Ordinarily I'm no fan of TV trays -- nothing can so spoil supper like a flickering rectangle. A carefully crafted meal and your dinner companions deserve your full attention, not a screen on the wall, in the next room or in your pocket. But as a filmmaker and something of a cinema nerd, I'm not entirely opposed to the idea of fine dining in front of a feature film, as long as it's done with some deliberation.
So, here are eight culinary cinema combinations -- give them a try, or let them spark your own concepts for pairing dinner and wine with a movie.
'Amélie'
Wine: Sparkling Vouvray
Food: Strawberry tart (tarte aux fraises) and a side of chocolate-covered espresso beans
I thought it best to kick off the exercise with this ridiculously sweet and effervescent French comedy featuring a charming, feisty heroine, an energetic camera style and vibrant colors, all of which require flavors to match.
'Picnic at Hanging Rock'
Wine: Hill of Grace Shiraz
Food: Slow cooked confit of lamb shoulder with thinly sliced, oven baked, Mediterranean-style potatoes with garlic, rosemary and olive oil
Courtesy of director and winemaker Warwick Ross, this combination combines three Australian originals. Known for his "Red Obsession," a film that picked up the AACTA prize (Aussie Oscar) for best documentary, Ross is also proprietor of Portsea Estate in Victoria, Australia.
'Creature from the Black Lagoon'
Wine: Pinot Gris or Riesling
Food: Dubbed Creature from the Black Legume, this pairing calls for frog legs with spicy black bean sauce.
Matt Bennett, the creative chef-owner of Sybaris Bistro in Albany, Oregon, is known for both classic French dishes and imaginative flights of whimsy. He's organized food/film pairings with the local, independent Pix Theater on the town's main strip. Make your wine choice based on the level of heat in your black bean sauce.
'Silence of the Lambs'
Wine: Chianti, of course
Food: Veal liver and favas
It might be wrong to categorize a film whose protagonist is a cannibal as one of the greatest food films of all time, but this visceral combo plays on Chef Bennett's sense of humor and the infamous line delivered by Anthony Hopkins ("A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.")
'The Lady Vanishes'
Wine: A magnum of Champagne
Food: Roast chicken
Ian Johnson is the proprietor and wine director of Luc, a French bistro in Corvallis, Oregon. Johnson draws on his film school background with this nod to the Hitchcock classic. In the film, Margaret Lockwood has a roast chicken and a magnum of Champagne sent to her hotel room. Johnson's notes on preparing the chicken: "Don't bother trussing, rain kosher salt and pepper on it and roast for 50 to 60 minutes at 450degrees F."
'The Cave of Forgotten Dreams'
Wine: Mas de Libian, Khayyam, Cotes du Rhone
Food: Charcuterie! A board of rillette, pate, sliced salami, mustard and pickles with fresh baguette
Jessica Pierce of Brooks Winery in Oregon shows her sommelier chops with this deeply terroir-driven pairing, and recommends Werner Herzog's haunting and lyrical documentary about ancient cave paintings in the Ardeche region of France. "The wine is a biodynamic producer in that region working with Rhone varietals and treating the wines in the most natural way possible, showing a true sense of the Ardeche terroir," Pierce says. But lest we forget that food also represents the place just as much as wine: "Charcuterie is an important product from the Rhone, and curing meat is an age-old tradition."
'Babette's Feast'
Wine: Comte Armand Close des Epeneaux
Food: Pigeon en sacrophage (truffled squab in a potato sarcophagus)
It's no surprise that this classic food film shows up on a number of lists. Chef Matt Bennett recommends the pigeon, and Mike Officer of Carlisle Winery in Sonoma suggests the wine with the precision you'd expect of someone whose old vine Zinfandels have achieved cult status.
'Big Night'
Wine: Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
Food: A simple omelet and the crust broken from the end of a fresh ciabatta
Let's close with the greatest food film ever made: Stanley Tucci's moving and hilarious tale follows Italian immigrant brothers Primo and Secondo as they wrangle with their New Jersey restaurant, the American Dream, and each other. It's hard to select a dish from so many options, from the tri-colored risotto to the complicated timballo, but in the end it's best to settle on a simple omelet as you wipe away a tear during the gorgeous closing scene.
Copyright David Baker via Zester Daily and Reuters Media Express