Chef’s Table
Season 1
(Netflix)
A
When it comes to Netflix binge-watching, I don’t mess around. I turn my phone on silent, put on my favorite cardigan with the elbow patches, situate some sustenance on the side table (Party Blend Chex Mix and cabernet, FYI) and go to town. Basically, I’m Robert De Niro in Silver Linings Playbook when it comes to my level of ritual. So cut to Sunday when I sat down to watch Chef’s Table and emerged into the blinding sunlight five hours later. Netflix originals have a pretty good track record (see House of Cards and Orange Is the New Black, hello), so I decided to give this new documentary series a shot.
Each of the six Chef’s Table episodes introduces you to an inventive, international talent in the world of food. I may be a vegetarian, but I can fully appreciate the creativity involved in the culinary arts, no matter what ingredients are involved. The series is as much a foray into the minds of ingenious individuals as it is a show about cooking. We see straight into these people’s lives — their backgrounds, their motivations, what makes them tick and what inspires them. After each episode, you’re left with a sense of pure awe.
From the far reaches of the globe, these chefs defy expectations, bend cultural norms and express their unique perspectives at all costs. There’s Massimo Botura (my favorite of the six) from Modena, Italy, an energetic man once shunned for his modern interpretation of Italian tradition, but who now operates the third best-ranked restaurant in the world. There’s Niki Nakayama, a Los Angeles chef of Japanese ancestry who struggles against stereotypes in her own kitchen. And then there’s Magnus Nilsson, world-renowned in his craft and operating in the literally frozen town of Järpen, Sweden.
Each of these people has something to prove, and prove it they do. Shot in a raw but beautiful style, the series makes you feel like you’re an apprentice right alongside these masterful chefs, like you could reach out and sample the tortellini or roasted root vegetables laid out on the porcelain canvas before you. Maybe you’re not great at cooking, but if you consider yourself to contain even a single creative bone in your body, then you need to watch Chef’s Table. It will drive you to be better at your craft, whatever it may be.
