Chefs Favorite Fictional Foods And Drinks They Wish Were Real

Movies, television shows, and good old books have filled our life with so much entertainment, merriment, and sense of wonder. We've all fallen in love with fictional characters so much that we've even dreamed of walking a mile in their shoes. In truly delicious and thirst-quenching food scenes from movies, as the older lady said in "When Harry Met Sally," "I'll have what she's having." Many of these items we can eat and drink up in real life, making like Harold and Kumar and hitting up White Castle, or becoming a world traveler like "Pulp Fiction"'s Vincent Vega and ordering a Royale with Cheese in France.

However, some food and beverage items are so divine, it's a shame they are also a work of pure fiction. Haven't you wanted a sip of "Harry Potter" butterbeer, or something stronger with "The Simpsons" Duff beer? Blue Milk from "Star Wars" to wash down some Scooby snacks? What about anything found within the walls of Willy Wonka's factory? Chefs are good at being inventive in the kitchen, but they too have had their appetites captured by fictional food and drink items that aren't within reach.

At the 2026 edition of Food Network's New York City Wine & Food Festival, we caught up with several chefs and asked them probing questions. Out of all of them, the most revealing were which fictional food and drinks they'd loved to take some reality bites of. Now all can be revealed, so be our guest in this imaginative journey.

Jet Tila grew up in a family of chefs, and has since translated his Thai-Chinese heritage into a prosperous career all his own. From his eponymous show "Ready Jet Cook," appearances on other Food Network programs, a series of books, and restaurants like Las Vegas' Dragon Tiger Noodle Co., Tila has often featured chicken in a slew of tasty dishes. While no fictional food from a movie, TV show or book springs to his mind, Tila blazed his own path with his answer, saying, "I want my own fictional food. I want a dark meat chicken."

The battle of white versus dark meat seems like one that has been raging since the dawn of the chicken egg. We at The Takeout have weighed in on the issue before, even delving into which one is most nutritious, and whether one is healthier over the other. While it's a matter of taste, many of us believe that we're not imagining it and dark meat chicken just tastes better. As for what a whole dark meat chicken would look like, Tila didn't wade into that, so we are left to imagine a bird composed of nothing but thighs and drumsticks. Does that mean four leg quarters equal one whole dark meat chicken?

Perhaps the most well-suited person to answer our query about fictional food that chefs want to become a reality is none other than Andrew Rea. The self-taught chef is the face of "Binging with Babish," a web series where he recreates foods as seen in famous movies and television shows, and explores other real foodie fun. When we posed the question, he replied, "That's my whole job." He added, "I do have a hard line. I don't recreate foods that I can't recreate well in the real world." That's not for a lack of trying, as he's attempted to recreate the famous Krabby Patty from "SpongeBob SquarePants" a couple times.

In case you've never taken a dip under the sea with SpongeBob and his pals, the Krabby Patty has been a part of the series from the very beginning. In the pilot episode from 1999, "Help Wanted," SpongeBob takes on a new job, in his own words, at "The finest eating establishment ever established for eating: The Krusty Krab, home of the Krabby Patty" (via YouTube). In his first day, he slings what seems like zillions of them to hungry customers, creating a fictional food fans have been eager to try. Wendy's attempted to unlock the secret recipe in October 2024, as part of larger Krabby Patty Kollab that saw 250 restaurants interpret the dish in the form of dumplings, falafel, burgers, doughnuts, and ice cream.

Chef Rea admitted, "I don't think I or anyone else could actually capture what it [Krabby Patty] really is." He spoke about the difficulty of such a translation, adding, "Because it is such a mystery and because it's so [...] craveable, I don't know if I can ever reach that echelon."

Ham El-Waylly was raised by Bolivian-Egyptian parents in Qatar, moved to America at age 19, and has since channeled all his worldly culinary skills alongside his wife and partner Sohla on the NYT Cooking series and at their New Orleans-inspired restaurant and oyster bar Strange Delight in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. His social media is filled with witty Ham-ming it up, including his series "Ham's Sandwiches." However, there's one protein that would seem rather elusive for him to place it between two slices of bread: roasted boar.

