Bang Bang Kitchen’s Chile Relleno, and Talking Heads’ “Stop Making Sense”
Deep-fried peppers and perfect concert films – I challenge you to find a better combination.
With my cross-country skiing post fresh in mind, it feels prudent to start with a quick Olympics update. It looks like my implied prediction was accurate – at the time of writing, Norway dominates with fifteen gold medals. And, as every proud Norwegian likes to take credit for anything that Norway achieves, the total is now 0.0000027 medals per capita, not counting silver and bronze. Congratulations all around!
The Bang Bang Kitchen’s Chile Relleno
Think New Mexico cuisine, and chances are that peppers spring to mind. Hatch, Anaheim, poblano… they’re typically not too spicy, but often distinctly smoky and earthy. So, when Bang Bang Kitchen – a New Mexico-style restaurant – advertises a “New Recipe!!” for its poblano-powered chile relleno, it makes all the sense in the world to try it.
I can’t say I’ve ever seen a take like this on the chile relleno – changes to traditional dishes can often feel like they’re made solely for the sake of change, but Bang Bang has brought in net-positive differentiators. Maybe it’s the generous coating of tortilla chips that ups the game. It gives the pepper a solid and unexpected crunch. Or, while the pepitas – pumpkin seeds – initially sound like an insignificant addition, they do bring a nuttiness to the palate.
On paper, those are small modifications, but details add up. Bang Bang’s O.G. chile relleno was already lighter than many of its ilk – moderately cheesy and not over-fried – and it didn’t strictly need a new recipe. It could hold its own with the best of them.
Time moves on, though, and so do chile rellenos. What Bang Bang brought to the table feels fully in line with the New Mexico way. Nutty pumpkin seeds are a natural companion to smoky peppers. If a more modern take is a positive evolution, then who am I to stand in the way of progress?
And, that’s about as philosophical as I’ve ever been about a chile relleno.
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Stop Making Sense
It’s been called both the perfect concert movie and the perfect movie, period1. With a 100% Tomatometer rating, Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense made a significant cultural impact in 1984 and has since remained the music feature to beat.
The question, then, is how, in this age of immersive 3D concert movies, is a small indie production still unsurpassable? In my mind, it simply comes down to how hyper-focused it is.
While many concert movies lean on tropes – backstage jitters, crowd shots, etc. – Stop Making Sense propels straight into weirdness. David Byrne walks onstage with an acoustic guitar and a cassette player and performs Talking Heads’ enduring hit, “Psycho Killer,” solo. Next, bassplayer Tina Weymouth joins in on fan-favorite, “Heaven.” And so it goes: One band member after another walks on until they break into a high-octane version of “Life During Wartime.”
If you didn’t watch that video, stop what you’re doing and do so right now – it’ll be the best six minutes you spend today outside of reading this post.
The concert is one of those performances where everything clicks into place. David Byrne’s bizarre choreography lends itself perfectly to cinema, and director Jonathan Demme (The Silence of the Lambs) has the technical gravitas to capture it on film without distracting from the performances. Too many concert films are preoccupied with showcasing clever technologies, forgetting what you’re actually there for: live music. Demme does not make that mistake.
And – Talking Heads is an incredibly talented and compelling band. That goes outside of Byrne – Weymouth’s bass lines slap – and you’d have to be in a coma not to bop along to “Burning Down the House” and a cover version of Al Green’s “Take Me to the River.“
You can find Stop Making Sense on all the regular VOD services and on physical media.
You can also listen to the soundtrack on Apple Music and on vinyl.
Merch for the People!
Don’t just read Awesomeness – wear it! This distinguished publication proudly features two official shirts – or magnets, stickers, or whatever medium you can think of: The Hallgrrrl and Zune. Why those? For one, the Hallmark channel and Riotgrrrl are, as I’ve previously stated, the natural combination. And, who doesn’t love the Zune?
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Blankpedia: “Stop Making Sense” (Dec 8, 2019)