There’s just something about Studio Ghibli’s scenes depicting steaming hot meals and watching Jiro Ono’s steady hands create sushi masterpieces. It’s also weirdly satisfying to binge watch cooking competition shows. Don’t do it on an empty stomach, though.
The
food is only as good as the cook who makes it, however. And food means a lot
more than just sustenance. Cuisine is a cornerstone of our culture, families,
and identities. Like the great Eddie Huang once said, “When it’s done really
well, [food]’s the perfect manifestation of existence. I mean, what else in the
world literally sustains us and represents us all at the same time?”
This
list is dedicated to those movie chefs who made us laugh, cry, and learn more
about our own culture’s cuisine. Some of these top chef characters from films
are based entirely around their culinary art, and for others it is just a job.
For some they cook to bring people together, and for others it is all about
serving up some human meat in a pie.
16. KATE FROM NO
RESERVATIONS
No Reservations is a 2007 romantic comedy directed
by Scott Hicks that features an all-star cast, including Catherine Zeta-Jones,
Abigail Breslin, and Aaron Eckhart.
In
No Reservations, Kate Armstrong
(Zeta-Jones) is a lead chef at a fancy Manhattan restaurant. Kate is an
intimidating character, unafraid to challenge critiques of her dishes. She’s
fast-paced, focuses on a perfect display for each dish, and even intimidates
her own superior at the restaurant. Kate’s life gets flipped around when her
sister dies tragically in an accident and she must care for her young niece Zoe
(Breslin). Overwhelmed with the sudden life change, Kate hires a new chef named
Nick (Eckhart) who happily works underneath Kate. Chaos and drama ensues at the
restaurant and Kate eventually finds herself falling in love with the
opera-loving, goofy Nick.
Kate
is an inspiring chef character for her unwavering dedication to her art. She is
passionate about her profession and if all of the unexpected events in No
Reservations had not happened, she would have continued to be a whirlwind of a
professional lead chef. Her eventual vulnerability made her human and easy to
relate to as well.
15. PRIMO FROM BIG
NIGHT
The
1996 comedic drama Big Night was
directed by Campbell Scott and Stanley Tucci. A fifties Jersey Shore with a focus on food, this drama is the perfect mix of
Italian drama and comedic overtones.
In
Big Night, Primo is a genius chef
with a focus on perfection who serves as the head chef at their restaurant
called Paradise. Primo hates the idea of Americanizing classic Italian food,
and the restaurant suffers, business-wise. His brother, Secondo, the
businessman behind the operation, is enamored with America and inspired by the
opportunities he sees. Drama ensues involving infidelity, job offers that would
end their restaurant careers, and the looming option of returning to Italy. In
the end, Primo and Secondo get through their struggles together over a plate of
frittata.
Primo
is a great character with heavy baggage. He accurately represents the struggle
of Italian immigrants in the US during the fifties. He wishes to succeed at an
art that is wholly Italian and represents his culture and home, but is
struggling to survive without Americanizing his art and, in his view, making it
false.
14. REMY FROM
RATATOUILLE
Ratatouille is a 2007 animated comedy from
Pixar. It may be weird to be kind of inspired by a cartoon anthropomorphic rat
from France, but Remy the rat was indeed quite the inspiring character.
Remy
is an ambitious and talented little rat who was separated from his family early
on in the film and ends up in the Paris sewers. Remy’s role model is the late
chef Auguste Gusteau, who inspired Remy to someday become a chef. Remy finds
out that the restaurant once owned by Gusteau is now ruled by the old sous-chef
who treats young Alfredo Linguini, a garbage boy for the restaurant, terribly.
When Linguini accidentally ruins a soup, Remy sneaks in to fix the dish. The
soup is served and proves to be a success, leading the unlikely pair to work
together and allow Remy to cook to his heart’s content while helping Linguini
become a better chef.
Ratatouille was a cute animated film, and Remy
the rat inspired kids and adults alike as he went on his journey to eventually
run his own bistro and live his dreams.
