Sweetbitter

This is a great show that simmers slowly and takes its time building the plot and characters over two gorgeously filmed seasons situated primarily in a restaurant modeled after Union Square Cafe in NYC in the early 2000s. It reminds me a bit of the series Felicity with Keri Russell from the late 90s: a shy, beautiful young woman moves to the big city looking to explore all the possibilities life may offer while she slowly discovers who she is and who she really wants to be. It's moody and thoughtful and gives us an accurate look into the life of young servers, bar and kitchen staff working in a high-end, high pressure restaurant. The episodes are only 30 minutes long, so things never get too deep and I think I appreciate this aspect. I can immerse myself a little, get the feeling and the vibe of the time and place and romance of it all; good escapism with a talented cast that serves up courses of relationship drama, intimacy and sex while bringing in well researched and even informational aspects of food and wine. If you enjoy coming of age stories and love food, you'll enjoy all the sweet and bitter this show has to offer.

I just watched this to pass the time, but I thought it was intriguing enough and found myself finishing the first season. It has the sweetness of a chick flick and the bitterness of an angsty indie film. The main actress is very beautiful and she is captivating to watch. The supporting actors played their parts well. It leaves me feeling empty watching it...there's something sad about the atmosphere of the show...but at the same time it has a dream-like quality about it that makes me long for it. The only thing I don't like about it is how angry or tired of life everyone is, but I think that's what the show wants to evoke. I do look forward to season 2 and more character and storyline development. And I do crave the show.

I decided to give this a shot after seeing constant ads, also being a New Yorker with some experience in fine dining I was interested enough. Unfortunately there were so many glaring issues with this adaptation. The most frustrating part is there are glimmers of what could've been a great show throughout, opportunities squandered at every turn. One of the main issues is our star, Tess. It's hard to distinguish if it's mainly the fault of the writer, director or actor, but all three do their fair share to poison the pot. I get they are going for doe-eyed naivety but come on, give the audience a little credit, or the character some dimension. Everything, I mean everything she looks at she's gawking as if she has just discovered there are other humans on this planet- get's old real quick. Not to mention it's just not believable. NO ONE with her behavior (won't even discuss lack of experience) would last a day in that industry. However, I'm more than willing to suspend belief for plot but this show doesn't deliver the goods. The show does not give you any reason to root for her success except that she is the obvious protagonist and well, I guess you just should. She isn't particularly hard working or respectful, she walks around in a self absorbed bubble the entire season. For a coming of age there is little, if any personal growth exhibited on her end. All of the secondary characters are painfully one note. The season would have been more interesting had they paid more attention to some of them or even made it an ensemble show, as following wide eyed Tess around all day gets tiring. Then there's oh-so-troubled-Jake and I'm-so-illusive Simone. They both seem to have these massive fronts to feign the audience into intrigue, but I'm guessing not much is behind either door. There was no resolution into the season long tension within the 3 or insight into their motivations. The writers either didn't have answers or are holding out hope for a second season, either way not much happens in the first season besides the answer to if Tess will become a permanent hire. Luckily it's a short watch and they didn't milk this plot for a longer run time. I may even give it a chance if it gets renewed, hoping they juice up the writing, flesh out the ensemble and someone slaps that look off of Tess's face.

With short a short synopsis, I delayed watching this show until very recently. After reading 'Kitchen Confessions', by the late great Anthony Bourdain (Parts Unknown on CNN), I asked myself, how come there's such a huge void for series offering a raw authentic view behind the scenes in the kitchen life? Other than the movie Burnt starring Bradley Cooper and the first season and done AMC series starring Ross from friends, I don't recall great content filling this void.

First, this series isn't exactly dedicated to the culture of a chef's life or how intense the world of serving is working world wide renoun star rated restaurants, well, kinda.

This show is on the caliber of series like Flesh and Bone, The Girlfriend Experience, and Mozart in the jungle. Though these shows are entirely different, they share the same kind of unniverse and platform; STARZ, except for Primes Mozart.

Sweet bitter is very engaging and each episode ends too quickly as you want it to continue much longer since each grows as the minutes go by with intrigue, same with the seasons. The lead is very seductive and likable as shes so amiable and graceful. We know nothing about her history for half the first season, as it remains intriguing to learn who she was before moving to NY and what kind of life she led. I was very surprised to read the negative reviews and felt like I watched a different show. Our first impression of her is she's moved to a city, NYC, that seems like it's the last place for her.

She works in NYC best notable restaurant owned by the great actor from House of Cards (the author Francis employed to write the book), and his onscreen presence captures the restuarants tone so well. The behind the scenes look is always compelling and portrays how difficult it is to be a server in upscale places.

But

This show is less about plot, and more about characters. I personally dont give a damnas like as the writing is great! And thus it is. It's a series that naturally grows letting the characters aet the pace in their actions and decisions first. This series is massively underrated and a 7 on here is just comical!

I have a high standard when it comes to investing my time in a series and these days not many shows Wow me or making me binge like a few years ago. This is very addicting and the reason I added the names kd the above shows, is because if you liked any of them, you will surely like this one.

Dismiss the low rating and negative comments. But then not people appreciate these kind of unique and very different shows.

Have made it through 3 episodes which I think is a reasonable shot but that's as far as it goes. Careers from one cliche to another. Perhaps in other hands a show set behind the scenes in an upmarket New York restaurant could yield something a little more than on offer here, but then again perhaps not. It looks great but moody lighting and sultry acting isn't enough. A sit com might have worked better with this material or at least a plot with somewhere to go.