Dig in! 20 of the most unforgettable food scenes in movies
From Big Night's il timpano to Hogwarts' welcome feast, these scenes always leave us craving more
Film Features Liz
Clockwise from bottom left: Julie & Julia (Photo: Columbia Pictures); Chef (Photo: Open Road Films); Hook (Photo: TriStar Pictures); Eat Drink Man Woman (Photo:vThe Samuel Goldwyn Company); Parallel Mothers (Photo: Sony Pictures Classics); Tampopo (Photo: Film Forum) Graphic: Libby McGuire
It’s time again to sit down to Thanksgiving dinner with friends or family and remember what you’re thankful for. Here at The A.V. Club we’re thankful for movies with amazing food scenes that help us work up an appetite. In that spirit, we’ve come up with a list of food-related scenes (in no particular order) that always seem to make our mouths water and our stomachs grumble. Some are from films explicitly about food and cooking, others are isolated scenes that stand out for the way they showcase a special dish or feast. All of them have something to say about the connection between food, family, comfort, and love. Get your taste buds ready for an international tour of dishes and delights from some of our favorite movies.
69 Comments
Missed one:Also, first.
Yes! Mr. Creosote shall not be forgotten!
Really? This is all I came here for!
I got you, Boo.
“I’m in love. I’m having a relationship with my pizza.” Don’t do it, Julia! Biggs couldn’t make it work with that pie, what chance do you think you have? Pizza don’t care about your Oscar!
“until Peter wins an insult duel”
You mean like The Dozens?
This SO much this. Man Troll 2 what a disaster of a movie but that scene where he gets up and pisses on all the food to stop them from eating it.
I’m not sure if it’s just children running this site or if they’re deliberately baiting by omitting obvious older choices (see also: list of “best” Thanksgiving episodes), but the lack of OSCAR-WINNER Babette’s Feast is just insulting
Yes indeed: this has been the ultimate foodie movie for 35 years!
I was about to say, how could they include Matrix Reloaded and omit the titular feast in Babette’s Feast?
Perhaps the most unforgettable food scene, but definitely not one that always seem to make our mouths water and our stomachs grumble… or says anything about the connection between food, family, comfort, and love.*****SPOILER ALERT*****
Incredible.
can’t believe its not on the list
The Twelve Chairs. Railway workers recreation hall buffet.
I’ve probably watched Twister a half-dozen times over the years, and have zero memory of a food scene in it. Not sure that one really has much impact.One that does stand out is Something’s Gotta Give late-night pancakes scene.
Gummo: spaghetti in the bathtub!
THIS!
That goddamn tomato…
Now as a kid this scene defined my view of fine dining – a true classic, that I watch almost annually:
“How much for the little girl?”
I pity the poor fool who doesn’t enjoy watching Pee-wee Herman’s breakfast get made.
Pie-eating contest in Stand By Me. Grossest (although I forgot about Mr. Creosote, which I see below – “It’s wafer-thin!”)Faux-Indian/Nepalese feast in Temple of Doom. Most racist. Peking duck in A Christmas Story. Second-most racist.
NO GOODFELLAS PRISON SCENE??
Damn straight. Even though the whole “slicing the garlic so thin it liquifies in the sauce” thing is bullshit, I really wanted to try Pauline’s sauce.
This did give me an idea that I’ve been using for 20 years: doing this with a truffle slicer gives me evenly thinly sliced garlic in about 10 seconds. This scene also goes hand in hand with Clemenza making sauce in The Godfather.
(Googles “truffle slicer”)Good idea. I might try my mandolin’s thinnest setting for that someday
I think I should’ve said truffle “shaver” like this: https://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/truffle-shaver/I have a variety of mandolins and they wouldn’t really work for this (maybe a very sharp benriner would). The blade is very thin and it can be adjusted to cut paper thin (the scalloped edges also seem to help). I definitely recommend it if you have sliced garlic needs (I use also use a microplane to grate garlic instead of mincing for a lot of things).
I don’t even like milkshakes but the Jack Rabbit Slim’s scene always makes me crave one.
Remember how expensive a $5 shake sounded in 1994?
Forgot this one too.
While not on this list, I love the scene in Mouse Hunt where Nathan Lane notices a sandwich that the mouse (somehow) made—commenting on it and noting that the mouse seemingly toasted the cheese side of the sandwich without the arugula so that it wouldn’t wilt. It’s a massive sandwich for a mouse, and the well placed response about how to mouse knew to do that always hits my funny bone.And then there’s the string cheese factory… 🤤
One that comes to mind is the cupcake in Once Upon a Time in America. Patsy buys one as payment to a prostitute, but ends up eating it himself while waiting for her.
Yes. Along with the pastry eating scene in Inglorious Bastards.
and this whole movie:
Where the fuck is eXistenZ?Oh, right. That came out before the year 2000, so it doesn’t exist to the Twitter bimbos A.V. Club is apparently now aimed at
The very first movie on this list came out in 1996…
Your mother came out in 1996
Tampopo is a deep cut from 1985…
First thing I thought of was this one from Tom Jones.
Come on, no Hannibal Lecter feeding Paul Krendler his own brain?
That’s not even Big Night’s best food scene. That title belongs to Primo making Segundo some eggs in one of the final scenes of the movie. It’s perfect, silent, and tells you everything about the brother’s relationship at that point.
And Tucci knows how to cook an egg.
Agreed. I’ve only seen the movie once when it came out over 25 years ago, and I still remember that final scene. It’s an amazing scene.
There are a lot of mouth watering dishes in Chef but IMO the best one was the grilled cheese sandwich he makes for his son.
Absolutely. The Cubano scene was nice enough, but that after that grilled cheese scene, I could not wait to get into the kitchen.
How could you forget this scene?
I know it just came out, but the cheeseburger scene in The Menu was pretty excellent. That thing looked amazing.
Obligatory:
OK, how does Howl slice the loaf that way? Like he’s peeling fruit.That’s the real magic there.
“Pearl” and the roast pig dinner
“Try the cock, Albert. It’s a delicacy, and you know where it’s been.” —Helen Mirren, The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, And Her Lover
Like Water for Chocolate?
Nothing makes me crave a gigantic plate of pasta like the “cooking for 20 guys” scene in The Godfather.
Pfft, No Jaws? How to eat Quint???? How dare you’ll forget that!
Babette’s Feast has to be on this list
I’m a sap, the John (Sandler) cooking for Flor (Paz) scene in Spanglish always gets me.
Published yesterday?
Look. if you’re just going to ignore John Belushi laying waste to the buffet in Animal House, and “Let’s see if you can guess what I am now…” I refuse to take you seriously.
oh yeah that was a great scene! definitely seems like a mix between being scripted and also improvised
O, wow, so many great food scenes completely missed:
Prison scene in Goodfellas
Spaghetti scene in The Lady and the Tramp
Pie scene in Inglorious Basterds
Garden of candy scene in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
Dinner scene in Scary Movie 2
Boiling Point: 90 minute restaurant drama shot as one continous take.
Food takes it’s toll, it’s fair to say.
It makes me immensely happy anytime someone acknowledges Tampopo. It is a superb film and has many great food scenes.
I know this is a tv show, not a movie, but in season 1 of “True Detective” when Woody Harrelson just engulfed and entire bowl of pasta while sitting on the floor and being as gross as possible about it… that can’t leave my mind.
Eat, Drink, Man, Woman. How Arnold Schwarzenegger asked out Maria Shriver…
Missed opportunity:
The opening of Mr Saturday Night.
Tampopo got a shout! <3 There are multiple scenes that coulda made this list, but yeah, the ramen slurping is an all-timer. One of my top five movies.