Many Westerners equate ramen noodles with the cheap dried stuff that poor students and young adults eat, but Criterion Collection is doing their part to change that. They put together this wonderful documentary to support the 4K restoration of “ramen Western” Tampopo, one of the greatest food films ever made.
Criterion spoke with several chefs who dedicated big parts of their careers to perfecting ramen after seeing Tampopo, which is a funny and sensual and sweet film that incorporates martial arts and Western themes into the story of a young woman trying to transform a sad little ramen shop into a place she can create her culinary art.
We’re serving up this exclusive interview with legendary restaurateur Alice Waters and her former Chez Panisse colleague Sam White, co-owner of the Ramen Shop in Oakland, California, who sat down with us to chat about their love affair with TAMPOPO and the indelible mark it has made on their approach to cooking.
Here’s the original trailer:
• In Search of the Perfect Bowl of Ramen (YouTube / Criterion Collection)