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ATTENTION VANCOUVER KITCHEN STAFF: Win Tickets To The Film “A Matter Of Taste”

UPDATE: Congrats to West staffer Benjamin on his win tonight. Enjoy the show!

On October 17th, DOXA Documentary Film Festival’s Pictures Film Series is presenting the Vancouver premiere of Sally Rowe’s A Matter of Taste. The doc “plunges audiences into the cutthroat world of New York restaurant culture” as seen through the prism of young chef Paul Liebrandt. We’re going to give away a double pass to a hard-working Vancouver kitchen staffer at around 1am tonight on our Facebook page, so if you toil in whites, keep an eye out here.

Whether he was a culinary Glenn Gould, as critic William Grimes opined, or simply an enfant terrible in the kitchen, hurling ingredients together like a tantrum-driven toddler, Paul firmly divided opinion in food critics, fellow chefs, and even restaurant-goers. Director Sally Rowe began following Paul in 2000, when he was festooned with garlands and riding high. But in post-9/11 New York City, when comfort food replaced experimental fare, Liebrandt’s cuisine fell from favour. As foodies flocked back to the recognizable and understandable, Paul was reduced to flipping burgers. But just when things looked most dire, Liebrandt was hired by famed restaurateur Drew Nieporent to head up the kitchen at a burnished new restaurant called Corton.

In a city where a single bad review from the paper of record (The New York Times) and its food critic Frank Bruni can spell the difference between meteoric fame or abject failure for a restaurant, a lot rests upon Liebrandt’s culinary chops. Like a real-life version of Ratatouille (albeit with fewer rats), A Matter of Taste is part suspense tale and part insider’s look into kitchen culture, with its hours of hard work and attention paid to the minutest of details. Most curiously, the film charts the course of one city’s love affair with food, and how larger events shape and change public appetite. As the entire restaurant anticipates Bruni’s review, your heart will be in your mouth!

The screening will be followed by a Skype interview with director Sally Rowe. For further information call DOXA at 604.646.3200. DOXA is presented by the Documentary Media Society, a Vancouver-based non-profit, charitable society. Details after the jump…

Event: DOXA’s Motion Pictures Film Series 2011/2012
Date & Time: October 17th, 2011 at 7 pm
Venue: Studio Theatre | Shadbolt Centre for the Arts — 6450 Deer Lake Avenue
Admission: $12 Tickets: Shadbolt Centre (www.shadboltcentre.com) Box Office 604.205.3000