Santa Fe Children’s Museum!
More Tidbits
-Here’s a link to a story that describes how best to grill plant-based burgers. We’ve discovered our own methods, but consider this a handy guide if you’re new to fake meat.
-Eater-dot-com scribe Bettina Makalintal posits that the ever-present romance novel (you know the kind—the ones that use words like “tumescent” and “gleaming” and “purple-headed” and “bonerrific”) is entering a new era wherein the stable boy/thick-chested squire/fleeing fugitive are being replaced by people doing stuff in the kitchen. In honor of that, we thought we’d whip out our own bit of kitchen-based erotica: “Sloane backed up against Leopold near the muffin station, his tumescent member gleaming with the bonerrific power of a thousand out-of-the-oven pans. She knew if she wanted to keep this new sous position, she’d have to play by the rules, but even the word ‘position’ had her all flustered. In the back of the kitchen, the potatoes boiled over.”
-We’d like to take this moment to apologize for our clumsy take on erotica just then. Sorry. Sorry, everyone.
-We literally just now thought to see if there’s a website called Food-dot-com, and lo and behold—there is! It’s a food site, and it honestly seems kind of busy. You be the judge. Just type “food.com” into your browser. Go ahead. Do that.
-The annual Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest went down in Coney Island (that’s in New York, ya jamokes!) this week, and reigning hot dog champ Joey Chestnut won top honors yet again. What a name, right? It’s like a lounge singer. It’s like the kind of guy for whom an announcer goes, “Ladies and gentlemen...JOEY CHESTNUT!” And then he comes out and sings, like, “My Way” or some shit.
A Totally Scientific Breakdown of The Fork’s Correspondence
You shan’t find new food coverage in this week’s print edition of SFR because the Santa Fe Opera opened its season with two new productions. They assure us it’s back to food next week.
Number of Letters Received
37
*Most about The Bear
Most Helpful Tip of the Week (a barely edited letter from a reader)
Still nothing, not even from jerks.
*Miss you, jerks!
Actually Helpful Tip(s)
People telling us they like Top Chef is...fine.
*Seriously, it’s fine
Probably watching television,
The Fork
