Chef's Table by Netflix

[Shalmanese]

Netflix has release it's first original food programming with Chef's table.

"Chef's Table" offers viewers the opportunity to go inside the lives and kitchens of six of the world's most renowned, international culinary talents. Each of the six episodes features an acclaimed chef, who include Ben Shewry (Melbourne, Australia), Magnus Nilsson (Järpen, Sweden), Francis Mallmann (Buenos Aires, Argentina), Niki Nakayama (Los Angeles, CA, USA), Dan Barber (New York City, USA) and Massimo Bottura (Modena, Italy).

For people who have watched it, what are your thoughts?

[Shel_B]

It's in my queue, and I'm looking forward to taking a look.  Right now there are a couple of other new Netflix shows that I want to see first.  A friend enjoyed what she saw, but provided no specific comments.

Edited April 27, 2015 by Shel_B (log)

[fsiu]

I binged watched all 6 episodes this weekend, and it reminds me a bit of "the mind of a chef", it's more focused on the chef as person with respect to their journey.  It's less about chest pounding which I find in many of the horrible food network shows.

 

But it does have the requisite food porn at the end

[gfron1]

I watched ep1 today and really enjoyed it. I can tell each episode is going to make me cry. There's nothing that touches me more than passionate chefs.

[gfweb]

Dan Barber can get a little preachy about local sourcing.

 

Dan, its a pretty philosophy, but not a way to feed a big hungry city.

[David Ross]

A great show and pleasure to watch.  Netflix deserves a lot of praise for bringing this forward.  Not something the likes of Bravo or FoodTV would ever consider.  Not a commercial money-maker per se, but it demonstrates great food programming is popular and can generate revenue through subscription.

[Martin Fisher]

I watched the first show a couple nights ago...I thought it was quite good.

[scubadoo97]

I watches the episode with Massimo Bottura last night. Very entertaining. I'm hooked

[ChrisTaylor]

I'm watching the first one now. It's very good.

[Deryn]

Excellent series. So pleased that I didn't have to wait till I got down to the States to be able to watch them (as often the offerings on Netflix differ between the two countries). I hope there are many more like this in the pipeline.

[ahpadt]

Enjoyed the first episode quite a lot. Not exactly much cooking going on, but the story being told is fascinating nontheless.

[Deryn]

Each episode is the same style but quite a bit different too because they are about different chefs. No, there isn't a lot of 'cooking' - but that doesn't seem to be the point of this series. The series is really a psychological examination of 'the minds of chefs', and 'how they got where they are' explorations of those who have made it to the top 50 restaurant fame list. Seems all of them are slightly bonkers but hey, aren't we all these days.

Edited April 29, 2015 by Deryn (log)

[ChrisTaylor]

I am now on episode five (Ben Shewry/Attica). I've liked them all so far, although this one resonates a bit more because I've been to Attica a few times and recognise a few of the dishes. And, hey, my home city in the kind of show that normally focuses exclusively on Americans and maybe, just maybe, other residents of the northern hemisphere. I hope a second season is in the works. Locally, I'd love to see Peter Gilmore/Quay appear.

 

And, yeah, that potato dish. 'A simple dish of a potato cooked in the earth it was grown in.' It's a pretty banging dish.

[gfron1]

Just finished them. Episode 1 is still the most moving for me, but all were very well done. I think there is a diversity of chefs out there that the producers will need to discover to keep my interest, but I'm sure a thousand names have already been sent their way.

[David Ross]

What really struck me is the high-quality of the shots of the food.  Probably the best looking food I've ever seen on television. 

[radtek]

I have it in my queue. Will watch it after the rest BBC's "Egypt"... Well maybe not. The first episode of that was really blah and not really bingeworthy.

 

Really liked the first season of Mind of a Chef and watched it several times.

[Shel_B]

Dan Barber can get a little preachy about local sourcing.

 

Dan, its a pretty philosophy, but not a way to feed a big hungry city.

 

He's not trying to feed a big hungry city.  What he's doing, IMO, is to open people's minds to different and environmentally sensitive ways of raising food, cooking, and eating, and, hopefully, this will trickle down and spread.  Have you seen his talk about foie gras on TED Talks?  You can see it here.

[Doofa]

I have just watched all six episodes in one lazy day. I will repeat the process with a few of them. For me it is the thought processes that these six go through to reach an end point on a menu. I found on first pass that Nilssen of Faviken was very interesting. 

With all of them I find myself asking when a particular dish was developed, what was going through the mind.......and why the hell does it not through mine

[donk79]

Season Two has just been released.  My daughter was enthralled watching Grant Achatz's platings in episode 1.  It was a beautiful piece of cinematography.

[lindag]

I got an email from Netflix this AM and I see them promoting Chef's Table.  Looks interesting and I'll have to look into it.

Anyone seen it?

Edited July 16, 2017 by Smithy
Adjusted title (log)

[chromedome]

I've watched 2 1/2 of the three seasons. The episodes can be a bit precious at times, but they're mostly pretty interesting. 

[Duvel]

I liked them. A lot of very diverse characters portrayed... And a lot of personal background info you wouldn't just get otherwise. They are really little bio pics.

[Yiannos]

Love this show, very inspiring, beautifully shot and edited, and the personalities whether good or bad are always interesting.

[Porthos]

I hadn't heard of this show until seeing this thread. My DW and I have watched the first 2 episodes,  and we want to keep watching. 

 

We both had the same reaction to one bit of the opening sequence, the guy with his long hair hanging down over whatever he was working on. 

[Porthos]

I am part way through season 2; just finished the Alex Atala episode. When I read, I only read biographies any more so the biographical aspects of this series are intriguing me. I must admit, though, that the title made me think it was going to be featuring sitting at various chef's tables in their kitchens. I was unaware that Chef's Table could also refer to tasting menus and restaurants. On the culinary landscape I am a peasant, a simple country cook who can't conceive of eating many courses of small tastes so, outside of the visual impact of presentation, the food being presented just doesn't wow me. But the insights into the lives of the chefs is well worth the watching. YMMV.