Jake Gyllenhaal - food for thought

After all the excitement yesterday of Jake Gyllenhaal running with a new aerodynamic haircut around the streets of Chilmark, today we get brought back down to earth with a rude bump due to an article about how Jake is in danger of falling off the A list.


This ridiculous feature argues that Jake made one 'controversial' movie - Brokeback Mountain - and should not make the mistake of repeating it with another or obscurity beckons. Jake should, he advises, steer clear of such clever movies as Zodiac and Rendition (no one wants to see them after all) and follow Heath's career move of playing a villain in a superhero movie. No disrespect to Heath, as The Dark Knight is a fine project, and Heath deserves such a good role as the Joker, but is this any argument for how a good, free-thinking and intelligent actor should make his choices? Is it right that 'A-list actors' should be required only to make summer blockbusters, leaving clever movies with a statement to indie newcomers? Is it that simple?


My sense of indignation on Jake's behalf did lessen considerably when I noticed te identity of the other six actors in this feature about the top seven doomed A-listers: Reese Witherspoon, Robert de Niro, Jamie Foxx, Robin Williams, Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn. So who is going to replace this unlucky septet? Shrek perhaps? Maybe a Transformer?


A diet of Jake

Yesterday, amongst all the excitement at the new haircut (dangerously close to a jarhead), it was also noted that Jake has been accused of needing to moisturise. I can't see it myself but Jake has been seen out and about with product. In the past, Jake has been associated with Kiehl's, including its moisturiser and shaving cream (and eye alert?) and Fresh - but an article today in the London Free Press put the secret of Jake's lovely skin down to his macrobiotic diet.



And this is what a macrobiotic diet consists of (apparently): 'Organized in a three phase format, the book offers 80 recipes plus cooking tips. Macrobiotic dishes include a vast list of ingredients from land and sea vegetables, beans and miso. Whole grains are a vital staple as are seasonal foods that are organic and locally grown. Fish, fruit, nuts and seeds are also approved foods. However eggs, dairy, chicken, meat, caffeine, and white sugar or white-flour products are used sparingly. Meat lovers may opt for organic free-range products. Regular consumption of "clean foods" enhances the immune, digestive and lymph systems' ability to detoxify your body. Detoxing the macrobiotic way, you eat to lose weight, keep moods buoyant and skin glowing --just as it has done for the likes of Kirsten Dunst, Jake Gyllenhaal and Andre 3000.' Just sounds like sensible eating to me...



Jake was also associated with food in another article out today, this time in the New Yorker. It's a review of Insieme, a new restaurant that has opened in the Michelangelo Hotel, 7th Avenue. It seems the restaurant is owned by chef Marco Canora, for whom teenage Jake used to wash dishes, and Jake paid a recent visit there, accompanied by his mother Naomi Foner. I do like the sound of the descriptive and informative menu, full of snippets of info about the epicurean habits of a veritable hamper of artists and performers - it says of one particular bottle of rosé that “Jim Morrison always consumed a bottle before sitting down to write poetry.” A man after my own heart - oops, sorry it's taken.

So here's another restaurant to add to my Gyllenhaal Guide to Good Eating. Do check out the website and menus and their creators.


Talking of food and drink, I found out something today about Chilmark, MV, that made me stop and think, almost completely reevaluating my mental image of this retreat for the stars: according to this report about the quiet spot of Snug Harbor, Chilmark is a dry town.

Thanks Get Real for the amendment to Insieme's location. Includes pictures from JJ and IHJ.