I spent five hours this week watching Chef’s Table and was immersed in five very different styles of food and the creators of those cuisine.
This series is a small five-episode documentary style season that focuses on five different chef’s from around the world. You travel from Italy to Patagonia to New Zealand and then to the farms and cities of the US. This show is exceptional at telling the five different stories of these very talented chef’s: Massimo Bottura, Dan Barber, Niki Nakayama, Francis Mallman, and Ben Shewry, and about how they simply love to cook and are brilliant at it.
Not only does Chef’s Table give you insight to the various styles of cooking that exist in the world, but it also tells the personal stories of how each chef went from being a child with a dream or a hobby or a talent to a talented successful chef.
The transitions done throughout the show are beautiful focusing on the personal details of each chef’s lives as well as being paired with wonderfully simple music. This allows the show to be very informative and artistic in how the history of each chef’s life is presented and it gives insight to the different cultures around the world. You learn about the art of burning food in Patagonia and the history of Parmesan in Italy, as well as how to be sustainable in a farm to table kitchen. You are transported into these chef’s lives and hear their loved ones speak and learn each chef’s methods and how they developed their passion for food.
This is no ordinary documentary show that spits out facts that may put you to sleep. These are real life stories based around the passion of food. It’s touching that we are allowed to peak into the lives of these chef’s and learn about these obscure talented people who exist among us in daily life.
This is a delightful show that any food or culture lover would enjoy on a Sunday afternoon, while eating something scrumptious, because you may get hungry from watching this show.
image courtesy of B. Ach/INFphoto.com