Some of us are so crazy for anything food-related, we must consume it in every form we can (not just with a knife and fork). Here’s a roundup of some of our favorite food-themed movies and books as well as our own and put them all together in this list. We could just eat them all up!

Save this list of Editor’s Pick of Books & Movies for Food & Travel Lovers to Pinterest to keep it handy. Photos courtesy of Canva.com. Graphic by RealFoodTraveler.com.

BOOKS for Food and Travel Lovers:

A Paris Christmas: Immoveable Feast A charming story about an American in Paris who, after being raised on white bread, spends the holiday in a Parisian home with their meals and traditions.

A New Turn in the South: Southern Flavors Reinvented for Your Kitchen When one chef told me this book, by another chef, was his favorite, that told me something about the credibility of this book.

Big Night (the book with recipes)  In a New Jersey town, two Italian immigrant brothers struggle to keep their restaurant
afloat. Includes recipes.

Deep Run Roots: Stories and Recipes from My Corner of the South Fans of the TV series, A Chef’s Life will feel that they were part of the process of host Vivian Howard writing this cookbook. With familiar people and homey recipes, it’s a must-have for southern cooking fans.

Forays in France: A Flavorful Memoir is written by our very own Europe Editor, Irvina Lew. It is part travelogue, part travel tips and part cookbook. It’s all a lovely, personal but practical book about a woman traveling at many stages of her life, making it relatable to everyone.

Hungry for more? Listen to our podcast with the author of Forays in France.

Forays in France book cover courtesy of Irvina Lew.

Mincemeat Italian chef and anthropologist Leonardo Lucarelli sketches behind the scenes life in a restaurant kitchen.

My Life in France The story of Julia Child’s years with her husband in France where she wrote her first book and had many wonderful culinary adventures.

Pati Jinich’s Mexican Today Learn how to make doable traditional and modern Mexican dishes with this beautiful and easy to follow cookbook.

Cat Cora Cooking from the Hip This is our go-to recipe book that is as interesting to read as it is practical to use.

My Kitchen Year: 136 Recipes That Saved My Life In the year after Ruth Reichl was left out of a job after decades as editor and chief of Gourmet magazine, she went through a personal crisis and did the one thing she knew she could do well – cook. This poetic and poignant cookbook is the result.

Nourished: A Memoir of Food, Faith & Enduring Love (with Recipes) Equal parts travel book, love story and recipe book, this new book gets you thinking about life, wondering where to travel next and cooking up delicious things in your own kitchen.

The French Chef in America Written by Julia Child’s nephew, Alex Prud’homme, the book follows what happened in Julia and Paul’s lives once they returned from Paris to America.

Books and Movies for Food and Travel Lovers include the book Nourished by Lia Huber. Photo courtesy of Nourished by Lia Huber.

 MOVIES for Food and Travel Lovers:

Big Night (the movie) A failing Italian restaurant run by two brothers gambles on one special night to try to save the business starring Tony Shalhoub and Stanley Tucci.

Burnt When a rockstar chef’s (Bradley Cooper) bad attitude destroys his career, he gathers people to help him start fresh.

CHEF Jon Favreau leads an all-star cast about the restaurant and food truck business. The food scenes and music are fantastic. It’s a feel-good/eat-good movie.

City of Gold Follow the late Pulitzer Prize-winning food critic Jonathan Gold as he explores and reviews restaurants in Los Angeles. It’s a unique view into the world of restaurant reviewing.

East Side Sushi Juana, a working-class, single mother fights to achieve her dream of becoming a sushi chef.

Julie and Julia This is the back and forth story of Julia Child’s years in France in the 1940’s and Julie Powell in the 1990’s. Powell became famous blogging about her desire to learn to cook via Julia’s cookbook. You’re going to want to make Beouf Bourguignon afterward, just warning you.

Love’s Kitchen A grief-stricken chef and restaurateur catches the eye of a beautiful food critic. The scenery is lovely and the chemistry is strong.

Mostly Martha A headstrong chef has to take on her stubborn young niece. The one thing that unites them is cooking and an Italian sous-chef who comes into their lives.

No Reservations In a similar plot to Mostly Martha, a somewhat cold chef gets a young relative thrust upon her life that is not set up for children. But a kind cooking competitor shows up to make it all better, starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Aaron Eckhart.

Noma: My Perfect Storm FollowRené Redzepi, renowned as one of the world’s best chefs. His restaurant Noma was voted best restaurant in the world four times. See what it looks like behind the scenes of one of the most expensive restaurants in the world.

Ratatouille Sure, it’s a kids’ movie (kind of ) but we really want to be able to assemble a perfect platter of ratatouille like that someday.

The Hundred Foot Journey Helen Mirren stars in this movie about tensions between two different restaurants and two cultures and how food unifies them, ultimately.

The Lunchbox A sweet, poignant movie about a mistaken lunchbox delivery and the surprising relationship that results.

Today’s Special should not be watched without a plate of Indian food in front of you. The movie blends love, family, obligation and culinary creativity as beautifully as it blends the ingredients for a good masala. Actress, chef and cookbook author, Madhur Jaffrey is one of the stars.

Tortilla Soup A Mexican-American master chef and father to three daughters has lost his taste for food but not for life.

Did we miss your favorite food and travel books or movies? Comment below and let us know. We’ll add them to the list. Any time of year is a good time to buy these tasty treasures.

Note, for your convenience, we’ve linked to Amazon for each of these items so you can get a good deal. In some posts, including this one, we use affiliate links, which means the RealFoodTraveler.com receives a small percentage of the sale if you use the link to make your purchase. This does not change the price of the product! This income directly offsets the cost of web hosting for us. We appreciate your support.