Restaurants in movies have found their obvious use in dating scenes, and a somewhat surprising space in crime thrillers. These eateries play an important role in films where scenes are dialogue-centric. This is typically seen when the story explores a phase in two characters’ relationships, especially when they meet or get dumped. Restaurants also add to a city’s cultural vibe in its fictional representation, which is a regular in films set in New York and Paris.
One can also look at restaurants where the everyman goes to disappear in the crowd. This acts as a camouflage for criminals to scheme, settle and enjoy a normal life without creating havoc in public. As a result, several thrillers like Pulp Fiction and Goodfellas feature scenes in eateries where criminals bond with their peers or strategize their next move. From When Harry Met Sally… to Goodfellas, here are 10 iconic scenes from restaurants that are etched in our memory.
10 When Harry Met Sally…
The genre-redefining When Harry Met Sally… changed how one looks at heterosexual relationships. Sparks do not fly between Harry, played by Billy Crystal, and Sally, played by Meg Ryan, when they meet on a cross-country drive. Later, the two become friends challenging the platonic nature of their relationship, which forms the main argument of the film, can men and women be friends? Their friendship is tested over a span of 12 years where the two are in and out of several relationships while being constant friends to each other.
There are several scenes of the two in restaurants where Sally elaborately explains to the waiter how she prefers her dish while Harry watches her in amusement. The most iconic of these encounters is when Sally argues women can fake an orgasm and demonstrates one right in front of a shocked restaurant to prove her point. The film is a quintessential New York-film and paints an entertaining picture of how lively conversations in eateries are an intimate part of the city’s culture.
9 The Social Network
The Social Network opens with a scene in a pub where Mark Zuckerberg, played by Jesse Eisenberg, is dumped by Erica Albright, played by Rooney Mara. The masterfully crafted scene reveals Zuckerberg’s superiority complex, misogyny, and his emotionally stunted personality, eventually leading him to build his tech empire. The scene is pivotal in exposing what can be expected out of the character and the deep impact Erica’s rejection had on him. The pub in the scene is crowded with young individuals, like the couple, setting the youthful mood of the film. The couple breaks up even before they order their food which adds to the instability and unpredictability of the relationships one forms in college.
8 Big Night
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The indie-darling Big Night is directed by Stanley Tucci and explores the passion of cooking, eating, and feeding in a struggling Italian restaurant. The film stars Tony Shalhoub as Chef Primo and Stanley Tucci as Secondo, who play immigrant brothers running an Italian restaurant in New Jersey. Chef Primo’s obsession with authentic Italian cuisine makes the restaurant unattractive to American locals, which puts Secondo in an uncomfortable position. However, when the Italian American celebrity Louis Prima is rumored to visit the restaurant, the brothers gear up to cook an elaborate dish to impress Prima, expecting improvement in the business. As the brothers and guest prepare for the big night, the wait takes longer than usual.
The scene where the belly-full guests are exhausted after enjoying a great meal remains an underrated scene, as it resembles a post-sex enactment when characters are tired after a passionate rendezvous.
7 Pulp Fiction
The scene between Mia Wallace and Vincent Vega in an old-Hollywood themed restaurant in Pulp Fiction is one of the most recognized scenes in American cinema. Quentin Tarantino blends nostalgia and cinephilia in the scene, which is typical of the director’s filmography. The couple share an unusual date in the restaurant. Vincent is assigned to escort his crime boss Marsellus’s trophy wife, Mia. They share an awkward conversation, with an undertone of a will-they-won’t-they chemistry between them. They eat a Jack Rabbit Slim’s and Mia challenges Vincent to a twist content. They dance to the tune of Chuck Berry’s You Can Never Tell, which can be interpreted as their mating dance.
The scene is a standout moment in the film, with the dynamic between the two unexplored ending the same night after Mia overdoses on heroin. The night remains a secret between the two, which adds to the mystique of the couple and the film.
6 Before Sunset
Before Sunset catches Jesse and Celine after nine years post their first meeting in Vienna. This time they meet in Paris and catch up on the time gone by, and cope with the loss of the relationship they could have had.
The film mainly shows the couple walking along the streets of Paris and having conversations about their personal lives, philosophies and love. They become more vulnerable as they unlock their bottled-up feelings about each other. The couple enter a café where the two talk about Celine’s experience in America, Jesse’s inclination towards spiritualism, and find out they lived close to each other in New York without knowing. The café is now a tourist attraction frequently visited by admirers of the film. The scene in the café only captures the iceberg of their vulnerabilities, where they linger on their romanticism before revealing the darkness that loomed in their lives after their meeting in Vienna.
