alstroemeria says

That's Tampopo!

A charming story, cleverly filmed, wonderfully acted, full of snippets of Western classical music of the Romantic era used to great effect, with great comedic touches including frequent funny interludes off the main story to explore the interaction of Japanese culture and food--business etiquette & food, motherhood/childhood & food, death and food, gangster & food, eating at the movies, the poor scrounging food (yes, even this is funny--a kind of keystone cops segment), food insults and fighting, natural food vs sweets, perfection & food, devotion to a favorite food, ritual/tradition & food, and even sex & food--the funniest sex scene I've ever seen! Not only that, but the main male character's (a Clint Eastwood type-) side kick is the very handsome Ken Watanabe in an early role. He's appeared in a number of American movies lately...The Last Samurai (for which he was oscar nom'ed), Batman Begins, Inception, Letters from Iwo Jima, Memoirs of a Geisha.

</It's also a special treat for old-movie buffs. Practically every scene is a take on some famous scene from some famous old movie. I couldn't spot many them myself, but I watched with someone who did.