Just a few months after the excellent Noodles spin-off season, Chef’s Table returns for Volume 7, telling four stories of selected chefs around the world and their ambition to be the best at what they do. Combining heart with talent, these culinary experts lay open their creative process from start to success in intimate vignettes that Chef’s Table captures so lovingly.
The first episode focuses on Nok Suntaranon and her journey to opening her authentic Thai restaurant Kalaya, named after her mother who gave and taught her everything. The second is dedicated to Kwame Onwuachi, a celebrated chef who overcame racial barriers in the fine dining world with his drive and passion for cooking that honors his Nigerian and Jamaican heritage. The third celebrates the Chef of the Sea AKA Ángel León and his Michelin 3-starred restaurant, a love letter to the south of Spain. And finally, the fourth episode takes us into the heart of Mexico City with Norma Listman & Saqib Keval, who combine their Indian-Ethiopian and Mexican heritages to explore the mingling of cultures within the food they serve.
One of the best things about this series is its connection of culture and cuisine; it takes us into the history of each dish and how the chefs’ upbringings and backgrounds flavor it. Hearing them tell their stories is often heartbreaking in its adversity and struggle, intertwining so tightly with the passion and dreams that keep them going. It’s through their stories that you are reminded how feeding others is an act of love and community; even an act of defiance in the face of social, racial, and economic barriers.
It’s exciting to watch their rise to recognition of the talent that was there all along—and how their craft inspires those around them. Their everyday lives are captured in pretty vignettes, colored by the vibrant communities they live in. The cinematography is once again gorgeous, featuring close-ups of the culinary process mixed in with the human touches that make this series so endearing, underlined by an energized score that swells with the thrill of creation and softens at the poignant moments.
Chef’s Table is a delectable slice of extraordinary life, turning cuisine into an art form made for the screen, once again proving its place as one of Netflix’s most treasured culinary series.
