The Menu (2022)

Nicholas Hoult: Tyler

Photos 

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Quotes 

• Tyler : You have to try the mouthfeel of the mignonette.

  Margot : Please don't say mouthfeel.

• Margot : You don't have to call him Chef, Tyler. I'm pretty sure he doesn't even know about your existence.

  Tyler : I kind of want him to...

  Margot : Like you?

  Tyler : Yeah. Kinda.

  Margot : Tyler, you're the customer. You're paying him to serve you. It doesn't really matter whether he likes you or not.

  Tyler : Right. Wait. What does that mean?

  Margot : Mmm. Nothing. Relax. Just eat your rock.

• Chef Slowik : What do you need?

  Tyler : Leeks.

  Chef Slowik : Get the cook some leeks. This is your station here. What else do you need?

  Tyler : Uh, sh... sh...

  Chef Slowik : Shit, would you like some shit?

  Tyler : Shah, Shah, Shallots.

  Chef Slowik : Shallots for the great foodie, the phenomenal Mr. Food himself. Everybody gather round. You must learn from Tyler. This is a new uh, new dicing method of which we have been woefully ignorant. What next?

  Tyler : Uh, butter.

  Chef Slowik : Butter. Leeks and shallots sautéed in butter. I bear witness to a revolution in cuisine.

• Tyler : It's official. Tonight will be madness.

• Tyler : You don't think Chef is mad at me, do you?

• Chef Slowik : Folks, I'm afraid our menu cannot continue as planned until we deal with an unresolved matter. You.

  Tyler : Me?

  Chef Slowik : Mmm-hmm. You. Tell me why you're here.

  Tyler : You know, because I wanted to...

  Chef Slowik : Swallow first.

  Tyler : I wanted to experience your food, Chef.

  Chef Slowik : And what were you told? What were you told ahead of time?

  Tyler : You told me it'd be the greatest menu ever created.

  Chef Slowik : Right. And? And?

  Tyler : And that everyone would die.

  Chef Slowik : Everyone would die. You had a date. I seem to remember you had a date. Not the young woman here tonight, so what happened to her? Your date?

  Tyler : She broke up with me, Chef.

  Chef Slowik : So, you brought Margot.

  Tyler : Mmm-hmm.

  Chef Slowik : Mmm-hmm. Why?

  Tyler : 'Cause you don't offer seatings for one.

  Chef Slowik : So, you hired her knowing she'd die.

  Tyler : Yes.

  Margot : You entitled piece of shit! I'm gonna kill you, Tyler!

• Chef Slowik : Bread has existed in some form for over 12,000 years, especially amongst the poor. Flour and water. What could be simpler? Even today, grain represents 65% of all agriculture. Fruits and vegetables only 6%. Ancient Greek peasants dipped their stale, measly bread in wine for breakfast. And how did Jesus teach us to pray if not to beg for our daily bread?

  Tyler : Beg for our daily bread.

  Chef Slowik : It is, and has always been, the food of the common man. But you, my dear guests, are not the common man. And so tonight... you get no bread.

• Chef Slowik : Our first course is called The Island. On your plate are plants from around the island, placed on rocks from the shore, covered in barely frozen, filtered seawater which will flavor the dish as it melts.

  Tyler : You know, this is what the guy was fishing for earlier...

  Chef Slowik : Sorry?

  Tyler : Um... Sorry, Chef.

  Chef Slowik : It's perfectly all right. Yes, they are those very same scallops. Now, here is what you must remember about this dish. We, the people on this island, are not important. The island and the nutrients it provides exist in their most perfect state without us gathering them or manipulating them, or digesting them. What happens inside this room is meaningless compared to what happens outside in nature, in the soil, in the water, in the air. We are but a frightened nanosecond. Nature is timeless. Enjoy.

  Margot : That's a cheery thought. Are you crying?

