JEREMIAH TOWER: THE LAST MAGNIFICENT, a film produced by Anthony Bourdain, is a character exploration of the legendary chef and the enigmatic mystery of his genius. It follows his career through Chez Panisse with Alice Waters, the opening of his Stars restaurant in San Francisco (which launched and influenced the careers of other eminent chefs including Mark Franz, Mario Batal, Emily Luchett, and Brendan Walsh), and his disappearance to what many viewed as a self-imposed exile. In 2014, Tower re-emerged in the most unlikely of places: New York City’s fabled but troubled Tavern on the Green restaurant.

Director Lydia Tenagli weaves a beautiful, poignant, universally accessible study of the longings and triumphs of the very large life of a gifted yet lonely artist. Interspersed among re-enacted portrayals of the bygone elegance of Tower’s youth, are moving interviews with Tower’s contemporaries and others – and, the sumptuous, mesmerizing beauty of Tower’s food creations. Jeremiah Tower: THE LAST MAGNIFICENT illuminates some of the mysteries and the demons that drive the passions familiar to anyone who has ever imagined themselves an artist.

View showtimes at Harkins Shea 14 here.