Screenwriters Seth Reiss and Will Tracy didn't intend to pen a movie about class disparity set in a destination restaurant but they broke down their script as a coursed out tasting menu. In The Menu, Ralph Fiennes plays chef Julian Slowik, who helms the kitchen at Hawthorne, a 12-seat destination restaurant that guests are ferried to by boat. The tension and comic surprise ratchet up with each course served, as the chef's intentions are unveiled.
"What Will and I were very interested in is tearing down the concept of entitlement," says Reiss. "We, as a society, consume and consume, and we inhale and consume, and we don't think about who is providing the content."
Tracy says that Hawthorne was inspired by Alinea, noma, El Bulli, and a Norwegian restaurant on an island that he dined at during his honeymoon. Chef Dominique Crenn acted as a culinary consultant on the film. The Menu from Searchlight Pictures is available on streaming services.
Screenwriters Seth Reiss and Will Tracy dissect entitlement in their culinary satire, "The Menu." Photo courtesy of Searchlight Pictures.