I love food and I love film and TV. As I am sure, so do you. But I love it most when they are together on screen. I swear, Food on Film should be a genre in itself. Imagine the kind of conversations we could be having.
– What movie are you watching tonight?
– Oh, I’m watching a Fomedy starring Amy Adams and Meryl Streep called ‘Julie & Julia’.
Okay, maybe not the best kind of conversation but you get my drift.
Before I turned vegan and gluten-free, I would drool over each and every pizza, pasta and sandwich scene that hit the screen and then go relive that scene in reality. Now that I don’t crave bread or dairy products anymore, it doesn’t make much of a difference to me. Oh, who am I kidding? My eyes still dilate at the sight of melted cheese and my nostrils flare wide at the memory of freshly baked bread. Even if I can’t eat it, doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate the memory of what used to be comforting, right?
So without further delay, here’s presenting my top 15 favorite non-vegan, gluten-laden food on film scenes ever !
1. Eat, Pray, Love – Pizza Scene – Remember the part where Julia Roberts is in a relationship? With her Margarita pizza? Yes, that one. While digging her beautiful teeth into her rich tangy pie, she gives thoughtful insights on how important it is to let go and stop feeling guilty about every calorie you put in your body. #YOLO !
2. Eat, Pray, Love – Pasta Scene – Who needs love when you have a bowl of fresh pasta in front of you? Julia Roberts demonstrates how important it is to love yourself first ! Watching Julia radiating inner peace with a smile on her face while slurping on her tomato-basil spaghetti was one of the best moments ever.
3. America’s Sweethearts – Breakfast Scene – Julia Roberts can make eating anything, in any fashion, a delightful spectacle ! Even if she is, quite literally, attacking a stack of pancakes in vexation and moaning about the lack of butter!
4. Pretty Woman – Breakfast Scene in Hotel Room – I just realized the extraordinary number of scenes Julia has had on film with her mouth full. This scene is no less. Julia Roberts looks so sweet and vulnerable in a bathrobe with her feet up while eating a croissant and a pancake with her bare hands.
5. Julie and Julia – Bruschetta Scene – This is definitely one of my favorite scenes ever from one of my favorite films because it is completely dedicated to the art of cooking and blogging! Here Amy Adams serves up a lovely myriad of colors in the form of a plate of crispy bruschetta with bell peppers and tomatoes as toppings. Not only is it a pleasant sight, but also apparently tastes amazing which is evident in the way her on-screen husband Chris Messina responds , “This is good. This is really good.” P.S. – Chris Messina shows us the meaning of ‘foodgasming’, as he gorges on everything that his wife makes and moans with absolute pleasure throughout the film.
6. The Importance of Being Earnest – Cucumber Sandwich – There was something very appealing and very very British about two grown men devouring bite-sized cucumber sandwiches, that were only meant for their Aunt Augusta.
7. The Importance of Being Earnest – Eating Muffins Agitatedly – Watching the usually solemn and (earnest!) Colin Firth get into a tussle with Rupert Everett over muffins in this comedy of errors was simply adorable. As Rupert Everett rightly remarks, “I can hardly eat muffins in an agitated manner, can I?”
8. Matilda – Matilda Makes Pancakes – Matilda is one of the strongest little girls on screen. She is positive, upbeat and never one to back down from difficult people and situations. Here she demonstrates her cooking skills as she makes some pancakes for herself when her aunt and uncle are away.
9. Breakfast at Tiffany’s – Opening Breakfast Scene – Elegant Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly makes this scene the most memorable ever as she gazes into the display window of Tiffany’s on an early Sunday morning, eating a Danish pastry and sipping on coffee to the score of the soulful “Moon River”.
10. Mr. Bean – How to make a sandwich from scratch in the park – Who can resist laughing at anything the lovably absurd and innocent Mr.Bean does? I adore this scene simply because of its sheer originality. Only he could think of something like carrying a slab of butter in his overcoat pocket and spreading it on bread slices with a credit card! A real comical treat to watch, albeit slightly cringe-worthy. I won’t say any more, please watch it !
11. F.R.I.E.N.D.S – Ross’s Sandwich – The usually affable Ross demonstrates an insurmountable level of rage when his favorite turkey leftover sandwich is taken by someone at work. While you cannot see any sandwich in the scene, hearing Ross describing it in detail and crediting it as “the only good thing going on in his life” is quite comical and somehow relatable. You cannot help but feel for him.
12. Julia and Julia – Chocolate Pie Scene – Resisting cocoa is like resisting life itself. Because, chocolate makes everything so much simpler. And messy at the same time.
13. Julie and Julia – What Julie loves about cooking? – Julie loves that cooking is a way of unwinding and the one thing she is sure of. Again, Chris Messina licks chocolate off of the spatula quite greedily. He plays the role of a pretty supportive husband in his wife’s cooking and blogging endeavors.
14. 13 Going on 30 – Breakfast Scene – Jennifer Garner asks her mother about regrets and going back in time to fix things while slowly nibbling on pancakes garnished with strawberries and raisins and sipping milk. I love the peaceful look on her mother’s face as she delicately stirs sugar in her tea.
15. Hell Baby – Sandwich Eating Scene – I confess, I haven’t actually seen this movie nor had I come across this scene before I decided to write this blog post. I just loved this scene for what it was. Four macho men enjoying a very masculine favorite – a sandwich. No dialogues necessary. Just some grunts, moans, foodgasms, followed by the sound of crunchy chips, gulping beer, and very satisfied burps and some other rude noises. As one of the guys keeps saying, “Yeah!” “Yeah” “Yeah”.
I find solace in the comfort of a well presented meal, the colors and textures give me hope and happiness. I don’t know if that made much sense but I hope you enjoyed watching these scenes as much as I did. Please do let me know what your favorite food-related scenes are. 🙂
P.S. – I do not own any of the video links or GIF images posted here. No copyright infringement intended.
Desperately Vegan 