MENUS-PLAISIRS

Les Troisgros

The MENUS-PLAISIRS is a film about the Troisgros family and their three restaurants, Troisgros, Le Central and Colline, located in three neighboring locations in central France.
Troisgros, a restaurant founded 93 years ago, has had three Michelin stars for 55 years and in 2020 was awarded a Michelin green star for exemplary sustainable practices. Much of the film takes place at Troisgros.

The present chef, Cesar Troisgros, is the fourth generation of the family to be in charge at Troisgros. The film shows the day-to-day operations involving the purchase, preparation and service at this restaurant .

Scenes in the film also include purchasing fresh vegetables at the market, visits to a cheese processing plant, a vineyard, a cattle ranch working on best farming practices, and an organic farmer whose farm, along with the garden of the restaurant, provides organic produce for the restaurants. The Troisgros family’s interest in biodiversity is illustrated in their choice and preparation of their distinctive menu and their efforts to reduce food waste. The film shows the great artistry ingenuity, imagination, and hard work of the restaurant staff in creating, preparing, and presenting meals of the highest quality. Additionally, the collaboration within the Troisgros family is evident as the father, Michel, transfers the leadership in the kitchen to his son, Cesar and collaborates with his wife, who runs the hotel and his other son who runs La Colline.

RELEASED 2023, 240 MINUTES, COLOR

"...a mesmerizing four-hour portrait of a family, a business, a world... Intimate and expansive, the movie takes you from kitchen to farm fields and back as it charts the triumphs and quotidian frustrations along with the aesthetic and ethical sensibilities of people whose love for their calling is inscribed in every tweezered morsel. It’s a dedication that recalls that of the genius behind the camera..." 

-Manohla Dargis, NY TIMES

"...Perhaps [Wiseman's] most delightful subject ever... The four-hour film (I would have watched for twice as long) follows Michel Troisgros and his two sons, César and Léo, as they plan menus, train chefs, speak with diners, visit farmers, and celebrate the long history of the culinary arts in their family...Wiseman has a point in all of this — the vital need for pursuit of balance and detail in growing and making food that nourishes humans." 

-Alissa Wilkinson, Vox

"It’s the quiet that strikes you in MENUS-PLAISIRS — LES TROISGROS, a documentary rejoinder to every image of cacophonous haute cuisine environments — complete with clattering pans, hissing steam and chefs screaming invective — that has been fed to us by “Hell’s Kitchen”-style reality shows and the propulsive drama of “The Bear.” Serenity reigns in Frederick Wiseman’s languidly mesmerising 240-minute anatomy of one of the world’s greatest restaurants." 

– Guy Lodge, Variety

“A mouth-watering and methodical marathon for foodies...Both a food lover’s dream and an aspiring chef’s guidebook, uncovering the sophisticated alchemy that makes such places not only run flawlessly, but serve up groundbreaking dishes that are also locally sourced.”

-Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter

©3 Star LLC. 2023 A Zipporah Films Release

Funding for this film provided by
PBS
Just Films/Ford Foundation
Pershing Square Foundation
ITVS
Filmmakers Collaborative