The Restaurant Industry According to Hollywood #32
Any of you with kids or that were kids yourselves in the mid 90’s fondly remember the movie Matilda. Born into the wrong family and out of place, Matilda learns she is special and has special abilities. The restaurant scene has two allegories at once. One for the child in us all and the other for the worst thing that could happen at your restaurant.
Speaking for the inner child, that’s exactly the kind of vision the average angry kid would foist on to their parents. However, as an operator, it’s your worst nightmare come to pass. A scene like this would be damaging to your business in myriad ways. The physical consequences of broken furniture and service ware flying about is enough to haunt your sleep. Then add the attention grabbing argument, ensuring every single other guest is involved. These are not ‘oh well’ moments. If you’ve ever had, you would know, they cost time, money and have a deleterious impact on your reputation. We’ll focus more on the cute little girl getting revenge against her evil parents and sleep better at night.
This scene was released in 2010 and captures the dilemma so many of our guests experience. Often dining outcomes with recrimination for over consumption, but this moment in the movie Julia Roberts perfect explains why that makes no sense. The great quote is, “I’m having a relationship with my pizza!”
When you think classic ‘80s movies, you don’t have to work too hard to get to the Blues Brothers (1980). This scene comes as they are recruiting their friends back into the band.
There is little doubt that the perception of a celebrity chef includes a sense they are arrogant. Turns out Gordon Ramsay is not the least bit interested in dispelling that belief in the appearance on Jimmy Kimmel’s show.
Among the most dangerous moments for a police officer are when they respond to a domestic dispute. Nothing quite clouds good judgment as profanely as a confrontation with a significant other. This holds true when it happens in a restaurant as well as.
Cult comedy classics like Road Trip all have cinematic devices like the scene we feature today. Physical comedy abounds as the characters are unaware of how the server/cook is abusing them.
As a restaurant operator, this scene from Pulp Fiction scares the hell out of me. The image of a couple of gun-toting crazies jumping up out of nowhere announcing that this is a robbery is the thing of my nightmares.
As the child of immigrants, the lead character in Today’s Special lived a life filled with strong aromas of tikka masala and tandoori chicken. This is a sweet film starring comedian Aasif Mandvi, who plays his role of disaffected haute cuisine chef, perfectly. The film is a celebration of accepting who you are and ensuring you embrace it with aplomb.
For those of us that have devoted many years to the restaurant industry, that is where most of our memories are made. Tasting Menu provides a snapshot of what makes restaurant ownership and management special.
With the holidays upon us, we couldn’t resist including the famous bar scene from this Christmas classic, It’s A Wonderful Life. Jimmy Stewart plays the down on his luck protagonist who is seeing what the world would look like without him in it. When he enters the local watering hole, Martini’s, he is treated to a harsh reality that many bars present of cold indifference because they don’t recognize him.

![Don't Mess with Matilda [VIDEO]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56a2785c69a91af45e06a188/1479746779031-8YR5WSLYP6D22FHFRU77/matilda-1996b.jpg)
We have featured Ratatouille previously on How Hollywood Sees Us, but it never gets old. In this scene, Remy (voiced by Patton Oswalt) is compelled to fix the mistakes being made by his human friend, Linguini (voiced by Ray Romano).