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Category:    Home > Reviews > Documentary > Cooking > Food > Restaurants > Biography > History > Danny Meyer – The Restaurateur (2010) + Guy Martin – Portrait Of A Grand Chef (2008/First Run DVDs)

Danny Meyer – The Restaurateur (2010) + Guy Martin – Portrait Of A Grand Chef (2008/First Run DVDs)

 

Picture: C     Sound: C+/C     Extras: C/C-     Main Programs: B-

 

 

First Run continues a series of releases on cooking that includes Kings Of Pastry, which we covered at this link:

 

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/10810/Carmo+Hit+The+Road+(2009/First+R

 

 

Now comes two new titles that are more direct biographies of two men attempting to contribute to cuisine in new and better ways.

 

Danny Meyer – The Restaurateur (2010) has the risk-taker try to open a unique upscale eatery in highly competitive New York City where he has been a success for 12 years.  Tabla takes over a historic building, spends the money to retain its qualities and tries to offer new kinds of food, but will it work?  Will it start a new food trend?  Will it be considered innovative?  Will it get good reviews?  Will people even eat there?  This lasts about an hour and is worth your time.

 

Then we have Guy Martin – Portrait Of A Grand Chef (2008), a man who knows his pastries as much as his main courses.  I liked that he began as a serious pizza maker (a pizzaiolo to fans like yours truly) and expanded 20 years later to become the chef at Le Grand Vefour, considered one of the top restaurants in the world.  Instead of seeing him under pressure all the time (as we do Meyer), we see a man in his element, talking about himself, his work and life.  I liked this one very much and it is yet another solid documentary on foodmakers.

 

The 1.33 X 1 image on Meyer and anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on Martin are about even with good color, but not great consistency, aliasing errors and other minor flaws, but are both watchable enough, while the Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo on both are not as evenly matched with Martin sounding a little more off than Meyer.  Extras on both include a trailer gallery, while Meyer adds an Epilogue, text Filmmaker Biography and two photo sections.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo


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