New Class Tickets Now Available - O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Time: Saturday September 14, 2013 · 6:30pm - 9:30pm
Location: Central Market North, 4001 North Lamar, Austin, TX
CLICK HERE TO RESERVE

For my 20th class and 3rd anniversary teaching, I will be presenting a 3-course meal inspired by the Oscar-nominated adventure O Brother, Where Art Thou? Directed by the Coen Brothers, the film is a depression-era retelling of Homer's The Odyssey. The film stars George Clooney, John Turturro, and Tim Blake Nelson as three escaped convicts in 1920's Mississippi on a quest to find a hidden treasure. The film co-stars' former Austinite blues guitarist Chris Thomas King, Holly Hunter, and Charles Durning.

The Menu:
Jailbird BBQ Chicken Wings
Pappy O'Daniel's Buttermilk Biscuits 'n' Honey Butter
Grilled Boneless Rib Eye Steak with “Gratinated” Potatoes
Sauteed Greens & Corn
Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie

Interviews & Reviews! Chef du Cinema Live on KOOP Radio's Lights Camera Austin & A Nice Write-Up in the Chronicle!

First up, my interview with Robert Sims from KOOP Radio's Lights Camera Austin from a couple of weeks ago. Click the image to hear the interview!


Also, a great little write up in the Austin Chronicle from back in April I haven't posted!


Chef du Cinema Presents 'American Graffiti'
Also: Bourbon root beer
By Joey Keeton, 12:41PM, Wed. Apr. 3

Chef du Cinema, aka Ron Deutsch, makes me wish that I were dating somebody. And had money.

If you happen to have the relationship/money combo, or are just extremely into food and/or American Graffiti – George Lucas' nostalgic classic from 1973 about a group of kids on their last night before college in 1962 – you'd be doing yourself a favor to check out Deutsch's presentation of the two at Central Market this Saturday, April 6.

The word "unique" has a tendency to be tossed around all too haphazardly in the entertainment industry, but when somebody's résumé includes concert engineer for the Dead Kennedys, 10 years as a screenwriter and story analyst, documentary filmmaker, journalist, and renowned chef, I feel relatively safe in using it. Ron Deutsch, and his cooking class, are unique.

read more.....

(shameless self-promotion time!) New Interview with 20 Feet from Stardom director Morgan Neville

Unsung Heroes: 'Twenty Feet from Stardom' Hails the Singers behind the Hits
by Ron Deutsch
Documentary Magazine, Summer 2013

For nearly two decades, Morgan Neville has defined himself as one of the most prolific documentary producer/directors of American pop culture. Beginning with his 1995 film Shotgun Freeway, which imagined a history of Los Angeles through the eyes of its denizens like James Elroy and Buck Henry, Neville has explored the lives and work of such artists as Muddy Waters, Hank Williams, James Brown, James Taylor, Iggy Pop and a host of others. His latest film,Twenty Feet from Stardom, profiles the unsung songstresses of rock 'n' roll—the backup singers you've heard but not heard of.

"What I realized early on is that telling the unfamiliar story behind the familiar is something that has always been of interest to me," Neville maintains. "Even going back to Shotgun Freeway. It was a way of retelling LA history from a kind of microscopic point of view. Everybody has an idea of Hollywood or LA history, but let's find out what the invisible history is about it, so when you think about LA, you will think about it differently.

"That's certainly been happening with Twenty Feet from Stardom," Neville continues. "It changed how I hear music and hopefully it changes the way others will. I spent a couple of years while working on this with the radio on, suddenly hearing vocals in songs I've heard a thousand times and realizing just how they were constructed and how important those background vocals were. Being able to take a song and share it anew—I love that. It just adds so much more depth to things we take for granted."

more....

