Food Documentaries & TV shows

I thought a running thread on Food Documentaries & TV Shows would be worthwhile. Post your favorites.

First up is For Grace - what an absolutely great documentary food or otherwise. It was a very personal / intimate story of what it takes to be a three star Michelin Chef. You really see the personal toll it takes. I will not ruin the movie with too much information because there are many surprises and very candid moments. I would recommend it strongly.


As for shows I love the online Munchies series Chefs Night Out - they follow Chefs around on the night off and of course get them wasted! I have a cameo in one!

just watched a bit of the contra episode
looks like i’ll be busy on the ipad for a while
cool stuff
timely too as i plan on being at wildair tonite
thanks robert

Kings of Pastry is a very entertaining, feature-length documentary about pastry chefs competing to become Les Meilleurs Ouvriers de France (basically, master craftsmen of France – a very prestigious ranking).

Watched For Grace today. Very nicely done, but I don’t think it would make a good recruiting film for being a high end cook or chef. Those guys work insanely hard and most seem to have to deal with douche bag bosses.

Have not heard of this before. My limited understanding of the Michelin system is that it prizes front-house presentation above all. Am I wrong?

I enjoy the “Mind of a Chef”, CIA’s feature DVD of “Rioja”, and (once upon a time) “Mondovino”.

The Great British Bake Off was very good. The American version was just so-so

Not at all. In fact to get one Michelin star the ONLY thing that matters is the food. I have heard that the food is the majority of the overall evaluation even moving up to three stars.

Brooklyn Fare has three stars and they do not even have waiters and the restaurant is on the side of supermarket. There were a few very big surprises in NYC this year including Somtum Der which received a star solely because of their food.

Mind of a Chef
Munchies - Vice
Jacques Pepin Heart and Soul - Food | KQED
Chef’s Table - Watch Chef's Table | Netflix Official Site (Probably my favorite)

Thanks, Robert!

+1

Spinning Plates

I need to watch that again.

Thanks. I liked the Jacques Pepin shows.

Some more great documentaries:

Step up to the Plate - About the son of Michel Bras taking over the restaurant

Noam the Perfect Storm - Well worth watching but I was a little disappointed in this.

I like Killing Flies - This is fantastic.

A Matter of Taste: Serving Up Paul Liebrandt - A talented but troubled Chef.

watched a few and i like it a lot. haven’t found your cameo yet tho

For Grace was fantastic - thanks! Emotional documentary for sure.

Have to admit it doesn’t look worth it to me to strive for 3 stars but I am glad someone is doing it.

The trailer and review for this looks promising:

The movie is City of Gold about Jonathan Gold and Los Angeles.

I like this thread. Good idea. I haven’t seen Grace, so will add it to my “watch list”. For documentaries, I really enjoyed Chef’s Table (really looking forward to the next three seasons Netflix recently announced):

Chef’s Table, Season 2 – May 27
Alex Atala, Dom, (Brazil)
Ana Ros, Hiša Franko (Slovenia)
Dominique Crenn, Atelier Crenn (United States)
Enrique Olvera, Pujol (Mexico)
Gagan Anand, Gaggan (Thailand)
Grant Achatz, Alinea, Next, The Aviary (United States)

Chef’s Table, Season 3 – French Installment, TBD 2016
Alain Passard, L’Arpege (France)
Michel Troisgros, Maison Troisgros (France)
Adeline Grattard, Yam’Tcha (France)
Alexandre Couillon, La Marine (France)

Chef’s Table, Season 4 – TBD 2017
Ivan Orkin, Ivan Ramen (United States, Japan)
Jeong Kwan, Chunjinam Hermitage, Baekyangsa Temple (South Korea)
Nancy Silverton, Mozza (United States)
Tim Raue, Restaurant Tim Raue (Germany)
Virgilio Martinez, Central (Peru)
Vladimir Mukhin, White Rabbit (Russia)

Others on Netflix I enjoyed were Jiro Dreams of Sushi, Mind of a Chef (liked some chef’s segments more than others), Cooked, and Spinning Plates.

As for TV shows, my favorite is still Top Chef and Top Chef Masters (Bravo). I really enjoyed the recent episode featuring The Quickfire of “toast” at Traci Des Jardins The Commissary and the closing/last dinner at Hubert Keller’s Fleur de Lys in SF cooked by the contestants.

“Spinning Plates” is a real treat as is “A Matter of Taste”. Just watched “King Georges” and enjoyed the movie as George Perrier of the former Le Bec Fin(Philadelphia) is an interesting character.

Thanks for the For Grace recommendation really enjoyed it. My all time favorite that I watch before every harvest is Jiro Dreams of Sushi. It came out in 2011 so its been around a while but the dedication to the craft is inspiring.

+1 for Chef’s Table.