13. GENE FROM WET HOT
AMERICAN SUMMER
If
you love tiny jean shorts and irresponsible adults, the 2001 comedy Wet Hot American Summer will definitely
be your thing. Despite bombing on its release, the film has gained a cult following.
The film features some early performances from big names that include Paul
Rudd, Bradley Cooper, and Amy Poehler.
The
film focuses on the staff of Camp Firewood in the early eighties as they
prepare for the last day of summer. Camp director Beth (Janeane Garofalo) is
balancing her love affair with astrophysics professor Henry (David Hyde Pierce)
while trying to make sure none of the kids at her camp die under the poor
supervision of obnoxious, neglectful camp counselors who are only focused on their
own romantic encounters.
Gene,
played by Christopher Meloni of Law and
Order: SVU fame, is a Vietnam war veteran who works as the camp’s cook.
Gene spent the film wielding cooking knives that he really shouldn’t be near at
all, wildly hallucinating talking cans, standing way too close to his
apprentice, and giving us some weirdly sexual accidental quips. His screen time
is both hilarious and awkward. Also, that bandana and crop top combo was the
bomb.
12. CHU FROM EAT
DRINK MAN WOMAN
Eat Drink Man Woman is a 1994 Taiwanese film from
famed director Ang Lee. The film’s title is derived from a Confucian quote that
says “The things which men greatly desire is comprehended in meat and drink and
sexual pleasure.” The title really sets the stage for the film, which has
themes that surround basic human desires and their acceptance.
In
Taipei during the nineties, a widower Chinese chef named Chu (Sihung Lung) is a
master of his culinary art who struggles with his relationship with his
daughters. All of them have complicated relationships with men, or lack
thereof. Throughout the film, all of his daughters encounter new men and go on
very different independent storylines. The link between them all are the
extravagant Sunday dinners that Chu prepares where all of them eat and talk
about their transitioning lives together.
Chu
was not only a great dad, but the stability his Sunday dinners helped his
children gain stability in their lives. Cuisine is culture and community, and
this film really exemplified that.
11. HARRY FROM
PAPADOPOULUS AND SONS
The
2013 British comedic drama Papadopoulos
& Sons was directed by indie filmmaker Marcus Markou. The story of Papadopoulos & Sons focuses on a
Greek immigrant in Britain named Harry Papadopoulous who finds himself in a
rough spot after the banking crisis causes him to lose everything he’s worked
for. Originally an ultra successful food industry entrepreneur with a big house
and a rich life, Harry isn’t sure how to rise up from the ashes of his former
glory. However, he does have the Three Brothers Fish & Chip Shop that he
still co-owns with his brother. He moves his family into the flat above the
once dormant Three Brothers chippie and struggles to bring the restaurant and
his life back to what it once was.
Harry
is a great character. He was inspired by Marcus Markou’s cultural roots in
Greece and the character shines a light on what a Greek immigrant’s life is
like in London. Harry is an inspiring character who showed us that when you
lose everything, you are free to blaze your own path.
10. GORO FROM TAMPOPO
Tampopo is a 1985 comedy directed by Juzo
Itami. The film was promoted as a “ramen western”, playing on the name for Old
West films, spaghetti westerns.
Tampopo
follows two truckers named Goro (Tsutomo Yamazaki) and Gun (a very young Ken
Watanabe) who happen upon a ramen noodle restaurant. After getting into a fight
with an unsatisfied customer, Goro wakes up in the home of the ramen shop owner
named Tampopo. Tampopo’s dishes are pretty bad, so she asks Goro to mentor her
to save her business. The film weaves around the main storyline of Goro, with
random stories involving food, including the story of a zombie housewife who
rises from the dead to cook her family dinner.
In
Tampopo, Goro was an all-around good
guy. He was very knowledgable when it came to ramen and wasn’t scared to stick
up for his friends, even if he got really roughed up in the process.
9. BABETTE FROM
BABETTE’S FEAST
A 1987 Danish drama, Babette’s Feast was direct by Gabriel Axel.
