Much like a meal, how you feel about a film is about context: when, where, and with whom you share the experience is a tremendous influence. In tribute to the Ephron sisters I made a date with my sister. We met for a lovely dinner at Brooklyn restaurant Sel de Mer, choosing seafood because it was sole meuniere that set Julia Child on her culinary path. Our menus were charming, as was our waitress, and our meal was delicious. We floated out of the restaurant, over the Williamsburg Bridge, and into an east village theater, ready to be charmed even further. Thankfully the film did not disappoint. We laughed with and cheered on both women as they worked for their eventual happy endings, one recipe at a time.

Much has been made of Meryl Streep’s performance, and rightly so — she is incredible to watch. The sequences in Paris, the unfolding of Julia’s career and life with Paul, are entertaining and wonderfully rich with detail. But I give Nora Ephron equal credit for capturing the perhaps less glamorous life of modern woman Julie Powell. The unfolding of her Queens life, with her thwarted artistic ambitions and rickety apartment, tells it’s own story. Yet there are commonalities between the two — childless women in happy marriages find literary success through their love of cooking. This Ephron touch, the emphasis on women’s ambition and fulfillment through work, is what made both Julie and Julia so sympathetic to me. And, of course, the cooking sequences! Inspired, my sister and I have set another date: to make our attempt at boeuf bourguignon.