NZIFF 2012 Review: ‘Step Up to the Plate’

If you enjoyed Jiro Dreams of Sushi, you’ll enjoy this film about a chef handing over his restaurant to his son.

Michel Bras is one of the world’s most respected chefs. For decades he has created exquisite dishes from his hometown in the South of France and is best known for Le Gargouillou, a salad plate made up of a seemingly endless number of components. The film opens with him creating the signature dish and it takes longer to list the ingredients than the credits take to run.

On the brink of retirement, Michel’s about to pass the restaurant on to his son, Sebastian. Seba is also an innovative and creative chef. The most fascinating scenes in the film are those where the two chefs go head to head about ingredients and dishes.

We meet the families, grandparents, wives, children, all of whom are part of the fabric of the restaurant. Even at age 4 Seba’s son is in his toque and whites, helping out in the kitchen. Both Michel and Seba’s wives have worked the front of house position, becoming essentially the face of the restaurant.

The film’s focus is on the food and the creation of dishes. Seba is determined to make one of his own, a dish that tells his own personal story. After several failed attempts, by the end of the film he has found it and the sight of this masterpiece being created will make your stomach growl even if you just ate before the lights went down.

It’s not a perfect film. The influence of the wives is felt, but they are not given enough screen time to show how integral they are to the business’s success. An extended section about a teaching gig Michel and Seba do in Japan is overlong, even if it does show Seba’s refining and rethinking of his personal dish.

But the personalities and dedication of these two extraordinary chefs shine through. So does the landscape on which the restaurant is built. I found myself longing for an opportunity to sit in a window seat at sunset and taste Seba’s dish based on blackberry jelly and cheese.

7/10