Chef's Table: Pizza

I've loved the Chefs Table series. Each chefs ability and craft are unquestionable, but the personal stories of each elevate the series to another level. The food is merely a sub plot.

They're all well made, telling the story of the chef as well as their families and the communities they come from. It's been fascinating to learn about different cultures an the affect it has on the chefs. They're shot beautifully with a great soundtrack to match. I'm one episode in and it looks to be an excellent continuation from the BBQ series.

Hopefully there'll be more beyond this. In such a frenetic world, with so much division, worry, anxiety, it's a perfect antidote to life to throw on an episode of Chefs Table and lose yourself for an hour.

Don't get me wrong, some serious food porn is served up, but as other users have pointed out, there's a lot of pretentiousness throughout the series. In my opinion the only chef who deserved such an honour to be included in a Chefs Table episode is Franco Pepe, do yourself a favour and skip to this episode first. Chris Bianco has a very interesting take and I would definitely try his pizza, but others in the series seem to think adding "weird" ingredients to their pizza makes them above everyone else. I don't want flower petals on my pizza, that's not how this works. I'm very saddened that this is where chefs table has gone, the quality control and screening of content has seemed to gone off a cliff. At least two episodes in this series shouldn't have been made.

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.

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.

This is perhaps the most pretentious piece of television I have ever seen. The classical music overlaid on the basic, boring interviews of these chefs that use "raw ingredients", juxtaposed by the modern art critic explaning why they are so sophisticated is nauseating. It's a bit embarrassing, and honestly feels like satire.

This isn't to say that the food that these people making isn't good. But to showcase a few chefs and act like they are "Michelangelo" is silly. "I was the first one to bring dough and pizza to television." Give me a break.. You can get good pizza similar to any of these depicted in almost any large city.

If you are looking for comedy, which I only have to assume is their aim, stick to a more approachable and less self-aggrandizing show like 'Nailed It', or 'Is It Cake?'.