Colette is assigned to train Linguini and the two fall in love. The two form an unusual friendship and discover a way to communicate Remy pulls Linguini’s hair to control him like a marionette while hidden under his toque blanche. After realizing Remy’s intelligence and love for cooking, he decides to keep him. Meanwhile, Linguini is ordered to kill the rat, but he hesitates. Assuming Linguini as the creator of the soup, the restaurant’s only female chef Colette Tatou convinces their boss Skinner not to fire him. The soup is accidentally served and proves to be a huge success.
In an attempt to help him Remy enters the kitchen and fixes the soup, only to be caught. There he witnesses Linguini, the newly hired garbage boy making a mess in the kitchen and ruining a soup.
During the escape Remy is separated from his family and ends up in the sewers of Paris, underneath Gusteau’s restaurant. He lives with his clan in a house in the suburbs of Paris, but is forced to evacuate after being discovered by the owner. The story follows Remy, a young rat with a highly developed sense of taste and smell who aspires to become a cook.