Recall that scene where Charnier sits in that nice restaurant while Popeye hangs around across the street freezing to death? I've always thought that Charnier's meal looked absolutely delicious. Every time I see this scene I find myself wanting to have what he is having. This used to be a real restaurant, but I don't think it's still around.
Does anyone have any idea what he is eating?
The restaurant was called Copain. It was on 50th St. and 1st Avenue in Manhattan. The building now houses a new upscale restaurant (I forget the name). In the scene, Charnier and Nicoli are eating Chateaubriand (which is a thick cut of tenderloin steak). I forget, but I think their dessert is cherries jubilee.
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Probably. I would say that Popeye's meal of pizza and coffee would also probably run him two or three bucks more than what he paid in 1971.
shareDidn't Popeye have a hot dog? Or maybe during the stakeout he had pizza and a hot dog? Can't imagine either being up to current standards of "street food".
shareYeah, turtletommy. Popeye's food was very utilitarian. A crueller outside the nightclub, the limp pizza outside the Copain, with coffee so bad he pours it on the sidewalk,a grape drink and candy apple in the subway. Never understood the candy apple. An apple dipped in red sugar syrup, when ready to eat is as hard as a rock. I haven't seen one in twenty years here in New York.
shareThe candy apple shop in Grand Central Station was there into the 80s that I know of, they also sold pretzels and fresh squeezed orange juice.
let's go and say a prayer for a boy who couldn't run as fast as I could
Escargot, French Onion Soup, sliced beef, profiteroles and French press coffee. Their food was excellent. I was told that filming was done at 5am.
sharecertainly a generous helping of the parmesean encrusted French onion soup. I amagine the meal cost 50.00$, in 1971?
shareIt wasn't French press. French press is absolute crap.
my vote history:
http://www.imdb.com/user/ur13767631/ratings
I thought they were having French onion soup and prime rib; carved at the table, plus appetizers.
shareWho knew this would be a post for gourmands? I know for a fact that the beef dish was Chateaubriand.
shareTheir meal was all pretty standard "fine dining" french cuisine of the 1960s and 70s. The chateaubriand, carved tableside as was so often done in those days, looked delicious and brought back a powerful taste memory for me. Its something you hardly ever see anymore, but it was a common (and expensive) menu item back then. It was always a dish served "for two" and could run you up around $20 by 1971.
Loved the tableside dessert cart too, complete with liqueurs for after-dinner drinks and the then-popular flambeed desserts. Today, even in very expensive NYC restaurants, the tables are much too close together to permit that style of service anymore.
Popeye's pizza slice looked also like NYC standard then. Despite its wan floppy appearance, it was probably better than most of what's available in NYC pizza joints today. This was back before the standardized cheap white cheese goo, overly sweet canned sauce, and premade crusts that have become far too common today. Toppings were not all that common on pizza in NYC back then, and most sales were of plain cheese slices. Plain (or "regular" as New Yorkers often say) pizza still remains the most popular choice in NYC today, far more so than in the rest of the country.
mingusal, you are quite the gourmand. Thanks for the French restaurant insights. I assume you saw the link someone posted above about the Copain. While I can't comment too much on French cuisine in New York, I do remember eating in two French restaurants in the 1970's: the Magic Pan, which I remember for its crepes, would probably be considered a two-star restaurant today. The other restaurant, owned by my friend's father, was Cafe des Sportes on W 50th St. Like Copain, both are gone.
As to the pizza, could it have been a coal oven slice?
I'd rather have the pizza slice Popeye was eating. I grew up in N.Y. during that time and it was when pizza was the best, made with imported ingredients, not the crap they sell now, even in NYC. I believe back at that time, it didn't cost more than 50 cents a slice.
shareIt is a weird but true fact that the price of a slice of pizza has tracked the cost of a subway fare for the past 50 years or so. Googling for the fare in 1971 reveals that it was 30 cents.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pizza_Principle
I want the doctor to take your picture so I can look at you from inside as well.
It was warm and warm looking inside the restaurant, the food looked great and was very colorful. It was dreary and cold and bleak outside, Popeye's pizza was very thin and bland looking with no apparent toppings, I imagine it tasted like it looked and his coffee was apparently very bad. It was like one of the finest meals you could imagine vs the worst.
shareWell said!
sharecold and bleak outside
What I liked about that scene was the contrast. The criminals in a expensive restaurant living high on the hog while the cops on the outside eating junk and freezing.
Marriage is like a deck of cards. From a HEART and a DIAMOND to a CLUB and a SPADE
You refer to a most vital sequence of scenes in this movie. Like you said, the villains are eating world class food while Popeye and Cloudy eat crap. I think Popeye grows to hate Charnier even more after he witnesses him living the high life that he cannot.
shareCompare the scene in Trading Places in which Valentine is dining with the Dukes and the president of the stock exchange while Winthorpe stares forlornly in the pouring rain!
shareOr the scene with Winthorp and girlfriend. The butler was making them some dessert that they decided to skip for sex. What was that, damn that looked good and he threw out!
shareThe butler was making 'Crepe Suzette', dessert crepes cooked with orange juice and Grand Marnier.
let's go and say a prayer for a boy who couldn't run as fast as I could
I agree, TOAST. I always loved the juxtaposition presented in the scene. While the delicious gourmet meal comes to a conclusion, Popeye can be seen in the background, through the restaurant window, disgustedly tossing his unfinished coffee on to the ground. Clever cinematography.
Screws fall out all of the time. The world's an imperfect place.
Where I live we used to have a restaurant called Della Fontana's and it was a 7 course meal. It's been gone for about 15 years or so, I miss restaurants like this, they are a thing of the past. This scene your talking about makes me think of that place I used to go to.
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