Pepe's Beach Bar (2014–2016)

"Chiringuito de Pepe" is the story of Sergi Roca, a superstar of Spanish gastronomy, who leaves the big city and all the Michelin stars behind to take over a small beachfront restaurant in the seaside town of Peniscola. Why does he make such a drastic change? In the first episode, the man who raised Sergi tells him that his biological father Pepe is in dire need of help with his failing chiringuito. Sergi buys the restaurant and takes over, but without telling Pepe, Pepe's son Vicente, and nephew Dani who he really is.

The series tells the story of the ups and downs of transforming the disastrous chiringuito into a successful restaurant as well as Sergi's discovery of and connection to the family he never knew. Often the series is funny, sometimes corny, sometimes a little too silly. But while the humor is uneven at times, the theme of family always keeps the show watchable. It's one of those shows where you get to really like the characters, enough to forgive the show during some of those groaner moments when the attempts at humor miss the mark.

Sergi also gets to know his own son Manu a whole lot better because his ex-wife leaves Manu in his care. We get to see Sergi figure out how to be a father, how to turn around a failing restaurant, how to connect with the family he never knew he had, and through it all, Sergi learns to be a better person. The series is sweet, funny, and definitely worth watching.