ALISON BOSHOFF:Brooklyn Beckham's cookin' up a new line of posh aprons

ALISON BOSHOFF: Brooklyn Beckham’s cookin’ up a new line of posh aprons and wooden spoons… The less said about his habit of cooking while wearing a rescue puppy in a sling, the better

The critics may have nervous breakdowns over Brooklyn Peltz-Beckham’s apparent inability to tell his alfredo from his bechamel.

Never mind the white knuckle ride watching how much oil he adds to his potatoes. And the less said about his habit of cooking while wearing a rescue puppy in a sling, the better.

However, it can be revealed that the ‘budding chef’ is to launch a range of branded items for use in the kitchen.

Sources indicate that Brooklyn, who took up cooking during lockdown and has 15.3 million followers on Instagram, will endorse chef’s aprons, T-shirts, bandanas, hats and cooking utensils such as tongs and wooden spoons, all emblazoned with his name.

A friend revealed: ‘Brooklyn has a team working with him on ideas now. He has ambitions to be a fashion icon, as well as a chef. He’s hoping to start a revolution in what chefs wear. 

The critics may have nervous breakdowns over Brooklyn Peltz-Beckham’s (pictured) apparent inability to tell his alfredo from his bechamel

‘His aprons, for instance, won’t be made of leather (traditional as it protects chefs from heat and injury) but will just have leather straps instead.

‘He has a great interest in fashion and design and there will be items such as bandanas to keep your hair off your face, too.’

The source added: ‘In terms of the kitchenware, he likes polished wood and oversized items. He is also very attached to his tongs.’

It will be yet another cash-in from Brooklyn who, like parents David and Victoria Beckham, is no slouch when it comes to building a brand.

He has recently signed a number of commercial deals, endorsing plant milk and tinned sake rice wine, while also fronting Instagram reels for the venerable Michelin guide.

In one Michelin video he is seen eating sushi at Hayato, a Michelin two-starred restaurant in Los Angeles, where the tasting menu costs $350 (£283) a head.

After sampling some Gold Ice Snapper with Shiso Blossoms he observes: ‘It’s probably one of the most gorgeous plates of food I’ve ever seen and it’s just like such a clean taste. It goes down so amazing.’

Brooklyn, 24, tried careers in football, modelling and photography before alighting on the world of food. But there has been controversy (and mockery) over his abilities as a chef. 

Videos showing him cooking enormous — and enormously expensive — cuts of meat have turned some off, and his use of huge quantities of butter and oil has also attracted comment.

Brooklyn, 24, tried careers in football, modelling and photography before alighting on the world of food. But there has been controversy (and mockery) over his abilities as a chef

In the world of Italian food, he’s been criticised for using tomato sauce from a jar to make lasagne, and for adding bechamel sauce to spaghetti for ‘Pasta Alfredo’, rather than using alfredo sauce (with cream, garlic and parsley) with fettucine. 

When viewers spotted a wine cork bobbing in his ragu, Beckham insisted it was there to tenderise the dish.

A social media TV series, Cookin’ With Brooklyn, was created with Facebook owners Meta last year. In it, he was reportedly assisted by a team of 62 to create short videos in which he made food for friends. 

For a fish and chips sandwich, a chef friend battered and cooked the fish and also cooked the hash browns. Brooklyn’s input was restricted to spreading aioli on a bagel.

In a more recent video he made a grilled cheese sandwich and blowtorched the bread. Some were distracted by a gaping hole in his tracksuit bottoms, others sarcastically described the result as a ‘culinary masterpiece’.

In an interview he insisted: ‘I’m not a professional chef. I’ve never said that. I never would say that. Obviously, my dad [retired footballer David] knew what he was doing at a very young age. I’ve only been doing cooking for not even three years.’

Last week he said on Instagram: ‘I love cooking because it’s one of the few things that takes my mind off anything that’s happening.’

…while Dad’s documentary gets Succession treatment 

Fisher Stevens, who plays slimy PR man Hugo in Succession, was the sensation of last week’s episode when he responded to Kendall Roy’s offer to be his ‘dog’ with: ‘Woof woof.’ 

The actor was in Cannes this week to promote the stylish Wes Anderson film Asteroid City. Surprisingly, he is also the producer and director of the upcoming David Beckham documentary for Netflix. 

Even more surprisingly, he got the job after long-term pal Leonardo DiCaprio recommended him personally to Beckham. 

Stevens said: ‘The story I was told was that David was hanging out with Leo, and asked him who he should get. I also feel like they wanted an American, because we didn’t have so many preconceived ideas about him.’ 

Stevens, from Chicago, won a Best Documentary Oscar in 2010, for The Cove, which exposed the Japanese practice of hunting and killing dolphins.

Fisher Stevens (pictured), who plays slimy PR man Hugo in Succession, was the sensation of last week’s episode when he responded to Kendall Roy’s offer to be his ‘dog’ with: ‘Woof woof’

Cannes glory with a whiff of scandal?

Director Todd Haynes has mined the recent history of the Mary Kay Letourneau scandal for his latest film, May December.

Julianne Moore plays a woman who has a liaison with a 13-year-old boy — and goes on to marry and have children with him, after serving a jail term.

Natalie Portman, 41, is being tipped for a possible best actress Palme D’Or for her performance as an actress who goes to meet the woman after being cast in a film about the scandal. 

Letourneau, a teacher, was jailed in 1997 after admitting to a sexual relationship with a pupil. She died in 2020, aged 58.

Asked about the title of the film, Haynes said (rather wickedly): ‘It’s a term in English which doesn’t translate into other languages and means an older/younger relationship. Some people in France call it Le Macron.’

President Macron met his wife Brigitte when he was 15 and she was 40, and his school teacher.