While boar is a meat available in the real world to eat, the roasted boar Chef El-Waylly is all about can be found within the pages of the "Asterix" comics. While not as widely known in America, this comic series, which launched in 1959 and was created by writer René Goscinny and illustrator Albert Uderzo, centers around our titular Gaulish (from modern day France) character and his buddy Obelix, as they go toe to toe against the invading legions of the Roman Empire. After a victory, the adventure usually concludes with a feast in the village, with Obelix going to town on a giant roasted boar.

El-Waylly's dream is to eat it just the way Obelix did. He described it so well, we can practically picture it in our own heads: "It was slow roasted over the fire so you know that skin is crisp, the fat is rendered, and the meat is perfectly, perfectly tender. And he would just pick it up and eat it like corn on the cob."

Andrew Zimmern has traveled the world, indulging in "Bizarre Foods" and spreading the gospel of not-so bizarre foods, but super-delicious ones. The four-time James Beard Award-winning chef is a multi-hyphenate in the culinary world, and still keeps things fresh while sharing his sharp views on social media. Like many chefs, including Anthony Bourdain⁠, Maneet Chauhan⁠, and Eric Huang, Zimmern considers Pixar's "⁠Ratatouille" perhaps one of the best food films ever made.

The 2007 Academy Award-winning Brad Bird film follows a budding chef named Remy, who just so happens to be a rat. As a rat isn't a welcome sight in any kitchen, the story takes us on a sort of animated "Cyrano de Bergerac" journey, where Remy pours his talents and acumen into the hands of a novice named Alfredo Linguini. The two make a very unlikely pair, and help to cook up the more than 270 dishes presented in the film over its 111 minutes of runtime. The film actually hired Thomas Keller⁠ as a consultant, and its menu runs the gamut from the titular French stew to soups, omelettes, cheese pairings, and a heck of a lot more. 

Andrew Zimmern savored this visual feast, and revealed he'd love to try everything in the movie. He noted, "It's certainly got the most fictional stuff in there because it wasn't real, right? It was an animated delight." The closest he and fans may ever get to the real thing is by snagging a table at Bistrot Chez Rémy, located within Disneyland Paris.

Award-winning chef Bryan Voltaggio first appeared in "Top Chef" season 6, versus his brother Michael no less, and later "Top Chef Masters," and "Top Chef All-Stars." Bryan and Michael are behind the Voltaggio Brothers Steakhouse inside the MGM National Harbor, and closer to home in Frederick, Maryland with Wye Oak Tavern. When it comes to imaginative foods, his choice originally hailed within a book — Roald Dahl's 1964 classic "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."

The children's novel is rich with Willy Wonka's made up confections that get the mind racing, and the mouth salivating. Who wouldn't want to break off a piece of Wonka's Nutty Crunch Surprise or Whipple-Scrumptious Fudgemallow Delight, take a sip of Fizzy Lifting Drinks, sample Eatable Marshmallow Pillows and edible buttercups, or embark on the ultimate time suck — Everlasting Gobstoppers.

One of the most curious of all the super curious items has got to be Lickable Wallpaper for nurseries. See a picture of a banana, lick it, and boom, it tastes like banana. Same for strawberry, pineapple, and whole array of wonderful fruits of our bountiful world. Then again, there was one fruit that literally didn't make a lick of sense, and that's the one that Bryan Voltaggio centered on, having grown up watching the Gene Wilder movie version from 1971. Voltaggio admitted something we could all agree on — "I've always wanted to try the snozzberries." While Everlasting Gobstoppers became a reality one could buy on shelves, we're all still waiting to plaster lickable wallpaper in our rooms, and especially the part that tastes like snozzberries.

