Forget the Food Network and “Top Chef.” A slew of fictional films and network sitcoms focusing on chefs and restaurants are in the works.
In Hollywood, “the [restaurant] industry is the flavor of the next couple years,” says Baohaus chef and owner Eddie Huang, who has a sitcom 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 Chernow.
Meanwhile, at the movies, Ridley Scott’s company optioned the rights to Marco Pierre White’s memoir “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 calm 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 hit multiplexes 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?
Those 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 it’s likely to soon focus on another profession.
“I don’t think there’s anything specifically special about being a chef [compared to other occupations],” says Huang. “After this, it’ll probably be something else, like social media or ad agencies.”