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.