Warning: This article contains spoilers for The menuThe menu‘s iconic cheeseburger has been recreated in mouth-watering detail. The film, which opened in theaters on November 18, 2022, follows Anya Taylor-Joy as Margot, who is brought to a restaurant on a secluded island run by reclusive chef Slowik (Ralph Fiennes). It soon becomes clear that the meal is meant to be Slowik’s swan song, an artistic statement involving the death of every customer. But his plan is interrupted when Margot appeals to her childhood love of food by ordering a cheeseburger, a strategy that moves him so much that he allows her to escape.
About the Babish Culinary Universe series Binging with BabishYouTube chef Andrew Rea set out to recreate the iconic cheeseburger from The menu.
With this video, the series comes full circle after being created in 2016 to follow Rea’s efforts to recreate a burger featured in a cook-off on the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation. But like Chef Slowik in the film, Rea uses more advanced techniques to bring this special item to life.
The cheeseburger serves many purposes The menu. One such purpose is the assembly of a piece of food considered “low class” prepared by a professional chef. At its core, this is a reflection of Margot’s relationship with the restaurant itself.
The deeper meaning the cheeseburger contains is an expression of a similar theme to Pixar’s 2007 film Ratatouille. In that film, a well-prepared simple dish of ratatouille warms the heart of bitter critic Anton Ego by reminding him of his childhood. Fiennes’ Slowik is a similar character, a man whose heart has been hardened and whose tastes have been calcified by the expectations of the world of fine dining.
The menu lets Margot live because she understands who Slowik is at his core. Ordering the cheeseburger is her clever way of connecting to the one part of the chef that still has positive feelings about preparing food. When all of this is brought to life by the precise character work of Taylor-Joy and Fiennes (both of whom were nominated for Golden Globes for their roles), the scene is about much more than just a burger.
Source: Binging with Babish