Why this movie matters (and why it vanished)
There’s a tiny, perfect documentary that captures the last days of a scrappy Village diner and its legendary, grumpy chef — and for a while nobody could watch it. Shot in the early 2000s, the film followed Kenny Shopsin and his chaotic, glorious restaurant life. After a run as a cult favorite, it slipped into licensing limbo and basically ghosted its audience for years.
The man behind the apron
Kenny Shopsin was a walking, yelling piece of New York folklore: half chef, half curmudgeon, part-time philosopher. He ran the place with an iron set of rules (no big parties, no annoying customers, and know how to order), made wild food combinations, and treated diners to sermons between flipping eggs. He and his wife Eve raised five kids while keeping the restaurant a neighborhood institution.
How the film came to be
Director Matt Mahurin filmed Shopsin in 2002–2003 as the original location closed and the family moved the restaurant a few blocks away. Kenny was famously publicity-averse, so it was a rare request for the director to document the scene — a raw, pre-gentrification slice of Greenwich Village life with regulars who loved the place (and learned how not to annoy Kenny).
Kitchen philosophy and strange dishes
The movie is full of hilarious and startling moments: Kenny scolding patrons with a thick New York accent, tossing salads with his bare hands, and inventing oddball combos like pulled-pork with ice cream. He treated food like a social experiment — sometimes messy, sometimes brilliant, always honest. There’s even a running motif about a bug zapper in the kitchen and his offbeat takes on big-picture topics.
The long, weird rights saga
After an early licensing period — including a time when the film circulated on DVD via a then-young Netflix — the rights wandered into a black hole when the distributor folded. The director kept hearing from people desperate for copies; it was frustrating for fans and for the filmmaker. Luckily, the rights eventually reverted back and a restoration effort got rolling.
Back from hiding: restoration and release
With help from an indie film company, the movie was restored and rereleased. It’s now available to rent or buy on digital platforms and the restoration even led to DVDs and Blu-rays being made. To celebrate, there were a couple of special screenings at a Manhattan cinema, giving long-time fans a chance to see the chaos on the big screen again.
Family, grief, and the lasting hum of the place
Kenny and Eve’s kids helped keep the restaurant alive — and documented film footage became a kind of family time capsule. Eve died during the making of the documentary, and Kenny passed away later in life; their son Zack now runs the place at its current market location. Zack still carries his dad’s voice and attitude: he’s there most days, yelling at annoying customers and charming the old regulars like a chip off the old cantankerous block.
Why you should watch it
Whether you love food stories, eccentric characters, or the smell of a neighborhood that hasn’t been scrubbed into a mall, this film is a small, filthy love letter to a vanishing New York. It’s funny, a little mean, occasionally profound, and full of those messy human moments that make documentaries worth watching. If you enjoy people who tell it like it is — and sometimes toss coleslaw on ice cream — you’ll find it irresistible.
Final taste
The restored documentary is a chance to revisit a loud, weird corner of the city and the unforgettable personality who ran it. Think of it as a snapshot of a stubborn, soulful eatery that refused to be polite, and a reminder that some legends live on exactly because they annoyed everyone around them.
