Moviegoers often wish they could be eating what the characters are eating in certain scenes in a film. Think of the famous dinner scene in Tom Jones. Or everything edible in Julie & Julia, the movie about chef Julia Child. And then, of course, there’s that spaghetti in Walt Disney’s animated classic, Lady and the Tramp.
Well, Dan Kopera is making that a reality. He will serve some of the cuisine featured in The Taste of Things following the 11:30 a.m. movie showing, which will be Saturday, October 28th at Playhouse on the Square. Those who bought tickets to the 2023 movie, directed by Tran Anh Hung ,will then walk to the old Pantà restaurant at 2146 Monroe Avenue for Kopera’s take on some of the dishes in the film.
Describing the movie, Kopera, 49, a chef at The Second Line, says, “It’s a romantic relationship between the chef and his cook, and it all revolves around food. There’s so much food in the movie. It’s primarily French food. It does take place in France in the 19th century.
“They sent me a screening line. I enjoyed it. It’s not a movie I would have sought out for myself. It’s not my style. But it was very good.”
Then, he says, “I copied a few things from the movie that were interesting to me.
“I spent a couple of hours the next day just brainstorming and doing some research. Which then I took to chef Kelly English [owner of The Second Line] and consulted with him to get his thoughts on it. He added his opinions and that’s how we came up with these four items.”
Some dishes in the film were unfamiliar to Kopera. But, he says, “A couple of things from the movie I could do. Baked Alaska was one. It’s the only dessert featured in the movie.”
Making Baked Alaska is “much easier to make in modern days than it was in the 19th century when it was invented.”
Back then, making the dessert “was kind of an all-day-long process.
“For one, we have refrigeration. And they had to use ice chests to make the ice cream. And, also we have modern equipment. The blow torch to cook the outside of the meringue. Rather than what they did, which was light brandy on fire and roll it over it to cook the outside. Meringue protects the ice cream from melting.”
He’s also doing chicken vol-au-vent. “They did a very large version of this. It’s a puff pastry filled with various things. I’m doing a chicken dish with it. It’s one of those things you can fill with anything. Almost a cream puff kind of thing. I’m going to be doing little mini vol-au-vents for everyone to try.”
Kopera will make croque monsieur dip with crostini. “The original dish is a sandwich. A grilled ham and cheese. I’m taking it to another level. I’m French toasting it.”
And, finally, he will be serving ratatouille skewers. “It’s eggplant, zucchini, tomato, peppers — taking the basic ingredients of ratatouille, which is usually baked in a sort of casserole — and I’m making that into hand-held bite-sized skewers.”
Like popcorn, everything Kopera is serving will be finger food. “These are little tastes, so people can get the taste of the movie and the taste of France.”
For more information on The Taste of Things showing and tasting, go here.