Top Food Movies of All Time

A Collection of Great Movies About Food & Cooking

There have been so many great movies with food and cooking in the storyline. Isn't more and more of these movies being made every week?

It has to do with the greater interest in food altogether.  With so many food networks, top chefs, & celebrity chef television shows being all the rage, it's no surprise there are so many foodie movies being produced.

Here are a few of my favorite movies listed by date. Each includes the release date, director, quote from the movie, language, awards, and a few comments by me describing the story. I'll be adding more movies as I think of them or get a chance to watch them. Many of the earlier films were viewed many years ago, and I can't wait to watch them again with my kids.

There are also many great food movies I have not included (yet), and I will try to add them over time. If you have any suggestions, please let me know in the comments section below.

 

Babette's Feast

Released:1987
Director: Gabriel Axel
Great Quote by Old Lorenz Lowenhielm: Mercy and truth have met together.
Language: Danish with English subtitles
Awards: Academy Award for Foreign Language Film
Storyline: This takes place in 19th century Denmark, where Babette arrives from France as a refugee looking for a place to live and ends up working for 2 older, unmarried sisters living in a small village on the coast of Jutland. The two sisters cannot afford to take Babette in, so she offers to work for free as their cook. For 14 years, she has been cooking the bland meals they are accustomed to while living an abstemious lifestyle. Babette's only connection to France is a friend who once a year buys her a lottery ticket, and as you can guess, she wins a sum of money, which she uses to pay for a "real French dinner" as a show of her appreciation. The results of this incredible meal is more than just a pleasurable dining experience so I'll leave you to watch the movie to see how Babette's Feast changes some lives forever.
Purchase at Amazon: Babette's Feast

 

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Like Water For Chocolate

Released: 1993
Director: Alfonso Arau
Great Quote by Laura Esquivel: Each of us is born with a box of matches inside us, but we can't strike them all by ourselves
Language: Danish with English subtitles
Awards: Ariel Award for best picture
Storyline: Based on the novel by Laura Esquivel, published in 1989, this is the story of a young girl, Tita, who falls in love with Pedro, but her mother refuses to let her marry him. Instead, her mother offers her sister's hand to Pedro, which he accepts to be closer to Tita. In the meantime, Tita bakes a special wedding cake with her tears, causing anyone who eats it to become sick. Can you see where this is going? The story gets much more involved, but whenever Tita cooks, something crazy happens, so I'll let you watch it and find out for yourself.  I sure would like to get my hands on Tita's cookbook.
Purchase at Amazon: Like Water For Chocolate

 

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Big Night

Released: 1996
Directors: Campbell Scott And Stanley Tucci
Great Quote: To Eat Good Food Is To Be Close To God.
Language: English
Awards: nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, Scott & Tucci won the New York Film Critics Circle Award
Storyline: It takes place in my home state of New Jersey in the 1950s, where two brothers, Italian immigrants, decided to open an Italian restaurant called Paradise. One of the brothers, Primo, is an incredible chef trying to teach Americans about real Italian food. In contrast, his younger brother, Secondo, is the restaurant manager and wants the restaurant to succeed. The storyline gets complicated as the business fails, and Secondo starts cheating on his girlfriend. It's a great story with incredible acting and amazing food scenes.
Purchase at Amazon: Big Night

 

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Ratatouille

Released: 2007
Director: Brad Bird
Great Quote by Gusteau: If you focus on what you left behind, you will never see what lies ahead!
Language: English
Awards: Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film, Best Animated Feature Award from the Chicago Film Critics,  National Board of Review, Annie Awards, Broadcast Film Critics,  British Academy of Film and Television (BAFTA), and the Golden Globes.
Storyline: Simple: A rat who can cook meets a young man who can't. Throw in a love interest, a devious restaurant owner, and a pompous food critic, and I'm sure you can see where this is going. As you can imagine, it all works out in the end, but the fun part is watching how the story develops along with the cast of voice characters. The soundtrack is also a delight and won a Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album.
Purchase at Amazon: Ratatouille

 

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What's Your Favorite Food Movie?

I'll be adding more over time, including new movies I find and watch, but I would love to hear about some of your favorite food movies in case I miss any.

Thanks