Stage: The Culinary Internship

By: Jamie Steinberg

Mugaritz is a restaurant hidden in Errentaria, Spain within Basque Country. It is one of the ten best restaurants in the world, though tightly tucked away in a rural area. Every year fifteen hundred hopeful young chefs apply for an internship at this unique restaurant. Only thirty individuals get selected. Stage: The Culinary Internship follows a number of the chosen to apprentice as they navigate nine months of their lives while they search for culinary excellence under the management of Chef Andoni Luis Aduriz.

At the very beginning of the film we are introduced to Alex from Barcelona who is the son of restaurant owners. Kim has come from Korea in hopes of ma his father proud. Pawel arrives from Poland, giving up a happy life with his family and a girlfriend. We also meet Sara and Ines, who are two of only a handful of female interns training. All of these bright-eyed cooks are looking to better their abilities through their time at Mugaritz. The chefs rotate through different stations (or “stages” as they are referred to) learning very specific techniques and processes under mentors called Chef de Partie (station leader). All of these stages help push the participants towards putting out some of the most elegant food in existence. The end game for the interns is to be invited to continue their education at the restaurant and move into the “Research and Development” for future dishes that can be added to the menu. According to Andoni, “In a profession like cooking, if you want to go beyond, if you want to make a contribution, you have to drink from unconventional sources. Not just what cooking can provide.”

Director Abby Ainsworth has put together a visually stunning film that not only stimulates the appetite, but dazzles the eyes. Every dish gets a closeup that leaves you in awe not only of the food, but of the cinematography that pops colors and highlights what it takes to put together the perfect plate. We watch the chefs hard at work delicately using their tongs to place items in specific spots, often times intricately adding petals or tiny flowers that embody the adage, “You eat with your eyes first.” In fact, Dani, who is Head of Research and Development, notes that at Mugaritz it is all about the provocation of emotion that makes Mugaritz and their cuisine so unique, “What separates us from the others is making them feel different. We can say that we don’t mind if they don’t like the dish. I prefer someone showing disgust, then showing nothing. Because we think that as valuable as pleasure is the disgust. Because that is something that shows you how and why you eat what you eat.”

We do get to see the interns out of their work environment briefly. There is a beer shared by all of them as they are set to begin their internship. We see them share a “family” meal one evening. However, we aren’t given a glimpse into the living arrangements or lifelong bonds that are probably created working in the culinary trenches amongst one another. They know they are there to work hard, push themselves with their creativity and make the most of the knowledge from the chefs that are encouraging them to be better, but it would have been nice to have more exploration into the personal portion of their lives while at Mugaritz.

By now, we are all aware though that extreme pressure can get to the best of us. Out of thirty of those who attend the Mugaritz internship program at least a quarter of them drop out before the end of the program. One hopeful missed the passing of his pet and feels too distracted to remain. One young woman must return home in order to assist her family. Additionally, not all interns are invited to move forward after their internship ends and not all accept the opportunity they are offered to go on. We learn that one apprentice ends up deciding that post internship they would like to explore a completely different cuisine. As Sara shares, “The hardest part of being here is knowing that you may fail to overcome this experience.” However, there is one special intern that stands out amongst the bunch and is even granted a supervisory position. When the times comes, the excitement of seeing them succeed is satisfying.

While the visuals in this film are just astonishing, the backstories overall are a bit lacking. We see video footage of some sweet childhood moments from the various interns, but we aren’t told of the cooking experience each individual has had coming into their time at Mugaritz. Have they learned by working their way up in kitchens or did they have some kind of previous formal training? We also aren’t informed how or why each chef has been selected for this program. Additionally, the film is approximately ninety percent in Spanish with English subtitles. All of the interns that attend Mugaritz seemingly must be fluent in Spanish as a qualifier to intern there since that is how the chefs mostly communicate in the kitchen, but that is also information we aren’t provided.

Stage: The Culinary Internship showcases the intricate work and high expectations Aduriz has for these interns. As Andoni explains to them, “You are in one of the most unusual restaurants in history. It is a restaurant that is equally worshiped and hated.” All of that is explored in Stage as we watch the interns rise to new challenges or fall from the pressures put on them. Thankfully, Andoni kindly reminds them all that failings don’t linger as his motto is “Tomorrow, again and better.” Press play on Stage: The Culinary Internship to watch as these talented up and coming chefs apprentice in the world of avant-garde cuisine and seek to explore the heights of culinary creativity.