A MATTER OF TASTE: SERVING UP PAUL LIEBRANDT plays at the Enzian on Saturday 4/9, at 3pm, and a couple more times during the week, as part of the 20th annual Florida Film Festival. Click here for show times. Chef Paul Liebrandt will be present at the Saturday screening for a Q&A.
The very first thing you see in ‘A Matter of Taste: Serving Up Paul Liebrandt’ is Liebrandt, covered in blood, chopping up a pig. Within the first thirty seconds, he says “I’m not a nutcase. I’m just an artist.” That really sets the tone for this entertaining documentary about the self-professed “culinary mercenary”, who was once the youngest ever chef to be awarded three stars by the New York Times.
The film spans a long period of time, tracking Liebrandt’s time at Papillion, where he eventually tired of working on burgers and fries, then moving on to Gelt, and culminating in the opening of Corton. Liebrandt serves up a dish that involves a calf’s brain, and later drizzles some duck’s blood onto another dish. The coolest thing he comes up with is a solid crystal of vodka tonic.
‘A Matter of Taste’ should appeal to more than just hardcore foodies, though, as Liebrandt – a dead ringer for teenage Win Butler – is charismatic enough to care about. There are some of the requisite shouting-at-sous-chefs scenes that you’d expect from something like this, but unlike Mr. Ramsey, you can tell that Liebrandt actually cares about his staff rather than wants to scream at them. Because of his appeal, the dramatic tension at the end – will they or won’t they get three stars from NYT critic Frank Bruni? – is something you care a great deal about.
The feature is preceded by a short film, ‘Cut/Chop/Cook’, about a barbecue stand in Hemingway, South Carolina.
By Samir Mathur
Contributing writer
Staff page | Twitter | TumblrThe very first thing you see in ‘A Matter of Taste: Serving Up Paul Liebrandt’ is Liebrandt, covered in blood, chopping up a pig. Within the first thirty seconds, he says “I’m not a nutcase. I’m just an artist.” That really sets the tone for this entertaining documentary about the self-professed “culinary mercenary”, who was once the youngest ever chef to be awarded three stars by the New York Times.
The film spans a long period of time, tracking Liebrandt’s time at Papillion, where he eventually tired of working on burgers and fries, then moving on to Gelt, and culminating in the opening of Corton. Liebrandt serves up a dish that involves a calf’s brain, and later drizzles some duck’s blood onto another dish. The coolest thing he comes up with is a solid crystal of vodka tonic.
‘A Matter of Taste’ should appeal to more than just hardcore foodies, though, as Liebrandt – a dead ringer for teenage Win Butler – is charismatic enough to care about. There are some of the requisite shouting-at-sous-chefs scenes that you’d expect from something like this, but unlike Mr. Ramsey, you can tell that Liebrandt actually cares about his staff rather than wants to scream at them. Because of his appeal, the dramatic tension at the end – will they or won’t they get three stars from NYT critic Frank Bruni? – is something you care a great deal about.
The feature is preceded by a short film, ‘Cut/Chop/Cook’, about a barbecue stand in Hemingway, South Carolina.