2018, The Food Sage's Year of the Chef, the First Being The Last Magnificent

Hungry for some serious chefspiration?  I just curled up under a toasty throw blanket and watched "The Last Magnificent," a deliciously told backstory documentary of the life of Jeremiah Tower.  He has been hailed as one of the most "controversial and influential figures in the history of American gastronomy."  Am I tempting your cinematic palate?

I loved this beautifully filmed dive into the pure genius of a pioneering celebrity chef.  The movie was visual poetry, sauced to perfection with tasty dialogue and peppered with accolades, interviews, and insights by Ruth Reichel (former NY Times food critic and prolific cookbook and food fiction writer), Anthony Bourdain (you know and love him, right??), one of the film's producers, along with other notable foodie celebs.

We recently dined at Chez Panisse, the Berkeley, CA restaurant that Jeremiah joined in 1972 and, together with Alice Waters, birthed what we have come to know (and adore) as California Cuisine.  It was a "bucket list" experience for us and didn't disappoint.  We learned in the movie that following a falling out with Ms. Waters, he opened a glittering San Francisco restaurant called Stars (we ate there back in the day).  Stars hosted local politicians and celebrities and became a merged experience of dining and theater, like viewing an open kitchen featuring the chef as the rock star in a commanding lead (another inspiration and innovation proliferated by Tower).

You will learn about Jeremiah's privileged and lonely childhood; the way he read menus as a child, and they spoke back to him.  You will feel his souffle-like rise to fame, and then his disappearance from the culinary scene after Stars closed, only to return years later in an attempt to revive the iconic restaurant institution, Tavern on the Green.

Pour yourself a glass of fine wine and watch and experience this ode to a chef who put Bay Area dining on the map.  The Last Magnificent is on Netflix and On Demand.  Loved it!