In
nineteenth century Denmark, two Protestant sisters live in a little town and
run a Pietistic conventicle while struggling to maintain a full congregation of
elderly church-goers. The film flashes back several years to the introduction
of the titular Babette (Stephane Audran) who appears at the sisters’ door. She
comes as a refugee from Paris with a note recommending her as a housekeeper.
Despite the sisters’ inability to pay, Babette offers to work for free. For the
next decade and half Babette becomes the sisters’ cook, making delectable meals
that differed greatly from the bland food they previously ate. Babette’s only
connection to her home of France is a lottery ticket she’s held onto for years,
which eventually wins her a bunch of money. Instead of returning to Paris,
Babette uses the money to fund an extravagant meal for the sisters and the
congregation to show her thanks.
Babette
was a great character who was kind, appreciative of her friends’ generosity,
and had a lot of unsung talent when it came to creating delicious French
cuisine.
8. NACHO FROM NACHO
LIBRE
The
2006 comedy Nacho Libre was directed
by Jared Hess and starred Jack Black. In Nacho
Libre, Ignacio/Nacho (Black) is a Lutheran missonary’s son in Mexico. Nacho
works as a cook for the monastery orphanage he was raised in. Because of his
and the monastery’s poor circumstances, the quality of the food he makes is
poor and he cannot make a proper meal for the orphans he cares deeply about.
After being robbed of tortilla chips by a street thief, Nacho decides to follow
his forbidden dream of becoming a tough luchador. In secret, Nacho teams up
with the thief who robbed him as tag partners and they enter luchador matches.
Despite being pretty terrible at wrestling, they still get paid for
participating and Nacho seeks to use the money to buy better food for the
orphans.
Nacho
was a hilariously awkward but good-hearted character who stole our hearts
during the film. It isn’t clear if he’s the most talented cook, but he did his
best to win enough money to feed the orphans he loved good food, all while
following his luchador dreams in tight seafoam leggings.
7. ALEXANDRE FROM LE
CHEF
The
2012 French comedy Le Chef was
directed by Daniel Cohen and starred Jean Reno and Michael Youn. In Le Chef, young Frenchman Jacky (Youn)
has been fired from his job at a restaurant. Fearing for the future of his
girlfriend and their unborn child, he looks for any job he can get, even if it
doesn’t cater to his cooking abilities. He gets a gig as a painter and
befriends the business’s chefs and helps them with their meals. Alexandre
(Reno) hears of this, and as the renowned chef of a revered restaurant decided
to improve his own menu. If he is unable to, the restaurant will lose their
credibility and Alexandre and his chefs will be out of a job. Jacky eventually
accepts the offer to work with Alexandre, but is quickly fired after they begin
to bicker. Alexandre regrets this and hires Jacky back, and hilarity and drama
ensues while they work together.
Alexandre
was a top tier French chef in the film, and his eventual ability to control his
stubbornness and befriend Jacky is heartwarming and admirable.
6. LEONA FROM MYSTIC
PIZZA
Mystic Pizza, the 1988 coming of age film
directed by Donald Petrie, featured an early performance from Julia Roberts,
and was Matt Damon’s first major debut. Like many films on this list, Mystic Pizza performed poorly at the box
office but eventually gained a cult following.
Two
sisters and their friend are the stars of the film, which follows their
romances and lives as waitresses at the titular Mystic Pizza. Throughout the
film, we see how the girls interact with each other, their rivalries, and how
they deal with growing up. The underlying plot of this film follows the Mystic
Pizza pizzeria and its visit from a famous food critic called “The Fireside
Gourmet”. Despite initially seeming unimpressed and leaving the pizzeria and
the cast in suspense, the food critic gives Mystic Pizza the highest possible
rating.
Mystic Pizza‘s feisty pizza chef Leona had a
fairly small role in the film. She was the mastermind behind the amazing pizza
that won the pizzeria the highest possible rating from the famed food critic,
but she was also a sort of mother figure to the girls who worked for her.
