Lists

13 of the Best Movie Set Kitchens of All Time

January 25, 2016

It's officially awards season—the period of winter that falls after New Years, during which everyone's favorite activities include snuggling up, watching movies, kindling fires, and using TV programs as an excuse to throw a dinner/appetizer party on a weekday. We're game!

During this season of creature comforts, it's important to catch up on movies, since the Academy Award winners will be announced in February. Which had us musing about some of favorite movie sets of all time, and more specifically our favorite movie set kitchens. (Fair warning: There's more than one Nancy Meyers and Nora Ephron films in the mix.)

And the winners are...

Practical Magic (1998)

Photo by Hooked on Houses

Built on a set in Los Angeles (but set in a Victorian manse in New England), the kitchen in Practical Magic was bewitching. With black plank floors, glossy oversized tiling, and a hearth-like stove where the cauldron would bubble away, it was perfect for a family of witches.

Babette's Feast (1987)

Oscar-winning and G-rated, Babette's Feast is the story of a meal that transcends—and the cook Babette whips it up in a dark, humble Danish kitchen that's as memorable as the food.

The Holiday (2006)

Photo by Elements of Style Blog

In The Holiday, there are a few good kitchens—but the one in Kate Winslet's compact Surrey cottage stole our hearts with white stone walls, a tiny stove, powder-blue cabinets, and a fireplace. Yes, a fireplace!

It's Complicated (2009)

Bright, uncluttered, and spacious, Meryl Streep's kitchen in It's Complicated is a California dream—from the way it opens into the dining room to the marble-topped table that's used as a workspace.

You've Got Mail (1998)

Maybe it was Meg Ryan, or maybe the glass French doors, or more likely the way she used an old desk with a lamp as extra counter space (who hasn't done that?). Either way, her New York City kitchen in You've Got Mail was the I-can-have-that kind of beautiful.

Amelie (2001)

Accented in scarlet, sage, and marigold, the kitchen in Amelie gets us by way of nostalgia. It's retro in all the right ways, itty bitty, and with a big window to spy on passerbys.

Sabrina (1954)

The kitchen in Sabrina, where the servants prepare food for the Larrabee family and take their humbler meals, is bright, bustling, and expansive—and cheerful enough to remind Audrey Hepburn that the grass might not actually be greener upstairs.

Julie & Julia (2009)

There are two great kitchens in this movie—Julia Child's house in Cambridge and Julie Powell's Queens apartment—but we're going to have to award Julia's as the winner, as it was meticulously recreated from pictures of her original space.

Rosemary's Baby (1968)

In Roman Polanski's psychological thriller Rosemary's Baby, the interiors of Mia Farrow's New York City apartment are vividly portrayed; the kitchen, with its mustardy appliances, moody glow, and subway tile walls, was disturbingly likable.

A Single Man (2009)

Set in the 60s and shot largely in a home designed by John Lautner in California, Tom Ford's award winning A Single Man is remembered for the striking mid-century interiors—not least of which was the ultra-evocative kitchen space.

Ratatouille (2007)

With its glossy black and brass accents, tiled floor, and copper pots, the restaurant kitchen in Ratatouille is as fine-tuned as its chefs.

Chocolat (2000)

The workspace in Vianne's controversial chocolaterie is exactly how we'd like our pied-a-terre to feel once we find one to escape to in France: an oversized farm table for working on, warm lighting, and open shelves with everything we need.

Gosford Park (2001)

The film that inspired the TV series Downtown Abbey, Gosford Park is set in an English country house in the 1930s. The kitchen, all glistening subway tile and tall order, is a glamorous glimpse into servants' domains of that time and place.

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What are your favorite movie kitchens? How many of them are from Nancy Meyers movies? Let us know in the comments!

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95 Comments

Debra C. February 29, 2024
One of my favorite kitchens is from Something’s gotta give with Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson. I loved the entire house!!
 
lee October 30, 2023
The opening scene of "Unfaithful" showing views out Constance & Edward's kitchen window (complete with old painted window hardware), vintage faucet, plank floors - sigh. Not to mention Paul Martel's studio kitchen & that beautiful antique teapot. Adrian Lynne movie sets are always gorgeous (9-1/2 Weeks' houseboat!)
 
Mimi July 2, 2023
My favorite kitchen is Diane Keaton's in "Something's Got To Give"...best movie kitchen ever!
 
