Chef's Kiss: Cooking Movies to Watch After 'The Bear' Season 4
You don’t need to have worked in the service industry to know that kitchens are chaotic workplaces at the best of times. Many showrunners and filmmakers over the years have tried to capture that mood: the simmering frustrations, the unorthodox family bond, the way it pulls people apart and brings them together. Every now and then, those people also make things that are nice to eat.
No show has done more to pull away the curtain of this business while simultaneously romanticising it than The Bear, a COVID-era sensation that has now spawned four seasons and made a cast of relatively unknown actors into megastars. So, what better time to tuck back into the world of food on screen?
The list we have prepared below is not necessarily all of the best foodie movies you can stream right now; more of the ones that capture the show’s spirit, and how a unique kind of beauty can be found in the most disorderly places.
If you appreciate the way that The Bear looks down on arrogant showmanship and celebrates honesty and simplicity in cooking, The Menu might be the movie for you.
Upon release in ‘22, it seemed like the movie was following in The Bear’s footsteps, but it was actually in production at roughly the same time. Mark Mylod, then deep in the weeds with the final season of Succession, took a break to direct The Menu, a pressure-cooker movie about an uber-chic restaurant (run by a deliciously nasty Ralph Fiennes) where the hors d’oeuvres are served with a side of violence.
Best dish: that cheeseburger at the end is to die for.
Those with a taste for Carmy’s more unhinged moments in the show will appreciate Boiling Point’s (and the subsequent miniseries’) intensity, especially Stephen Graham’s performance; as will fans of Adolescence, the acclaimed show that reunited director Philip Barantini and Graham four years later.
Whether it was to do with the relative ease of shooting something in a more easily contained setting or the way audiences had started to crave the experience of eating out, culinary-focused stories were all the rage in the early years of COVID. None felt quite as ragey as Boiling Point, a single-shot wonder starring Stephen Graham as a head chef on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
Best dish: for all the cooking, the movie and show rarely focus on a particular dish, but I’d easily eat five of those little cod plates from Episode 1 of the TV show.
A great deal of the democratisation of high-end dining can be traced back to Kitchen Confidential, Anthony Bourdain’s iconic memoir, and one of the many fine things to come out of those newly relaxed attitudes was Brad Bird’s Ratatouille. It’s a gorgeous movie that remains a high watermark for Pixar, even among the studio’s peerless early run of work.
Carmy’s love of honest cooking and his refusal to gatekeep (especially with the trust he shows when elevating his staff to more senior roles) is basically the whole message of this Pixar classic. The essential spirit of the movie can be boiled down to Chef Gusteau’s assertion that “anyone can cook,” so if you vibe with that sentiment, you’ll probably love everything about it.
Best dish: it’s all in the name.
The story behind this movie is about as comforting as the food it so lovingly depicts. Jon Favreau went back and forth through the Hollywood wringer a few times before rediscovering his love for filmmaking with movies like Elf, Iron Man and Iron Man 2. In 2013, he decided to go back to basics with Chef, a movie that echoes his own journey—and for fans of The Bear, also echoes Carmy’s journey from the harsh world of fine dining to rediscovering his roots in Chicago.
This passion project—for which Favreau called in a few favours, including casting MCU big hitters Scarlet Johansson and Robert Downey Jr.—follows a celebrated chef (played by Favreau) who is cast out of the fine dining world only to rediscover his love for cooking in the process.
Best dish: the perfect grilled cheese.
It’s no coincidence that the best movie about cooking in recent years is also one of the most detailed. Tran Anh Hung’s The Taste of Things takes place in 1889 and follows the culinary and romantic relationship shared between a gourmet (the great Benoît Magimel) and his long-serving cook (the even greater Juliet Binoche).
Much of the action takes place in the kitchen, where very few words are exchanged above the marvellous dance of boiling, simmering, stirring and frying that Húng exquisitely captures. No other movie on this list allows the food to be its star to this degree. I think Carmy would probably like it—and if you appreciate whenever The Bear focuses purely on the cooking, you’ll probably like it too.
Best dish: the movie is so good it even makes ortolan look tempting—which is more than you can say for Greg and Tom.
You won’t find any of The Bear’s anxiety-attack-inducing tension in Julie & Julia, a high-calorie slice of culinary escapism from comfort food queen Nora Ephron—but if you like the idea of a more chill cooking movie, it might be the pick for you. What you will find here is everyone’s favourite movie foodie (Stanley Tucci) and everyone’s favourite Meryl (erm, Streep) playing lightly exaggerated versions of Paul and Julia Child.
Ephron’s movie was inspired by Julie Powell’s best-selling novel, Julie & Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously, in which the early food blogger (played here by Amy Adams) attempted to cook every recipe in Child’s iconic book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, in 365 days. Needless to say, it’s a cosy watch.
Best dish: has to be the boeuf bourguignon.
We can definitely add this recent Vince Vaughan delicacy to the cosy, Julie & Julia section of our menu—so again, if you’re looking for comfort, look no further. Directed by Stephen Chbosky, Nonnas tells the real-life story of Joe Scaravella, an MTA worker in New York City who, after the death of multiple family members, including his grandmother, opens a restaurant in her honour—the twist being that Scaravella only hires grandmothers as chefs.
Similar to J&J, the movie isn’t looking to get the adrenaline pumping; it’s a moving ode to the women who have always inspired the world’s great cuisines.
Best dish: definitely the pasta and Sunday gravy.
I didn’t plan to add non-fiction movies to this list, but David Gelb’s Jiro Dreams of Sushi feels too influential to leave out—and if you’re interested in seeing an originator of what we now call “food porn”, I highly recommend it. Gelb originally planned his movie as a food doc inspired by David Attenborough, but got a lot more than he bargained for, uncovering a tale of inheritance and intergenerational disconnection in the process.
This is not to say that the movie doesn’t deliver on both counts: the images of the 84-year-old master sushi-maker at work (now 99, the curmudgeony genius is still with us), set to music by Max Richter and Philip Glass, inspired a whole generation of foodie docs.
Best dish: It’s impossible to choose from the nigiri. I would devour every one of them.
Alexander Payne’s Sideways is kind of a modern foodie classic. It also deserves a place on this list, even if its palate is more trained to the grape than the grain—and if you appreciate the way The Bear uses food to express wider, emotional themes, this movie is one worth savouring.
The story follows a wine aficionado (an excellent Paul Giamatti) and his best friend (Thomas Haden Church) on a tasting trip through the Napa Valley. The duo are celebrating the latter’s bachelor party, which of course goes awry, but the movie’s themes are more to do with the former’s midlife crisis and how wine can provide a moving metaphor for that period of life.
Best dish: we’ll take the burger, some fries, and a 1961 Château Cheval Blanc from a styrofoam cup, please.
It makes sense that Stanley Tucci would feature twice on this list. The beloved actor has been charming the world with his love for Italian delicacies ever since lockdown. Tucci’s first great food movie, however, came a long time before all that—so if you’re interested in seeing how much depictions of the industry have changed in the last 30 years, it’s a fascinating watch.
It’s also just a really entertaining movie. Released in 1996, Big Night, which was also Tucci’s directorial debut, tells the story of two struggling New Jersey restaurateurs who catch a break when Louis Prima decides to drop by for a meal.
Best dish: the Timpano looks excessive, but I would probably eat the whole damn thing.