Natalie Portman (pictured), 41, is being tipped for a possible best actress Palme D’Or for her performance as an actress who goes to meet the woman after being cast in a film about the scandal

Midsomer gets a special guest for DCI Barnaby’s 50th episode

Actor Neil Dudgeon has reached a milestone in his Midsomer Murders journey — his 50th episode as DCI John Barnaby will be screened this Sunday.

Dudgeon, 62, replaced John Nettles in the lead role back in 2011 and has some way to go yet to reach Nettles’ final tally of 81 episodes.

However, executive producer Michele Buck tells me that he is motoring ahead as a new series, the 24th, has just started filming.

Buck, who also produced Poirot, tells me that there was some cake and a brief celebration for Dudgeon. She adds: ‘We all love Neil, and the audience love him, too. He is the real deal — he’s a nice man, and people can see that.’

She adds: ‘One of the secrets of Neil’s success is that it really works when you get a glimpse of his home life. (Actress) Fiona Dolman has the upper hand, his daughter Betsy has the upper hand, I think even the dog has the upper hand.

Dudgeon’s (middle) half century show finds him paired on screen with Kevin Whately (left), who has his own very long history as a television detective in Inspector Morse and Lewis 

‘He will come back from solving a big case and, as soon as he gets through the door, he is cut down to size — and he doesn’t really mind a bit.’

She went on: ‘The murders in Midsomer are never nasty or grim — it’s whimsy. When you are watching the show, you can relax. The world is scary and awful and grim, but the show is like a safe, warm blanket.’

Dudgeon’s half century show finds him paired on screen with Kevin Whately, who has his own very long history as a television detective in Inspector Morse and Lewis.

The story involves a murder at the local opera society — and Whately sings in it. Apparently music was his first love, and he is rather good.

The house that Jack built

Anyone with a serious interest in film will be entertained (and amazed) by a gorgeous four-part documentary 100 Years Of Warner Bros: from Bette Davis bursting in on Jack Warner on the loo, to Oliver Stone getting death threats over JFK. 

The doc was made by Oscar-nominee Leslie Iwerks, whose grandfather drew Mickey Mouse for Walt Disney. 

In Cannes this week — where the picture is being shown — she told me she interviewed around 60 film icons for her project, including George Clooney, Baz Luhrmann and Oprah Winfrey.

Meanwhile the company’s CEO David Zaslav threw an epic party at the Hotel Du Cap for a chosen few. 

Former Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter was the co-host and arranged for a Perspex sheet to be placed just under the surface of the hotel’s infinity pool, so scenes from great WB films of the past 100 years could be projected onto it.

Anyone with a serious interest in film will be entertained (and amazed) by a gorgeous four-part documentary 100 Years Of Warner Bros: from Bette Davis (left) bursting in on Jack Warner (right) on the loo, to Oliver Stone getting death threats over JFK

The lavish event had its critics, given that the company is in the middle of global lay-offs, not to mention the financial pains of the writers strike. 

Channelling his inner Marie Antoinette, Carter said: ‘If there is a writer who is here, striking outside the gates, and they’re well dressed, I will invite them in. This party is a celebration of their work, so I hope there are no incidents.’

Among celebrity guests were Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio, Sting and Tom Hanks with his wife Rita Wilson.

Perennial playboy Leonardo DiCaprio has been circling supermodel Irina Shayk while in Cannes, in between receiving plaudits for his performance in Martin Scorsese’s Killers Of The Flower Moon.

He and Shayk, right, who has a child with actor Bradley Cooper, were at Naomi Campbell’s birthday bash on Monday. And the Russian supermodel, who lives in New York, was also among those attending the premiere of his film.

They have known each other a long time and were both at Coachella this spring — although officially they are ‘just friends’. At 37, she is a little older than his usual companions.

Perennial playboy Leonardo DiCaprio has been circling supermodel Irina Shayk (pictured) while in Cannes, in between receiving plaudits for his performance in Martin Scorsese’s Killers Of The Flower Moon

Indiana Jones may have hung up his bullwhip, but hardcore Harrison Ford, aged 80, still has his drinking boots on. 

Very late on Friday night — around 2am — he was virtually the last man standing at a Cannes party thrown by film producer and publisher Charles Finch to celebrate the latest edition of his film ‘bookazine’ A Rabbit’s Foot.

Ford told me he was having a ‘tremendous’ time at the Festival, where Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny had its premiere and he was presented with an honorary Palme D’Or. 

He also shared his love of British tailoring — to be specific, the grey Paul Smith suit he was wearing.

His wife Calista Flockhart waited patiently for him to finish making the rounds, which he did with great charm and bad language. 

Indiana Jones may have hung up his bullwhip, but hardcore Harrison Ford, aged 80, still has his drinking boots on

Ford was in heavy demand from the celeb-heavy crowd which included TV presenter Mariella Frostrup, actress Alicia Vikander, actor Mads Mikkelsen and director Audrey Diwan, who is about to shout ‘action!’ on a remake of the famous erotic Emmanuelle film, set in present day Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, his Indiana Jones co-star John Rhys-Davies (Sallah in Indy and Gimli in The Lord Of The Rings) was also on top form. Rhys-Davies, 79, said he’d barely stopped working in a 50-year career. 

‘Naturally, I attributed this to my genius; until it dawned on me that if you are tall, fat and ugly — with a loud voice — you are in a seller’s market.’

The life and achievements of charity fundraiser Captain Sir Tom Moore are to be brought to the big screen. 

Nick Moorcroft and Meg Leonard, who wrote the heartwarming hit Fisherman’s Friends, based on a true story, are preparing the script and it is due to go into production in the autumn.

No word yet on who might play the Captain, who raised £38.9 million by walking around his garden during lockdown, and died in February 2021.

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