Ottolenghi and the Cakes of Versailles
directed by Laura Gabbert
Yotam Ottolenghi, Dominique Ansel, Sam Bompas, Dinara Kasko
Celebrity chef Yotam Ottolenghi rounds up five high end chefs to prepare baroque deserts for The Metropolitan Museum of Art gala opening the extensive exhibition “A Visit to Versailles.” Superstars of the foodie world including as Dominique Ansel and Sam Bompas show us their processes and mindset. The amount of labor, time and expensive ingredients make theses snacks for a King. Replicas of Versailles’s garden and architecture rise from sugar. Artistic jellies shaped like buildings and plants float in pricey liquor and chocolate, and cakes dusted in gold forge deserts far, far finer than us mortal film buffs will ever eat. Backstage intensity and deeply theatrical constructs underlie these morsels; royal decadence and artistic devotion create an exhibition of the most temporary moment. Tension drives this film; we fell a real triumph at the final success. And the deserts? Too delicious to hang on a gallery wall.
This film was presented as part of the 2020 Florida Film Festival.
