Savory cinema

10 Food Films That Stimulate The Palate

By Dan Tebo Vermont Country correspondent

According to the late Chef Gusteau in the impossibly brilliant Pixar film “Ratatouille,” “anyone can cook.” Food, more than just about anything else, is the universal language that everyone speaks.

As someone who has spent the last quarter-century working in the restaurant industry, I have witnessed the birth of a reality TV-influenced foodie culture that has negatively impacted people’s dining habits. What was once a venue for a night of escapism has increasingly become an arena to play amateur critic or to impart unsolicited wisdom gleaned from the Guy Fieris of the world.

Fortunately, filmmakers have historically showcased food as a source of joy and wonderment. The best onscreen depictions of cooking, be it a simple omelet or a seven-course French dinner, stimulate the palate as well as the soul. This month, we’re going to tune out the noise and look at some films that will send you scrambling to your refrigerator for the ingredients to make a late-night, last-minute timpano.

Tampopo (1985): The world’s first (and to date … only) “Ramen Western” follows a pair of urban cowboys as they work to transform a struggling widow into a world-class ramen chef. Come for slurps. Stay for the bizarrely unrelated vignettes, like the one where a gangster and his lover transfer a raw egg between each other’s mouths for an uncomfortably long amount of time.

Babette’s Feast (1987): An isolated group of ruthlessly devout 19th-century Danish villagers have their lives temporarily upended when a local housekeeper prepares them a seven-course French dinner with appropriate wine pairings. Pope Francis is reportedly a huge fan of this flick and, well, that guy is infallible!

Goodfellas (1990): Martin Scorsese’s mafia saga is not necessarily a food movie (at all), yet the sequence where some incarcerated wise guys prepare an elaborate jailhouse dinner has sent moviegoers scrambling for an emergency bowl of pasta for over three decades now. Just make sure you slice the garlic nice and thin so it liquifies in the pan.

Eat Drink Man Woman (1994): A Taiwanese widower and master chef with failing taste buds navigates his twilight years with the support of his three live-in adult daughters in this heartwarming film from Ang Lee. If it’s Mexican American cuisine you’d prefer, there’s a slightly inferior 2001 remake called “Tortilla Soup” that should have you covered.

Big Night (1996): Academy Award-nominated actor (and ersatz Tony Bourdain) Stanley Tucci co-wrote and directed this unassuming indie gem about quarreling Italian immigrant brothers and their last-ditch attempt to rescue their fledgling restaurant by hosting a “big night.” Their signature showstopper, the pasta timpano, looks like the most delicious dish ever created by a human person.

Ratatouille (2007): Far and away the greatest food film of all time, “Ratatouille” follows the travails of a Parisian chef named Remy as he labors to impress a bloodless food critic. Worth mentioning: Remy is an animated rat who dictates his recipes while hidden inside a chef’s toque. Anyone who doesn’t like this movie doesn’t like happiness.

The Trip (2010): British comedians Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon confront the onset of middle age ennui and ad lib themselves hoarse while eating their way across Northern England. Italian, Greek and Spanish installments are also available depending on your appetite.

Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011): You’ll never look at a piece of raw fish the same way after sampling this spellbinding documentary about Jiro Ono (still active at age 97 at press time), a master chef so singularly and overwhelmingly focused on the art of sushi that he requires his underlings to apprentice for a full decade before they’re allowed to make rice.

Chef (2014): Modern-era Star Wars Universe overlord Jon Favreau returned to his indie roots with this winsome comedy about an acclaimed chef who reinvents himself as a food truck proprietor after flaming out of the fine dining world. Watching this film without having the ingredients for a Cubano sandwich on hand is strongly discouraged.

The Menu (2022): A ferry full of walking restaurant-adjacent stereotypes (the overzealous amateur foodie, the withering food critic, the boozy, affluenza-afflicted regulars, the expense account raiding tech bros) travel to a Noma-esque restaurant on a remote island to sample a tasting menu prepared by a militaristic chef. Cliches aren’t the only thing that end up skewered in this deliciously off the wall horror comedy.