The cozy chef Pierre Manceron (Grégory Gadebois), forgetting himself, kneads flour, butter and egg into a golden yellow dough. He devoutly forms small pies out of them, fills them with fine potato slices and fine truffle shavings, and folds the dough over them like a flower. Only when the camera moves back does the hustle and bustle of the large kitchen become visible around him, the hectic murmur and the clatter of pots penetrate, the small bubble bursts into which Pierre was just sunk.
From the slapstick cake fights of the early comedies to the feasts of French dramas to the big banquets of Asian films: cinema has an affinity for food. The director Éric Besnard (“Pear Cake with Lavender”) also likes the topic. In “À la Carte!” he dedicates himself to the invention of the French restaurant from the spirit of the revolution, and incidentally also to love that goes through the stomach.
The nobleman is disgusted: Citizens and farmers are also allowed to sit at the tables
It is the year 1789, there is already a lot of rumor in Paris, the more doggedly the nobles defend their privileges. Just no experiments! No surprises! The little amuse-gueule patties they find unreasonable, with potatoes and mushrooms that grow in dirty earth! The cook Pierre, humiliated in front of the laughing and grunting pack of nobles, retires to his father’s farm, where from now on he wants to cook simple but tasty provisions for travelers from his own cultivation and breeding. His subdued pleasure in cooking is only slowly awakening again, fueled by his son, who instigates him not to leave power over the menu to the courtly patrons anymore and also spreads a few progressive ideas of the 21st century: “I don’t eat meat more, it makes you violent and grumpy! “
Also fired by the beautiful Louise (Isabelle Carrée), who wants to do an apprenticeship with him, but has a secret that he is gradually discovering. When he blindfolds her and gradually pushes different ingredients into her mouth, a walnut, a piece of mushroom, a leaf of mint and a slice of beetroot, an erotic sensuality arises that gives Besnard a lot of time, to develop in the warm light of the farmer’s kitchen with all its equipment made of wood, copper and cast iron.
