Anthony Bourdain Called This Film 'The Best Food Movie Ever Made'

Anthony Bourdain really appreciated the simple things, but only the well-done simple things. Bourdain's favorite Los Angeles restaurant was In-N-Out. He included recipes like gooey, creamy mac and cheese and tuna salad in his 2016 "Appetites Cookbook" because those were the meals he would make at home for his daughter. So, it should come as no surprise that when he wanted to nosh on a bucket of popcorn and guzzle a fountain drink at a theater, it was to watch what he considered the best food movie: Pixar's "Ratatouille."

If you've never seen "Ratatouille," it is about a rat named Remy who is a talented cook. Remy teams up with an unassuming kitchen boy named Linguini to whip up meals at a famous Parisian restaurant. The "Parts Unknown" host was so fond of this story that he spoke about its merits on various platforms, including a 2011 interview with "Entertainment Tonight" that has since been hard to locate (via Brobible) and in an email (via an Anthony Bourdain Reddit page).

During the ET interview, he reportedly waxed poetic, saying, "I really thought it captured a passionate love of food in a way that very few other films have." What Bourdain appreciated about both the story and the animation was the attention to detail. In his email, he revealed, "The tiny details are astonishing: The faded burns on the cooks' wrists. The 'personal histories' of the cooks ... the attention paid to the food ..." after sharing, "I think it's quite simply the best food movie ever made."

Anthony Bourdain was impressed by the specifics of the animated film. As it turns out, he had played a part in ensuring those details were accurate. For his contribution during the development stage of the movie, which he deemed "minuscule,"  Bourdain received a "thank you" in the credits. 

Still, it was the pivotal scene in "Ratatouille" where the food critic has a nostalgic, light-bulb moment while eating the movie's title dish that pushed it over the finish line for the celebrity chef. He wrote, "...the Anton Ego ratatouille epiphany hit me like a punch in the chest–literally breathtaking." He further explained that the audience's positive, sweet reaction was what it was all about.

The movie also spurred a friendship between the celebrity chef and Patton Oswalt, the voice of Remy. Bourdain told Oswalt, "They got kitchen and chefs right ... it's very, very accurate." Bourdain even gave Oswalt and his new bride some tips on how to see Paris, including letting the dining find you; however, Oswalt said on "Watch What Happens Live," going to Paris without reservations "Works great if you're Anthony Bourdain; but if you're me, you need to call ahead and make reservations."