Founded in 1930 in central France, the Troisgros family restaurant has been holding 3 Michelin stars for 57 years over four generations. Michel Troisgros, the third generation to head the restaurant, has turned over the responsibility for the cuisine to his son César, the fourth generation of Troisgros chefs. From the market to pick fresh vegetables, to a cheese processing plant, a vineyard, an organic cattle ranch to the backyard garden supplying the restaurant, Frederick Wiseman takes us on a mouthwatering and sense-pleasing journey into the family’s three restaurant kitchens.
An immersive experience, four hours long, without interviews, narration or music, Menus-Plaisirs – Les Troisgros shows the great artistry, ingenuity, imagination, and hard work of the restaurant staff in creating, preparing, and presenting meals of the highest quality.
The Garden Cinema View:
Aged 93 at the time of filming (95 at the time of writing), each new film from Frederick Wiseman feels like a gift. Intersecting his ongoing depictions of both French artistry (La Danse, Crazy Horse) and historic institutions (Ex Libris, National Gallery), this ‘day-in-the-life’ of Le Bois sans feuilles showcases both extraordinary creativity alongside detailed operational planning.
As ever with Wiseman, he draws out fascinating aspects of the everyday, and shows the level of detail and hard work which go into finished products (food in this case). And as is usually the case with his late films, the daunting running time turns out to be an immensely pleasurable immersion into something that feels like pure cinema.
