What to Watch If You Love Cooking: 20 Films and Series About Food
I asked my readers which films and series about food they love, and got more than 80 recommendations. I collected them all, counted which ones came up most often, and picked 20 titles: from binge-worthy series to quiet Japanese cinema and documentaries about great chefs. You won't find the obvious "Julie & Julia" here, but you may well find something you haven't seen yet.
Series you won't be able to stop watching
Let's start with the binge-worthy ones: three series about kitchens, wine and late-night conversations over food.
The Bear
Series · USA, since 2022
Carmy, a chef from a New York fine-dining restaurant, returns to Chicago after his brother's death to run the family sandwich shop. He has to bring order to the kitchen and win over a crew that doesn't want anything to change.
Starring Jeremy Allen White and Ayo Edebiri. Awards: Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series.
Drops of God
Series · France, Japan, since 2023
After the death of a famous wine critic, his daughter Camille learns she may inherit the world's greatest wine collection. But first she has to beat her father's protégé, Japanese oenologist Issei, in a series of tests. Based on a Japanese manga; season two premiered in 2026.
Awards: International Emmy for Best Drama Series.
Midnight Diner
Shinya Shokudō · series · Japan, since 2009
A tiny Tokyo diner is open from midnight to seven in the morning. There is only one dish on the menu, but the owner will cook whatever guests ask for, as long as he has the ingredients. Each episode is the story of one guest and one dish.
Based on the manga by Yarō Abe. Later seasons were released on Netflix as Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories.
Chefs, kitchens and restaurants
Stories about people who cook for a living, from a food truck to fine-dining kitchens.
Chef
Film · USA, 2014
After a clash with the restaurant owner and a public fight with a critic, chef Carl Casper loses his job. He turns an old van into a food truck selling Cuban sandwiches and hits the road across the US with his son.
Written, directed by and starring Jon Favreau.
Soul Kitchen
Film · Germany, 2009
Zinos runs a cheap little restaurant in Hamburg. With a bad back, a girlfriend who has left, a brother on parole and a developer who wants the building, Zinos tries to save the place and hires a new cook.
Directed by Fatih Akin. Awards: Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival.
Mostly Martha
Bella Martha · film · Germany, 2001
Martha is the head chef of a Hamburg restaurant, a perfectionist who lives only for her kitchen. After her sister's death she takes in her eight-year-old niece Lina, while a new Italian cook, Mario, joins the kitchen.
Directed by Sandra Nettelbeck. Remade in Hollywood in 2007 as No Reservations with Catherine Zeta-Jones.
Tony
Film · USA, 2026
Summer 1975. Nineteen-year-old Anthony Bourdain arrives in Provincetown and takes a job in a restaurant kitchen, and that summer will shape his future. Based on Bourdain's book Kitchen Confidential.
Directed by Matt Johnson. Starring Dominic Sessa and Antonio Banderas.
Hunger
Film · Thailand, 2023
Aoy cooks noodles at her family's eatery in Bangkok until famous chef Paul, who runs private dinners for wealthy clients, invites her to join his team. The deeper she goes into the world of fine dining, the clearer the price of success becomes.
A Netflix film. Awards: International Emmy for Best Performance by an Actress.
History and beauty
Films in which food is an art form: old France, a Danish village and the kitchens of the Élysée Palace.
The Taste of Things
La Passion de Dodin Bouffant · film · France, 2023
Late 19th century. The gourmet Dodin and his cook Eugénie have created dishes together at his country estate for twenty years. Eugénie has turned down his marriage proposals many times, so Dodin decides, for the first time, to cook a dinner for her.
Starring Juliette Binoche and Benoît Magimel. Awards: Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival.
Delicious
Délicieux · film · France, 2021
1789. A duke dismisses his cook, Manceron, for serving guests a dish of his own invention. Together with his son and a mysterious apprentice, Louise, Manceron opens a place in the countryside where anyone can come to eat: one of the first restaurants.
Babette's Feast
Babettes gæstebud · film · Denmark, 1987
The 19th century, a village on the coast of Jutland. Two elderly sisters from a strict religious community take in Babette, a refugee from Paris. Years later she wins the lottery and spends all the money on a single French dinner for the villagers.
Based on a story by Karen Blixen. Awards: Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Haute Cuisine
Les Saveurs du Palais · film · France, 2012
Hortense, a farm cook from Périgord, is invited to the Élysée Palace to become the French president's personal chef. She cooks simple home food that the president appreciates, but the palace's main kitchen does not welcome her.
Based on the story of Danièle Mazet-Delpeuch, personal chef to François Mitterrand.
Family, roots and warm stories
Films about how food connects generations, countries and people who otherwise would never find common ground.
Abe
Film · USA, Brazil, 2019
Twelve-year-old Abe lives in Brooklyn: his mother's family is Jewish, his father's is Palestinian, and every family holiday ends in an argument. Abe secretly learns from Chico, a street chef who blends cuisines from around the world, and decides to cook a dinner that will bring his family together.
Starring Noah Schnapp and Seu Jorge.
Nonnas
Film · USA, 2025
After his mother's death, Joe puts all his savings into a restaurant on Staten Island where the cooks are real Italian grandmothers. Based on the true story of the restaurant Enoteca Maria.
Starring Vince Vaughn and Susan Sarandon. A Netflix film.
Ramen Shop
Ramen Teh · film · Singapore, Japan, 2018
After his father's death, young Japanese ramen cook Masato travels to Singapore to learn about his mother's family and the taste of her cooking. He tries to combine Japanese ramen with the Singaporean soup bak kut teh.
Directed by Eric Khoo.
Mr. Church
Film · USA, 2016
Henry Church is hired to cook for a seriously ill woman and her young daughter Charlie. The arrangement is meant to last six months, but Church stays with the family for many years.
Starring Eddie Murphy and Britt Robertson.
Toast
Film · UK, 2010
The childhood of British food writer Nigel Slater. His mother can only make toast and tinned food, and after her death the boy competes with his father's new housekeeper for his father's attention, through cooking.
Based on Slater's memoir. Starring Freddie Highmore and Helena Bonham Carter.
Documentaries and shows
For those who want a look inside real kitchens: a sushi master, a chef who explains flavour, and the tent of British home bakers.
Jiro Dreams of Sushi
Documentary · USA, 2011
A film about Jiro Ono, a sushi master in his eighties at the time of filming. His ten-seat restaurant is located in a Tokyo subway station building and held three Michelin stars at the time. The film follows his daily work, his apprentices and the son who is expected to carry on the business.
Directed by David Gelb.
Salt Fat Acid Heat
Documentary series · USA, 2018
A Netflix miniseries based on chef Samin Nosrat's book of the same name. Four episodes cover the four basic elements of flavour, and for each one she travels somewhere new: Italy, Japan, Mexico and California.
The Great British Bake Off
Show · UK, since 2010
A competition for amateur bakers: in each episode the contestants face three challenges in a big tent, and the judges choose the star baker of the week. Paul Hollywood is one of the permanent judges.
On Netflix the show is called The Great British Baking Show.
What would you recommend?
This list is just the beginning: there were more than 80 recommendations, and I keep adding to it. If your favourite film isn't here, come to my cooking club on Telegram and tell me about it. There are new recipes there every day, including ones for a cosy movie night: https://t.me/backingclub