Flavor Boulevard

This movie is Slow Food personified. It is about food that’s cooked in a slow way (literally), and the movie itself is at a pace that could not be slower. Since childhood, the protagonist has always dreamed to make a restaurant. With the help of a family friend, she succeeded in converting her mother’s back shed into one, where she only serves one table per day, and the customer leaves it up to her to decide the courses. Her restaurant is named Restaurant Snail.

As always the case with Japanese movies, there are several scenes that can easily be a painting. The cast doesn’t go the cutesy or glamorous way; in fact, they don’t make themselves beautiful, but the beauty comes from the realistic portrayal of people in their normal lives.

The food is quite diverse, it’s not only Japanese food. I was surprised that Rinko can find some of the ingredients that she uses, considering that the setting of her town seems to be rural Japan. I mean, would we be able to find lamb chops and pomegranates in a local grocery store in Smallville, Kansas? Hmm…

The movie has a positive, child-like innocence appearance – lush sceneries, colorful animation, simple dialogues – but what lies beneath is left unsaid. In that sense, Rinco’s Restaurant may easily resonate with the broadest audience: whichever background you have, whichever feeling you’re harboring when you sit down to watch the movie, there’s a piece in the characters’ lives and emotions that you can identify with, because these characters are not fancy superheroes. They’re us. (Except for the cooking part.)

Although there are parts that I can’t agree with towards the end (you’ll know what I mean when you watch the movie), they are consistent with the slow-food theme, where you eat things with appreciation and respect. Somewhere in the trailer, the narrator says this: Eating is living and loving (「食べることは、生きること、そして、愛すること.」), which is universally agreeable. Although I’ve been using “slow food” for lack of a better word and because that’s how we refer to the traditionally cooked, non-factory-produced food in modern days, the theme in this movie very much embodies traditional cooking in general and the Japanese mindset toward food in particular.

The Japanese title is Shokudo Katatsumuri (食堂かたつむり), which literally translates to “Restaurant Snail”, the name of Rinko’s restaurant. The story is based on Ito Ogawa (糸・小川)’s 2008 novel of the same title and directed by Mai Tominaga (マイ・富永). Watch Rinko’s Restaurant here on Viki.

Spoiler: there is a cute piggy, her name is Erumesu. Erumesu is very picky about food. She’s also well kempt and can talk to Rinko telepathically. Rinco’s mom goes to bed hugging Erumesu. Imagine hugging Erumesu! (^_^)

Nishikata Film Review offers a more in-depth assessment of Rinco’s Restaurant with references and mentioning of other Japanese food films.

Short films are the best, because sometimes I get cravings in the middle of the night and there are no restaurants open (I wish something opened between midnight and 5 am, a rice porridge stall or a noodle soup vendor would be nice).

1. Omelette – by Madeline Sharafian. (Copyright CalArts Films)
Simple and sweet.

2. French Roast – (Oscar Nominated Animated Short 2010)
It’s coffee, not really food, but still…

3. Love Recipe – by Felipe Pizarro S. and Frédéric Bajou
Glamourous and vibrant, also kinda meaningless.

4. Taste of Nostalgia – by Raymond Lau (Aniboom Animation)
I cried.

Bonus: Crayon Dragon – by Toniko Pantoja (CalArts)
Not food, but it’s so bittersweet.

Masterchef is a reality TV show that currently airs on Fox and is in its 4th season. I’ve watched the show for three seasons now (I missed out on the first season), and have been increasingly bothered by much of the show. While I understand the need to create drama to boost up ratings and that shows about cooking that are not on food-specific channels really aren’t actually about food per se, there are some issues, particularly in this newest season, that have been consistently bothering me about Masterchef. I figured that Mai would also feel the same way, so I asked her to watch this season with me and then see if my angry reactions were justified. We decided to share our many Facebook chat conversations with you guys (slightly edited and condensed). We’ll love to create an ongoing dialogue about this show so feel free to talk back in the comments! Any points that you disagree/agree with us? Who’s your favorite/least favorite contestant? Any judges you love/can’t stand? Join in the Flavor Boulevard conversation!

Mai: Hmm, I’m watching episode 2 of MasterChef now. Doesn’t it feel like the judges choose people based on their inspirational backstory or character a bit more than their food?

Kristen: Yes! I’m really annoyed at the show right now, but I can tell you why once you’ve seen more episodes.

M: I mean, like the lady with the fried chicken and singing [Editor note: Sasha Foxx], she’s fun, but it’s fried chicken! And the yacht stewardess [Jessie Lysiak] made seabass en croute [fish fillet baked in a pastry shell], which is much more complicated than fried chicken and they said it doesn’t have what it takes??!!

