Patton Oswalt and Remy, the character Oswalt voices in Ratatouille, share a love for good food and chefs.

Andrew Farago: It's March 3, 2007...

Patton Oswalt: That's a lie!

AF: ...and I'm here with Patton Oswalt, and we're at WonderCon here in San Francisco. Have you been to any comic conventions before?

PO: I go to San Diego [Comic-Con International] every year, and sometimes, every other Saturday, they do this one in downtown L.A., this con at the Shrine or something, but I tend not to go to a lot, because I just spend so much money when I go to these things. I can't help myself. There's so much stuff that I want all the time, that I just try to stay away and have some discipline. Well, what little discipline I have, which isn't much.

AF: And what do you buy when your discipline breaks down?

PO: I like a lot of original art, sculpture, first edition books... There are a lot of old booksellers here who have old hardback editions of authors like Harlan Ellison, Philip K. Dick and stuff like that... I still have a list of stuff I'm looking for, a want list, and I tend to space that out a little bit.

AF: And it's safe to call you a longtime fan of comics and cartoons?

PO: Ohhhhh, yeah. I remember seeing [Pixar's first short] Luxo Jr. when the Spike & Mike Festival was first starting out, when that came through Washington D.C., like in 1986, I remember seeing that. So that's how far back I go. And I have all the Looney Tunes stuff, and I know all those animators, and the history of it, so... yeah, I'm a big fan.

AF: And did that spark your interest in doing voice-over work?

Oswalt was invited up to the Emeryville campus to talk to Ratatouille director Brad Bird about the lead role of Remy. All Ratatouille images © Disney/Pixar.

PO: Yeah, but I didn't really pursue voice-over work so much as I used to do stand-up and hang around and start getting offered stuff. It kind of happened organically, that way. It wasn't anything I pursued, but now I do it all the time.

AF: You've done a little bit of everything. Videogames...

PO: Yep.

AF: Saturday morning cartoons...

PO: Uh-huh.

AF: And now you're hitting the big screen.

PO: Yep. This one's my first animated movie, and I'm playing the lead!

AF: How did Pixar approach you for this role?

PO: I was invited up to the Emeryville campus, and I talked to [<Ratatouille> director] Brad Bird for a while about the movie. And, because the movie's about a rat that's really into food, I started talking about how much of a foodie I am, and all of my favorite restaurants, and favorite chefs. I think that's what really cinched the role for me. I have that same obsession that Remy has.

AF: Where do you eat when you're in San Francisco?

PO: My home base restaurant that I always go to is a place in the Mission called Andalou, at 16^th & Guerrero. And that chef, Calvin Schneider, is one of my favorite chefs in the city. Every time I come here, I call him and ask, "What's a new place I should try out?" So every time I come to San Francisco, there are always two or three new restaurants I go to. My current list is Michael Mina at the St. Regis; Canteen, which is next to the, I think, being-torn-down Commodore, on Sutter; Coco 500, down at Brannan and Fourth is pretty amazing, and tonight, I finally get to go to The Salt House, on Mission Street, which I've been dying to go to.