The Art of Making “Julia” Look Delicious

A towering raspberry mousse, an on-the-fly omelet and a signature coq au vin were Julia Child’s creations in real life. But on the set of the new HBO Max show, “Julia,” they were carried out by veteran food stylist Christine Tobin.

Tobin, who is key food stylist for Milk Street magazine and cookbooks, has worked on several big projects, including “Black Mass,” “American Hustle,” “Olive Kitteridge” and “Little Women.” She spoke to us recently about how she got involved, what goes into bringing a black and white cooking show to life and whether the food actually has to taste good.

Christine Tobin:
I got the call to meet with one of the producers and director of “Julia” just a few weeks after the release of “Little Women.” So I was feeling pretty confident at the time, but my heart was definitely racing.

Similar to Julia, you never show up empty-handed. You always show up with a cake, some sort of deliciousness, so that they can have a really good sense as to who you are and that you’re serious about the position.

Milk Street:
What did you show up with?

Christine Tobin:
I think I showed up with a Sheba cake. And I just sat with Charles McDougall and talked to him about food, and Julia Child, and also just our local culinary specialties in Boston.

I mean, to say, it's an honor is an understatement. One side of me was like, this totally makes sense. My whole life has made perfect sense! Another part of me was, like, how the hell did I get here?

Milk Street:
What kind of research goes into a historical piece like this? It doesn't seem that long ago, but we're talking about, now, 60 years ago. I mean, you could say the same thing about “Little Women.”

Christine Tobin:
I love doing period pieces for sure. Luckily, Julia’s cookbook gave me all I needed, and researching each episode of “The French Chef” under a different microscope definitely added a lot of information. But visually…the picture was never that great, it was grainy black and white. So how do we sort of match the sentiment of the piece, but enhance it, but still have it look like it was made with Julia’s hands?

And is not only period correct, but not over-stylized. Everything was as authentic as it could be, to do right by her because I know everyone has this under a microscope.

Milk Street:
Do you have an example of that? Like, maybe like with the Coq Au Vin or the omelet—there wasn't a lot of close-up action in the show…

Christine Tobin:
Well, first, there's continuity. Similar to a restaurant, there’s a rhythm to food making, in that there's always something within 15 minutes that's fresh. Everything sort of bounces in front of the camera.

Like the coq au vin scene—I was in this makeshift kitchen, and I’d just do a dance, just sort of have things bouncing with the mushrooms and add fresh elements to make it beautiful for the picture, and it’s up to the camera to go into it or not.

But it’s also important, with food on film, to take a breath—see into the pot. I'm that person tapping a director, and being like, you gotta look into the pot. And once it gets into editing, it's like, I wish there was more of that.

Milk Street:
Every episode has one featured meal, right? But I imagine you’d have to do many versions…how many things are you making for one episode?

Christine Tobin:
There is more than one meal that she [Julia Child] prepares. But then we have the restaurant scenes where one or two dishes would be scripted, and then I would design around those two dishes. What would make sense—not only what I would want to eat, but also thinking about the colors and textures and composition of the tablescape.

As for how we made the coq au vin—outside was a truck where my assistants would do the quick sear of the chicken because we had the ventilation there to do that. So then the chicken and the pot lands to me on set, where I would add the liquids and start the braise, and on the side, I had the mushroom. I was like building a house. It's all about having things prepared to a certain point, to then add those layers to reach the finalized beauty.

It’s very architectural, food on television. The way I work, anyway. If it isn’t addressed like architecture, then it just ends up falling apart or dying really fast. So that's why I always have things flash fried or quickly blanched, something that just shocks things but avoids it appearing overcooked or unappetizing.

Milk Street:
I’m curious, does food have to taste good to look good on TV?

Christine Tobin:
I think so. I can totally tell. I only work with real food. And there are many reasons why I do it, but I can tell when something isn't freshly made on camera.

Even if something has to look super sad, it still has to be delicious for the actors to eat it. They might steer away from one part of the dish, but we’ll have things on the dish that they would nibble on, like a slice of cucumber or green bean or something like that. Sometimes the actors are there for a full day, and they have to take a bite over and over and over again. So I’m working closely with them to make them comfortable.

Milk Street:
It might as well be a good bite.

Christine Tobin:
It’s gotta be a good bite! And everyone was eating, not just the actors, because we were always babysitting the food on the soundstage and the truck. And we’d give the crew things to take home. Just as Julia would do and her attitude about food. It was always thoughtfully and lovingly prepared, so we acted no differently.

Milk Street:
Which is kind of a meta moment there, because the show really focuses on that aspect of everything she makes. It's all the camera guys being like, oh my God, this mousse is incredible! So you’re doing the same thing.

Christine Tobin:
Yeah, it is totally. Literally, I would turn, and someone would always be getting a wedge of cheese or taking a treat, and I was like, you can't do that. Or coming in and saying, Hey, we have all these cream puffs, have a go at it. That was…I wouldn’t say accidental but I just think as a food maker, the purpose is instinctual.

So I'm absolutely no match for Julia Child, whatsoever, but I would say that we share that love of sharing.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Photos: Courtesy of HBO, Warner Media

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