Palate Pleasers
SUZANNE CHESSLER
Special to the Jewish News
C
The Food Network's
Marc Silverstein takes
viewers on a nationwide
tour of America's most
interesting restaurants.
able TV personality Marc
Silverstein remembers how
he discovered that tongue, a
favorite childhood food when
cooked with apricots and raisins by
his mom, really is a tongue.
"One day, I came home from
school, and the tongue was sitting
there on the counter," recalls
Silverstein, the grandson of kosher
butchers. "I finally put two and two
together and nearly fell off my chair."
Silverstein has since made more
sophisticated discoveries about foods
and recipes and shares them with a
broadcast audience watching The Best
Of, a nightly Food Network program
that visits popular restaurants across
the country.
He and Jill Cordes, in half-hour
segments, separately stop at eateries
in five states, often according to
themes such as pubs and diners, to
interview people who are making
their marks in the culinary world.
"I didn't have a big background in
food, but I did have a big background
in telling stories," explains Silverstein,
41, about moving from street reporter
for the NBC affiliate in Washington,
D.C., to his current assignment.
"Before I got this job, I was
watching the Food Network because
I thought it was fascinating televi-
sion. Occasionally, I would even get
up and try something. I've made the
tuna dishes — anybody can sear tuna
and I've tried a few of the things
I've learned on the road, like making
sauces, and it's fun. I was kind of a
cook but not what a diehard network
watcher would call a cook."
Silverstein gets his leads for interest-
ing spots as show researchers contact
restaurant associations, chambers of
commerce and local publications that
do listings. Soon, categories emerge.
"I like that we go to all these dif-
ferent places that people may not
experience otherwise," says
Silverstein, who is grooming his
—
Franklin native David Sanfield caters to the stars.
JILL DAVIDSON SKLAR
Special to the Jewish News
I
magine a lunch truck pulling up,
where instead of soggy tuna fish
sandwiches in clear plastic wrap,
there's a sushi chef preparing fresh
California rolls, accompanied by
pungent, bright green wasabi and a
pile of pickled ginger. Or how
about the same truck featuring
another chef simmering tender
pieces of filet in succulent sauces
over huge professional ranges? And
what if the guy standing next to
you in line isn't the slovenly Fred
the Copy Room Guy but rather
the to-die-for Leonardo DiCaprio?
Either someone slipped something
into the community coffeepot or you
are having a relatively typical day
outside of one of the four food trucks
of Franklin, Mich., native David
Sanfield, the co-owner of one of the
most popular and upscale movie
catering companies in the Los
Angeles area today.
"We have served a number of
actors on a number of films," says the
40-year-old California resident. "This
is what we do."
Deluxe Catering, the brainchild of
Sanfield and partner Paul Hibler, has
scooped up the hot contracts to serve
the stars of films like Independence Day
Titanic, Men in Black, American Beauty,
Cider House Rules, _Analyze This, What
Dreams May Come, Good Will Hunting,
Stigmata, American Pie, My Best Friend's
Wedding, Free Jack, Courage Under Fire
and The Siege, and raked in millions of
dollars annually as a result.
"I guess you could say we are
proud of him," says his mother, Sally
Sanfield of Franklin. She and her hus-
band, Phil, have three other children.
Sanfield, a graduate of the Jewish
Parenting Institute UPI), is returning
to the Detroit area this fall to serve
the cast, crew and small army of
extras in Billy Crystal's HBO baseball
picture 61*, which will film scenes at
Tiger Stadium. He has not returned
to Detroit to serve in a professional
capacity since he graduated from
Michigan State University more than
15 years ago. Sanfield cut his prices
to bid competitively for the honor of
working in his hometown.
"I have been wanting to work in
Detroit since we started Deluxe in
1990," Sanfield says.
Sanfield's interest in cooking began
Food in film reflects culture.
LISA MESSINGER
Copley News Service
L
ike Babette, the heroine of the
1987 classic film Babette's
Feast, New York resident and
foodlfilm scholar Doris Weisberg
serves the masses delicacies unlike
any they ever sampled at her Meals
41IN
7/21
2000
on Reels: Celebrating Food in Film
festivals.
Babette, a Parisian cook, was
relegated to a tiny Dutch village
and ended up preparing an incom-
parable banquet for some of the
natives.
Weisberg arrives ready to serve
the natives a matchless buffet of
sumptuous celluloid, appropriately
kicking off with a full-length screen-
ing of Babette's Feast, which won the
Oscar for Best Foreign Language
Film. Weisberg calls it the best food
film of all time.
The other full-length feature she
regularly shows is Tampopo, a 1986
Japanese comedy about incredible
high jinks that go on in a noodle
shop. Also on the festival's menu:
dozens of the most memorable and
meaningful food film scenes of all
time, as well as the screening of little-
seen food documentaries and shorts.
Many of Weisberg's picks never
came close to eating at Oscar's table,
but all go a long way toward reflect-
ing culture and changing societal
mores, said the successful food show
television producer who teaches uni-
versity courses on the subject.
Just compare, for instance, the
memorable food scene in Five Easy
Pieces (1970) to similar situations
depicted in When Hairy Met Sally
(1989).
All Jack Nicholson wants when he
places his order at the diner in Five
Easy Pieces is a plain omelet with
tomatoes, instead of potatoes, and a
side order of wheat toast. The omelet
is served only with cottage fries and
rolls, says the waitress. There are no
substitutions and they don't have
wheat toast.
After much famous fussing,
Nicholson makes his legendary order
of a chicken salad sandwich on wheat
toast: Hold the mayonnaise, hold the
lettuce — and hold the chicken.
Then he tells the waitress exactly
where she can hold the chicken
before wrecking the table and storm-
ing out of the restaurant.