5 Eat, Pray, Love
It is hard to not order a pizza after watching Eat, Pray, Love. The film stars Julia Roberts as Liz Gilbert, dissatisfied with her marriage and well-paying job. She escapes her materialistic life and travels to Italy, Bali and India to seek answers for her personal problems. The film explores themes of spirituality on her journey to Bali and India, while Italy is reserved for pleasure and food! Liz goes to different Italian restaurants to have dishes that the country is famous for. In one scene, Liz eats a pizza and declares she is in a relationship with it. The scene is sure to make any foodie envious as it accurately portrays the Italian outlook of simple pleasures.
4 Ratatouille
No list about on-screen moments in restaurant is complete without Ratatouille. The animated film is set in Paris and follows Remy, a rat who yearns to be a chef at the prestigious restaurant owned by his late idol Auguste Gusteau. He finds a way to do so by befriending the restaurant’s garbage boy, Linguini, by controlling his hand movements and hiding in his chef hat. Remy becomes a stand-out cook in the kitchen through Linguini.
The film’s title refers to a traditional French dish, which is shown in the most pivotal scene. Once Linguini’s secret is out, he is tested by Ego, a hard-to-please food critic. Remy cooks Ratatouille, which makes the critic nostalgic and enjoys the meal to his heart’s content. The film’s message that anyone can be a cook is delivered aptly by dismissing culinary elitism and embracing amateur passion for cooking.
3 Goodfellas
Restaurant scenes are a regular in Italian-American mafia films as it establishes the important role food plays in Italian families. Goodfellas chronicles the rise and fall of mobster Henry Hill, played by Ray Liotta. Hill always wanted to be a gangster and idolized the men in the mob growing up. He is shown to go the extra mile to earn their trust, making him quickly climb the ranks. This accompanied a life of drug addiction, that claimed his downfall.
The film mainly focuses on the camaraderie between Hill and his fellow mobsters James Conway, played by Robert De Niro, and the neurotic Tommy DeVito, played by Joe Pesci. In the film’s most talked about scene, an unpredictable Tommy riffs off with Hill and other mobsters, who are shown enjoying Tommy’s jokes. Suddenly, he breaks character and asks Hill what is making him laugh. The jolly tone of the scene changes to a tense mood as the character is known for his short temper. The scene catapults back to being funny again when Tommy laughs back jokingly. Joe Pesci won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance.
2 The Godfather
The Godfather is regarded as the greatest film of all time, directed by Francis Ford Coppola. It explores the power dynamic in the notorious Corleone family, headed by Don Vito Corleone. Michael, played by Al Pacino, is Vito’s youngest son who has second thoughts about joining the Mafia but is left with no other options. This leads to a series of murders by Michael in order to keep his father’s empire upright.
One of the most iconic scenes from the filmis when Michael kills Sollozzo in a restaurant. Sollozzo is a drug baron who persuades Vito to invest in his narcotic business. After Vito refuses, he removes guards protecting a wounded Vito at a crucial time. Michael feels betrayed by the move and meets Sollozzo in a restaurant to settle the matter. He goes to the bathroom to claim a gun kept by Capo Clemenza and shoots him. The scene masterfully balances tension and Michael’s anxiety, reaching a crescendo, after which Sollozzo is killed.
1 Heat
The iconic scene from Michael Mann’s Heat shows the shared humanity between two men opposed in ethics, morals and by law. The film follows the cat-and-mouse chase between a mastermind thief Neil McCauley, played by Robert De Niro and Lieutenant Hanna, played by Al Pacino. Neil plans for one last heist as Hanna tracks him down and successfully pulls him over on the 105 Freeway. In an unusual meeting, they share coffee and discuss their personal lives.
The conversation reveals that they have a lot in common but would not hesitate to kill each other if need be. This is the only time Neil and Hanna meet each other in the entire film when both are alive, marking Robert De Niro and Al Pacino sharing the screen for the first time. The much-anticipated chemistry between the actors hit the perfect chord cinematically as a criminal and a lieutenant found respect for each other. One could imagine Neil and Hanna as friends if their jobs did not pit them against each other, which speaks of the actors’ finesse in their performance.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
