The Menu Explained | What the Cheeseburger Really Means

welcome to Hawthorne I am Julian slowik and tonight it'll be our pleasure to feed you Chef slowik is an international round cook in charge of an exclusive restaurant on a private island he's able to charge 12.50 ahead freely experiment with his dishes and command an adoring staff I love you love you absolute Pinnacle of his craft achieving everything in aspiring restaurant her could ever dream of yet we soon learned that things aren't quite as rosy as they would seem slowik is in fact being exploited thank you for dining with us tonight you represent the ruin of my art and my life just look at each of the guests that are invited to dine at Hawthorne that fateful night ongoing obsession with snow it's officially a plague and known as immune Lillian the critic and Ted the publisher sucked the pleasure out of cooking by using it to advance their careers they hunt for the next scoop by inventing new words finding minor faults and reading into everything that the chef does there is a neediness to the playing you know I mean it's been tweezing to [ __ ] but the flavors are there it's very clean it's very um thalassic you can always wear at work you're working money yeah baby we're pathetic aren't we oh my god dude somebody shoot us the finance Bros embezzle money into their own Pockets instead of supporting slowik and the restaurant staff the ones that are actually producing value what what are these these are tortillas which contain echobright's tax records and other documents showing how your company has created invoices with fake charges Doug Varick is my angel investor he owns this island in this restaurant the angel investor commodifies slowxcraft leading to the chef's creative decisions being compromised in the pursuit of profits when you question my menu he would even request substitutions despite the fact that there had no substitution Center Hawthorne my loyal regulars how many times have you eaten here in the last five years I don't know six or seven the billionaire regulars only dine at Hawthorne so that they can maintain their status as Elites without actually caring about the food being served Mr Lee Brown kindly name one dish you ate the last time you were here do you make that with a pot code yet exactly right sir yes you know Paco jet can produce a powderized snow-like texture Tyler uses the fame of slowik and his restaurant to uphold his identity as a man of wealth and taste that supposedly knows everything about fine dining everyone gathering around he must learn from Tyler this is a new a new dicing method of which we have been woefully ignorant it's not brain surgery okay okay it's a goddamn travel food show yeah so so picture to me the movie star uses Hawthorne as practice for an upcoming food show that might revive his own career Without Really noticing what he's eating how is it hmm it's good you can't just say good for the show you have to you have to embellish each of the diners are takers not only do they physically take the food they are given but they also take the opportunities of dining at an elite restaurant to further their own goals and stroke their own egos you love that I texted you an invitation for this evening me yearning for your attendance your ego was fed this is all done at the expense of slowik who has gradually seen all the pleasure drained from his Arts he no longer enjoys making food and serving his customers [Music] I haven't desired to cook for someone in ages the only one that doesn't use Hawthorne for their own gain is Margot this is something that baffles slowik he has become so accustomed to guests exploiting him that the minute someone refuses to take he becomes suspicious my name is Marco I've served many Marcos you're not a Marco no of course it soon becomes clear why Margot doesn't take she herself is a service worker in Disguise not that you guys give a single flying [ __ ] but my name is not Margo using the emotional intelligence that she's learned in her career as an escort Margot is able to deduce the parasitic relationship that links each of slowik's guests she is also able to discover that once upon a time slowik was able to find joy and fulfillment in his craft not when he was making over complicated dishes designed to placate Delica Egos and fill out pretentious magazine articles but when he was making simple food that people actually wanted to eat of course the embodiment of this simple delightful food is the mighty cheeseburger to some most notably snobs it may seem mundane and mass-produced especially when compared to oats Cuisine but to others it is simply a tasty treat that can be Exquisite if made well this parallels the world of Fine Arts where genres such as still life were historically looked down upon compared to more highbrow art forms like religious painting of course this didn't stop great artists like Suzanne from painting the same apples over and over again gifted with a unique insight into the Chef's Life Margot can see that slowik was truly happy when he was simply flipping burgers at hamburger Howies back in the late 1980s since then it's clear that he's been pressured to elevate his craft to the rigorous standards expected by the status obsessed customers and critics that he now serves standards that he still cannot meet and I've been fooled in trying to satisfy people who could never be satisfied with this knowledge Margot gives slowik the opportunity to do something he has been craving to cook a meal that his customer actually wants what are you hungry for you know what I'd really like tell me a cheeseburger despite its Simplicity as a dish the chef clearly finds far more enjoyment in cooking a burger than anything else he's cooked that evening he gives attention to every detail right down to the type of fry and the qualities of the cheesies melting American cheese is the best cheese for a cheeseburger because it melts without splitting this straightforward task of making a cheeseburger reminds slowik of why he began cooking and why he fell in love with it the simple Act of preparing a simple meal for someone who is truly grateful for it like Suzanne slowik is liberated by completely disregarding the hierarchy of arts and plainly enjoying the process of making instead of taking away from the Arts as have all of the other guests Margot has actually given something back to slow it she has given him a priestian moment transporting him back to a time when he could just make good food without any fear of judgments this is why Margot is allowed to escape and keep a cheeseburger thanks for watching if you enjoyed this video please do consider liking and subscribing I'm sure there's lots of other videos on the channel that you might enjoy as well thanks

Channel: Jake Bishop

Views: 4,326,742

Keywords: the menu, the menu 2022, the menu ending explained, the menu review, the menu movie, the menu analysis, the menu explained, the menu cheeseburger scene, the menu ending

Id: 0cDxrHVhkQE

Length: 8min 2sec (482 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 19 2023