Foodie movies: Eat, drink, travel!

Restaurant in Hamburg, Germany. Sue Frause photo.

After seeing the Oscar nominated film Up in the Air for the second time (which, by the way, is all about travel), my hubby and I went to our local bistro for a pre-dinner cocktail. Since I’m generally influenced by what people are eating and drinking in movies, I ordered a Bombay Sapphire Martini with one olive. Straight up.

I think that’s what Anna Kendrick’s character Natalie Keener was imbibing when she broke the news to Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) and Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga) that her boyfriend had dumped her via text message. At any rate, it stuck with me throughout the film, so I had to order one.

That’s what movies do: make me want to eat, drink, travel! While standing at the bar quaffing my perfect martini, a group of us started talking about food themed movies. There are plenty out there, and I even bumped into a website that’s a good start to a list. Although I do think that La Grande Bouffe (1973) and My Dinner with Andre (1981) should have been included.

The places I want to travel to immediately after seeing a film are those set in Europe and New York City. Ratatouille (2007), Chocolat (2000), The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoise (1972) and Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe (1978) were all partially set in Paris. Ooh la la.

Babette’s Feast (1987) was filmed in Denmark and Mostly Martha (2001) in Hamburg and Italy. The remake of the latter film starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Aaron Eckhart, No Reservations (2007), was filmed in NYC’s Greenwich Village and Brooklyn.

Bon appetit!