From The Books We Love & Films We See
Amid the cinematic banquet of films about food that emerged in the twilight of the twentieth century, Babette’s Feast looms like a rare and exquisite dish—rich with meaning, layered with flavors, and spiced with a subtle sensuality that lingers long after the credits roll. This 1987 Danish masterpiece is not merely a celebration of food and its rituals; it is a hymn to the power of culinary art. Films and books can be a feast for the soul as much as for the senses.
Paradoxically, tales of gastronomic ecstasy unfold all around the world and not just from the gilded kitchens of France.
But let’s start in France – and the movie Something’s Gotta Give – The Restaurant LE GRAND COLBERT – it exists and the food wildly exciting. You too can celebrate your birthday there -fun.
Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander Series has not invigorated Scotland’s GDP but also inspirited the OUTLANDER KITCHEN and THE IN DEATH COOKBOOK
"Theresa has a magical gift of cooking wonderful food that takes you into the heart of your favorite stories!"
In motion pictures as with books one can savor the sausages in prison fellowship with the Goodfellas (1990). You can entertain My Dinner with Andre (1981) or feast on meals in found in Louise Penny’s novels. The following are recipes for specific dates involving open discussions for each of the places/books:
- Still Life (March 22nd)
- A Fatal Grace (April 5th)
- The Cruelest Month (April 19th)
- A Rule Against Murder (May 3rd)
- The Brutal Telling (May 17th)
- Bury Your Dead (May 31st)
- A Trick of the Light (June 14th)
- The Beautiful Mystery (June 28th)
- How The Light Gets In (July 12th)
- The Long Way Home (July 26th)
- The Nature of the Beast (August 9th)
- A Great Reckoning (new! book available August 30th
Louise Penny has undoubtably created a lovable inspector Armand Gramache. Andrea Camilleri has created his beloved Inspector Salvo Montalbano.
In the case on Inspector Montalbano I have collected a list of restaurants in Sicily I hope to discover and explore. Then I will write reviews for you. I pray the meals are half of what the inspector experiences. Take for example the Inspector’s favorite restaurants in Ragusa or Vigàta, Sicily.
Restaurant- La Rusticana
In the sun-dappled labyrinth of Ragusa Ibla, where baroque facades lean into narrow streets like old men exchanging secrets, Inspector Salvo Montalbano finds his sanctuary—not in the solitude of his home, but in the bustling charm of a restaurant that feels as timeless as Sicily itself. San Calogero, as it is known in the world of Montalbano’s investigations, is more than just a place to eat! The culinary arts are a touchstone in his life, a stage for moments both profound and quietly human.
Here, in Gita a Tindari (Excursion to Tindari), Montalbano introduces his colleague Mimi Augello to the woman who will become his wife. She is the luminous Beba. Over plates of Sicilian seafood, conversations unfold that are as rich and layered as the cuisine itself. The restaurant is a place where life’s great dramas—love, friendship, and even the occasional police matter—are seasoned with laughter and the intoxicating aroma of garlic and lemon in pasta colored by squid.
In reality, San Calogero is none other than La Rusticana, nestled in the heart of Ragusa Ibla. Its walls, adorned with signatures from the cast of the beloved TV series, have become a shrine for fans, a tangible bridge between fiction and reality. Like Montalbano himself, La Rusticana is steeped in character, its every corner whispering stories of meals shared and lives forever changed. When I travel there, I wonder will its walls whisper for me?
