For photographer Henry Hargreaves and food stylist Charlotte Omnès, the James Bond films have always been missing one thing that Ian Fleming’s books had in abundance: detailed food porn.
Sleek Aston Martins, beautiful women, finely tailored clothing, and very specific martini instructions are all well and good—but that certainly doesn’t mean Bond didn’t know how to feast. So Hargreaves and Omnès teamed up to create Dying To Eat, a project showcasing the most lavish meals from each of Fleming’s novels. According to Hargreaves,
Fun fact: Hargreaves’ grandfather, coincidentally, served with Fleming during the war and consulted on some of the tailoring details of the Bond books. We showcased some of our favo(u)rite photographs from Dying To Eat, but you can check out the entire series on Hargreaves’ site.
Casino Royale
On the menu: Caviar with extra toast, grilled rognon de veau, pommes souffles, fraises de bois with a lot of cream, tournedos underdone with sauce Béarnaise, half an avocado pear with a little French dressing
Goldfinger
On the menu: Stone crabs (fresh not frozen) with melted butter and thick toast, two pints of pink Champagne, two double vodka Martinis to start
Live & Let Die
On the menu: Little Neck Clams and Fried Chicken Maryland with bacon and sweet corn
Diamonds Are Forever
On the menu: Smoked salmon, Brizzola (rib-eye steak), medium-dry Martini made with Cresta Blanca vermouth from California
You Only Live Twice
On the menu: Kobe beef fed four pints of beer a day and massaged with shochu, accompanied by a saucer of blood.