’70s Redux

Chefs with Mustaches

Then

Handlebar mustaches were de rigueur among top French chefs.

Now

Chefs like Rob Evans of Hugo’s in Portland, Maine, rock the modified goatee (right).

Julia Child

Then

With her unmistakable warble and 6-foot-2 stature, Julia Child was the 1970s’ favorite food celebrity, with a new show and four new cookbooks.

Now

Box office giant Meryl Streep dons a wig and platform lifts to play Julia Child opposite Amy Adams as writer and blogger Julie Powell in the upcoming Julie & Julia, due out in 2009.

Harvey Wallbanger

Then

Galliano, a vanilla-and-anise-flavored Italian liqueur, is the key ingredient in the Harvey Wallbanger, the era’s essential brunch cocktail.

Now

This fall, Galliano will reintroduce its classic formula. Mixologists are updating the cocktail, as in this Humpty Dumpty from Johnny Raglin at San Francisco’s Absinthe (right).

Whole Grains

Then

Whole grains like farro, barley, spelt and quinoa are staples at health-food stores and hippie communes.

Now

This almond, shiitake and quinoa salad (right) is served at Chicago’s Aigre Doux. Top chefs are now exploring even more esoteric grains, like frik and teff.

Judgment of Paris

Then

California wine earns international cred when Napa Valley’s Château Montelena and Stag’s Leap out-score some of France’s best in a 1976 blind tasting.

Now

Alan Rickman stars in Bottle Shock, Hollywood’s take on the controversial tasting. Another film, based on George M. Taber’s book Judgment of Paris, is in production (right).