Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Menu


The Menu's iconic cheeseburger has been recreated in mouthwatering detail. The film, which premiered in theaters on November 18, 2022, follows Anya Taylor-Joy as Margot, who is brought to a restaurant on a secluded island run by the reclusive Chef Slowik (Ralph Fiennes). It soon becomes clear that the meal is meant to be Slowik's swan song, an artistic statement that involves the death of every customer. However, his plan is interrupted by Margot appealing to his childhood love of food by ordering a cheeseburger, a strategy that moves him so much that he allows her to escape.

On the Babish Culinary Universe series Binging with Babish, YouTube chef Andrew Rea took it upon himself to recreate the iconic cheeseburger from The Menu.


With this video, the series comes full circle after being created in 2016 to follow Rea's efforts to recreate a burger featured in a cook-off on the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation. However, just like Chef Slowik in the film, Rea uses more advanced techniques to bring this particular item to life.

Why The Cheeseburger Is So Important To The Menu's Storyline


The cheeseburger serves many purposes in The Menu. One such purpose is the juxtaposition of a piece of food viewed as "low class" being prepared by a professional chef. This is at its core a reflection of Margot's relationship to the restaurant itself.

The deeper meaning the cheeseburger holds is evocative of a similar theme to Pixar's 2007 film Ratatouille. In that film, a well-prepared simple dish of ratatouille warms the heart of the bitter critic Anton Ego by reminding him of his childhood. Fiennes' Slowik is a similar character, a man whose heart has been hardened and whose tastes have been calcified by the expectations of the world of fine dining.

The Menu allows Margot to live because she understands who Slowik is at his very core. Ordering the cheeseburger is her clever way of connecting to the one part of the chef that still has positive feelings about preparing food. When all of this is brought to life by the precise character work performed by Taylor-Joy and Fiennes (who were both nominated for Golden Globes for their roles), the scene becomes about much more than just a burger.