THE DINER: Paul Krendler (Ray Liotta), a corrupt Department of Justice official bent on destroying Clarice Starling’s career
THE SETTING: An elegant dinner prepared by the infamous Dr. Hannibal Lecter. Both of his guests—Starling (Julianne Moore) and Krendler—have been drugged. One of them has had the top of their skull sawed open.
THE MEAL: A portion of Krendler’s brain—from the prefrontal lobe—sautéed in a pan with shallots and white wine. (The scene is not available on YouTube, but can be seen by clicking here.
NAUSEA LEVEL (ON A SCALE OF 1 to 10): [ 10 ] Utterly gruesome scene—and, apparently, medically accurate. Krendler talking, oblivious to the fact that he’s just been given a tableside craniotomy, is just flat-out wrong.