Chef's Table: Pizza

Honestly what I love best about Chef's Table are the stories. I am always interested and touched by their journeys. I appreciate them more because I have been a cook.

The cinematography and music may be a little formulaic, but I still enjoy it and the shots still make me want to try each and every dish.

Finally pizza. It is my favorite because it can literally be anything you want it to be. I am so excited to try new things after seeing this series. If you think pizza is simple, you really don't get pizza at all. It is cooking and baking, and as much effort can go into the process and flavor as any high end restaurant food.

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.

Why does the dub over not match the subtitles? It's super annoying. There are two voices and it's distracting.

It's the only downside to an interesting show.

Why does the dub over not match the subtitles? It's super annoying. There are two voices and it's distracting.

It's the only downside to an interesting show.

Why does the dub over not match the subtitles? It's super annoying. There are two voices and it's distracting.

It's the only downside to an interesting show.

Why does the dub over not match the subtitles? It's super annoying. There are two voices and it's distracting.

It's the only downside to an interesting show.