'City Of Gold' A Review

City Of Gold is a documentary about LA food critic Jonathan Gold. The movie follows Gold as he goes to some of his favorite restaurants, LA locations, at home, and at work. There are also talking head interviews as well as on-site interviews with restaurant owners who were helped by a favorable Gold review.

On the surface the movie is pleasant enough although not original, in the current glut of cooking shows another food program regardless of it's conceit can't discern itself from the culinary entertainment cacophony. But upon some reflection City Of Gold goes from passable to problematic on two major points and a minor third.

First is Gold's reverence for the Los Angeles' culinary industry and the city at large which moves quickly from praise to pretension. He talks not as if it is unique but utterly superior and certainly it is distinct and worthy of exploration but LA has been the subject of countless movies and TV shows both narrative and factual and it is a tired subject for any non-resident. In short the subject matter is exhausted and Gold's ramblings only serve to underline the already perceived egoism of LA denizens.

The second is a bit more murky. All of the restaurants highlighted are ethnic and with Gold as an older white man there is an odd and unstated sense of Gold as the culinary white savior of LA, praising overlooked ethnic restaurants which are then overrun by affluent whites. The trade off of course is that struggling restaurants turn into successes over night but there is something mildly disturbing about this dynamic which the movie does not address.

Third is Gold himself who, although his love of the culinary arts is apparent, engages in some seemingly unhealthy eating habits. And I'm conflicted even to mention it being a bigger guy myself but even so there is, again, something troubling in the age of the obesity epidemic and sky rocketing rates of diabetes that this aspect isn't broached.

Mild enough but with a bitter aftertaste.

Don't See It.