Food on Film: Forbidden Fruits

A new movie with North Texas ties has us hungry for apples, cherries, figs, and pumpkins. Yes, pumpkin-flavored everything is back on the table. A chilly Easter weekend made revisiting some fall favorites seem not so crazy. After you read this film review about high-fashion witches bringing the dark arts to a Dallas mall, stick around for the credits (i.e., a few tasty dining suggestions).

Forbidden Fruits: Poison Apple

I always thought The Craft was one of the best teen movies of the 1990s. It’s hard to make a teen film about witches that is neither too serious to be fun nor too camp to hold any stakes, but Andrew Fleming’s 1996 movie walks that tightrope. This generation could use its own version of The Craft, and while Zoe Lister-Jones’ pandemic-era sequel wasn’t up to the job, Forbidden Fruits is much nearer the mark. On top of that, it’s set in North Texas, so you can catch the movie in its native setting.

Our main characters, Apple, Cherry, and Fig (Lili Reinhart, Victoria Pedretti, and Alexandra Shipp) are all saleswomen at a high-end clothing store called Free Eden. Completing their circle is Pumpkin (Lola Tung from TV’s The Summer I Turned Pretty), who works at the mall’s pretzel stand and walks into the store wearing a paper hat and bearing a tray of free pretzel samples. Despite their aversion to carbs, the ladies believe Pumpkin is fated to become their colleague because she is also named after a fruit. They perform a disgusting induction ceremony involving a spangled cowboy boot and this incantation: “Goat’s milk thigh gaps rose petals bone caps truffle oil bitch slap blood clots juice press.”

The film takes place in Dallas’ Highland Place mall, which you know is fictitious. It looks like NorthPark from the outside but not on the inside. In fact, the movie was shot in Toronto, though someone (either first-time director Meredith Alloway or co-writer Lily Houghton, whose stage play Of the woman came the beginning of sin and through her we all die is the basis of the film) gets the local references right, as Fig informs the Plano native Pum that Apple is from Grapevine and Cherry is from Highland Park, “though she isn’t rich or anything.”

Regardless of who’s writing this, the comic voice here is original and confident, as the witches worship Marilyn Monroe as a martyred saint and think they’re striking a blow against the patriarchy by ordering lattes. The induction ceremony also has Apple telling the other girls, “Blow me,” which in this instance means they have to take a puff of her marijuana cigarette and blow the smoke into her mouth. When one customer wants to buy sun protection for her new baby, Apple says, “That’s so thoughtful. If I had a kid, I’d never think about them at all.”

Pumpkin has her own agenda in joining this group, and Apple’s controlling tendencies give her lots to work with, as both of the others are hiding things from her. (Fig turns out to be secretly pursuing a master’s degree in astrophysics, which I wish the movie told us more about.) Then, too, there’s an outcast from the group named Pickle (Emma Chamberlain), who now wanders the mall zombie-like. Pum first sees her banging her head against Free Eden’s shop window.

Having famously played a wallflower on seven seasons of TV’s Riverdale, Reinhart here makes a formidable and funny coven leader, and she’s particularly good during the bloody climax, when the coven and Apple’s sanity both disintegrate while a tornado hits the mall. The visuals don’t match the energy of the story development, but I’m sure budget considerations played a factor in that. I have mixed feelings about the post-credits epilogue, too, when Free Eden’s oft-alluded-to-but-never-seen store manager finally appears onscreen. (I’ll let you find out who portrays the manager.)

This film treatment is beguiling often enough to make me wonder what Alloway could have done with greater resources. Can someone show her the high-end merchandise? — Kristian Lin, Film Editor

Ate Days of Food on Film

After all this talk of apples, cherries, figs, goat’s milk, pumpkins, pretzels, and truffle oil, and references to Dallas, Grapevine, and Plano, I’m ready for a North Texas culinary adventure. Perhaps a “progressive dinner.” Remember those? I do. But then again, I was raised Baptist. For those unaware, that is a social event in which participants travel to different homes for each course of a meal. But I digress. Anyhoo …

Thanks to a big-ass shipment of Cranberry Orange Goat Cheese from LaClare Creamery that just landed in the walk-in cooler at Town Talk Foods (three area locations), appetizers will be served at my place. Either toasted or straight out of the bag, a smear of this on a King’s Hawaiian brand sweet pretzel slider bun is #ChefsKiss. Shaping it into a ball and rolling it in dried cranberries is another presentation option. This particular flavor had a limited run, and now the remaining stock is now at the local favorite discount grocery. Albertson’s, Sprouts, Tom Thumb, and Whole Foods stock this brand, but with an MSRP of $6 for a 4-oz package, a 99-cent test run at Town Talk is a smart buy.

For a salad fix, my go-to is the amazing Shack Salad ($14.49) at The Cookshack (500 University Dr, Fort Worth, 817-367-9151). When this fried chicken eatery first brought the heat to town, our food critic described its salads as a “chunky lunch that would not leave you hungry an hour later.” This can’t be said of many salads. A generous portion of sliced grilled chicken is served on a bed of mixed greens with almonds, avocado, corn, dates, goat cheese, and cherry tomatoes, dressed with Champagne vinaigrette.

And while it doesn’t have figs, it does have dates. People sometimes confuse the two (me: I’m “people”). It turns out that figs and dates are distinct fruits from different plant families, each with unique tastes, textures, and nutritional profiles, according to MedicineNet.com. Figs (from Ficus trees) are soft and jammy and filled with tiny edible seeds. Dates (from palm trees) are chewier and stickier and taste more like caramel, typically holding a single, large pit. Look at you, learning stuff.

Want to see the film at the mall that inspired it? The AMC theater at NorthPark Center (8687 N Central Expy, Dallas, 214-363-7441) has screenings, but future showtimes won’t be released until Wednesday. Visit AMCTheatres.com/movies/forbidden-fruits-82601 for updates. This means an array of dining options from pretzel stands and movie popcorn to high-end dining at Maggiano’s Little Italy and NM Cafe/Bar On 3 at Neiman Marcus.

Of course, we also have our own NM Cafe here at Clearfork (5200 Monahans Av, Fort Worth, 817-989-4650), which is open for lunch 11am-3pm Mon-Sat and noon-3pm Sun. The words “cafe” and “lunch” suggest a menu stacked with tasty sandwiches and seasonal options like mandarin orange soufflé ($25), but there is also pan-roasted salmon ($32) under mains, with asparagus, crispy artichokes, and a strawberry-balsamic relish that sounds amazing. Or, to keep your adventure light and on theme, try some truffle fries from the starters menu paired with a specialty cocktail like the Apple Season (blanco tequila and Aperol with lemon, apple, grapes, and honeydew).

Now, for dessert.

Known for its prime rib and lamb chops, American steakhouse Mac’s on Main (909 S Main St, Ste 110, Grapevine, 817-251-6227) also has a signature dessert that fans rave about. Apple Galette, a rustic-style apple tart, is traditionally served with a scoop of cinnamon ice cream. Mac’s uses a local supplier for theirs, Henry’s Homemade Ice Cream (3100 Independence Pkwy, Ste 215, Plano, 972-943-3639) for its high-butterfat (16%) and premium flavors.

If you do get out there and see this film in the theater, purchase your tickets at Fandango.com. They have a buy-one-get-one ticket offer right now. Buy one ticket to Forbidden Fruits, and get one ticket free (equal or lesser price, up to $15 total ticket price and fees) with code FFBOGO. — Elaine Wilder, Calendar Editor