Quick Facts
- Primary Filming Location: Tybee Island and the surrounding Savannah, Georgia area, which stood in for a remote private island originally scouted in Scotland.
- The Culinary Brains: The fictional restaurant Hawthorne was inspired by the world-renowned Noma in Copenhagen, with dishes meticulously designed by three-Michelin-starred chef Dominique Crenn.
- The Price of Perfection: A seat at Chef Julian Slowik’s table in the film costs a staggering $1,250 per guest, a figure that mirrors the extreme end of real-world "destination dining."
- Cast Hangouts: While filming, the production resided at Savannah's Perry Lane Hotel and spent their off-hours at local institutions like Mrs. Wilkes Dining Room and The Crab Shack.
Introduction: The $1,250 Seat at Hawthorne
There is a specific, palpable tension that precedes a world-class meal. It’s the sound of a heavy boat engine cutting out in a quiet cove; the crisp, almost clinical snap of a linen napkin being laid across a lap; the haunting silence of a kitchen operating at the height of its powers. In Mark Mylod’s The Menu, this tension is weaponized. We follow a group of elite diners—each harboring their own pretension or secret—to Hawthorne, a brutalist monument of a restaurant situated on a private island. For $1,250 a head, they aren't just buying a meal; they are buying an experience from which there is no easy exit.
While the film’s narrative feels like a fever dream born of a Michelin inspector’s worst nightmare, the physical world it inhabits is very much real. Though the script originally envisioned the misty, rugged coastlines of Scotland, travel restrictions shifted the production to the sun-dappled, moss-draped marshes of Savannah, Georgia. Specifically, the production team transformed Tybee Island and its neighboring landscapes into a secluded, high-concept fortress. As a culture editor who has spent years tracing the intersection of plate and place, I find the transformation of the Georgia coast into a Nordic-style culinary purgatory to be one of the most fascinating "magic tricks" in recent cinema.
The Architecture of Dread: Designing Hawthorne
To understand Hawthorne, one must understand the man who built it—not the fictional Chef Julian Slowik, but production designer Ethan Tobman. Tobman’s challenge was to create a space that felt both aspirational and claustrophobic. He drew heavy inspiration from his own visit to Noma in Copenhagen, the legendary birthplace of "New Nordic" cuisine. The result is a Brutalist masterpiece: sharp lines, cold concrete, and expansive glass windows that offer a view of the island that feels more like a surveillance feed than a landscape.
The culinary soul of the film, however, belongs to Dominique Crenn. As the first female chef in the United States to earn three Michelin stars for her restaurant Atelier Crenn, she was brought on to ensure that every "course" served in the film was a piece of high art. Crenn worked alongside food stylist Kendall Gensler to create dishes that were beautiful yet unsettling—plates that reflected the movie’s themes of class, ego, and the death of art. The collaboration ensured that even for a viewer who has never stepped foot in a Michelin-starred establishment, the obsession and precision of the kitchen felt authentic.
"The kitchen in The Menu isn't just a set; it's a character. We wanted it to feel like a theater where the audience is part of the performance—whether they like it or not." — Ethan Tobman, Production Designer
Exploring the Real 'Hawthorne' Island: Tybee and Beyond
While the restaurant itself was a set built on a soundstage, the exterior of the "private island" utilized the hauntingly beautiful geography of the Georgia Lowcountry. The production team used clever landscaping and the existing architectural anomalies of the region to create a sense of isolation.
- Horsepen Point Drive (Tybee Island): This private residence served as the exterior for some of the island’s more intimate moments. The salt marshes here provide a shimmering, mercurial backdrop that feels miles away from the historic squares of downtown Savannah.
- Hampton Island Preserve: Located about 45 minutes south of Savannah, this 4,000-acre estate provided the wooden bridge and the "Big House" aesthetic. The bridge, in particular, becomes a symbol of the characters' entrapment—a narrow umbilical cord to a world they can no longer reach.
- Driftwood Beach (Jekyll Island): For the scenes requiring a more ethereal, skeletal beauty, the production turned to Jekyll Island’s famous Driftwood Beach. The gnarled, salt-bleached trees rising from the sand look like ancient sentinels, adding a layer of natural dread to the film’s exterior sequences.
