12 food films to watch during quarantine

Ratatouille (2007)

This heart-warming Pixar animation tells the tale of Remy the rat who dreams of becoming a Michelin-starred chef – no mean feat within the rodent-phobic culinary world. He moves to Paris to follow his dream, and with the help of hapless garbage boy, Alfredo Linguini, puts his culinary skills to the test in the kitchen of Gusteau’s restaurant, stirring soups and sauces from inside Linguini’s chef’s toque.

To make as authentic a food film as possible, before work began on Ratatouille, its producer, Brad Lewis, interned at Thomas Keller’s The French Laundry in Napa, where Keller taught him how to cook a confit byaldi (a twist on ratatouille), which makes a cameo in the film. When fearsome restaurant critic Anton Ego (voiced by Peter O’Toole) visits Gusteau’s, Remy whips up a confit byaldi that reminds Ego fondly of his mother’s cooking, leading to a glowing review.

One of the biggest challenges of the film was creating computer-generated images of food that looked delicious. The animators sought the advice of leading chefs in France and the US, and attended culinary schools in San Francisco to understand the workings of a commercial kitchen.

Leave your reply

Most Recent Stories

French Michelin Guide sees influx of new stars

Yesterday's launch of the 2024 Michelin Guide for France saw 62 restaurants gain stars, bringing the country's total number of starred establishments up to 639.

What to drink at Morchella

Coming from the team behind Perilla, newly-opened Exmouth Market wine bar promises a European-focused list.

Wine List Confidential: Stem and Stem

Douglas Blyde stops and smells the roses at restaurant and florist Stem and Stem in the City of London. Fittingly, he finds dishes "accented in chlorophyll hues", and a "bouquet menu" that "borrows the language of a wine list".

Sommelier training reshapes the brain, study reveals

It's official: sommeliers are smarter. A new study investigating brain response to tasting wine found that sommelier training doesn't just refine the palate, but reshapes the brain itself.

Fine wine collection gathering dust in abandoned Somerset hotel

Valuable bottles of fine wine have been left languishing in an abandoned hotel, shrouded in dust, since the venue ceased operating during the Covid pandemic.

Most Recent Stories

French Michelin Guide sees influx of new stars

Yesterday's launch of the 2024 Michelin Guide for France saw 62 restaurants gain stars, bringing the country's total number of starred establishments up to 639.

What to drink at Morchella

Coming from the team behind Perilla, newly-opened Exmouth Market wine bar promises a European-focused list.

Wine List Confidential: Stem and Stem

Douglas Blyde stops and smells the roses at restaurant and florist Stem and Stem in the City of London. Fittingly, he finds dishes "accented in chlorophyll hues", and a "bouquet menu" that "borrows the language of a wine list".

Sommelier training reshapes the brain, study reveals

It's official: sommeliers are smarter. A new study investigating brain response to tasting wine found that sommelier training doesn't just refine the palate, but reshapes the brain itself.

Fine wine collection gathering dust in abandoned Somerset hotel

Valuable bottles of fine wine have been left languishing in an abandoned hotel, shrouded in dust, since the venue ceased operating during the Covid pandemic.