There's a new documentary opening Friday at downtown St. Pete's AMC Sundial 20 — the latest film for foodies and aspiring chefs.
Jeremiah Tower: The Last Magnificent tells the story of culinary pioneer Jeremiah Tower, who became a Certified Big Deal in the 1970s while working at Berkeley, California's Chez Panisse restaurant and later founded his own, Stars, in San Francisco. After Stars closed, he went into a self-imposed exile for 15 years before re-emerging as head chef at famed New York staple Tavern on the Green. The film chronicles how much of a force the chef and restaurateur was in the cooking world, alongside welcome appearances from celebrity chefs Anthony Bourdain, Wolfgang Puck, Mario Batali, Martha Stewart and legendary food writer Ruth Reichl, plus Tower himself.
The chef had an unconventional childhood. We learn his family always went on extravagant and extended vacations around the world. One story in particular that I found interesting: They traveled to Australia's Great Barrier Reef when Tower was 6 years old. During that trip, he wandered off from the fam and met an aboriginal fisherman at the beach, whom he fished all day — and cooked a barracuda — with. In addition to realizing what kind of relationship he had with his parents (hint: a not good one), he started getting into food. On the number of ships he spent "family" vacations on, he says food was his companion. He wasn't allowed to explore many areas of these boats, after all — except for the dining rooms, kitchens and hallways. According to Tower, he learned how to read menus before books and would think about the era of each bill of fare, what its dining room looked like and other details while perusing.
His time at Chez Panisse can be described as one of transformation for both him and the restaurant itself. When Tower became chef there, he innovated the menu with the creation of "California cuisine," a style known for fresh, locally sourced ingredients; critics called it "the new American cuisine." Due to drastic changes in their audience and menu, tensions rose between Alice Waters, co-founder of Chez Panisse, and Towers. They split amicably, but that changed when Waters took credit for Towers's work in the Chez Panisse cookbook, as the film discusses.
After that, he opened Stars, which quickly became a landmark because of its proximity to Frisco's City Hall. It drew a mix of customers — from city government officials to socialites to musicians like Andrea Bocelli and Run-D.M.C. The restaurant's openness and laid-back atmosphere made it one of the top eateries in the country. Once Stars shuttered in the late ’90s, however, Tower flew under the radar for almost two decades. He resurfaced in 2014, to everyone's surprise, as executive chef of Tavern on the Green, but left a year later on account of differences with the owners.
What several moviegoers will appreciate throughout the doc are the visuals of food. Tower is, obviously, despite being one of the least-known celebrity chefs (in the public eye, at least), on another level when it comes to cooking. He knew what vision he had for meals and expected others to perfectly execute them — and take pride in what they're making. He was a trailblazer at Chez Panisse many times over (one week, he put together an entire menu of dishes inspired by French chef, restaurateur and writer Auguste Escoffier). And, ultimately, he was more of an artist than a chef. His food reflected that.
So, yes, The Last Magnificent is perfect for aspiring chefs as well as foodies, especially those who've never heard the name Jeremiah Tower. As Bourdain says in the film, the chef, who now lives in Mexico and does speaking engagements and writes books, was a "bridge between the old world and new world."
Can't make it Friday? Catch a showing of the doc at Oldsmar's AMC Woodlands Square on June 16.
This article appears in Jun 1-8, 2017.
