Four hours of Frederick Wiseman capturing the inner workings of a three-star Michelin restaurant in France is as glorious as that logline sounds. The delightful, breezy Menus-Plaisirs Les Troisgros, a selection at Venice, TIFF, and NYFF, will now be released at Film Forum starting on November 22 just ahead of your Thanksgiving meal and the first trailer has landed.
Here’s the official synopsis: “The Troisgros family Restaurant has been holding 3 Michelin stars for 55 years over four generations. An immersive experience, showing artistry, ingenuity, and imagination of the staff, creating and presenting meals of highest quality as Michel Troisros turns over responsibility to his son, César.”
Rory O’Connor said in his review, “The first of Menus-Plaisirs Les Troisgros‘ four hours moves as quick as a glacier. Herbs are inspected at a farmer’s market. Two chefs weigh up the benefits of pike and zander. Fans of Frederick Wiseman, immediately recognizing these rhythms, know to sit back and relax: his cinema is usually as taxing as a breath of air––probably as good for the system. Plaisirs is Wiseman at his most indulgent. There is a section that goes in deep on how cheese is aged. There is a visit to a beekeeper and another to a vineyard. But Plaisirs‘ 240 minutes are mostly spent charting a day in the life at Troisgros, one of the oldest three-Michelin-starred restaurants in the world. Suffice it to say: do not enter on an empty stomach.”
See the trailer below via Indiewire.
Menus-Plaisirs Les Troisgros screens at the New York Film Festival and opens at Film Forum on November 22.