Michael Voltaggio was the last one standing as the crowned champ of "Top Chef" season 6, even edging out his older brother, and as he puts it, business partner of 48 years — Bryan. Michael made further appearances on a variety of Bobby Flay and Guy Fieri TV shows, authored cookbooks, has been active in charitable organizations, and the Californian transplant recently opened Wye Oak Tavern back in their hometown of Frederick, Maryland.

We caught up with Michael at the event centered around whiskey and steak, a perfect combo for any special occasion, but when it comes to a fictional item he'd like to dine on, his thoughts are a bit more Dr. Seussian. While there's plenty to choose from, like Green Eggs and Ham, or a heaping of schlopp, schlopp, beautiful schlopp, Michael's choice is a true Christmastime classic. He revealed, "We're a Grinch household over the holidays, so I just want that roast beast on the table." Brother Bryan concurred that this was a solid choice.

Just in case you're unfamiliar with the classic 1957 book turned 1966 timeless television animated special of "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas!," that wasn't a typo of "roast beef," but indeed "roast beast." It's one of the items that the Grinch, sinisterly dressed up as Santa, steals from a Who household icebox, along with Who-pudding and the last can of Who-hash. After a change of heart, and a heart that grew three times its size after learning the true meaning of Christmas, the tale of woe turns into a truly joyous one, as the Grinch, all smiles, properly carves slices of roast beast.

Jackie Carnesi was born and raised in Texas, honed her skills in California, and made a name for herself in New York City, in the kitchens of Empellón Cocina, Roberta's, and Otis. She previously served as the executive chef at Kellogg's Diner, and now holds that title at Brooklyn waterfront raw bar Bar Susanne. Familiar favorites dot the menu, from shrimp to oysters and tuna, as well as warmer fare like burgers and pork chops.

While it would be a stretch to find pizza on her menu, the beloved Italian savory pie she ogled in the 1995 animated "A Goofy Movie" was her pick for fictional food she'd love to try. The pizza in question is one that our title character delivers for his son Max Goof and his friend P.J. to munch on in their Neptune Inn room, while he goes off to have a schvitz in a hot tub. From the second the pizza box is opened, we know our characters are in for a real treat, as P.J.'s first slice has such an epic Instagram-worthy cheese pull, he has to fold the excess melty mozzarella over the piece.

This cinematic pizza moment doesn't actually last long, but it made a lasting impression not only on Chef Carnesi, but also on many viewers over the years. Carnesi singled out the biggest appeal of that Goofy pie — the cheese's drippiness — and many "Goofy Movie" enthusiasts have been inspired to recreate the scene and pie at home. That's not even the only cheesy part of the movie, as cool kid Bobby Zimuruski often shows his affinity for the canned good Chedda Whizzy, which he used to create an edible Leaning Tower of Cheeza.

Jeff Gardner started the oyster farm Watch Hill Oysters in Rhode Island's Winnapaug Pond, and today his son Tom Gardner is the one making awe-shucking moments. While he tastes plenty of oysters for work and pleasure, especially grilled ones, he also enjoys some turf, like steaks, with his surf. And when it comes to a fictional food he wanted in on, Gardner told us he would love to try "Whatever Bilbo Baggins was serving the dwarves in The Hobbit."

The classic 1937 J.R.R. Tolkien fantasy novel and subsequent "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy have inspired many fantasies for readers in the ensuing decades. Interest in the Middle Earth realm was renewed with the release of the two Peter Jackson trilogies. The meal of which Gardner spoke kicks off "The Hobbit," where Gandalf appears at Bilbo Baggins' home, with "an unexpected party" of a baker's dozen of hungry dwarves. Bilbo opens his home, and practically every pantry, to feed and fill his boisterous guests.

The expansive feast in the book included an ad hoc menu of buttered scones, raspberry jam, apple-tart, mince-pies, cheese, pork-pie, and salad. There was a seed cake, then plenty of unnamed cakes, and on top of that, even more cake. Luckily, there were plenty of libations on hand, as glasses and mugs were filled with beer, ale, porter, wine, tea, and coffee. With so many delights available, Gardner admitted, "It looks so damn good, and I am jealous of that pantry." Aren't we all!