Comparing the Culinary Titans
The fictional Hawthorne isn't a parody of one single restaurant, but rather a distillation of several world-class institutions. Here is how it stacks up against its real-world inspirations:
| Feature | Hawthorne (The Menu) | Noma (Copenhagen) | Atelier Crenn (San Francisco) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price Point | $1,250 per guest | Approx. $500 - $700 | Approx. $475+ |
| Concept | "The Island" - Total immersion | Hyper-local, seasonal Nordic | "Poetic Gastronomy" |
| Atmosphere | Brutalist, authoritarian | Rustic, minimalist, earthy | Elegant, artistic, intimate |
| Signature Vibe | Existential dread | Foraging and fermentation | Literary and sensory storytelling |
Dine Like the Cast: Savannah’s Culinary Favorites
While the characters in The Menu were forced to endure a "torture-by-tasting-menu," the cast and crew, including Ralph Fiennes and Anya Taylor-Joy, enjoyed the very best of Savannah’s hospitality. Savannah is often called the "Hostess City of the South," and its culinary map is a rich tapestry of historic soul food and modern innovation.
The cast made the Perry Lane Hotel their home base. This luxury boutique hotel in the heart of the Historic District is a masterclass in Savannah style, featuring a rooftop bar, Peregrin, that offers some of the best views in the city. When they weren't filming, the stars were frequently spotted at Common Thread, a restaurant housed in a beautifully restored Victorian mansion. Interestingly, the production even hired Common Thread's chef to serve as a consultant, ensuring the actors handled their kitchen tools with the grace of professionals.
For a taste of the island life without the threat of a "S’mores" finale, the crew frequented The Crab Shack on Tybee Beach. It is the antithesis of Hawthorne—unpretentious, loud, and serving up massive platters of Lowcountry boil where you "eat the view." For a more historic experience, they sought out Mrs. Wilkes Dining Room, a Savannah cornerstone where the fried chicken and communal tables have been legendary for decades.
- The Perry Lane Hotel: The cast's headquarters, known for its curated art and sophisticated rooftop culture.
- Common Thread: A temple to seasonal Georgia ingredients and refined technique.
- The Crab Shack: Where the crew went for rustic seafood and Tybee Island charm.
- Mrs. Wilkes Dining Room: The place for a traditional, soul-satisfying Southern feast.
Savannah’s 2026 Culinary Growth: What’s Next?
If The Menu captured a snapshot of Savannah’s versatility in 2022, the city’s culinary future looks even more ambitious. By 2026, Savannah is poised to solidify its status as a global food destination, moving beyond its "Hostess City" roots into a more experimental territory.
One of the most anticipated events is the return of the Strange Bird Streamliner in 2026, a local landmark that has long defined the city’s creative approach to casual dining. Additionally, the city is seeing an influx of high-end concepts from neighboring culinary capitals. Charleston’s renowned Marbled & Fin is set to open its doors, bringing a new level of steakhouse sophistication to the waterfront. We are also watching the rise of the Historic District’s La Vetta, an Italian concept that promises to blend old-world tradition with the breezy, coastal elegance of the Georgia shore.
The evolution is clear: Savannah is no longer just a backdrop for Hollywood; it is becoming the main event for travelers who travel with their palates.
FAQ
Is Hawthorne a real restaurant? No, Hawthorne is a fictional restaurant created for the movie The Menu. However, its design and philosophy were heavily inspired by real-life destination restaurants like Noma in Denmark and the culinary artistry of Chef Dominique Crenn.
Can you visit the island from The Menu? The "island" is actually a combination of several locations. You can visit Tybee Island and Jekyll Island (home to Driftwood Beach) quite easily. However, the restaurant building itself was a temporary set and does not exist.
Where did Anya Taylor-Joy eat in Savannah? Anya Taylor-Joy and the rest of the cast were frequently seen at the Perry Lane Hotel’s rooftop bar and local favorites like Common Thread and Mrs. Wilkes Dining Room.
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