Chef's Table: Pizza

I come late to Chef's Table and when I started watching this series, I expected serious documentaries about pizza restaurants. Instead it is a series about the egos and pretentions of famous chefs.

Pizza is simple street food. I have eaten it on four continents. But an excellent slice does become more wonderful just because you throw some kimchee at it or buy your vegies with a handbasket at the local market.

The main contention of this series is that a restaurant is a success not because of location or value or front-end service or decor or atmosphere but solely because of the ingredients and the passion of the head chef.

I contend that any decent chef with a wood-fired oven can make a pretty good pizza at $50 a pop. What few chefs can do is provide a great street lunch for $5 or $10.

Watching this series I was reminded of glossy magazine articles that tried to convince me that one wine is worth a hundred times more than another because it was grown on the north side of the valley versus the crap that is grown on the south side.

I gave this series five stars for photography and travelogue aspects. The rest is soap opera and BS.

Chefs table is a food show known for its cinematic shots, heavy use of slow motion, long piercing stares and melancholy philosophical musings by the chefs featured. In short, a food show that takes food and itself very very seriously. There are probably only a few handful of restaurants and chefs in the world you could use this format on without it becoming off as pretentious tosh.

When I think innovative thought provoking food worthy of the pomp that this show serves up, I think of Alain Passard at L'arpege (which was rightfully covered in season 1). I don't think pizza, delicious as it is. If this is the path the show is going down I would say brace yourself for 2023 chefs table - cheeseburgers.

Would be a 1/10 but I gave it a 2/10 for it's unintentional comedy factor. To think you can say with a straight face that you are the "Michaelangelo of cooking" because you threw random toppings on a piece of dough until it tasted alright is truly bordering Steven Seagal-esque levels of self awareness.

The show starts off amazingly strong but it all goes downhill from there: Too many of self-centered people who just love to repeatedly up big themselves up and tell everyone how amazing they are with pseudo-philosophical takes on food and life. While some of the foods where amazing, the amount of dishes and ideas fell somewhat short because the people involved seemed to have mistaken the show by thinking they were the main attraction when in reality, the viewer wants to see some amazing dishes, aesthetics and ambiente primarily. One thing that was done well was keeping the sound at an even level throughout the show, something Netflix has unfortunately fell short of too often.

The episodes where people are speaking for themselves are pretty good, although I do find the origin stories rather sad and whiny throughout - and the chefs unlikeable except for the first episode. The worst part is that they use voice translations instead of subtitles - and they frickin' play the original dialog (eg Italian) loudly in the background - while at the same time playing a stilted American voiceover from someone who sounds like they read and speak at a third grade level. No emotion or inflection whatsoever. It's unbearable. I would rather hear the people speaking in their own language - some of which I'll understand - and read subtitles - than hear a horrible American actor who doesn't even sound like the people in the film look. (Blind people, by the way, have their own adaptive equipment so don't say this is more inclusive.) It sucks balls of mozzarella and ruins the series.

Finally!! With the boom that the last decade has seen in the culinary arts coming to the forefront of television and entertainment, and just exposure in general, this is a truly SUPERB production. The first three episodes evoke so much raw emotion - the passion that drives these chefs (often bordering on varying degrees of insanity) is simply breathtaking. Diving deep into these chefs' stories, shedding light on how they're wired and how their genius has been developed over time and at what cost. The level of sheer focus (obsession) is beyond inspiring. And most episodes I've seen always touch on the importance of doing things differently today - with a focus on sustainability, quality, and local sourcing of food items and ingredients.

A food documentary in which I bawl my face off?!? (Chris Bianco) Very memorable.