Nora Ephron’s slight, tender, gentle breeze of a comedy, Julie & Julia, falls between all the familiar cracks. Although not an epicurean tease in the sense of Chocolat or Tortilla Soup or Eat Drink Man Woman, food never strays far from center stage. Fine dining is the plot and also the foil in this entwined biography of two women, separated by generations and circumstance, who use their cooking acumen as both hobby and as a therapeutic salve; a recipe for inner happiness.
Back in 1949, an unknown Julia Child arrives in Paris and turns to cooking to pass time while her affectionate husband tends to his duties at the American embassy. Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci play the couple with such ease and low-key charm that one can easily slip into this credible (albeit rose-colored) depiction of marital bliss.
Flash forward a half century. An unknown Julie Powell uses food to escape the mental stress of her 9-to-5 job. Seeking asylum in her tiny NY kitchen, she decides to master each of the 524 recipes in Child’s classic “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.” Her affectionate husband suggests that she write a blog of her experiences and suggests a deadline of one year.
And thus Julie Powell’s life becomes inextricably combined with Julia Child’s...
Julia Child (left) in 1986 with Phyllis Vaccarelli, owner of Let's Get Cookin'.
FEW THINGS IN THE CULINARY WORLD can be as intimidating as throwing a dinner party for 12. Throwing a dinner party for 12 when the guest list includes several accomplished chefs and the guest of honor is the acclaimed Julia Child is beyond intimidating and downright unimaginable. But in 1997 Phyllis Vaccarelli, owner of Let’s Get Cookin’, a kitchen store and culinary school in Westlake Village, hosted that dinner party in her home.
Vacarelli met Child in 1986 at the International Association of Culinary Professionals conferences. They became better acquainted in the 1990s when Vacarelli was the chair of the National Board of the American Institute of Wine and Food, an organization Child founded in 1981.
“We worked on getting people to eat together, talk together,” Vacarelli said.
Later, the two women teamed up to work on a cause dear to both of them. Vacarelli, who has a master’s degree in social work and whose chosen profession before devoting herself to the culinary arts was social work, felt that it was important for children from the inner city to have an opportunity to learn about food.
Through the Los Angeles Unified School District, she and Child established a program for fourth- and fifth-grade students. With the emphasis on nutrition and education, the children had the opportunity to learn where foods came from and how they got to the table.
“We would take the children to a farmers market and then make salads together,” said Vacarelli.
It was a book signing at Let’s Get Cookin’ that brought Child to Westlake Village and to dinner at the Vacarelli home. When asked about the dinner party for 12, Vacarelli said she was not nervous about cooking for Child.
“Julia was very complimentary. You could take her to a hot dog stand and she would be complimentary,” Vacarelli said with a laugh.
The day of the book signing and dinner party, Vacarelli picked up Child in Montecito. The book signing lasted most of the day. Anticipating this, Vacarelli, being a professional herself, relied on recipes that she “knew were really good and could be prepared ahead of time.” She said the osso buco risotto, prepared in a pressure cooker, and a grand marnier soufflé all turned out great.
As the years passed and the friendship continued, Vacarelli had Child to her home for dinner on a second occasion.
In celebration of the movie “Julie and Julia,” which is based on the book by Julie Powell about her project of cooking all 524 recipes from Child’s “Mastering The Art of French Cooking” in one year, Let’s Get Cookin’ is offering a class at 6:30 p.m. Fri., Aug. 14. Child classics such as boeuf bourguignonne and individual chocolate soufflés will be prepared. French wine will be poured and glasses will be raised in a toast — to Julia.
-- Patti Feddersen
The Acorn Epicurean
Let's Get Cookin' offers basic and professional cooking classes, childrens classes, catering and a full servicecookware store (bakeware, gadgets, knives, tabletop, cookbooks, aprons, gifts and gourmet foods). Summer and fall classes are currently available (including a new Julie & Julia class). Let's Get Cookin' is located on Lakeview Canyon Road in Westlake Village. 818.991-3940. Or check out Let's Get Cookin' at www.letsgetcookin.com.
