7 Best Cooking and Chef Movies to See More Than Once

For Foodies, Cooks and Connoisseur Movie Fans

Movies are one of the favorite relaxing recreational interests in my family. We don’t typically watch series or regular TV, but a good story in movie form is a mutually enjoyable shared experience. So here’s a short list our favorite chef movies, all of which we’ve seen more than once.

Listed alphabetical order, and we’ll share our all time favorite at the end.

Chef

Another great food movie is Chef.  It’s about a guy who starts a food-truck business with his young son, and they embark on a summer road trip. Father and son bond through hilarious, difficult and heartwarming escapades as they travel and work together.

The tech-savvy Millennial son, documents their journey on social media and drums up a following while teaching his dad about it. Dad teaches the son how to make popular street foods that people love, cooked with care and passion.

The Hundred-Foot Journey

A humorous, fun, and delicious tale of food, family, and … eventual friends! The Hundred-Food Journey is artistry in film, cooking and story as if follows an Indian family opening a restaurant in France across from a famous French restaurant.

The elderly owner of the other restaurant, played by the remarkable Helen Mirin, doesn’t like the new competition in town and makes her irritation well known. One of the eldest boys in the Indian family wants to pursue his dreams of becoming a professional chef. He sees an opportunity in working for the French restaurant.

This is a wonderful story of two different cultures clashing and needing to resolve their differences. And of course food is a wonderful unifier as the passion for a creative cooking works its magic on human relations.

“And laughter, once again laughter. Heaven on earth, no?”
~Richard C. Morais, author – The Hundred-Foot Journey book

Julie & Julia

Another fun favorite cooking movies is Julie & Julia, currently free on NetFlix, and oh so good! The movie is based on the book of the true story of food blogger, Julie Powell, before food blogging was really a thing.

Julie quits her boring, unfulfilling desk-job and embarks on a year-long journey of learning to cook. Her mission was to follow Julia Child’s cookbook, by making a new recipe, page-by-page, every day for a year, and to blog about that journey.

The movie also tracks Julia Child’s life and adventures in cooking, in side-by-side comparisons of two women discovering their passion for food, in two vastly different eras. We highly recommend watching this while eating dinner because it will make you want to eat… and cook… and food blog!

Julie Powell is inspired by Julia Child’s passion for French Cuisine, and that inspiration ended up changing her life trajectory.

You’ll never know just how many lives your work—your art—may touch. But it will touch them. This is why you must create and share your creations with the world.
~LeAura Alderson, Cofounder-iCreateDaily.com®

The Lunchbox

The Lunchbox is a truly one-of-a-kind, intriguing slice of life in India story to marvel over and reflect upon. This Chef Movie depicts the artistry of home cooked Indian spice meals to such an extent that you can smell the wonderful array of aromas, wafting from the pots and pans.

Part mystery, part romance, part education on Indian culture all enchantingly woven together, we think you will enjoy an evening with The Lunchbox.

Mr. Church

More than a Chef movie, Eddie Murphy plays an uncharacteristically Murphy role in Mr. Church. An excellent story of compassion, dedication, love, family… and cooking, with a little mystery and intrigue included. Mr. Church is sure to inspire you to want to engage in “slow food”… and those artistic and personal development endeavors that feed the human soul… and the palate too.

No Reservations

The kitchen can be a dramatic territorial place, and No Reservations is no exception!

In this funny, sweet, and tart movie the top chef, Kate, gets her world flipped when her sister dies. Kate, who is dedicated to her career, has to juggle being the guardian to her niece… while protecting her job as a new sue-chef is hired at her restaurant!

Please let us know your favorite cooking movie/s, and we’ll add it here.

Ratatouille

The Pixar animated chef movie, Ratatouille, is a delight to kids and adults alike. It will enchant and entertain your imagination. If you watch it with kids, it may even inspire them to want to cook and at the very least, to take more interest in what goes into their food. You may even entice them being more willing to expand their palate into new cuisines.

No children? You have full permission to watch Ratatouille even if you’re not watching it with children. We’re betting that you’ll enjoy it, especially if you’re looking for a creating, well produced, heartwarming and lighthearted story about pursuing your passion.

“A party without a cake is just a meeting.”
~Julia Child, chef, author, TV show host, 1912-2004

Before you settle down to watch a movie, you may wish to hop over to check out the artistry of creative cooking. This visual feast will get you primed and ready for some gourmet entertainment… maybe settle in with a glass of organic wine too.