Celebrity chefs may be a dime a dozen today,
but outrageous and controversial envelope-pusher
Jeremiah Tower created the mold.
His towering influence on the restaurant world
in the 1970s and 1980s is legendary within the
industry, but his name has otherwise disappeared
into obscurity. Culinary superstar and
producer Anthony Bourdain seeks to remedy
that injustice and restore Tower to his rightful
place among the giants with this fascinating
doc, featuring interviews with famous foodies
like Mario Batali and Martha Stewart. Following
Tower from Alice Water’s Chez Panisse in the
1970s to his hugely popular 1980s era San Francisco
eatery Stars, and finally to his recent stop
at Tavern on the Green, we see Tower’s dramatic
rise and fall in a classic American story that
serves up as much delicious gossip as it does
rich food for thought about the first celebrity
bad-boy chef.
In Person: Director Lydia Tenaglia;
Chef Jeremiah Tower.