The Celebrity Burger

An In-N-Out truck earned more oohs and aahs than the celebrity-stacked fall series at Paramount

I was at Paramount studios this week for the L.A. upfronts. There were maybe, 200, folk there, salespeople and TV execs from all over the world looking to buy programming for their national networks. We screened 3 lbs, a new hour-long drama about brilliant neurosurgeons starting Paul Tucci and Mark Feuerstein. There was snappy dialogue brought to life by beautiful actors; The Game was a so-so look behind-the-scenes at pro-football; the Rules of Engagement starring a Canadian, Paulo Costanzo, as a newly engaged innocent. Costanzo is fresh off the train wreck of Joey. My least favourite was Jericho, which chronicles a Kansas town that survives a nuclear holocaust. It was terrifying and I hated every minute of it! Even with Skeet Ulrich and Gerald McRaney as lead characters, it just couldn't hold my attention. But I'm wandering.

Sure there was plenty of talent and interesting storylines but what got the congregation most excited - and the reason for this column - is the food.

Specifically, when a CBS executive announced it was lunch time, the unseasonable rain had stopped and, better yet, that the In-N-Out lunch truck had just arrived, electric anticipation shot through the crowd in that swanky theatre. "Mmm, delicious, let's get out there," said a British saleswoman sitting behind me. In their perfectly pressed suits and coiffed hair, these people zoomed out the door as if they were in a Pamplona street with bulls thundering behind them.

I love that fast food generated more excitement than the shows with their chockablock celebrity quotient. So, I got to thinking, is it possible for food to be a star? Obviously it is. In-N-Out gets plenty of ink, on-air mentions and underground buzz. On the red carpet at the Oscars one year, Penelope Cruz said she'd just had a double-double (that's two hamburgers stacked one on top of the other with a 'special' sauce). Yes, it sounds improbable that a skinny minny like Cruz would devour burger but stranger things have happened in Hollywood.

Here's the thing with In-N-Out. It's a family run franchise with outlets in Southern California, and several other Southwestern states. The burger tastes like a burger should rather than greasy baby food you find at McDonald's. Their French fries are good, not too salty and they are made fresh in-house. They don't spend millions on advertising and, in fact, in two years of living in the States, I don't recall seeing a single commercial. And yet, everybody has heard of them. Their food is legend.

At Paramount, a lot of people walked by the tables of fresh salads, fresh fruit, grilled veggies, and various other goodies, right out of the dining tents to queue up at the In-N-Out truck. You'd think they were in line for an autograph. Their enthusiasm was so out of character - these are well-traveled, well-heeled execs after all - that it made the screenings a sweet affair.