Mostly a Movie Set

The blog Muckracked noticed that the old space where the restaurant Hue used to be was taken over as a restaurant movie set for the Scott Hicks-directed adaptation of the German film, Mostly Martha. Gothamist loved Mostly Martha (uptight German chef becomes guardian of surly niece while dealing with maverick Italian chef at her work), so we've been following news of the adaptation for a while (at one point, Big Chill director Lawrence Kasdan had rights to remake the movie). Anyway, the new version will star Catherine Zeta-Jones, as a chef at "22 Bleecker," and we can only imagine that Aaron Eckhart is the new, unconventional chef who melts her heart. Zeta-Jones actually went undercover at Fiamma as a waitress and even garnished dishes to prep for the role, so we expect some gorgeous food photography (Hicks did direct Snow Falling on Cedars, which was lovely to look at, if a terrible movie).

Gothamist's favorite food movies: Babette's Feast, Eat Drink Man Woman, Tampopo, Soul Food and Big Night, plus The Discreet Charm of Bourgeoisie for the fuss of dinner - what are yours? And Mostly Martha features the Paolo Conte song Via con Me (which is on his Best of CD), which is incredibly fun and infectious.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in Arts & Entertainment on March 21, 2006 3:18 PM

Comments [rss]

bill

Delicatessen was a favorite of mine. The movie was definately sustenance-centric, even thought the feast was non-traditional.

Paul

Oh, yeah, Tampopo, baby. And Dinner Rush. Aaaand Babette's Feast and Big Night. Those certainly would top my list. I'd also have to add the "dining al fresco" scene in the original Producers, just because it makes me chuckle.

sheila

I like the pie fight in "The Great Race" with Tony Curtis and Natalie Wood.

Tim N.

Thanks, Mike, for mentioning Dinner Rush. One of the best small films I've ever seen.

And how could you not love Like Water for Chocolate? It's got food, sex, and sex!

Mike

Dinner Rush!

ethos

Oh, and what about "Chocolat"?

ethos

^Yeah, good call on that. The book made me hungry every time I read it (and I read it several times just for the yummy recipes) but I don't think I remembered a single scene in the (overrated) movie.

Don't know if this counts, but "Bend It Like Beckham " had a scene where the girls were trying to make poori, and there was that tragic moment at the wedding rehearsal where some of the most delicious, mouth-watering food was brilliantly displayed before the admiring guests... and out of politeness, no one ate a thing!!!

Jen

Oooh, that's so true - it's very luscious. I'm sure I'll think of others later.

But I didn't include Like Water for Chocolate because I think the book is better than the movie... the movie is a bit overblown for my liking.