Eileen March 26, 2023
You knew something had to be amiss with the household in Rosemary's Baby.... The refrigerator door opens the wrong way!!!
 
FishFish March 25, 2023
~Also the English country house kitchen in the dark and wonderful Phantom Thread
 
FishFish March 25, 2023
And the sweet everglades kitchen in Cross Creek~
 
MissyMiller March 23, 2023
Keaton’s kitchen in Something’s Gotta Give.
 
kerryn March 23, 2023
That’s my choice too! I thought for sure this would be everyone’s #1! That “home in the Hampton’s” feel!
 
Holly March 22, 2023
The aunt’s kitchen in the old movie, Remember the Night with Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck.
 
Eurydice March 22, 2023
If you like Pedro Almodóvar films you might enjoy this:

In The Kitchen With Pedro Almodóvar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A49SyoX3B14
 
Lindy March 14, 2023
The country house kitchen in the BBC’s “The 4:50 From Paddington”, the one with Joan Hickson as Miss Marple.
 
Liz March 14, 2023
Moonstruck, Tortilla Soup
 
Sarag March 14, 2023
My Man Godfrey. Meet Me in St Louis.
 
Nicola March 3, 2023
Moonstruck 😍
 
Jenean March 2, 2023
Diane Keaton's kitchen in "Something's Gotta Give" - amazing view and so much space! Beautiful!
 
Sissy March 22, 2023
My favorite too!
 
Jennifer March 2, 2023
What about the kitchen in The Big Chill? So much better than most of these.
And architects should be paying attention to the fact that people want tables in their kitchens. Not islands. Tables.
 
[email protected] November 18, 2023
An island large enough to be actually used as a table!
 
Jeannemara October 27, 2022
In your commentary about the kitchen in "Amelie," you write of watching "passerbys." This is incorrect. The correct spelling is "passersby."
 
Janet August 4, 2022
Mrs Muir’s kitchen in 1947’s The Ghost and Mrs Muir has been an obsession of mine since I was a child. I am currently remodeling and trying to incorporate that beauty into my home.
 
JillKane August 3, 2022
The kitchen in This is 40....beautiful!
 
Stephanie S. March 5, 2021
The kitchen in the Cher movie MOONSTRUCK!!!
 
Mrsa March 1, 2021
The kitchen in Diane Keaton’s Beachhouse in somethings Gotta give is heavenly!
 
Smitty January 20, 2020
The kitchen in the original Christmas in Connecticut is a must— plus, Catherine Hepburn!
 
Benjamin M. January 20, 2020
Yes! Except that I think you might mean "Barbara Stanwyck" - And here it is: http://greatkitchensinfilm.blogspot.com/2011/12/christmas-in-connecticut-1945-directed.html
 
Laraine S. January 20, 2020
These are wonderful but I’m disappointed that Moonstruck didn’t make the cut!
 
pattiebrown52 January 22, 2020
That was my vote as well! Such a beautiful, welcoming kitchen in their Brooklyn home. One of my all time favorite movies as well.
 
Wendy K. January 19, 2020
Nancy Meyer ??❤️
 
Jennifer January 26, 2019
Of course The Big Chill kitchen but how about Annie Savoy’s kitchen. - when Crash clears the island??
 
Jane January 26, 2019
I could live in the kitchen in the Steve Martin/Diane Keaton version of “Father of the Bride.” Heaven. Also have always loved the kitchen in “The Thin Man” movies. So classy.
 
Pam January 26, 2019
Fun article!!
My fave kitchen is in Tortilla Soup starring Hector Elizondo...he’s a chef but his home kitchen is my dream one...
Enjoying all the other suggestions. Frigid weekend in Ohio so thanks for the binge worthy movie list🤗
 
katelute January 26, 2019
I love that one, too! And the movie! I'm from Cincinnati- now in Orlando - stay warm!😊
 
katelute January 26, 2019
"Under the Tuscan Sun" kitchen! Just beautiful! Also, "Must Love Dogs" and "Jerry Maguire" for cute and cozy kitchens.
 
Pauline J. January 26, 2019
How could you not include Moonstruck!
 
Shawn S. January 19, 2020
Yes, the heart of the home!
 
BK January 21, 2020
That kitchen was the heart of their house--everything important got discussed there. One of my favorite movies of all time.
 
