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  • Warning: Spoilers
    Interesting series into different artisan pizza chefs from around the world (well the US and Italy). Most seem to have had a troubled life but are gifted chefs. The series could do with a lot more about their pizzas instead of the chefs and their life challenges as many of them look look fantastic but, for whatever reason the series has not gone down that route. The most annoying part of the series is someone, in their wisdom decided to overdub the non English but then they included the subtitles which do not reflect the spoken translation! This is the first and hopefully the last time someone does this to a very good series.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • lifeisabyway10 September 2022
    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.
  • Finally!! With the boom that the last decade has seen in the culinary arts coming to the forefront of television and entertainment, and just exposure in general, this is a truly SUPERB production. The first three episodes evoke so much raw emotion - the passion that drives these chefs (often bordering on varying degrees of insanity) is simply breathtaking. Diving deep into these chefs' stories, shedding light on how they're wired and how their genius has been developed over time and at what cost. The level of sheer focus (obsession) is beyond inspiring. And most episodes I've seen always touch on the importance of doing things differently today - with a focus on sustainability, quality, and local sourcing of food items and ingredients.

    A food documentary in which I bawl my face off?!? (Chris Bianco) Very memorable.
  • Pizza is a world heritage.

    Yes it was first made in Italy.

    But the best pizza today is made in New York by grandsons of Italians.

    It is ok to put whatever ingredient they want in the pizza, it is ok to call it pie.

    Just respect where each one of those chefs achieved to go. If there is demand is because the pizza is good.

    There are good pizzas all around the globe so please stop saying that only Italians know how to do it.

    About the show, there are some meaningless interviews and too much slowmotion scenes with dramatic classical musics. For sure not enough episodes so many good pizzachefs missing.

    São Paulo, Brazil, second city who most eats pizzas in the world is not in the show. Sad.
  • 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.
  • tcioffi-3207010 September 2022
    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?'.
  • 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.
  • Warning: Spoilers
    I couldnt even watch a full episode. Someone who went to Italy once is now better at making pizza than italians? Pretencious much? He burned the pizza that was supposed to be a showcase...

    And the style of rhe interview is as if that cheff was the queen's personal cook. Are you for real?

    I felt lied to by the title, I really expected to see some italian cheffs showing their mastery. And to start in Arizona claiming its the best in the world, why watch the rest then? And I honestly did not see anything special in his ingredients. Yes, they said in the beggining that before him, rhey used canned sauce, but come on... I am not a chef and I use fresh tomatoes in my pizza, but I am not showing up on TV claiming such outrageous things, just because my tomatoes arent canned...
  • 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.
  • v9043yve5 February 2023
    Never thought I'd start hating a dish because of a Netflix documentary, but here I am. This is basically one gigantic ad for one guy's pizza place... And I made the mistake of watching this.

    The show starts off by proclaiming that "the best pizza IN THE WORLD is made in Phoenix, Arizona".

    HAHAHHAHA.

    Now, if you live anywhere outside the US, you're probably getting how dumb this is gonna get. Hysterical laughter from me at this point, because I'm not American and I don't feel the need to proclaim everything my country produces as "THE BEST IN THE WORLD".

    So Chris went to Italy once and learned how to make pizza. He was surrounded by women you know, and they taught him the Mystical Art of Cooking, which for most people is a basic life skill. Chris is very proud because even though he is a man, he can also cook, which apparently makes him magic!

    Also, he had the following revelations: food can be made from fresh ingredients, meals are generally better if you don't use canned products, not everything has to be based on corn, and fruit makes for perfectly good desert.

    Chris, I saw your pizza and it's okay. It doesn't look terrible, but THE BEST PIZZA IN THE WORLD is definitely not burnt.

    *I'm not Italian. Like that would matter, but I feel like Americans need this kind of information to be less confused.
  • 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.
  • 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.