Of all the Netflix original documentaries that are available to stream, why should one choose to watch “Chef’s Table”? Well, for one, it was created by David Gelb who directed the amazing “Jiro Dreams of Sushi” in 2011. Second, it recently won the James Beard Award for Visual and Technical Excellence. Third, and most important, it features world-famous chefs - not your average Food Network Stars - and exquisite details of the realm of fine dining. As someone who loves food and cooking, and who can appreciate the grit and creative genius it takes to produce quality meals as the daughter of a caterer, I am telling you that “Chef’s Table” will blow your mind and change your perception of what makes food good.
Sample the show's season 1 opening and a taste of its beautiful soundtrack below:
Currently “Chef’s Table” has two seasons available to stream on Netflix. Each season is comprised of six episodes which each focuses on one chef. These chefs are not simply the product of hard work and a gifted imagination. They have encountered extraordinary struggles in their pursuit of culinary excellence. The dishes they prepare mean something different to each of them. What is most essential to the success of these chefs is that they each know that food is directly connected to memory. Why do you love the foods you do? It's often not only because they taste good. When did you first eat that dish? Who were you with? Who prepared it for you? What were the circumstances surrounding your experience?
When I smell freshly made pesto - the basil, pine nuts, garlic, Parmesan - it takes me home. My mother always grew basil in the backyard and my father would send me and my sisters to the herb garden to collect leaves for him. He would make pesto in the kitchen and give us spoonfuls to taste. I love the taste of pesto, but it means more to me than other sauces because of its connection to my childhood.
In every episode of "Chef's Table," you don't just learn about the chef's restaurant(s) or their best dishes, or their personal philosophies for cooking. You get to look into their past - their childhoods, their personal and professional journeys that brought them where they are today. These artists are considered revolutionary in their field and to be this distinguished has often come at the price of initial disapproval. Many of them are attempting to modernize their native cuisine and bring something to the table that has never been seen or tasted before but will still be familiar in some way to a customer.
The challenge that they have decided to take on is immense and dangerous. One false move, offend the wrong critic, create a dish that is too out-of-the-box and it could be a career-ender. But they do what they do because it is their passion, and you can feel it through the screen. In season 2, Chef Dominique Crenn, owner of Atelier Crenn, a two-Michelin star restaurant in San Francisco, explains her food to the interviewer as "a vehicle to be connected to people." Crenn says, "I'm not serving a menu, I'm serving a story. I'm serving my soul. I'm serving a conversation and I want you to talk back to me." Food is emotional and powerful, and these chefs understand that and use it to create the most beautiful and moving dishes you will ever see.
The show's full schedule and predicted lineup for its next two seasons can be found here.
