MovieChat Forums > I Like Killing Flies Discussion > Great character, good movie, horrible ki...

Great character, good movie, horrible kitchen!

posted 15 years ago by LouD77
6 replies | jump to latest

I very much enjoyed watching this. However, having worked in the food service industry and having attended culinary school, it also hard to watch. A few hundred meals are prepped and served during the film, and not once during any of the cooking or talking did ANY of the food handlers wash their hands. The fact that he has 100's of menu items and a small customer base, means the food can't be that fresh. Especially with only 2 cooks. You can't have that many soups on a menu and have them be fresh, which is exactly how a cockroach got into one of his customers servings (he talks about it). Which doesn't matter anyways, cause he admits drowning the food in butter and sugar. I admire this man's energy and personality, but not his food handling. I wish him and his family luck in the new location and hope he refines his menu to optimize his storage/kitchen space, which in turn will keep the kitchen clean and customers happy.

Now for the doc critique. Having also worked in the entertainment industry. How bout clipping that lav mic onto the subjects you're interviewing? Instead of them holding it next to the lens.

[–] remurmur 15 years ago

You never see anyone wash their hands ON CAMERA. The logic is pretty simple: that's a boring subject matter. And I don't see your point on the food not being fresh, as everything is made to order.

[–] MSStMarie 15 years ago

Exactly!

Kenny made a point to say, "They're putting it in their mouths." That said it all for me.

Plus, he was mortified by the cockroach thing, and I have to tell you...I've worked in restaurants--FANCY ones--even the cleanest ones, have the occasional cockroach.It's a fact of life.

If the OP had bothered to research it, he'd have seen that everything is made to order. OBVIOUSLY he doesn't have 300 soup pots in that tiny kitchen. The fact that he can make soup to order and it's delicious, by all accounts, proves that Kenny is a genius.

I'd eat his food any time, happily.

---------
Aagh; you're a HEDGE!

[–] Defenseman13 12 years ago

Having worked in the "I listen to people bitch about everything" industry, I have a suggestion.

If you don't like it, don't eat there.

Problem solved.

And, having watched this documentary, why would you post that? He'll throw you out of the restaurant, just like that post should be discarded from the internet forever. You've obviously missed the entire point.

http://us.imdb.com/name/nm2339870/

[–] TheRealBambi 15 years ago

Cooking is like putting on a play or making a film. To do it right, you gotta have magic. If you don't have magic, you have to settle for sterile and safe: ala Applebees or Starbucks, lol.

Kenny has magic!

Wonderful film!

<")
( ~\/

[–] glm39 15 years ago

You might take a look at the Calvin Trillin article on Shopsin's (written about their prior location), in which he specifically addresses how they can have such a large menu in a small place. They do make the soups to order.

[–] tyboulder 14 years ago

This guy's kitchen was a direct extension of his personality. I'd trust food prepared by him far more than I would food from a chain where everything is done in the back according to franchise "best practices," by people paid nothing-an-hour who may have little or no respect for their trade. This guy makes his food with love. He cares immensely. That it isn't "pretty" is refreshing to me. There's no sterile disconnect between the ingredients and his vision. Absolutely no pretense. As someone posted above, there's a magic to what he does- and I can't imagine that existing in any other environment. An amazing film. Like the kitchen, the film wasn't "pretty" either- but that made me love it even more. The candid rant the filmmaker uses at the end of the movie is classic.