One of Favreau’s lesser-known but actually pretty good films is 2014’s “Chef.” In fact, in a ranking of Jon Favreau films, we at /Film placed the movie at number two, owing to its fine balance of drama and comedy and its small, character-focused story. It reminded audiences more accustomed to Favreau’s work on things like “Zathura” that the actor/director had a real talent for these smaller-scale, more intimate movies. Also, it was full of genuinely delicious-looking food.

It seems for Favreau, gastronomy has been an ongoing passion. Even in his larger-scale work, you can find references to specific food. In a conversation on the Dinner Party Download podcast, the director was asked about this aspect of his filmmaking, explaining:

“People are constantly eating [in my movies], I’m sort of noticing. In ‘Elf’ I added that whole wrinkle, as I was developing that script, about him stuffing his face, and how much elves eat. And then in ‘Iron Man,’ he’s talking about flying Ray’s Pizza in from New York. It always seems to sneak into everything I do.”

Will Ferrell’s Buddy in 2003’s “Elf” did indeed have an insatiable appetite. His predilection for chocolatey piles of spaghetti even inspired a Hello Fresh meal kit back in 2022, as well as an “Elf” cereal the year prior. But there’s an even more specific food-based link between “Elf” and “Iron Man.” In the former, prior to his New York adventure, Buddy gets some advice from Santa (Ed Asner) about how to survive in the city, including how to find his way to the original Ray’s Pizza:

Meanwhile, in “Iron Man,” Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges) returns from New York and visits Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark, presenting him with a Ray’s Pizza box on arrival.