The Ten
Film Feast
The nominees for best food scene in a movie are …
It’s awards season, and of course there’s best picture and best director and best everything else—but what about best food scene? That one always seems to be left out of the Oscar race. We did a little research and pulled together our all-time favorites.
1. Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. It’s hard to pick the best food scene from this flick (the 1971 version, with Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka, still wins over the 2005 one); it’s about a chocolate factory, for God’s sake. We decided on the scene that portrays the downfall of Augustus Gloop, that gluttonous little boy who is the first to find the Golden Ticket, and the first to fail spectacularly, by getting sucked down a pipe into the chocolate river. Cue the Oompa Loompas: “What do you get when you guzzle down sweets?/Eating as much as an elephant eats?/What are you at getting terribly fat?/What do you think will come of that?/I don’t like the look of it!”
2. GoodFellas. Combine some hungry wise guys with prison contraband and what do you have? One of the tastiest meals ever played out on film. From Paulie slicing the garlic paper-thin with a razor to Vinnie overseasoning the two cans of tomatoes with three large onions, the crew whips up a meal that makes you ponder doing time in the joint just to get in on some smuggled bread, salami, and prosciutto.
3. Delicatessen. In a post-apocalyptic age on the outskirts of Paris, the tenants of one building, ruled by a butcher, cope with the scarcity of food by chopping up handymen lured there by the promise of a job. A meal-to-be worker and the butcher’s daughter take tea, indulging in a rare treat—biscuits.
4. Pieces of April. When disaffected daughter April invites her estranged family to her tiny apartment for Thanksgiving dinner, they reluctantly accept. The day of, she’s dealt a series of blows, beginning with the panicked realization that her oven doesn’t work. To remedy the situation, she solicits the help of her neighbors, but the turkey returns from one unstable neighbor’s place half-cooked and missing a drumstick, which he’s stolen for his dog. There’s an endearing resolution, but dysfunctional family plus tradition-laden holiday plus malfunctioning equipment gets us every time.
5. Like Water for Chocolate. Tita’s the last unmarried daughter in her family, and therefore must take care of her mother instead of marrying the man she loves, Pedro, who is matched up with Tita’s sister. The fabulous meals that Tita whips up reflect her repressed emotion: When Tita’s tears fall into the batter intended for her sister’s wedding cake, the movie goes mystical as the wedding guests find themselves overtaken with melancholy. A food-porn classic!
6. Pee-wee’s Big Adventure. A dippy bird cracks an egg into a frying pan as a suspended model of a pterodactyl skeleton descends a zip line to drop two slices of bread into a toaster. A tyrannosaurus rex juices oranges in its mouth into a pitcher as a life-sized Abraham Lincoln figure stands by, flipping pancakes onto the ceiling. Yes, it’s Pee-wee Herman’s breakfast machine, found in the hilarious and brilliant Paul Reubens/Tim Burton/Phil Hartman collaboration.
7. Eat Drink Man Woman. Knife lovers and food fanatics alike can appreciate the opening scene of this Ang Lee film. Though the banquets and many family meals depicted through the movie make it a treat overall, the overbearing father wielding his cleaver with an orchestrated ease and elegance is what captures our attention.
8. Oldboy. Imprisoned for 15 years, subsisting solely on dumplings, the protagonist, Dae-su Oh, escapes, saunters into a sushi bar, and requests to eat something living. One of the best appetite suppressants ever caught on film.
9. Fried Green Tomatoes. From the food-fight scene between Idgy and Ruth to the first time Idgy makes fried green tomatoes, this movie is peppered with good food moments. But nothing tops the scene in which the body of Ruth’s abusive husband, Frank, is disposed of at a barbecue and a relentless policeman on the trail of the murder ends up unwittingly eating his remains.
10. My Dinner with Andre. It’s the longest dinner scene in film history: Andre Gregory, as Andre, orders the terrine de poisson and the cailles aux raisins. Wally, played by Wallace Shawn, has a hard time with the menu. He orders the potato soup and the quail as well. They finish their meals with espresso, and an amaretto for Wally. In between, they debate moral and social philosophy for nearly two hours.
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No scenes from the best food movie of all - THE BIG NIGHT?!
EXACTLY what MareZeeDotes said -- How could any self-respecting foodie put together this list without "Big Night"???
DH & I used to watch this movie once a year. For the uninitiated, see http://imdb.com/title/tt0115678/
I'm thinking the same exact thing. WHERE IS BIG NIGHT?
