Anthony Bourdain’s ‘Get Jiro’ shows the future where chefs have power

Based on the graphic novel by Anthony Bourdain, the upcoming animation series “Get Jiro” welcomes the audience in a world where people will literally kill themselves to get into good restaurants.

“The only thing they really enjoy is food, so chef chefs in the future have the most power. They are all the good things together as influencers, warlords and drug dealers,” said Peter Girardi, EVP on Warner Bros. Animation at an Annecy Festival presentation.

Beloved chef, author and host, Bourdain died in 2018. He wrote “Get Jiro!” With Joel Rose, with art by Langdon Foss. “Tony was a big fan of Japanese film and television, Manga, Anime and all the big directors, such as Ozu and especially, Kurosawa,” Girardi added, and presented the show in Annecy.

In the series, under the supervision of adult swimming, Sushi chef Jiro must be confronted with two very different villains: Bob and Rose.

“Rose is a vegan, in case you can’t see it in her outfit, and Tony had some big thoughts about vegans,” Girardi laughed. In his book ‘Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly’, Bourdain Vegans described as a ‘Hezbollah-like splinterfaction, the enemy of everything good and decent in the human mind’.

“Early I said to Tony:” Why did you give Rose that crazy hat? “He said: I don’t like vegans. ‘This is really a big commentary on Anthony’s look at the culinary world, which sometimes became quite dark. “

While the team played with different references, from Kurosawa’s “Yojimbo” to “Mindgame”, Golgo 13, “Scavengers Reign”, Moebius, Geof Darrow and Classic Westerns, they decided to go in a more grounded direction.

“We love the graphic novel, but we wanted to change some forms [and opt for] More realistic proportions. The kind of stories we tell are very emotional, it is a real character arch and there are real consequences for violence, “Girardi explained.

They also ended with a “more grizzled and world wear” Jiro, said director Rick Morales, where Girardi added: “Tony was still and agreed. Jiro is not Batman. He is only this in-shape sushi chef. We all know it one of them.”

The introduction of new characters and the expansion of the universe where “kitchens are like cartels” was intriguing: “They had to demolish LA to rebuild it in this food ring Mecca -thing,” said Art Director Jonathan Hoekstra. But it is not a “Blade Runner” future, Girardi assured.

“At that time Tony no longer lived, so we went to Joel. It is dystopian, but not much, although the haves and the Have-nots are much more separated. There is an inner ring where all chic restaurants are, and people will kill each other to get a reserve. Wasteland.

Still, doing the food well was their biggest goal.

“We have worked on developing food styles as hard as we did to character designs,” Morales admitted. “I have never worked on a show that cooks in a real way, but my wife and I look at a lot of food network. It felt interesting to combine this samurai chef with real cooking elements.”

Girardi noted: “Tony said that all things in the kitchen and the way the food is prepared had to be good. It had to be the right kind of spoon, the right pot. If we were to prepare sushi in the show, people should be able to use it as a recipe. It was a skill that we had to learn.”

They also worked with culinary consultants, including Matt Goulding, who worked with Bourdain on his shows.

“We would have something in the script about food preparation and he would do a review, check if our technique was correct. He would tell us how to spin noodles before you put them on a plate or how a real sushi chef would not have blood on his cutting board. This is the Anthony Bourdain show.

While Hoekstra demolition in real kitchens to take pictures, real-life chefs will also be characterized. That includes Eric Ripert, David Chang and José Andrés cast as “villains, friends or people who are killed,” Girardi explained.

“We also do it to honor Tony’s memory,” he added, before he treated the audience to the very first images and a new slogan that may compete “I don’t drink a damn merlot!” From “Sideways.” It appears that there is only one thing that chef Jiro has absolutely no tolerance for: “No soy sauce!”