Forget the Food Network and “Top Chef.” A slew of fictional films and network sitcoms focusing on chefs and restaurants are✱ in th๊e works.
In Hollywood, “the [restaurant] industry is the flavor of the next couple years,” says Baohaus chef and owner Eddie Huang, who has a ൲sitcom based on his memoir, “Fresh Off the Boat,” premiering🐽 on ABC mid-season.
Huang is hardly the only chef in the Tinseltown kitchen. Earlier this month, CBS picked up the rights to a sitcom based on the lives of the owners of New York City minichain the Meatball Shop, Daniel Holzman and Michael Cher💫now.
Meanwhile, at the movies, Ridley Scott’s company optioned the rights to Marco Pierre White’s mem🔜oir “The Devil In The Kitchen” this past July. Prune chef and owner Gabrielle Hamilton had her memoir, “Blood, Bones & Butter,” optioned in 2012, with Gwyneth Paltrow reportedly attached to play her. And the Weinstein Company is currently in production on an untitled project starring Bradley Cooper as a Michelin-starred chef who has to learn to ca🎀lm his wild ways if he wants to get his own restaurant. Sienna Miller and Uma Thurman co-star.
That project was originally titled “The Chef” but is now undergoing a name change so as not to be too similar to “Chef,” which h🎃it multiplex🌌es earlier this year with Jon Favreau as an acclaimed culinary maestro who aims to get his own restaurant (but first, a food truck) and win back his beautiful ex-wife, played by Sofía Vergara. Sound familiar?
Th♎ose in the industry say the trend makes sense.♎ The proverbial iron — er kitchen — is certainly hot.
“The public is more interested in food and chefs than ever before,” says Lois Najarian O’Neill, founding partner of The Door, a marketing and public relations firm specializing in the restaurant and music industries. And, she says, “there’s a lot 🎀of universal themes in chefs’ stories — the obstacles they’ve overcome and the long hours make for good stories.”
But if you’re already feeling stuffed on chef-centric television and cinema, fear not. Hollywood’s love is fickle, and i�♉�t’s likely to soon focus on another profession.
“I don’t think there’s anything specifically s♏pecial about being a chef [compared to other occupations],” says Huang. “After this, it’ll probably be something else, like social media or ad agencies.🔴”