Seriously, how could the best food movie in cinema be excluded from this list? Hell, the top three could all come from Big Night. I don't care if you just ate a double porterhouse and hashed-browns, watching the Louis Prima Feast scene will make you hungry. The opening scene where Segundo refuses to serve a side of spaghetti with risotto, "perhaps she would like a side of potatoes?" "how you say...hot dog?", or when Primo explains the Timpana over the mantage of them assembling it, all great food scenes.
Heck, the final scene where Primo makes eggs for Segundo and Mark Anthony is a better food scene than many of these.
Or Babette's Feast?
Definite vote for Big Night.
Of course, the diner scene in When Harry Met Sally needs a mention - both for the ordering 'style' and the result of the conversation.
Karen
All of the aforementioned movies were _nominated_ for this piece, but our CHOW panel narrowed it down to the films listed. What can we say? They are our all-time favorite scenes. We assure you that we still watch these other films you mentioned and they are strong runners-up.
Great list but what about Tampopo?
301/302-- it is a creepy Korean movie that features lots of food.
I have to agree-- this is almost without exception a gross-out list of food scenes. Where are the glistening cakes too delicate to be real? The knife work, sweat, and tears that culminate into a 10-course meal so beautiful you almost have to look away? Instead of the gloriously sensuous quail in rose petal sauce (Like Water for Chocolate,) you give us vomit-inducing wedding cake. Instead of delicate homemade pasta meant to heal hearts and lives (Mostly Martha) we get a decapitated head on a platter and unsettling sushi. This is a fine top 10 Horror Foods movie list, but I think it's back to the drawing board for food scenes that romance the senses.
I echo Ishames feelings about Tampopo, particularly the scene where the two lovers share a raw egg. *sigh*
Tampopo is japanese.
Not sure why it matters that Tampopo is Japanese, but yes, it should be on the list. The food/sex scene with the raw egg (and more!) should really be on any top ten list of food scenes OR sex scenes.
9-1/2 Weeks
Godfather (wedding scene)
GoodFellas (cooking in prison)
Diner (many, esp. argument over roast beef sandwich)
... to name a few
You could add to the list 'Eat man, drink woman' and 'Babette's Feast' to name a couple.
Serge
Blog:
http://www.sergetheconcierge.com
This is mostly a list of disgusting scenes. What could your judges possibly have been thinking/smoking?? To miss the seduction scene in "Tom Jones" in favor of all this cannabalism? Surprised you omitted Hannibal Lector.
Don't think we didn't discuss "Silence of the Lambs." We also had proponents of the food scenes in "Marie Antoinette" -- there are your glistening cakes, crlyhead11.
Tampopo had to have ramen right after the movie
I'm amazed to find Chocolat missing from this post...I could watch the birthday party dinner over and over...and of course I'm with y'all on Big Night!
Babette's Feast should have been there. If you want to include bizarre food stuff, then surely you would have listed Peter Greenaway's "The Cook, the Thief, his Wife, & her Lover"!
I am definitely missing "Tampopo" and "Big Night". Also the hard-boiled egg scene from "Cool Hand Luke"
so funny. the moment i read this, the first movie that popped into my head was "big night". obviously other chowhounders have seen this classic foodie movie. some of the best long shots in cinema.
Twister - when the gang goes to Jo's Aunt Meg's house, that lovely feast makes me salivate. I still think of that bowl of mashed potatoes and gravy when I'm scared during a storm.
the food displays are beautiful in "The Age of Innocence"
I agree no "Big Night"...best reconciliation scene ever......and how about The Thief, the Cook his wife and her Lover"....great banquet scene at the end.....and theres alwasy Albert Finney in "Tom Jones".....
I still remember exactly what my husband and I ate when we got home at 1:00 a.m. after watching BIG NIGHT. Don't remember much of the movie outside of Isabella Rosellini.
BABETTE'S FEAST is my food movie. The scene where Babette sits back with a glass of wine is wonderful.
Travesty! How could you omit Clemenza's Italian cooking lesson to Michael in The Godfather?
That sandwich and ale from 'Spanglish'. Throughout the ensuing scene, I can't stop thinking of the sandwich just sitting there and Sandler not being able to enjoy it in peace.
Sunday family dinners in Tortilla Soup are mouth watering Mexican feasts prepared behind the scenes by Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding gets my vote.
