Spanish director Isabel Coixet hasn't posted to her food blog in the last couple of years, but read a few of her descriptive older posts and you quickly grasp why she calls herself “food obsessed.”
The idea for Foodie Love, the new HBO Europe series that marks a first foray into television for the veteran director of films like Elisa & Marcela and My Life Without Me, came naturally to her.
“For me, Foodie Love is a way to use all the years eating in the most incredible restaurants in the world, and also in the strangest places,” says the Barcelona-based Coixet, whose Miss Wasabi Films banner also produces. “I was convinced it would be something people would love.”
The eight half-hour episodes of HBO Europe’s first Spanish drama began airing in Spain on Dec. 4 and will premiere across Europe on Christmas day. In Spain it’s already been nominated for two Feroz Awards — film and TV honors given annually by the Association of Cinematographic Reporters of Spain — for best dramatic series and best lead actress in a series.
The story turns on two lonely 30-something professionals who find each other on a foodie app and begin meeting regularly at distinctive eateries. At first the characters, played by Spain’s Laia Costa and Argentina-born Guillermo Pfening, are just looking for companionship.
“One of the things about foodie people is we really like to share. When you know a place and the food is amazing, you want to take people,” Coixet explains. “You feel very disappointed if they don’t like it.”
“You can eat alone but it’s better if you share with someone.”
Read the full story on The Hollywood Reporter.
Photo credit Zoe Sala Coixet/ HBO España