Chef's Table
The other day I started watching Netflix’s new six-episode documentary series, Chef’s Table, and two episodes in, I’m hooked.
Each episode looks at a single chef attempting to redefine cooking and expand our perception of the restaurant.
The premiere follows Italian chef Massimo Bottura, a famous figure in the world of modernist cooking. The second episode, the one I just finished this weekend, shows Dan Barber, a chef who’s working to push the farm-to-table style of eating that celebrates organic food, humanely raised animals, and the sustainability and harmony of the farm ecosystem.
The show is beautifully shot. It takes an artful look at these chefs, their history, what drives them to food and binds them to it. Seriously, I don’t think I’ve ever seen cooking and the resulting food look so sexy.
One of the things that I love when it comes to watching shows about cooking (and the chefs that really make it their life’s work to push food forward) is how passionate these people are, how driven. They’re soul-deep into food and have such a desire to share with people the limitless possibilities of what food can be.
It’s an amazing show, and I can’t wait to finish it.
