Dinner & a Movie: Perfect Pairings for Your At-Home Movie Night
Now starring: food
If you’ve watched even one food program, you know what they mean when they say, “We first eat with our eyes.” The allure of appealing-looking dishes is actually backed up by some science-y stuff (and maybe explains why Pepsi Clear never caught on), and is well-understood by filmmakers—many of whom have given food a starring role in their pictures. We’re shouting out to some of our favorites, along with the perfect plated pairings to prep before settling in front of the screen, so your senses can be equally tantalized.
On your screen:
Maybe you didn’t think of food when you first saw Scorcese’s masterful telling of Henry Hill’s mafia rise and ultimate unraveling, but outta respect we ask you to rewatch to appreciate its starring role—not only in the Italian-American culture, but as a device that humanizes otherwise cold-blooded killers. From Catherine Scorcese’s cameo as Tommy’s mother (who insists on making a meal in the middle of the night as a corpse sits in the trunk of the car) to Paulie slicing garlic with a razor blade in prison and Henry “stirring the sauce” as the police close in on his drug operation—food deserves top billing in this classic flick.
On your plate:
Fuggedaboutit— it’s obviously the meat-forward favorite Sunday Gravy.
On your screen:
Marie Antoinette and Emma (the 2020 remake)
Two words: food styling. Set within a few decades of each other, these two movies feature delightful and visually stunning confections. The montage in Marie Antoinette set to Bow Wow Wow’s “I Want Candy” offers a dizzying and visually stunning display of candy-colored shoes, fabrics, jewels and unbelievably beautiful food (not to mention rivers of champagne we wouldn’t mind swimming in). Meanwhile, Emma’s director, Autumn de Wilde, similarly set out to make a movie that was “edible,” since the Georgians used food to convey status and wealth. Message received!
On your plate:
We’re all for letting you eat cake, and of course, you could always just get lots of champagne and some beautiful macarons and call it a day. But may we suggest pavlovas? Though they weren’t introduced until well after Marie lost her head, they are the sort of treats we can see in either of these films. We have found this recipe very reliable. Feel free to play with the fruit on top—strawberries or raspberries would make these particularly fitting.
On your screen:
Nancy Meyers’ kitchen—need we say more? Meryl Streep’s Jane owns the most gorgeous Santa Barbara bakery (ever) when her ex-husband Alec Baldwin creeps back into her life. They may be the co-stars, but croque-monsieur, roasted chicken (see our go-to recipes below) chocolate cake and lavender ice cream steal the show. The pièce de résistance, however, is when she and her romantic interest go to her bakery after hours to make chocolate croissants after indulging in an herb of the non-kitchen variety.
On your plate:
We don’t even know how to make croissants or lavender ice cream—so we would advise you to enjoy the double chocolate cake.