As others have said, how can you leave out Big Night - some of the most amazing food scenes ever from the making of the Timpano to the egg cooking at the end. I've never in my life desired a scrambled egg like that!
The term "food scene" is pretty broad but I agree with a couple of other posters about the seduction scene in Tom Jones. It's classic.
For you youngsters out there, rent the DVD and watch it. But be forewarned - if you watch the scene with your honeybun, you're likely to miss the rest of the movie!
Tom Jones came instantly to mind... Might be the fact that few born after about 1955 or thereabouts have even seen it. Just an awesome meal....
Dinner Rush (2000) Directed by Bob Giraldi. The whole darn movie is nothing but cooking, sex and the occasional 'hit'. Love this film so much my wife adopted a saying... the only response that can be given to whomever is cooking in the kitchen is: "Yes, Chef.", "No, Chef.", or "I don't know, Chef". For anyone who is ever worked at a restaurant...from wait staff to line staff this is a must see.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0229340/
Soul Food (1997) 40 years around a Sunday dinner of soul food! Makes me hungy for fried chicken & collard greens just thinking about it.
Mostly (Bella) Martha (2001) Directed by Sandra Nettelbeck. The scene where she is blindfolded and the chef is feeding her and she is identifying all the ingredients. Love it.
9 1/2 Weeks (1986) Yes, thats right 9 1/2 weeks! The scene where she is blindfolded (there I go again with the blindfolds -see previous post-) and Mickey Rourke's character is feeding her... is it food with sex or sex with food...?
BIG NIGHT... fuels the dream that food is more than nouirshment for the body... it is for the soul. A don't miss and cretain top ten for any food experience lover.
This was a Chow topic back in October 2006: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/335012
Most of the movies in the above comments were also mentioned there. To leave out Babette's Feast, Big Night, Tampopo, Tom Jones and Chocolat seems to indicate that either the Chow Staff hasn't seen any of these, or has a morbid preference for disgusting food scenes. If that's the case, the category should have been prefaced with that description.
I think that there should be subheadings in your list...
such as food romantic; food horror, food ethereal.... then such masterpieces as Tampopo, Babette's Feast, Mostly Martha, Like Water For Chocolate, Big Night, and if you insist ...Delicatessen would find their appropiate niche...
bfiesta got it right. Dinner Rush is THE essential film for anyone who has worked in the biz. Bob Giraldi shot this film with his usual cadre that does ads/videos in under 30 days and he owns several eateries in NYC so his take had the verscimiltude that others are lacking. Obviously the exclusion of Big Night and Tampopo are egregious, but throwing in Old Boy was a refreshing suprise to the standard litany of cinematic gastronomy.
Providence.
I just recently saw this movie and it's terribly cheesey but the food is amazing. Simply Irresistible with Sarah Michelle Gellar and Sean Patrick Flannery. Oh and the movie Mostly Martha. And Dinner Rush!
Opposite ends of the spectrum: La Grande Bouffe for unabashed food porn (and some soft porn thrown in) and children learning the love of food in Feast At Midnight.
These two rarely get mentioned...
What's the movie where the mom serves up dog food as skillet "hash browns" to her nasty abusive husband while the kids look on with huge wide eyes? The husband doesn't stop chewing and out of the side of his mouth grumbles something along the lines of "Now this is good hash browns." Gets my vote.
Prince of Tides... better food scene is when Nick Nolte is making his simple shrimp dish while thinking about his mother
plus one for tampopo
This list lacks credibility. It's left out the BASICS: Babette's Feast, Big Night, Cocolat,Tom Jones. Major omissions.
Try again. Do a little more research next time.
It has to be the bedroom Scene from the BIG EASY. I realise that the table was not set and there was no visible display of fine culinary art however All the time Dennis he was wooing Ellen I just know she was thinking of something with Ice cream.
No Big Night!?!?!?!??!?!?! Chowhound just lost a great deal of credibility with this lame list. A head on a platter with a cleaver in it is representative of a great food movie?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? I'm thinking maybe there needs to be some testing of the Chowhound staff.
tampopo and big night all the way...
def not top 10, but as long as we're compiling a list... i think 'defending you life' deserves a mention... featuring the food served in heaven.
yeah, yeah, yeah: Big Night, Tampopo, Babette's Feast (you forgot Big Chill, Diner, Joy Luck Club) ......
What's wrong with you people? Soylent Green!
Every food scene in Tampopo (the raw egg, the shootout-boar-sausage, the slurping spaghetti); all of them beat anything on this list.