5. MRS. LOVETT FROM
SWEENEY TODD
Sweeney Todd: The
Demon Barber of Fleet Street
is a 2007 musical horror film directed by Tim Burton and stars Johnny Depp and
Helena Bonham Carter. The film is an adaptation of a 1979 music of the same
name.
In
the mid 1800s, barber Benjamin Barker (Depp) arrives in London after spending
nearly fifteen years in incarceration for a crime he didn’t commit. The corrupt
and scummy judge who sentenced him was obsessed with Benjamin’s wife, and got
Benjamin out of the picture. After changing his name to Sweeney Todd, Ben
returned to his barber shop above a meat pie shop owned by Mrs. Lovett (Bonham
Carter). Ready to embark on a vengeful rampage, Sweeney Todd employs the help
of piemaker Mrs. Lovett. He begins to take out his murderous rage on his
barbershop customers while plotting the murder of the judge, and Mrs. Lovett
bakes the human meat into pies. Apparently human meat is delicious, and her
business flourishes.
Mrs.
Lovett was a quirky woman, who wasn’t the best cook, but at least she had a
knack for ingenuity.
4 & 3. JULIE AND
JULIA FROM JULIE AND JULIA
The
2009 comedic drama Julie & Julia
was directed by Nora Ephron and stars Meryl Streep and Amy Adams. The film’s
screenplay was adapted from the book My
Life in France by Alex Prud-homme and a memoir by Julie Powell.
In
the early 2000’s, Julie (Adams) is a writer who hates her Manhattan job at a
call center. To deal with her humdrum life and unpleasant job, in her free time
she cooks meals from a French cookbook by Julia Child (Streep) with the goal of
completing the cookbook in a year. She blogs about her goal and documents her
progress as she goes. The film weaves in and out from Julie’s story to Julia
Child’s story in France during the fifties. During this time, Julia attends a
renowned cooking school. Their stories are very different, but their struggles
are much the same. While one is a world class chef and the other is a young
woman devoted to her cooking hobby, both of them are interesting and passionate
characters.
2. STEPHEN CHOW FROM
GOD OF COOKERY
Stephen
Chow is known for his goofy, offbeat, and often bizarre Hong Kong comedy films,
such as Kung Fu Hustle and Shaolin
Soccer. God of Cookery is his 1996 creation that mixed comedy with some
dark themes. Chow stars as a celebrity chef who is secretly a sham and knows
almost nothing about cooking. He had created a big business empire and markets
just about any product that can make him money. The cocky and arrogant Chow has
an assistant named Bull Tong who is secretly conspiring against him to end his
fraudulent schemes. He is successful and Chow now lives on the streets. He
meets a food cart owner named Turkey who takes pity on him despite his
arrogance. Moved, Chow helps end the rivalry between Turkey and other food cart
vendors and unites them. Chow decides to attend culinary school to reclaim his
throne legitimately, and all kinds of hilarity ensues.
The
film pokes fun at popular cooking competitions and chef culture, and Chow’s
character actually has some great character development in his own oddball way
throughout the film.
1. CARL CASPER FROM
CHEF
The
2014 comedic drama Chef was directed by Jon Favreau, who also stars as Carl
Casper in the film. The film has quite the all-star cast, including Sofia
Vergara, Scarlett Johansson, Dustin Hoffman, and Robert Downey, Jr.
Carl
is a professional chef at a popular Brentwood, California restaurant who quits
his job after a public fight with a food critic, and ends up returning back
home to Miami to start a food truck business. He seeks to rekindle his
relationship with his techie son and takes him on a food truck journey from
Florida to California, selling Cuban sandwiches along the way.
Carl
was a rough but genuine character who rekindled his love for Cuban cuisine and
his relationship with his family. He proved that when you love doing what you
do, it doesn’t matter how you do it. Sometimes going back to your roots is all
you need, and you can find vibrance and happiness making Cubanos in a food
truck.
By Screen Rant