Chef’s Table: An Inspiring Reveal On the Lives of Renowned Chefs

Chef’s Table is a documentary series on NETFLIX that features renowned chefs.

photo source: wikipedia.org 

The creator, executive producer and director of Chef’s Table is David Gelb, who is known for his critically acclaimed documentary film called “Jiro Dreams of Sushi”.

What is interesting about Chef’s Table is that it is a visually delighting documentary series which features different locations and scenes which are artistically shot and presented with apt music and excellent cinematography. Also, the documentary connects with the viewers since the story teller for each episode is the featured chef and each one shares their personal story from their own perspective.

Below is a NETFLIX  trailer of Chef's Table season 1:

It is inspiring to watch Chef’s Table as one gets to a closer look on how the chefs live, the different challenges they faced, their passion for cooking, their learnings and how they achieved success. The series also includes an interesting line-up of chefs from different parts of the world with individual culinary styles, personalities and success stories.

Even with their different stories, there is one thing consistent and common among all the chefs and it is their concern on using the best ingredients. The series also shows how some of the chefs have been involved in the farm-to-table movement and are working closely with farmers to ensure that they get the best and sustainable ingredients.

Some of the best chefs featured in the Chef’s Tables series are Massimo Bottura and female chefs Dominique Crenn and Ana Ros.

Massimo Bottura

Massimo Bottura is an Italian chef and owner of Osteria Francescana, the number 1 restaurant in the World’s 50 Best restaurants list in 2016.  It is the first Italian restaurant to earn the award and it also got 3 Michelin stars from Michelin Guide in 2016.

Osteria Francescana restaurant interiors

source: osteriafrancescana.it

Chef Massimo is married to Lara Gilmore, an American whom he met when he worked at Caffe di Nonna in New York.  He admits that his wife exposed him to the arts and the avant garde which has influenced and inspired him in his work as a chef.

Chef Massimo Bottura and his wife Lara

source: osteriafrancescana.it

Chef Massimo apprenticed under famous chefs Alain Ducasse and Ferran Adria.

As a chef, he also innovates to help others. He created a dish called “Risotto Cacio Pepe” in May 2012 when the earthquakes in Emilia damaged nearly 400,000 forms of Parmigiano Reggiano.

Bottura is dedicated to reconstructing Italy’s cultural heritage. He made a modern version of the tortellini dish by putting six pieces of tortellini in one line and placing the broth on the left and right side and playfully called the dish “Tortellini walking into broth”.

There was also a part in the episode when they encountered a problem when one of his kitchen staff had accidentally dropped the last piece of lemon tart available and how Chef Massimo turned the situation into an opportunity of serving a creative dish featuring the broken tart with painting like yellow splashes surrounding it which he called “Oops! I dropped the lemon tart!”

Oops! I dropped the lemon tart dessert
at Osteria Francescana

source: osteriafrancescana.it

Dominique Crenn

Chef Dominique Crenn, her dishes and Atelier Crenn
restaurant interiors

source: the50worldsbest.com

Chef Dominique Crenn of Atelier Crenn restaurant is a French chef who describes her cooking style as “poetic culinaria”. She takes inspiration from her childhood memories and nature. Guests at her restaurant are presented with a poem in lieu of a menu.

She moved to San Francisco, United States in 1988, confidently approached American celebrity Chef Jeremiah Tower and asked if he could work for him at Stars restaurant.

Several years after working at Stars, she opened her restaurant called Atelier Crenn in San Francisco which got two Michelin stars in 2012.  

“Atelier Crenn”, is a homage to her father who was a French politician and artist. “Atelier” is a French word that means “workshop” in English and for Chef Dominique the restaurant has become a workshop where she creates exceptional culinary French dishes plated beautifully which are made from organic, local produce and ingredients.  .

Chef Dominique Crenn won World’s Best Female Chef award in 2016.

Ana Ros

Chef Ana Ros and one of her dishes

source: theworlds50best.com

Chef Ana Ros is a self-taught chef and the head chef at Hisa Franko, a restaurant located in the remote Soca Valley in Slovenia. She comes from a family of diplomats and her parents wanted her to become a diplomat too.

Ana took a different path when she married Valter, a sommelier who’s family owned Hisa Franko restaurant. When Valter’s parents decided to retire years ago the restaurant was turned over to Ana and Valter. Since Ana did not have any formal culinary training she taught herself by traveling, eating at other restaurants and creating dishes on her own.

One of the restaurants she and her husband went to before was La Subida, located in the Italian boarder and the only Slovenian restaurant in the world that has earned a Michelin star.

Through perseverance and creativity, Ana turned the menu around and included local ingredients and produce. She included dishes like trout and its liver with white asparagus and grapefruit in the menu and her husband paired the dishes with excellent wines.

She won the World’s Best Female Chef award in 2017. She may not have become a diplomat but she definitely ended up becoming an ambassador for Slovenian cuisine.

Below is the NETFLIX official trailer for Chef’s Table season 2 which includes chefs Ana Ros and Dominique Crenn:

Chef’s Table is certainly a cool documentary series that takes the viewers to another dimension of the culinary world. Unlike the typical shows that features how to cook dishes, the series gives a more in depth look at the life experiences of chefs and shows how their relentless passion for food and cooking pushed them to evolve and achieve success.