The first 30 minutes of The Taste of Things are a visual feast. As dawn breaks, a cook in 19th-century France, played by Juliette Binoche, harvests ingredients from the potager of a Loire Valley château, assembling still lifes of vegetables and herbs throughout a World of Interiors kitchen.
She is joined by her employer, played by Benoît Magimel, and the two perform a nearly silent ballet d’Escoffier that builds in beauty and emotion. This pas de deux of cream and copper culminates in a lavish lunch that lasts until the sun has fallen across the other side of the kitchen.
