High above the city Friday afternoon, a half-dozen feisty women waged a modern-day battle of Atlanta.
With endless glasses of champagne as ammunition and the warbly trills of “bon appétit!” their rallying cry, they seized a moment in time for themselves to celebrate food, friendship and each other — their mid-day fete spurred by the release of “Julie & Julia.”
“Julia didn’t find herself until she was 50,” declared Angela Stalcup, among the gaggle of gals who ascended for lunch on the roof of French American Brasserie, then took in the foodie flick at Regal Atlantic Station.
“Sometimes we’re in such a rush to find ourselves. She was this very powerful, curvaceous woman who unapologetically loved food and loved herself. The lesson is you can be a star by being yourself.”
And there we have Exhibit A. in demonstrating how the movie about the famous chef and the now-famous blogger who loves her is quickly moving from two-hour distraction to Event.
After all, we’ve seen how kids seem have all the fun at movie premieres, showing up at Harry Potter debuts sporting specs and pointy hats, or tricked out in Goth glam at the dawn of “Twilight.”
Finally, it’s the adults’ turn, as more mature moviegoers are borrowing a page from the youngsters’ playbook. Or make that Facebook.
“I don’t get enough girl time,” said Patti Davis, who was among the clutch of girlfriends Patricia Tinsley of Atlanta rounded up through the social media site for the lunch and movie Friday. “We need to do this more often. You’ve all got to promise to come over for dinner now.”
Other metro Atlanta food fans are hitting the theater like diners crowding around a table, too. Members of Bakespace.com, an online culinary community, got together for an advance screening at Phipps Plaza the other night. Stefanie and Juan Jose Aponte of McDonough, parents of a not-quite-1-year-old, were fairly bursting at the prospect of a kid-free date night.
“We got all snazzied up,” Stefanie Aponte said. Her husband, a 2005 graduate of Le Cordon Bleu who now works a white-collar desk job, related all too well to Julie Powell, the blogger who sought refuge from corporate drudgery in her tiny kitchen. Her plucky blog, detailing her year of cooking her way through Child’s renowned French cookbook, caught on, leading to a book and then the movie.
“My husband commented on how the movie got him thinking more and more about returning to the kitchen,” Stefanie Aponte said. “I am planning to purchase Julia Child’s cookbook and take a stab at some of her classic recipes.”
Her husband’s alma mater in Tucker was among the Cordon Bleu locations that participated in an event Wednesday featuring dinners on campus followed by screenings of the film. Child, of course, got started at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. Scenes in the film depict her merrily chopping away in an all-male class, undeterred by the priggish administrator who says Child has no real cooking talent.
“Food is one of the things that brought us together when we were dating,” Stefanie Aponte said. “We used to spend nights just cooking together and it was so much fun. The movie not only served as a great, much-needed date night for my hubby and I, but it also struck a chord in our souls.”
Members of the Culinary Historians of Atlanta have a group outing scheduled later this month.
“The plan is to attend the movie en masse, then adjourn to the home of one our members for a potluck dinner. All dishes are to be made from a Julia Child recipe,” said member Deb Duchon, a nutritional anthropologist. “Cross your fingers on that one.”
Friday’s lunch and movie outing did feature a little networking, and the rooftop diners exchanged business cards along with air kisses. But Tinsley’s artfully tousled arrangement of orchids and hydrangeas from Darryl Wiseman Flowers set the tone.
“The importance of this movie is that there is a place for quality food,” said Kathianne Williams, a dietitian. “It’s about nourishing yourself. It’s an act of love.”
About the Author
The Latest
Featured
