Eat At Bill's: a must see movie!

Tonight I saw a movie in a local community center. Although in the dark, I smiled the whole way through. I nodded and recognized and laughed and felt inspired to the point of awe.

I beg of you to see it.

Eat At Bill's is about
Monterey Market,
a family owned business and the dedication to preserving this tradition which is fast becoming forgotten and replaced all over the country if not the globe,
fruit, vegetables and the people who grow it,
loyal workers who become family,
longstanding customers who remember the middle aged owner as the young son of the previous owner,
cherry season in all its few week glory,
a geographical spot,
a busy establishment,
a crazy parking lot,
the insanity of shopping with detailed lists during Thanksgiving,
a man's joy
at the mere site of a pumpkin.

Eat at Bill's is an ode to a man of great depth, knowledge, and silliness.

Bill Fujimoto.

Please buy the DVD. Click here to find it. And look! The filmmaker grows tangerines!

Think the movie has nothing to do with you because the market is a small regional affair in Northern California? Because you don't shop there? Because you live in San Francisco and shop at the farmer's markets? Because, like me, you don't own any DVD's?

Please rethink this.

This movie is a small, hand-held camera documentary. Made with love and admiration by Lisa Brenneis, wife of Jim Churchill. {You might recognize his name if you've ever read anything at all about Chez Panisse.} Lisa made the film after saying for years that someone should do it. Like many other farmers in California whose crop outputs are too small to sell to large supermarket chains, "the wholesale stream" as it's known, Churchill Orchards feels it owes it's life as a farm to Bill and Monterey Market.

Through the course of the film we meet many of the farmers who drive to Berkeley from far and wide in trucks or regular cars to ask Mr. Fujimoto if he'd be interested in their fruit. The smile across his face doesn't move as he plucks and tastes and eats and banters business talk or doles out playful, but well researched information. One farmer's blue sedan is packed with enough cases to fill half a pallet, making it look like the clown car at the circus.

Famous local chefs weave in and out of boxes stacked to the ceiling, very small children climb the pumpkin stack in autumn and workers restock at a furious pace.

With very little cold storage, Bill and his team hope to sell as much as they've checked in from dozens of farmers that morning. Unlike most groceries, this owner is on the floor with the public telling people about the latest 20 pound puff ball mushroom, cutting boxes down so customers can take home exactly what they need, stacking cases of fruit and vegetables and helping everyone to realize the floorplan for the days onslaught.

The original concept of the grocery store was based in gathering all the goods under the roof of the place where the refrigerator was. Good or bad, neither or both, the person selling you those foodstuffs was to know exactly what they were selling you. Booksellers knew words, the egg truck saw chickens, the butcher might have slaughtered animals and the produce people knew fruit and vegetables. It was their field of study. Their craft, if you'll allow me.

I identify as a seasonal fruit inspired pastry chef. Eat At Bill's reminded me why this is. Nothing is more enchanting, more inspirational to me than the varied world of fruit. When my New York friends ask me why I don't live in the city that formed me, I say, "the fruit."

I hope you get a chance to see this movie. Tonight I rallied some of my friends and new people I've taken under my wing to mentor.

Proof that I don't need One Establishment to define me as a pastry chef or teacher, I suggested after the film that we put together educational field trips to farms this coming summer. Read about these excursions at Eggbeater, or put some seasonal fruit inspired adventures together yourself!

UPDATE:
This piece was picked up by Reuters! Check it out!

P.S. Have a passion for fruit as much as I? Did you see the article about Mandarins by David Karp in The NY Times this past Wednesday March 14? I love that guy...

Comments

[Aaron]

If you need another push to see this movie, here you go.... It really is all that Shuna makes it out to be. I was thoroughly inspired by the connection that Monterey has with its suppliers, farms ranging from tiny plots to large enterprises developed with Bill's help. Thank you Shuna for letting us all know about it. Just one problem...it makes waiting for summer all the more painful.

[Katz]

y'all will be dying for cherries after watching this!!! sweet soury cherries right off the tree.

[Elayne]

In the early to mid 80's I lived just 2 blocks away from the Monterey Markets. When I watched the clip of the movie it took me back to a time that I went shopping every day after work just to relax.
It sure looks like it has grown and so many people too!
I will have to buy the movie now just to reminisce about going to the markets and to support the film maker.
Next trip to the Area I'm going to go and smell the memories and pick up some fresh goodies I had forgotten all about.

[Jessica "Su Good Sweets"]

If you think mandarins are good, my favorite oranges are satsumas. They have ugly baggy skins, but they are sweet and floral.

[Lisa Brenneis]

George Bernard Shaw said: "There is no love more sincere than the love of food."
Lots of love here....lovely poetic response to my movie from SFL, and sincere comments from others.

Posting below a URL for the article I wrote for the latest Edible East Bay (the Cupcake Cover Issue) that explains why I made this movie and more about what makes the Monterey Market so important. Please check it out.
http://edibleeastbay.com/pages/bills.htm

[Susan from Food "Blogga"]

I smiled at your response re: not returning to NY. People always ask my husband and me why we don't plan on returning to RI, and we sheepishly respond "the farmers' markets." I guess when you love food and cooking and live in CA,it's really hard to give that up. Just seeing that gorgeous zucchini flower makes me long for summertime zucchini cakes.

[Calichef]

Great post and congrats on the Reuters pickup. Nice work! I'm really craving cherries and apricots already.

We are putting in our tomato and herb garden this week. The two Early Girls already have half a dozen embryonic tomatoes set on each vine. The Ace 55s are only six inches tall, so no blossoms quite yet. I intend to pick up a couple of heirloom plants at my local farmer's market in a week or two.

[Larry Clark]

Please keep doing that voodoo that you do so well. I love your blog and looking forward to attending one of your classes in the future. And thanks so much for talking about Monterey Market. I've lived in the
East Bay for 60 years and didn't know about it. Unbelievable