  Tyler : It's just that I find it all very moving. It's all so beautiful. I just... It's almost too beautiful to eat.

• Tyler : Well, the attention to detail, it's like, fuck! And he knew my name, babe!

  Margot : Yeah. I noticed you didn't ask his name.

  Tyler : Yeah, well, you know.

• Tyler : Oh, my God. I mean, it's next-level badassery. The way he weaves in historical allegories. I mean, the game is trying to guess what the overarching theme of the entire meal is gonna be. You won't know until the end.

  Margot : Wait. You... You like this?

  Tyler : Mmm-hmm. Oh, yeah.

  Margot : He's basically insulting you.

  Tyler : No, no, no. You don't get it. It's a concept.

  Margot : I know what a concept is, Tyler.

  Tyler : Trust me. He's telling a story. That's what makes his food so exciting. He's not just a chef. He's a storyteller. And he doesn't give a fuck about the rules.

  Margot : Call me the girl next door, but maybe there are some rules that you should give a fuck about, like, I don't know, giving food to people at a restaurant.

  Tyler : Dearest, no one would ever call you the girl next door.

• Tyler : Do you make that with a Pacojet?

  Jeremy : Exactly right, sir.

  Tyler : Mmm. You know, a Pacojet can produce a powderized, uh, snow-like texture.

  Margot : Cool.

  Tyler : Yeah. I have one.

  Jeremy : You really know your stuff, Mr. Ledford.

  Tyler : You know my name?

  Jeremy : Oh, we like to know everyone who dines with us.

• [first lines] 

  Tyler : Babe, please don't smoke. It'll kill your palate.

  Margot : Then my palate will die happy.

• Margot : How do they turn a profit?

  Tyler : $1,250 a head. That's how.

  Margot : You're fucking kidding, right? What, are we eating a Rolex?

• Tyler : You do not send shit back to this kitchen, you child. You thank them for even letting you in the door.

• Margot : Okay, so what is it with this food thing?

  Tyler : I don't know. It's like, you know how people idolize, you know, athletes, and musicians, and painters, and stuff?

  Margot : Mmm-hmm.

  Tyler : Yeah, those people are idiots. What they do, it doesn't matter. They play with inflatable balls and ukuleles and shit. Chefs, they play with the raw materials of life itself. And death itself. It's... I mean, I've watched every fucking episode of Chef's Table two or three times. I've watched Slowik's 20 times. I've watched him explain the exact moment a green strawberry is perfectly unripe. I've watched him plate a raw scallop during its last dying contraction of muscle. It's art on the edge of the abyss, which is where God works, too. It's the same.

• Chef Slowik : There's a saying. 'Sometimes all you need is a good cup of tea.' I learned that growing up in Bratislava. I've found that not only does tea cleanse the palate, but it offers a soothing balm when facing some hard home truths. But before we continue, are there any questions about me or Hawthorn? Any questions?

  Tyler : Is this bergamot I'm getting, Chef?

  Chef Slowik : Yes, it is.

  Movie Star : Chef?

  Chef Slowik : Yes?

  Movie Star : Uh, I think I speak for everybody here when I say that, uh... I wanna know... I mean, we wanna know...

  Soren : Why the fuck is this happening, man?

  Chef Slowik : Well, I'll tell you. Think of yourselves as ingredients in a degustation concept.

  Soren : What?

  Chef Slowik : A tasting concept. Figuratively speaking. I think that is the best way to describe it. But none of this should be a surprise to most of you.

• Tyler : [nervously Sautéing some lamb]  Oh, yeah, I think it's done, Chef.

  Chef Slowik : You think it's done. You're sure?

  Tyler : Mmm, hmm...

  Chef Slowik : [sarcastically]  Maybe you wanna jam it into the Pacojet?

  Tyler : No.

  Chef Slowik : Mmm. Wow. Wow. It's actually quite .. bad.

• Tyler : [laughing]  That was a shock, I didn't see that comin'!