Movie - Tasting Room

A really fun movie if you all get a chance to see it.  There was a great crowd last night.

Arena Theater Film Club
Monday September 8, 7 p.m.
Tasting Menu (2013)
The Spain/Ireland co-production plays out over a single night in a world-famous, three-star Catalan restaurant on the closing night. The evening turns into a farce of manners and misunderstandings as an eclectic mix of customers flocks to the eatery.
There's the insecure doctor Marc (Jan Cornet, most familiar to non-Spaniards for Almodovar's The Skin I Live In) and beautiful, best-selling writer Rachel (Claudia Bassols), separated but meeting again for the meal of a lifetime; the mourning Countess D'Arcy (Fionnula Flanagan); the mysterious Walter Reilly (Stephen Rea), with whom the maitre d’ Max (Spain-based Canadian Andrew Tarbet) becomes increasingly obsessed as the evening wears on; and Isao Kamiyama (Togo Igawa) and Yoshio Takamura (Akihiko Serikawa), potential buyers of the restaurant, accompanied by gauche, motor-mouthed Mina (Marta Torné, the director’s real-life partner).
Emili Guirao’s photography is richly textured, approaching both dim interiors and sunlit exteriors with equal care. Stephen Mckeon's score is pleasantly melodic, and the film signs off with The Divine Comedy’s wonderful Perfect Love Song. Writes film critic Jonathan Holland, "The film is a food fetishist’s delight, with close-ups of hands lovingly chopping and shaping: but the affectation of it all is neatly exposed later as, after the desserts fail to arrive, head chef Mar (Vicenta N'Dongo) asks her team, 'Can you make something out of sea water?'"
Director: Roger Gual Rating: PG-13 Runtime: 97 minutes Language: Spanish with English subtitles
And just for kicks: The Costa Brava (“Wild Coast”) is a unique coastal region in northeastern Spain. It is known for its gorgeous coastline, breath-taking vistas, world-class gastronomy, and a wealth of culture.
The Costa Brava has hosted and inspired artists such as Salvador Dalí, Truman Capote, Federico Garcia Lorca and Pablo Picasso. As of 2012, 11 restaurants with 15 Michelin stars and five restaurants with six stars can be found along the Costa Brava. Among them are El Celler de Can Roca, the current Best Restaurant in the World, the Miramar Restaurant in Llança and Les Cols de Olot. They follow the legacy of the legendary Spanish restaurant elBulli.