Rйmy lives in a rat colony in the attic of a French country home with his brother Йmile and father Django. Unlike his kin, Rйmy is a gourmet whose keen sense of smell is used by the colony only to detect rat poison in food. But Rйmy yearns for more, sneaking into the kitchen to read the cookbook of his hero, Parisian chef Auguste Gusteau, who appears to Rйmy in visions throughout the film to expound on his motto that "anyone can cook." Rйmy learns that Gusteau died after a harsh review from mean-spirited food critic Anton Ego.