Second Dish of the Course – Breadless Bread Plate and Components
Unfortunately, the condiments, elements or the sauces that were presented on Julian Slowik’s breadless bread plate is unknown.
Ironically, Julian Slowik’s restaurant the Hawthrone’s signature dish, is the bread but he doesn’t serve the bread to the customers because they are too ‘privileged’ to enjoy the meal of the lower class.
Characteristics of the bread of Julian Slowik’s Hawthrone restaurant that the customers didn’t enjoy
Julian Slowik explains that the bread that isn’t presented on the bread plate is made from an heirloom species of red fife wheat preserved by the Tehachapi Heritage Grain Project.
Red Fife wheat was a crop that flourished in the early 1900’s in Northern America, however it was replaced by different grain wheat species.
Projects to conserve grain species such as the Heritage Wheat Project kept the red fife wheat that Julian Slowik used possibly for the tortillas on the next menu while he didn’t serve them on the breadless bread plate.
History of grain and bread by Julian Slowik
Julian Slowik explains that 65% of agriculture is grain while vegetables and fruit account for 6%, however this seems to be an exaggeration.
Also grain production might have been exaggerated as grain isn’t merely used for human consumption and may be utilized for industrial products, alcohol production, animal feed and other purposes. Still, grain including wheat and rice is the most important energy source for humanity.
However, Julian Slowik points out that stale bread with fungus fueled the poor farmers throughout history and Jesus Christ has emphasized the joy by sharing bread in his prayers.
Bread consumption has a 4,000 year or longer history that has long helped humans.
Yet, Julian Slowik states the customers that they don’t deserve the poor man’s dish as they are so privileged. However, he also implies that they don’t deserve even bread as they are failed humans.
Symbolism of the Breadless Bread Plate
Bread has long been an important staple for humans. Sources of carbohydrates such as rice and wheat are both possibly the most important staple in every culture.
Bread is an important symbol of class division especially in the movie ‘The Menu’. Julian Slowik cynically states that the customers don’t deserve bread while he claims that they are too privileged while he intended that the inhumane customers don’t even deserve bread, the food of the common.
Bread is a strong symbol of class division in the movie and in real life. While the common and lower-class people consumed whole grain and dark bread with poorly milled wheat that was often stale, the rich long consumed extremely milled wheat that made white bread throughout history.
Ironically now the dark bread with much more whole wheat is discovered to be much healthier and the rich and upper class tend to consume the dark whole wheat bread.
Meanwhile factories manufacture white bread in mass production that is considered low cost and more often consumed by common and lower-class people. Julian Slowik defines the customers as ‘upper class privileges that lost the sense of humanity’,
It is also an important tool to define the customers as ‘takers’ and ‘service consumers that don’t appreciate the service providers’. Thus Julain Slowik doesn’t provide bread to the customers and serve the breadless bread plate.
Paradox of serving bread for an expensive meal
In general, for an expensive meal, no one would care much about bread. Even if bread was served, possibly the customers wouldn’t even care nor notice it and simply not eat it.
Ironically, the rich customers that paid 1,250 dollars for a meal grew upset and were unsatisfied as they weren’t served simple bread. Bread is merely a food that is disappointing if absent but wouldn’t care if present.
Customer’s response to the breadless bread plate
The customer’s response to the breadless bread plate shows why Julian Slowik thinks that the inhumane privileged people as the obnoxious service takers don’t deserve bread or his food.
The bankers demand bread not just because they want bread but because they want obedience from the chef.
The bankers are partners of the investor of the restaurant and believe they could demand whatever they want as they fund in Julian Slowik’s restaurant and even threatens to close the restaurant over not being served bread.
The food critic Lilian Bloom herself emphasizes the class division is genius but she became obsessed with the ‘split emulsion’ that is a mistake that a restaurant should ‘never’ have.
The actor George Diaz only thinks of food as a method to make up a show that doesn’t even make any sense of his own fame.
The rich couple doesn’t care about whatever is given to them and only spend their time and money. Tyler is obsessed with Julian Slowik and doesn’t notice the odd atmosphere at all.
Margot(Erin)’s response to the breadless plate and Julian Slowik’s inteset in Margot
Margot or Erin is the only person that acknowledges what a concept is but thinks that Julian Slowik has gone too far to ignore some basic rules as a service provider.
Julian Slowik became intrigued with Margot (Erin) as she herself is a service provider and understands the fundamentals of a service provider and becomes certain that she is also one of his kind.
Julian Slowik explicitly only asks Margot(Erin) on whey she doesn’t taste the breadless plate while Margot answers “There is no Food”.
Margot also states that she is the person that decides what she shall eat as she is the service consumer.
This intrigued Julain Slowik much more as Margot shows her willingness to actively engage to the service provider and she is the only person that is actively engaging with the service.
Margot’s odd borderline as a service provider and a customer in Slowik’s restaurant
The rest of the customers are unwilling to engage nor properly enjoy the service while Margot(Erin) is the only person actually paying attention and concentrating on the service.
Julian Slowik confirms that Margot(erin) as a customer is engaging with the service being provided while she is also a service provider that provides the best service as she could as a paid escort with Tyler with her own standards.
Margot informed Tyler that Julian Slowik is also a person while Tyler is a customer when Tyler told her that he wants Julian Slowik to like him.
Margot(Erin) states that a service provider doesn’t need to like the customer although they are paid. Margot(Erin) draws a line that a service provider only needs to sincerely provide their services to their paid customers and they don’t necessarily are delegated to emotionally engage with their customers.
This weird but firm position of Margot(Erin) intrigued chef Julian Slowik and finally led to her survival from the Hawthrone restaurant.
Wine from ‘The Menu’ - 2013 Ross Cobb Pinot Noir
Ross Cobb is the owner of the Cobb Winery and the pinot noir is a species of grape.
Thus the 2013 Ross Cobb Pinot Noir wine means that it is a wine made from the pinot noir grape produced by Ross Cobb in 2013. Among the various grape species grown for wine, the pinot noir is very difficult to grow.
