Click here to read the Spanish version.
Just a few days ago, the world mourned the death of David Lynch, one of the great cinematic legends of all time who transformed his films and series into unnerving, surreal and sordid universes that would forever impact the history of cinema.
Lynch’s work developed some of its most relevant plots in filthy diners, dingy bars or kitchens that remain in our collective memory, and that have inspired the creation of restaurants, cafés or bars that you can visit in real life. We take a look at some of the most acclaimed, categorised around cult films.
TWIN PEAKS
The Twin Peaks saga has a whole entourage of devotees who love the mystery and humour of the series in which food is presented as the ultimate symbol of virtue, hedonism and joy. All of this is served up in sequences set in places like the Great Northern Hotel restaurant or the classic Double R Dinner.
Of these mythical places in fiction, replicas have been reproduced so that you can recreate their most iconic scenes there; as is the case of the Illinois coffee shop, ‘Damn Fine Coffe’ or the ‘Log Lady Cafe’ in Copenhagen, named after one of the most enigmatic characters in its universe.
The tribute also materialises in restaurants such as the ‘Wyckoff Starr’ in Brooklyn, or the ‘Great Nothern BBQ’ in Rhode Island, which evokes the creative and supernatural scenario of the series through multiple visual codes.
Meanwhile, even if the town of Twin Peaks existed only in Lynch’s imagination, most of the filming locations still stand in the town of North Bend, Washington. The Salish Lodge & Spa and its restaurant continue to attract fans of David Lynch’s masterpiece, despite lending only its exterior to the iconic show. Once inside, diners can sample classic Pacific Northwest dishes such as grilled salmon, Manila clams and Dungeness crab cakes.
But the cornerstone of Lynchian locations is undoubtedly Twede’s Cafe in North Bend, Washington. As the hub of the Twin Peaks population, the diner was home to Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan), who played his obsession with black coffee and hot pie there. The Double R Diner was the workplace of Norma Jennings (Peggy Lipton), Shelly Johnson (Mädchen Amick) and, eventually, Cooper’s mistress, Annie Blackburn (Heather Graham).
As a result, the interiors of this iconic 1940s café would forever be immortalised through the ‘Twin Peaks’ memorabilia on its walls, and the daily serving of slices of pie and coffee to the show’s fandom.
WILD AT HEART
Antoine’s Restaurant in New Orleans is featured in Lynch’s romantic film ‘Wild at Heart’ (1990) as Sailor and Lula drive through the city’s French Quarter as the couple arrives in their now iconic bright blue convertible.
Founded in 1840, Antoine’s has been the place to be in New Orleans for more than a century and has been visited by the likes of Brad Pitt and Bruce Willis. If you go there now, you can enjoy Cajun and Creole staples like oysters Rockefeller, seafood gumbo and crabmeat ravigote, and wash them down with Southern staples like a Sazerac, Hemingway daiquiri or Pimm’s glass.
MULHOLLAND DRIVE
In the town of Gardena, California, is the Caesar’s restaurant that became a legend thanks to David Lynch’s 2001 showbiz masterpiece, ‘Mulholland Drive’.
In a scene as creepy as it is absurd, a character leaves the restaurant after eating and stumbles upon a filthy monstrosity near the dumpster. Renamed Winkie’s within the ‘Mulholland’ universe, Caesar’s closed in 2017. However, its vibrant yellow and blue stone building still stands for film buffs to have their photo taken there.
