Golden Globe® Nominated Romantic Comedy highlights Food and Romance in beautiful Santa Barbara, California.

Academy Award® nominated filmmaker Nancy Meyers (Something Gotta Give & The Holiday) brings moviegoers her latest film It’s Complicated, a sophisticated romantic comedy with an all-star cast of Meryl Streep (two-time Academy Award® winner), Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin, Rita Wilson and myself, Cynthia Daddona, (two-time Telly Award winner & host of RomancingTheTable.com®) as an extra!

Cynthia Daddona with husband James Stathis in Farmer's Market scene in Santa Barbara.

I was delighted when the casting call for “It’s Complicated” took place where I live in Santa Barbara, California. My husband James and I were selected for the Farmer’s Market scene. I portrayed a shopper and James, an upscale flower vendor. In the movie, you can see me behind Meryl Streep selecting some fruit and on-screen for 4 seconds when she is on her cellphone with Alex Baldwin! We will be looking to see if James (who is also creator of CelebrateGreece.com) maybe in the bonus section of the DVD once it is released.

Santa Barbara with its gorgeous Mediterranean like atmosphere, architectural beauty, sweeping views and abundant farmers markets is highlighted beautifully in the movie, especially in the opening. Over the years, Santa Barbara has been developing into a foodie mecca and we are delighted it is now highlighted in a major motion picture. In Oct 2009, the city hosted a month long culinary festival to celebrate the delicious gastronomy and seasonal menus of our town. (Epicure.sb)

The film It’s Complicated has received three Golden Globe nominations for Best Motion Picture for Musical or Comedy, Director/Screenwriter Nancy Meyers for Best Screenplay and Meryl Streep for Best Performance for an Actress in a Motion Picture who is also completed against herself for playing Julia Childs in Julie & Julia. Meryl does a superb job in both films.

Nancy Meyers has once again done a wonderful job with this Golden Globe nominated movie about love, divorce and everything in between.

Exes Jake (ALEC BALDWIN) and Jane (MERYL STREEP)

Meryl Streep plays Jane Aldler, a mother of three grown kids, who owns a thriving Santa Barbara bakery restaurant. She has been divorced for ten years from her ex-husband attorney Jake played by Alec Baldwin. But at their son’s graduation they share an innocent meal with a bit too much wine and you can guess the rest. Caught in the love triangle is Adam, a divorced architect hired to remodel her kitchen – played with understatement and charm by Steve Martin.

Jane (MERYL STREEP) and new love interest Adam (STEVE MARTIN) share a meal in the film.

Portraying Meryl’s closest friends and romantic advisors are Rita Wilson, Alexandra Wentworth, Nora Dunn and Mary Kay Place. It’s Complicated offers many insights into divorce, love and surviving and thriving on one’s own.

(L to R) Friends Joanne (MARY KAY PLACE), Jane (MERYL STREEP), Diane (ALEXANDRA WENTWORTH) and Trisha (RITA WILSON)

Food, love and good times at the table also play major roles in the film. I believe these elements contribute to happy relationships and are some of the reasons that I was inspired to create RomancingTheTable.com years ago. In the movie, Jane’s kids comment on how good it feels for the family to eat together again at the graduation weekend.

Jane (MERYL STREEP) and new love interest Adam (STEVE MARTIN) get to know each other better cooking chocolate croissants.

One of my favorite food scenes is when Jane (Meryl Streep) takes Adam(Steve Martin) to her upscale bakery after hours and says she will make him anything he wants on the menu. He chooses the chocolate croissant and as they cook together so does the relationship!

This film opens opened on Christmas Day 2009 and the DVD is now available. I recommend it if you’d like to enjoy a funny, insightful, smart comedy about relationships, food and love.

To view the trailer for this movie from Universal Pictures go to www.ItsComplicatedMovie.com

Check out this short video on my wonderful experience as a CSA member
(Community Shared Agriculture) at Fairview Gardens, one of the oldest organic farms in California. With increased national interest in eating locally grown organic foods for one’s health, the environment and supporting your local farmers, a CSA program is a great and affordable way to ‘eat like a Mediterranean’. The Mediterranean diet, largely plant-based, has been proven scientifically to be one of the healthiest diets in the world.

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Check out RomancingTheTable.com for recipes, tips and watch me explore the cuisine of the Mediterranean (on location) with our #1 New York Times’ About.com Culinary-Travel DVD, A Greek Islands Destinations Cooking Class (DVD), filmed in Santorini, Greece. For women’s wellness tips, check out my Amazon.com Top Selling book, Diary of A Modern Day Goddess.

For more information on Fairview Gardens visit FairviewGardens.org.

To find a local Farmer’s Market or CSA program near you, visit LocalHarvest.org