K: Yeah…in a previous season Joe [Bastianich] said that rice was poor people food.

M: What????????? That is so racist!!!!!!

K: And yet pasta is perfect in his eyes. Even worst, the winner of last season is Vietnamese, and during the final challenge, they asked her why she made a Vietnamese dish when they aren’t in Vietnam…

M: Yeah! I remember that!

K: And they never questioned the other finalist who made classic French food :-/ Yeah… this show. This show.

M: They said it’s like food-truck level or something.

K: I have so much to write about.

M: Yeah, definitely! I mean, just the fact that the three judges are all white already makes it skewed.

K: There’s some kinds of food that’s “comfort home-style food” and then there’s some food that’s “unrefined and poor” (Western food v. Asian/other ethnic foods). And all the “high-end” foods that they want people to cook definitely put a lot of cooks at a disadvantage from the get-go!

M: Exactly, they need to be consistent! Either you praise high-end techniques and whatnot, or you praise home cooking, but not both!

K: Totally agree!

M: Although it’s a bit hard though, depending on the people’s goal with food, it’s hard to say which one is more skillful.

K: Yeah it makes it hard for viewers because we can’t tell if the food is actually good or bad, we only have to rely on the judges’ word!

M: The show needs to have a clear goal, are we making the next professional chefs, or are we just finding the best home cooks? I guess they should just do away with the technique and background thing and just judge the freaking food! That’s why I much rather watch “The Taste“.

K: Exactly!!! it is a Fox show though… so a lot of the show is all these weird advantages and stuff and encouraging people to backstab each other.

M: Really?????

K: Oooo watch more!!! Lol!

M: Ok, I’m boiling already…

K: Hahahaha yeah the more I watch the show the angrier I get. There’s one thing that’s absolutely pissing me off more than anything but I won’t say anything until you’ve seen more!

M: I feel like I would get way too angry 😀 I wonder when Asian food will be considered high-end, we have thousands of years of culinary history for crying out loud, and what does America have, like hundreds of years?

K: Yeah T_T I’m tired of all the privileging of French/other western techniques that “elevate” Asian food gahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh (or any other ethnic food). It annoys me so much (haha it’s also why Eddie Huang doesn’t like David Chang’s food and claims that his pork buns aren’t authentic in his book 😉 ).

M: But David Chang is at least putting Asian food on the screen, it’s good.

K: Yup! I think without him there wouldn’t be as many Asian chefs out there!! For sure!!! I’ve never had his food either, but I love Lucky Peach heehee…

M: Ok I’m gonna watch episode 3 now.

[TWO DAYS LATER]

M: Ok MasterChef really needs to lay off on the “who do you think will go home today” thing. (I’m on episode 5 now.) I think they’re seriously wanting to send Lynn home. Undercooked pasta is better than pasta with the wrong filling? WTH????!!!!!

K: I think so too! It’s ridiculous! I honestly think it’s because the winner last season was an Asian women (an Asian *disabled* women too wooow!) and there were a TON of Asian people last season. My guess is that they can’t really eliminate Lynn because his food is probably too good but they can limit his screentime so no one would mind if he is eventually eliminated, and in the meantime they’re getting rid of all the other people of color..

M: Actually I’m so happy yesterday that Lynn didn’t get eliminated, that Howard is not a bad guy, I wonder why everybody disliked him.

K: Yeah I don’t know why people start hating each other… I guess they’ve been with each other for a lot of weeks by this point but it always seems really random to me. And I’m still on Episode 9! I’m just glad they finally showed Lynn talking and gave him a talking head!!! Now I know he’s 27 and a systems administrator. 😛

M: Wait… oh no I leaked the ending!!!!!!!!!! I’m so sorry!!!!!!!!!!

K: Oh it’s okay!!! I read it on a blog a few days ago actually by accident! Haha so I spoiled it by accident! T_T

M: I feel so bad for Lynn.

K: Me too! His food always looks soooooooo good but apparently his food always needs seasoning :-/

M: The heck with that, I think they’re just trying to make him look bad to the audience. Because seasoning is the only thing the audience can’t see.

K: EXACTLY! By the way this is a great blog by a former masterchef contestant: http://benstarr.com/blog/. Also, back to Lynn, it’s ironic because all of the other contestants have chosen him first in all of the group challenges (up to episode 9 at least) :-/ That means he must be a good chef, right? Blah they probably just don’t want another Asian to win.

M: Exactly!!!!! I’m so angry I could boil an egg on my head.

K: Me too! Why do we do this to ourselves?? I’m sorry for making you angry by having you watch this show with me haha, but it’s nice to vent with someone!!!

M: I totally understand! Venting is necessary! If we notice it I’m sure a lot of others notice it too, and sooner or later the producer will hear some complaints (I hope!).

