HBO's A MATTER OF TASTE: SERVING UP PAUL LEIBRANDT → On Demand Weekly

HBO’s A MATTER OF TASTE: SERVING UP PAUL LEIBRANDTAugust 26, 2011

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On Demand Weekly provides new movie reviews of hot movies and shows on demand from the POV of watching from the comfort of your home. Today’s review: A MATTER OF TASTE: SERVING UP PAUL LEIBRANDT (HBO).

A MATTER OF TASTE: SERVING UP PAUL LEIBRANDT
By Jean Tait

I’m not a foodie. I mean, I like food. But I don’t read Gourmet magazine or follow which chef is doing what. I ate at Le Bernardin once and wasn’t that impressed. I didn’t think it was worth the price, and the service was too snotty to be enjoyable.

So I approached A MATTER OF TASTE: SERVING UP PAUL LEIBRANDT with a bit of skepticism. I was prepared to find Paul Liebrandt arrogant and pretentious.

After all, he is the youngest chef to have ever received three stars from the New York Times. He considers what he does to food akin to what Georges Bracques did to painting. And at the beginning of the doc, when Liebrandt is a mere 24, making pronouncements about Picasso and Bracques, and describing himself as a lonely guy with nothing in his life but cooking, it is very easy to dismiss him as an arrogant young pup.

Paul Liebrandt (HBO)

But as he loses job after job, and yet becomes even more dedicated to his art, we get to watch him mature into not only a true artist, but a canny businessman and manager as well. With the emotional support of his girlfriend, restaurant manager, Arleene Oconitrillo, restaurant owner/entrepreneur, Drew Nieporent (Nobu), and the amazing staff he puts together at Corton, he comes into his own as a person and as a chef.

Arleene Oconitrillo (HBO)

Watching the preparation and opening of a new restaurant, the hard work, difficult decisions, and ultimately, waiting for the critic from the New York Times to give it a thumbs up or thumbs down is like watching a Broadway show in development. When he earns his three stars from the New York Times and two Michelin stars, you feel he really deserves it, you want to give him a standing ovation as well.

Paul Liebrandt (HBO)

- Jean Tait

Jean
Jean Tait is a contributing writer to On Demand Weekly. Currently the Director of Programming for the Connecticut Film Festival, Jean has programmed for the Jacksonville Film Festival and Sundance Channel.