Amanda September 3, 2018
What about the kitchen from THE BIG CHILL?
 
Benjamin M. September 3, 2018
I give you, the kitchen from The Big Chill - http://greatkitchensinfilm.blogspot.com/2010/11/big-chill-1983.html?m=1
 
Jennifer January 26, 2019
My immediate thought!
 
hugh February 8, 2018
Like Water for Chocolate inspired me to go into the kitchen remodel business! al lot of nice one's here.
 
Julia713 January 20, 2018
Practical Magic, and Moonstruck for me.
 
pattiebrown52 January 16, 2017
I forgot how wonderful the kitchen was in Rosemary's Baby - as well the rest of the apartment as well. Remember the window seat? Diane Keaton always has wonderful house and kitchens.
 
anniette January 16, 2017
In Violets are Blue, (1986), Bonnie Bedelia's fabulous funky kitchen.
 
anniette January 16, 2017
Yet another Dianne Keaton yummy kitchen: see Shoot the Moon. And then there's Meryl Streep's kitchen in The Hours.
 
marsiamarsia September 9, 2016
Um . . . uh . . . Andie, Meryl Streep's kitchen in 'It's Complicated' is the fourth photo from the top. (Sorry, I'm an editor/proofreader and just can't keep myself from noticing things like this.)
 
Andie P. September 10, 2016
I meant that none of the comment I read mentioned what to me seems to be the ideal kitchen. At one time I had the "perfect" kitchen built to my specifications when I was catering (Certified in Calif) but it finally got to be too much for me. I still miss the Garland range and the 36 feet of counter space.
 
Andie P. September 9, 2016
No one has mentioned Meryl Streep's kitchen in the movie, It's Complicated.
I would LOVE to have that kitchen.
 
Amanda September 3, 2018
its literally one of the kitchens in this article of the top 13
 
Kara G. September 8, 2016
When I first saw this article, the kitchen from the Bridges of Madison County came to mind.
 
Elisa L. May 19, 2016
It's a toss up, Moonstruck for sure and The Quiet Man...both have beautiful light, history and those kitchen tables!
 
lynne C. May 19, 2016
I have loved the You've Got Mail kitchen forever.
 
Melanie S. May 19, 2016
Practical Magic & Big Night are tops in my book!
 
Jovan May 19, 2016
+1 Practical Magic
 
Mary M. May 19, 2016
Honestly, the first thing I thought of when I read this article was the Moonstruck kitchen: http://www.doorsixteen.com/wpcms/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/moonstruck_02.jpg
 
Amanda September 3, 2018
yessssss and so many pivotal scenes from that movie happen in that kitchen
 
isolde May 19, 2016
Something's Gotta Give, Moonstruck, Big Night..especially the last scene where Stanley Tucci makes scrambled eggs to assuage his guilt towards Tony Shalhoub..Moonstruck..and the perfectly 'normal scene' where Cher smells the eggs her mother puts in front of her, and Hannah and Her Sisters..the big Thanksgiving dinner being prepared with all the sisters in the kitchen, mashing sweet potatoes, etc., and moving so effortlessly around one another..I have always thought of intimacy as the ability to 'dance' around one another in the kitchen without it feeling annoying or crowded.
 
Nancy H. April 3, 2016
Think the kitchen in the movie Mostly Martha is simple and beautiful.
 
Nancy H. April 3, 2016
Should add - I mean (Mostly Martha 2001) Martha's home kitchen (although restaurant kitchen scenes are also excellent
 
Karla W. February 18, 2016
I love the kitchen in Clue; so dreamy! (I'd definitely want it with Tim Curry the butler and without the cook in the freezer, though...)
 
pattiebrown52 February 17, 2016
I was going for Moonstruck as well. Love the last scene when they are all around the table eating breakfast. What a great, homey kitchen.
 
marsiamarsia February 17, 2016
It's "Downton Abbey" not "Downtown." (The author chose an unfortunate title, because it's so easy to look at it or hear it and logically assume it's "Downtown.")
 
Laurel M. February 17, 2016
Like Water for Chocolate
 
Benjamin M. February 17, 2016
Touche! I hope you don't steal my book-deal, but I've been collecting (residential) kitchens for years in my blog "Great Kitchens In Film" http://greatkitchensinfilm.blogspot.com/ .
 
jpierreantoine February 17, 2016
What a great article!! I always dream about cooking in the kitchens I see in movies
 
Sabrina M. February 1, 2016
The holiday 2006....
 
