If you struggle to get off the couch and make dinner, we do too. If you want to enjoy masterful cooking without leaving the comfort of your couch, along with some hilarious and touching storylines, try watching these twelve best chef movies before cooking your meal. Eventually.
12. No Reservations (2007)
Cooking clashes with life in the film No Reservations. In the film Catherine Zeta-Jones stars as Master Chef Kate Armstrong, who leads her personal life and work life with serious intensity. When she becomes the guardian of her niece and has to contend with a new brash sous-chef in her kitchen, Kate is in for a wild ride. Sometimes love will bloom from rivalry, but Kate will have to look further to find her true happiness.
–IMDb score: 6.3
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11. Hunger (2023)
Take a journey into the horror genre with our eleventh selection Hunger. Aoy runs her family’s stir-fried noodle shop in an old quarter of Bangkok, supporting her family as best as she can. One day, she receives a letter to leave her family’s business to join Team Hunger, led by Thailand’s number one chef. As she dives deeper into the world of Hunger, Aoy realizes how brutal her head chef is.
–IMDb score: 6.6
10. Always Be My Maybe (2019)
If you’re looking for a romance chef film instead, turn on Always Be My Maybe starring Ali Wong and Randall Park. Sasha and Marcus used to be childhood friends until a falling out led to them not speaking for 15 years. When Sasha returns to her hometown as a celebrity chef, she is surprised to find Marcus still living at home and working for his dad. As the two reconnect, they find their old spark, and maybe some new ones too.
–IMDb score: 6.7
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9. Julie & Julia (2009)
One of Nora Ephron’s most well-known movies is Julie & Julia, which spans both space and time as two female chefs try to prove that anything is possible. In the present day, New Yorker Julie Powell decides to prepare all 524 recipes in Julia Childs’ cookbook “Mastering the Art of French Cusine” after getting burned out by her job. Intertwined with her story is Julia Childs’ as she conquers French cuisine with passion and a lot of butter.
–IMDb score: 7.0
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8. East Side Sushi (2014)
Perseverance is the theme of our eighth selection East Side Sushi. Single mom Juana has a talent for slicing and dicing anything with speed and precision. She decides to leave her job at a fruit-vending cart and work at a local Japanese restaurant instead. As she learns more about Japanese cuisine, her initial attempts to become a sushi chef and squashed because she is of the “wrong” race and gender. This pushes Juana to continue on her journey and not let anyone stop her dreams.
–IMDb score: 7.1
7. Dinner Rush (2000)
If you’ve ever wanted to see Murphy’s Law play out in a chef movie, you will want to watch Dinner Rush. Everything seems to be going wrong for restaurant owner Louis, who is also a part-time bookkeeper. While having to please a whiny food critic, Louis must keep two gangsters at bay as they try to recover a sous-chef’s debt. Finally, Louis gets into an argument with his son, the star chef, and everything starts to blow up in his face.
–IMDb score: 7.2
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6. Mostly Martha (2001)
Martha is a dedicated and obsessive chef in the film Mostly Martha, using her culinary skills as a primary form of communication with her peers. When a tragic accident leaves Martha with her eight-year-old niece Lina, her orderly life begins to unravel. Her boss is forced to bring in help to content with Martha’s new situation, and as she deals with Lina at home she must now deal with a new Italian chef in her kitchen.
–IMDb score: 7.2
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5. The Menu (2022)
One of the most recent films on our list is Menu, a horror film that stunned many when it first hit theaters in 2022. In the film, a couple is invited to a posh coastal island to sample a chef’s spectacular menu at an exclusive restaurant. However many of the guests will not be prepared for what the chef has in store for them, and it becomes a truly horrific and comedic ride.
–IMDb score: 7.2
4. Big Night (1996)
Two brothers try to run a successful restaurant in our fourth selection Big Night. Chef Primo and businessman Secondo are immigrants from Italy who opened an Italian restaurant in New Jersey. When their authentic food is pushed away by local tastes, their business begins to struggle. When Italian-American bandleader Louis Prima is set to appear at their restaurant, the two brothers will put everything on the line to keep their restaurant from sinking.
–IMDb score: 7.3
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3. The Hundred-Foot Journey (2014)
Two restaurants will go head-to-head in our second selection The Hundred-Foot Journey. Hassan Kadam is a self-taught talented chef who decides to open an Indian eatery in a French village after being displaced from their home. One hundred feet away, fellow restaurant owner Madame Mallory strongly objects to the new competition until she realizes the skill of Hassan, and takes him under her wing instead.
–IMDb score: 7.3
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2. Chef (2014)
If you enjoy Marvel actors Jon Favreau, Scarlett Johansson, and Robert Downey Jr., you might want to check out Chef. After a controlling owner pushes chef Carl Casper (Favreau) too far, he decides to quit his position and ends up in Miami. With the help of his ex-wife, best friend, and son, Carl launches a food truck business, reigniting his passion for cooking, life, and love.
–IMDb score: 7.3
1. Ratatouille (2007)
Of course, we cannot have a best chef movies list without Ratatouille. One of Pixar’s best films, Ratatouille follows Remy who dreams of becoming a great chef. The only problem? Remy is a rat, and to follow his dreams he enlists the help of garbage boy Linguini to make his dreams a reality. As the pair work together, their secret will eventually come out, with some pretty hilarious consequences.
–IMDb score: 8.1
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