Oh, and last scene in The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover. But that's only because I like barbecue.
The list here is very boring and nothing is new. My selections are mainly on eating (not cooking or the appearance of foods). Some of these are bad, bad movies.
1. Jean de Florette/Manon of Springs. Gerard Depardieu guzzling red wine. All the scenes (there are many) where Ive Montand's nephew eats French country cooking...fabulous.
2. Heartburn. Jack Nicholson eats pasta in bed, pasta with clam sauce (right before Meryl Streep leaves him). He is just a good eater.
3. 2000 BC. A whole hog on the fire pit. Old prehistoric woman slides a tender piece of pork loin into her mouth and nods to the head prehistoric patriarch. The head man then rips a hock off the carcass and starts chomping down after glaring at the rest of the tribe.
4. Our Man Flint. Flint looks for a restaurant in Marsaille soley based on the combination of spices he tastes on a piece of bouillabaisse he picks up on a dead man's lapel. He find the restaurant after several stops. A real shady joint where a man (he looks like Borgnine) spooning soup out of a dirty big bowl into his mouth. I had to go to Marseille after that scene.
IMHO there are a lot of disappointing movies where food is supposed to be the main thing but the actors don't look like they know how to eat.
My favs have already been mentioned:
Tampopo, The Cook The Thief etc, Like Water for Chocolate, and 9 1/2 Weeks. (I've still never seen Babette's Feast, Big Night, or Tom Jones - have been saving them.)
But here are a few more that, while I'm sure they aren't in everybody's top ten list, feature very memorable food-related scenes nonethless:
Vatel (2000) - Gérard Depardieu as chef Vatel cooking a feast to impress Louis XIV; one of those films for those seeking "glistening cakes too delicate to be real," like crlyhead11
Who Is Killing the Great Chef's of Europe? (1978) - George Segal & Jacqueline Bisset; particularly memorable scene with Robert Morley and a bombe to die for
Theatre of Blood (1972) - Robert Morley again, this time with Vincent Price in a takeoff from Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus
The Meaning of Life (1983) - the Mr. Creosote scene (of course), but also the "it was the salmon mousse!" scene
American Psycho (2000) - the opening credits scene, where the waiters list the specialties of the day; and all the references to trying to get seats at popular 5-star Manhattan restaurants at the last minute
Salò (1975) - Pasolini's extremely disturbing political allegory; this is a very hard film to watch, but I don't think I will ever be able to erase it from memory
honorable mention to A Matter of Taste (Une Affaire de goût, 1999) - the story drags at times so the film overall merits only 1 1/2 out of 5 stars; but still an interesting plot, in which a young man accepts an offer to be the personal food taster of a wealther older eccentric
Eat Drink Man Woman opening scene as well as the hotel kitchen (shark soup) scene should make it number 1. I agree with The Big Night is a big snub but all you true foodies will remember a movie called A Chef in Love. Where is the chef in love?
Another vote for Tortilla Soup. I was lucky enough to see this in Tucson, and made a beeline for a Mexican restaurant afterwards.
A new one: the gnarly snake-eating scene in Rescue Dawn.
one of my favorite movies as a kid, in fact the one that made me consider becoming a chef was "who's killing the great chef's of europe?" Super cheezy (the bombe was a bomb---you get it humor)but loads of fun
http://www.moviesounds.com/godfathr/c...
http://www.pitt.edu/~schach/dgresh/la...
some I haven't noticed on yours--
1) What's Cooking? Thanksgiving dinner with Hispanic, Jewish, African-American, Vietnamese families. Director used same cinematographer as in Eat, Drink..;.2) Goodbye, Columbus from 1960s--dinner scenes with Ali McGraw's rich family and lowly Richard Benjamin as guest; 3) Five Easy Pieces from 1970's--the famous diner scene with Jack Nicholson ordering a sandwich;
4) Eating--women at birthday party talking about eating. Anyone
mention Facing Windows? Eating Raoul? Delicatessen?
My first three thoughts were Tampopo; Eat Drink Man Woman; and the Cook, the Thief, his Wife, and her Lover. Glad to see that one of them made it on the list!
Um.....Soul Food?
Hellllloooooooooooo?!?!?!
The movie was ok, but the food scenes were out of control.
the gnocchi making scene in Godfather 3. Andy Garcia made me oh so hungry for it! Also, Dinner Rush was GREAT!
What about women on top