The Class: Time Bandits

THE CLASS:
Ginger Ale Battered Fried Prawns w/Cilantro-Lime Tartar Sauce
RMS Titanic Asparagus Salad w/Champagne-Saffron Vinaigrette
Petto d' Anatra Arrosto con Mostarda di agrumi (Italian Roast Duck w/Citrus-Mustard Preserves)
Polenta Cremosa (Creamy Polenta)
Greek Fruit Salad w/Feta Cheese


If you follow this blog I don't have to tell you that I've been recuperating from a herniated disc which is why I haven't been posting much. Also, real work beckons, and so I've been trying to catch up with that work I'd taken on before I got infirmed now that I can sit and am off the pain meds.

And I was on the radio this week. KOOP Radio's Lights.Camera.Austin with your host Robert Sims interviewed me. It's posted here.

The idea for this class came from one the chefs who works with me at the Cooking School, Scot Loranc, who was leaving working full time at the school and opening a food trailer. Since we wouldn't be working together any more, I asked him if there was a favorite film of his he'd like to have me do... provided, of course, it would be a movie I would want to do teach. He responded, "Time Bandits." My eyes lit up and I said instantly, "But, of course. Time Bandits, it is, amigo." So off I went to rewatch the film to figure out what the menu would be. And it came quite easily.

Class went very well. Smaller than I hoped (no pun intended), but everyone left quite pleased.

TV Bites: The Wanderers

THE SNACK:
City Island Clam Fritters


I'm still slowly recuperating from my herniated disc, which has kept me from doing much for the last month other than laying in bed, popping pain killers, and getting acupuncture. But now I'm off the pain killers, I'm on to physical therapy, and hoping to rejoin the human race soon.

But here we are with part two of "The 70's Looks Back at the 50's" double bill.

I initially chose this film because I've always been fond of it, and I thought it would make a good double-bill with American Graffiti. But in putting this post together, I got to watch it several times, and I've come to really fall in love with it. Also, I was quite surprised by how much they were connected. I see the movies like cousins, one from California and the other from New York. American Graffiti takes place in 1962 and Richard Price's book The Wanderers also takes place in 1962, though the Kaufmans bumped it up a year for the movie to 1963. Rolling Stone magazine said of Richard Price's book The Wanderers, from which the movie is based, that it is "the flip side of American Graffiti."

But there's more connections. Between 1973, when American Graffiti was made, and 1979, when The Wanderers was made, George Lucas and Philip Kaufman worked for a while on a screenplay together. If you follow this blog (or are just a movie fan) you'll know that movie was (previous Chef du Cinema pick) Raiders of the Lost Ark (which, like today's pick, costars Karen Allen). Also in Price's book (but didn't make it into the movie), there's a somewhat older character whom the lead character (Richie) seeks out for advice known as "The Wolfman." In American Graffiti, there's Wolfman Jack who offers up advice for Curt, the lead character.

New Class Tickets Now Available - Time Bandits - June 8th

Time: Saturday June 8, 2013 · 6:30pm - 9:30pm
Location: Central Market North, 4001 North Lamar, Austin, TX
CLICK HERE TO RESERVE

For my 19th class, I will be presenting a 4-course meal inspired by Terry Gilliam's fantasy/adventure classic, Time Bandits. It is a tale of a young boy who discovers his bedroom is a time-traveling portal when a band of wacky dwarfs crash through his armoire one evening. He joins up with them as they bounce around time and space, meeting up with the likes of Napoleon, Robin Hood, and King Agamemnon of Ancient Greece. The film stars Sean Connery, John Cleese, David Rappaport, Shelley Duvall, Michael Palin, and David Warner.

The Menu:
Ginger Ale Battered Fried Prawns w/Cilantro-Lime Tartar Sauce
RMS Titanic Asparagus Salad w/Champagne-Saffron Vinaigrette
Petto d' Anatra Arrosto con Mostarda di agrumi (Italian Roast Duck w/Citrus-Mustard Preserves)
Polenta Cremosa (Creamy Polenta)
Greek Fruit Salad w/Feta Cheese