- Title: FRANCE: PREPARATIONS FOR THE CANNES FILM FESTIVAL OPENING DINNER
- Date: 11th May 2005
- Summary: CANNES, FRANCE (MAY 11, 2005) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF CARLTON HOTEL WITH BILLBOARD OF THE 58TH FILM FESTIVAL OPEN-TOP CAR LEAVING CARLTON HOTEL CONCIERGE WITH LUGGAGE IN FRONT OF HOTEL INTERIOR OF KITCHENS OF THE CARLTON HOTEL WITH COOK PREPARING FOOD THE CHEF MUSHROOMS BEING COOKED TURBOT IN PAN AND PAN BACK TO DISPLAY OF FILETS OF TURBOT (GOOD PROFESSIONAL KITCHEN SHOTS = 26 SECONDS) (SOUNDBITE) (French) CHEF LAURENT BUNEL SAYING: "Tonight we will serve 800 meals aimed at hand-picked guests. This dinner will take place at the Palais des Festivals. The menu tonight is lobster lasagnes with saffron, mashed eggplant with tender vegetables, tartlets of parmesan with poppy and then we have filet of turbot with asparagus and mushrooms and flat parsley." COOK IN FRONT OF TRUCK OUTSIDE HOTEL COOK ENTERING TRUCK AND SHOWING THE LOBSTER (2 SHOTS) (SOUNDBITE) (French) CHEF LAURENT BUNEL SAYING: "We have a professional team who is used to these kind of dinners. Approximately 30 people are preparing this (opening) dinner with much preciseness and we have approximately 70 waiters in the dinner room." FILETS OF TURBOT BEING ROASTED IN PAN COOK WITH PAN FULL OF MUSHROOMS (SOUNDBITE) (French) CHEF LAURENT BUNEL SAYING: "I love going from one table to another (at the end of the dinner) to get people's feelings because it is the really the first official dinner opening the festival. For us, it is very, very important to make sure everything goes well since every night some 200 officials of the festival are having dinner at the Carlton. So, it is important to know what their expectations are for the future." COOK PREPARING TARTLETS OF PARMESAN (2 SHOTS) COOKS CONFECTIONING GRAPES COVERED WITH WHITE CHOCOLATE (3 SHOTS) COOK USING LONG-HANDLED WOODEN TRAY IN OVEN DISPLAY OF THIN SLICES OF CHOCOLATE (SOUNDBITE) (French) CHIEF PASTRY COOK HUBERT COULANGE SAYING: "Tonight we have a chocolate mille-feuilles with fresh raspberries, cream and basil for 800 people. This morning we received 60 kilos of raspberries" RASPBERRIES DISPLAYED ON A PLATE MILLE-FEUILLES AND (SOUNDBITE) (French) CHIEF PASTRY COOK HUBERT COULANGE SAYING: "This is quite a light dessert which can be eaten easily and which is not heavy specially at the end of the dinner. It has to be light because they (the guests) will eat every day and we should make sure we do not fatten them too much." MILLE-FEUILLES AND PAN TO CHIEF PASTRY COOK PREPARING CAKES MILLE-FEUILLES DESSERT MILLE-FEUILLES ON PLATE WITH LEAVES OF BASIL
- Embargoed: 26th May 2005 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: CANNES, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Topics: Arts
- Reuters ID: LVA58VT95S3VDHPXKCNL0T49YIW0
- Story Text: Preparations for the 58th Cannes Film Festival were well underway in the French Riviera town ahead of the official opening on Wednesday (May 11) night.
The great and the good of the film world will descend on the town for an international celebration of cinema, culminating in the awarding of the prestigious Palme d'Or.
Preparations for the festival are extensive, not least in the kitchens of the plush hotel Carlton which will be feeding some 800 hand-picked guests attending the official opening dinner at the Ambassador room of the Palais des Festivals.
The atmosphere was frenetic in the kitchens headed by executive Chef Laurent Bunel.
Bunel gave an attractive description of the menu starting with lobster lasagnes with saffron, then mashed eggplants with tender vegetable, tartlets of parmesan with poppy and as a main course a filet of turbot with asparagus, mushrooms and flat parsley to complement the fish dish.
Bunel said that some 30 cooks are necessary to prepare with much preciseness such a huge dinner.
"We have a professional team who is used to these kind of dinners. Approximately 30 people are preparing this (opening) dinner with much preciseness and we have approximately 70 waiters in the dinner room", he said.
At the end of the official dinner, Bunel said he loves to go from one table to another to get the diners' feedback on the meal. He stressed that it is very important to make sure everything goes smoothly on the opening night, as it serves as an indicative of what the guests expect this year.
"I love going from one table to another (at the end of the dinner) to get people's feelings because it is the really the first official dinner opening the festival. For us, it is very, very important to make sure everything goes well since every night some 200 officials of the festival are having dinner at the Carlton. So, it is important to know what their expectations are for the future", he said.
As for the dessert, guests will be offered a chocolate mille-feuilles with raspberries, cream and basil to complement it.
"This is quite a light dessert which can be eaten easily and which is not heavy specially at the end of the dinner. It has to be light because they (the guests) will eat every day and we should make sure we do not fatten them too much," pastry chef Hubert Coulange said.
Mouton Cadet red and white wine from 2002 and 2003, as well as champagne will be served during the meal.
The Festival opens on Wednesday night with a screening of "Lemming" from German film director Dominik Moll starring British actress Charlotte Rampling, French actress Charlotte Gainsbourg (daughter of famous French composer Serge) and French actors Andre Dussolier and La MESSAGE TERMINATED - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
