RAT....atouille

Who knew? When did cartoons get so sophisticated? The newest Disney/Pixar animated film "Ratatouille" is not only a sumptuous feast for the eyes but also one absolutely made for foodies of all ages right down to the very last computer generated pixel. And as I have always said, the quality is in the smallest details. Maybe that's why they hired the famous chef Thomas Keller (pictured above) as consultant on the film. Keller, who is chef/owner of arguably the two best restaurants in the country, French Laundry in Yountville,CA and Per Se in New York, NY oversaw all of the food related content right down to the preparation of the film's namesake dish, which saves the day.

Never did Paris, one of the Boston Foodie's (lower picture) favorite places, look so good. Long gone are the lifeless, stiff backgrounds of other animated features. The scenes of Paris are as colorful, vibrant and alive as the city itself. Any foodie, chef or culinary student will instantly recognize that Pixar has done painstaking research on this film and must have watched thousands of hours to replicate just how a knife looks while chopping or cutting, the movement of food as arranged on a plate and, well, everything else, too. It really is the gold standard of animation.

Sure there is the typically Disney simplistic moral of the story but even this takes second place to the impeccable recreation of foodiness. And make no mistake our rat/hero IS a foodie! Even if you don't have any children go and see the film for it's pure joy of food which is, by far, the real story of the film. Food is passion, fun, complex and often demanding and all of the many aspects of the true joy of foodiness all come out in this film.