K: I know! It’s almost too obvious though… how often is it that a single contestant doesn’t get ANY airtime in a cooking show if they aren’t eliminated right away.

M: And what’s with all the Italian thing? It’s like this contest had turned into either “classic American” or Italian, and making classic filled pasta is good and they should keep to the basic, while everything else must be done with “fineness”? What the heck?!!!

K: YUP YUP YUP YUP I agree 1000000000000000000000000%.

M: Haha my gosh it feels good to vent.

K: Oh gosh I can’t wait until we post this on Flavor Boulevard. I’m sure a lot of people watch this show right??

M: Exactly. I mean, it’s people around the world watching it!

K: Sadly so siiiighhh…

M: I wonder how many generations it will take until Asian food is considered classic in America like Italian food.

K: Yuuup. And Howard is totally right: “You want 15 of the same dishes?” I totally hate Joe and his attitude. He’s the worst most elitist person ever.

M: Yesssssssssss I hate Joe too. Being proud of your ethnic food is great, everybody should be, but that’s not the same as thinking it’s sacrilegious, wait, I mean sacred.

[A FEW DAYS LATER]

M: I’m watching the Glee episode of Masterchef, and Krissi is such an annoying character, why does she hate Jessie so much? It’s like jealousy or something. And sure enough, it’s another person of color leaving the competition.

K: Yes that episode of Masterchef made me really dislike Krissi. I don’t think Bime should have left and I thought it was completely contradictory that she chose to save herself. I was hoping she would have more integrity because of the way she acts… but that really made me lose respect for her. I understand it’s a competition but she shouldn’t have made such a fuss about it last time someone saved themselves and then turned around and did it herself.

M: I read on Ben Starr’s blog how they patch scenes and comments together out of context to make it more dramatic, which doesn’t surprise me, but that’s not an excuse for someone like Krissi to appear mean. If you don’t do or say mean things, or agree to say mean things (if it’s scripted), there’s no way to make you appear like that on TV. Also, to make Bime leave because of a stupid mistake is just unreasonable. [He accidentally used cream of tartar instead of corn starch in his pie filling.] That’s another thing I don’t like about this show, if something is good, they show doubts that it’s a fluke, if something is bad, bam! you go home. Why can’t they judge more consistently based on the performance history of the person instead of one or two moments?

K: Oh god the latest episode of MasterChef [Wedding Catering and Macarons episode]… I can’t even watch… I’m too angry… talk about setting people up for failure. It just feels like Lynn is being set up for elimination for anything besides his food [Chef Ramsay pounced on Lynn for wiping his sweat and then wiping dishes meant to go out to diners. Granted, that’s disgusting and wrong, but not a strong enough reason to send someone home!!!].

Closing Thoughts

Kristen: We’ve seen 12 episodes so far, not counting the first 3 because they’re in the process of selecting the finalists, so 9 episodes. For 4 episodes in a row, all of the people that were sent home were people of color…just one after the other. While people can argue that race has nothing to do with this food show, this pattern of eliminating people of color, of continuously privileging Western foods over ethnic foods, and of the judges singling out certain people (not just Lynn, but I think the judges were extremely rude to Howard as well) leaves me with a bitter taste in my mouth when I watch this show. I want to see diversity reflected in the home cooks and after all, as Mai puts it, they’re home chefs and not restaurant chefs. I’ll still be watching because I never expected an Asian woman to win last season (or to see so much Asian American representation in a major network TV show), but with an ever critical eye! What do the readers think?

Movies are food for the eye (and ears, and brain, or whatever else you like). I watched Bread of Happiness on the plane ride from Houston back to SFO, and it made me happy that whole day. It also strengthened my resolve to study Japanese. The breads shown in this movie don’t seem particularly complicated, their presentation doesn’t sparkle, but they perfectly suit the gentle atmosphere that flows through the plot: looking at the steam rising as you break a fresh loaf in half, you can smell a sincere love.

Something that I learned from the main guy, a baker, in Bread of Happiness: do you know the literal meaning of “compagnon”?

Also designed to make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, the Korean drama Kimchi Family hits the spot on days when I feel down (and also when I’m eating my cup noodles). It’s another string of small stories of how food made with heart can touch people’s lives in positive ways. If you don’t watch it for the plot, watch it for the kimchi! So many kinds of kimchi that I haven’t thought of being possible before. You can watch it on Hulu.com.

Kimchi Family has a lovely song that I can’t find the lyrics anywhere: “Take a drink. This drink is not alcohol, this drink is our mother’s tears, this drink is our father’s sweat…” UPDATE: Thanks to the author of Following KPop, I now have the lyrics of the drinking song, printed below.