Victoria R. February 1, 2016
As soon as I saw this article, I immediately thought of Practical Magic and was thinking that the kitchen in it needed to be recommended, and there it was at the very top!!
 
Alex January 27, 2016
So I am not the only one, Something gotta give has my dream kitchen!!!
 
Sabrina M. January 27, 2016
Food ? I love food I have always wanted to be a food ? taster.....
 
STinY January 27, 2016
The Family Stone....one of my very favorite kitchens EVER!! Thanks for the list, it's a treat.
 
Chris January 27, 2016
No love for the kitchen in Big Night?
 
Kath January 27, 2016
Moonstruck! That last scene in the kitchen is wonderful - always wanted a big table for everyone to sit around complaining, discussing and arguing!
 
Christine January 27, 2016
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
 
Elaine S. January 26, 2016
Hannah and Her Sisters
 
Andie P. January 26, 2016
I also meant to include the kitchen in the palace in The Great Race, for a memorable pie fight scene.
 
Andie P. January 26, 2016
Some great kitchens were omitted.
How about the one from Father of the Bride (1991).
My FAVORITE all time kitchen in which there was a lot of HILARIOUS action was the 1938 comedy, Merrily We Live with Constance Bennett, Billie Burke, Brian Aherne, Alan Mobray and the incomparable, wisecracking Patsy Kelly. For collectors of vintage kitchen appliances, the kitchen scenes are a dream. I have the DVD and it is a treasure.
 
R. January 26, 2016
Awesome list, and the "mustardy" colored appliances of the "Rosemary's Baby" era were usually referred to as "Harvest Gold" - oh how I wish I could erase those two words and the visual from my mind! LOL!
 
Cyndi February 17, 2016
R, Amanda Sims (Writer) is probably far too young (as in, born two or three decades after the colors were discontinued) to remember ye olde Harvest Gold and Avocado Green appliances... or the Coppertone Brown.
 
Debbie H. January 26, 2016
Something's gotta give, also the one in What lies beneath, and sleeping with the enemy
 
lena P. January 26, 2016
'Something's gotta give' has the best kitchen ever!
 
Ryan O. January 26, 2016
Hundred Foot Journey and Haute Cuisine, for sure.
 
Monica8866 January 26, 2016
I've always had a thing for the kitchen in The Big Chill.
 
Fran January 26, 2016
I would like to add Moonstruck to your list of memorable kitchens. There are several noteworthy scenes that take place in the kitchen. My favorite is the one where Olympia Dukakis is preparing breakfast for Cher. And later in the film, the scene where Cher gets engaged to Nicolas Cage is priceless. The kitchen is the center of the entire film. A classic!
 
Carolyn February 17, 2016
agreed!
 
702551 January 25, 2016
Big Night
 
Betty E. January 25, 2016
You left out Katharine Hepburn's kitchen in "Woman of the Year."
Betty Ehrenberg
 
Therese P. January 25, 2016
de Niro characters kitchen in 'The Score' ( w Edward Norton)
 
Kieran M. January 25, 2016
The family in Sabrina was named Larrabee, not Holden (William Holden played the younger brother David Larrabee)
 
Amanda S. January 25, 2016
True, and fixed!
 
Olivia B. January 25, 2016
I feel like there is a strong correlation between Diane Keaton being in a movie and the kitchen being awesome (Father of the Bride, the Family Stone, and the aforementioned Something's Gotta Give).
 
Amanda S. January 25, 2016
hip, hip!
 
Annie C. January 26, 2016
So true...she's even got the lobster scene in Annie Hall. (Not the best kitchen, necessarily, but definitely among the best kitchen scenes!)
 
Seasons I. January 25, 2016
To the list, I would like to add: Something's Gotta Give, A Perfect Murder and The Nanny Diaries :)
 
mmurray January 25, 2016
what about "Something's Gotta Give"??? Best kitchen ever.
 
Ravien S. January 25, 2016
Agree, that was a great kitchen. The other kitchens I really think are missing is the one from Moonstruck, and from Eat, Drink, Man, Woman.
 
Amanda S. January 25, 2016
I had to keep Nancy Meyers from having a majority vote, but agree it's a great one!