We put together a list of the best movies about chefs you should watch not only because they’re great films but because they feature all aspects of the culinary world. From Michelin star-rated chefs to experimental home cooks, these are the movies that bring out your inner chef, while making you hungry at the same time.
Movies about Chefs
1. A Chef in Love
1997 film, “A Chef in Love” shows the struggle of its main character who wants to become a chef but comes from a family that doesn’t support his dream. The only way he can make them believe in him is by becoming their sous chef. Robert Carlyle plays Angel, while Michael Keaton is his mentor and boss. Angel has to prove that he’s more than a sous chef and that he’s capable of becoming a great chef.
2. Ratatouille
This animated film takes us on a journey through a Parisian restaurant with a rat desperately trying to become a great chef in this Pixar favorite. An Oscar nominee for Best Animated Feature Film, Ratatouille is one of the best films about cooking by an animated film…ever!
3. Julie & Julia
This movie may not have been out that long, but it still managed to gain a cult following. The story is about two women who are very different in many ways … one of them is an American writer who starts a blog and manages to finish a year-long goal of cooking all 524 recipes from Julia Child’s cookbook in 365 days (while also dealing with many other issues). The other woman is actually Julia Child herself and she is played by Meryl Streep in the film.
4. Chef
Jon Favreau plays a chef who loses his job at a restaurant when he quits in protest of his food being treated as an afterthought by the owner. When he returns home to Miami, he starts up a food truck serving Cuban fare as he attempts to renew his passion for cooking without losing himself in success.
5. Chocolat
Released in 2000, this film is about an uptight woman who opens a chocolate shop in the French countryside. Her recipes are unorthodox and soon she gains fame for the chocolates she makes and sells to her customers. Vianne Rocher, played by Juliette Binoche, meets an obstinate priest who challenges her ideas about religion and gets into conflict with the people around her. Vianne then has to prove herself and handle the challenges that come with being a chef/expert at running her own shop.
6. The Dinner Game
This movie came out of Switzerland, so the only way that American viewers will truly have the chance to get an idea of what the film is about is by watching the trailer on YouTube. That said, it does show a chefs preparing for a very important culinary event where they must prepare four different dishes at once … all while trying to tell everyone in a short amount of time that their foods are supposed to be mixed and matched. Some of the chef’s claims sound unnatural and silly at times, but it’s hard not to laugh at some of what they say as well.
7. The Grapes of Wrath
This movie has it all: a drunken millionaire who lives in a mansion, a cowboy who lives on the land, a plucky girl who wants to go with him, and an epic journey to find new land. It has everything—except for food trucks. If that doesn’t make this a great film about cooking, we don’t know what does!
8. Cooking with Stella
Penelope Cruz plays Caroline in this 1999 comedy film directed by Carlo Vanzina. Caroline and her husband are banned from opening a restaurant in their own home. They then try their luck and open one in Paris, but after the death of Caroline’s father, she has to sell everything to pay for his bequest and return to Italy. After that, she finds out that her husband has married another woman who is just as good of a cook as her. Instead of giving up on her dream, she goes back in Italy to open another restaurant and becomes a renowned chef there.
Conclusion
We all know that the food scene is booming, but so are the movie scenes with top-notch cinematic portrayals of what it’s like to be a chef.