Tonight I actually cried watching its 8th episode. But at least I was at home. For Bread of Happiness, aish, I had to sink into my seat so that the guy sitting next to me didn’t see my eyes turning all red…

발효가족 권주가 가사 (Fermentation Family – Drink Offering song lyrics from Daum Music)
Listen to the song on YouTube and sing along 🙂

Hangeul잡수시오~ 잡수시오~ 이 술 한잔 잡수시오 이 술은 술이 아니라 우리 모친 눈물이오 우리 부친 땀이오니 쓰다 달다 탓말고 마음으로~ 잡수시오 명사십리~해당화야 꽃~진다고 서러마라 명년 삼월 봄이 오면 너는 다시 피려니와 가련한 우리 인생 뿌리없는 부평초라 잡수시오~잡수시오 이~술 한~잔 잡수시오 오동추야 밝은 달에 님 생각이 새로워라 님도 나를 생각하나 나만 홀로 이러한지 새벽서리 찬바람에 울고가는 기러기야 님에 소식 알았더니 창만한 구름 속에 빈소리 뿐이로다

Romanizationjabsushio jabsushio i sul hanjan jabsushio i sulreun sulri anira uri mochin nunmulrio uri buchin ttamioni seuda talda tatmalko maeumeuro jabsushio myeong sasibri haetanghoaya kkot jindago seoreomara myeong nyeon samwueol bomi omyeon neoneun tasi piryeoniwakaryeonhan uri inseng bburiobneun bupyeongchora jabsushio jabsushio isul hanjan jabsushio otongchuya balkeun tarae nim senggaki saelowuora nimdo nareul senggakhanda naman hollo ireohanji saebyeokseori chanbaramae ulgokaneun kireokiya nimae soshik aratteoni changmanhan kureum sokae binsori bbuniroda

TranslationHave some, have some Have a cup of this wine This wine is not wine This wine is our mother’s tears This wine is our father’s sweat Don’t say it’s bitter or sweet Have a taste with your heart Don’t be sad The myeongsasibri rose buds fall When spring arrives next year you will bloom once againOur pitiful life is like a floating rootless weed Have some, have some Have a cup of this wine The paulownia tree in the bright fall moon reminds me of my wife and saddens me Does my wife think of me? Or am I alone in this thought? In the morning’s cold frost, the wild goose cries and leaves I hope for news of my wife The overflowing clouds are empty of noise

I have a soft spot. If I like someone’s movies, I have to try their food too. Take Korean for example, I saw the actors eating bibimbap and ddeokbokki with so much joy I had to find and like them myself. Many months ago my friend Rashmi posted a link of this adorable short movie The Danish Poet, and now I’ve finally found Copenhagen. A Danish restaurant that I will frequent.

Most of the menu is above twenty, which doesn’t seem to bother the elderly ladies and gentlemen dining here. They sip their white wine, take small bites, talk with their backs straight and eyes observant. I always have to watch my pitch in this kind of casual expensive place. Thankfully, the food is plentiful.

A choice of soups or salads precedes every entree. I like how they top my spinach salad with boiled eggs and bacon bits and very little vinaigrette. Split pea soup seems more popular than potato and leek soup and cream of mushroom soup, but as the staff said, they’re all good. I’m not crazy about mushy soups, but a small nutty cup paired with crusty baguette  makes a warm entrance for din-din.

Two thin, Moselle style batter-fried red snapper fillets come out crisp hot, unfortunately topped with a rather cold batch of sauteed shrimps and mushroom. The shrimps felt a little watered-down and sea-ish, if that makes any sense. That aside, kudos for the grape halves, whose sweet juice complements the fried fish quite well. I also love the nutty buttery boiled potato and the overcooked mustard greens (cai be xanh) on the side.

The Danish style roasted pork loin also comes with overcooked mustard greens and carrots, both overwhelmed by the red cabbage sauerkraut. The lonely prune is good for nothing. Deep drowned in gravy, those soft slices of paper white lean pork go exceedingly well with apple sauce – once again, the sweet-savory duet triumphs.

For completeness, we get dessert, which turns out a tad boring. The Danish rice pudding is a sad cup of white rice in some thick milky sauce, a few sparse raisins, topped with strawberry jelly and whipped cream. It’s like chè, but is too monotonic. That’s ok, it is cheap, only $3.75. Next time we’ll be happy with chocolate cake.

Address: Little Copenhagen Bar & Restaurant
356 Woodside Plaza
Redwood City, CA 94061

The silver shilling: Red snapper ($16.95) + Roasted porkloin ($16.95) + Rice pudding ($3.75) + tax = $41.13

Note:
This post is a secret ad for the 2007 Oscar winner for Best short animation, The Danish Poet. Just kidding. Enjoy the movie.