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A 93-year-old director embeds inside a French restaurant that's held three Michelin stars for more than 50 years. (NR, 240 min.)
5:00 PM
11:30 AM
6:45 PM
The MENUS-PLAISIRS is a film about the Troisgros family and their three restaurants, Troisgros, Le Central and Colline, located in three neighboring locations in central France. Troisgros, a restaurant founded 93 years ago, has had three Michelin stars for 55 years and in 2020 was awarded a Michelin green star for exemplary sustainable practices. Much of the film takes place at Troisgros.
The present chef, Cesar Troisgros, is the fourth generation of the family to be in charge at Troisgros. The film shows the day-to-day operations involving the purchase, preparation and service at this restaurant .
Scenes in the film also include purchasing fresh vegetables at the market, visits to a cheese processing plant, a vineyard, a cattle ranch working on best farming practices, and an organic farmer whose farm, along with the garden of the restaurant, provides organic produce for the restaurants. The Troisgros family’s interest in biodiversity is illustrated in their choice and preparation of their distinctive menu and their efforts to reduce food waste. The film shows the great artistry ingenuity, imagination, and hard work of the restaurant staff in creating, preparing, and presenting meals of the highest quality. Additionally, the collaboration within the Troisgros family is evident as the father, Michel, transfers the leadership in the kitchen to his son, Cesar and collaborates with his wife, who runs the hotel and his other son who runs La Colline.
Director: Frederick Wiseman
Genre: Documentary
"It's absorbing from start to finish."
— Manohla Dargis, New York Times
"One of [Wiseman's] simplest yet richest works."
— Matt Zoller Seitz, RogerEbert.com
"A glorious stew of ideas and images and conversations."
— Matt Singer, ScreenCrush
"If you're a fan of films about cooking... This is the king of them all."
— Claudia Puig, FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
"Menus-Plaisirs is a fascinating exploration of that passion, and perhaps the closest many of us will get to experiencing it at all."
— Josh Kupecki, Austin Chronicle
"Wiseman’s vision in 'Menus-Plaisirs' accumulates before our eyes, and it has a kind of purity. It’s as if we were looking at even the most commonplace things afresh."
— Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor
"At the center of it all is an affectionate portrait of the Troisgros family, who have been restaurateurs for generations. They pursue their life’s mission with a zeal that’s inspiring and, at times, amusing..."
— Dana Stevens, Slate
"It takes a rare documentarian to turn a four-hour cinema vérité culinary experience into one that’s as appetizing and satisfying as the Michelin-starred meals it observes getting created from farm to crafted table."
— Randy Myers, San Jose Mercury News
"Minute by minute, it’s a roving, inquisitive, elegantly expansive portrait of an establishment whose many constituent and tangential elements function together in a kind of whirring, bustling day-to-day harmony."
— Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times
"Both a food lover’s dream and an aspiring chef’s guidebook, uncovering the sophisticated alchemy that makes such places not only run flawlessly, but serve up groundbreaking dishes that are also locally sourced."
— Jordan Mintzer, Hollywood Reporter
"Wiseman’s slow-cooked but satisfying Menus-Plaisirs -- Les Troisgros occupies a generous space between his sober portraits of American institutions and his more epicurean films about the French arts."
— David Ehrlich, indieWire
"By the time the film flickers to a close, you will have an almost visceral understanding of the knowledge, skill, discipline, grind, art, conflict and generosity that animate Le Bois Sans Feuilles, the Michelin three-star destination."
— Tim Carman, Washington Post
