Chef’s Table Season 5

Chef’s Table Season 5 has arrived on Netflix with four documentary episodes on chefs who celebrate their native cuisines through traditional foods, their origins, their cultural bonds, and a return to sustainable organic farming.

This season of Chef’s Table, as well as all the preceding seasons, should not to be missed by anyone who loves food and cooking.

This is compelling food television at its very best!

Chefs’s Table Trailer ( click here)

Chef’s Table Season 5

Episode 1: Christina Martinez    South Philly Barbacoa & El Compadre
Both restaurants are located on South 9th and Ellsworth, South Philadelphia

Episode 2: Musa Dagdeviren    CIYA Kebap and CIYA Sofrasi, Istanbul, Turkey

Episode 3: Bo Songvisava    Bo Lan, Bangkok, Thailand (www.bolan.co.th)
Soi 24 Sukhumvit 53, Bangkok BTS Thonglor station

Episode 4: Albert Adria      Tickets, Enigma, and Pakta, Barcelona, Spain

The episode with Christina Martinez had particular resonance for me as I have  an enduring love for Mexico and its cuisine. But also, as a working chef in Los Angeles, I had the pleasure to have worked with dedicated kitchen crews who were all immigrants from Mexico and Central America. Christina’s story is so like millions of others in many ways, but told through her love of her native food and culture. Her determination to make the best of her circumstances as an immigrant and thrive and, by example, giving a face to the mostly invisible immigrants who work behind the scenes in the American food industry.

Of course I am also very familiar with the food culture in South Philadelphia and was delighted to learn that Christina and her husband Ben Miller have been growing native Mexican corn on a farm in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, where I  grew up.

Episode 3 also has particular resonance for me as Bo Lan Thai restaurant is here in Thailand. The lush photography, the street food, the markets, and Thai kitchen banter feels particularly familiar of course as this is where I live. Thai food is like none other and is only really understandable when you encounter all the totally unrecognizable produce and spices that are at the heart of real authentic Thai food.

All a real visual feast for anyone who loves food!