The story of 42 Grams is a somewhat unlikely one. Chef Jake Bickelhaupt had experience in top-notch kitchens (Alinea, Charlie Trotter’s, Schwa) but had never run his own before, aside from the underground dinners he and his wife, Alexa Welsh, had been hosting in their apartment. The elaborate 15-course meals Bickelhaupt was producing at that “guestaurant,” which he called Sous Rising, intrigued filmmaker Jack C. Newell. After attending one, he started filming Bickelhaupt’s food prep and presentation, not entirely sure at the time if anything would come of it. Over the course of two years, Newell continued filming the couple as they developed a plan for and then opened 42 Grams, a tiny fine-dining BYOB restaurant, in a former fried-chicken joint in Uptown in January 2014. The result is a feature-length documentary, 42 Grams, which will be playing at the Gene Siskel Film Center from January 27 to February 1.
Last September, Bickelhaupt launched a “wandering” supper club called Konro. The food is in the same vein as what he was doing before, but he’s now focusing on collaborating with other chefs. “At 42 Grams I was pretty much in my own bubble . . . I didn’t work well with others,” he says. “This time I wanted to work with other people, to be more open and collaborative.”
Directed by Jack C. Newell. 82 min. Sat 1/27, 8 PM; Sun 1/28, 5 PM; Wed 1/31, 8 PM; Thu 2/1, 6 PM. Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State, 312-846-2800, siskelfilmcenter.org, $11. Newell will discuss the film at all screenings.
