The morning after my last meal at Maestro, Danny Godinez’s new Mexican restaurant in Old Pasadena, I pulled the leftover barbacoa out of the refrigerator to see if I could salvage enough for a taco.

In hindsight, Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut “A Star is Born” served as the commercial tune-up that paved the way for “Maestro,” as both films deal with the price of art as well as loving an ...