Uni’s Big-Screen Debut

Jason Wise’s Documentary ‘The Delicacy’ Points Lens at Santa Barbara’s Sea Urchin

Jason Wise filmed The Delicacy all on film over the course of six years. | Credit: Courtesy

In film school, when all of his peers wanted to be the next Quentin Tarantino, Jason Wise was more keen on David Attenborough, inspired by the legendary documentarian’s oeuvre of nature films. But he couldn’t figure out how to make one himself. “I’d start following animals, and then I became obsessed with the people around them,” said Wise.

The director instead built his career on the Somm series of documentaries about sommeliers and wine culture, but he never gave up on the nature flick idea. “Most successful nature films are about animals who behave like people,” he said. “I’ve always had this very strange, quiet obsession: Could you make a film about an animal that’s nothing like people?”

Stephanie Mutz dives into the kelp forests off of the Gaviota Coast in search of uni.

As he explored the world of wine, Wise came to love sea urchin, also known as uni. “Sea urchin was a life-changing food for me. I try to seek it out everywhere I go,” he said. “It’s the absolute top expression of terroir on earth. It’s a mile above grapes. I’m so endlessly fascinated by this creature that has no memory and no awareness.”