The Weekend Series: five binge-worthy food shows you should queue up
We’re a sucker for a good cooking show, and we’re not ashamed to admit it. From Ready Steady Cook to the Great British Bake Off, the high stakes drama of the kitchen is something we’ll relish the opportunity to view. A new breed of food shows are hitting our screens thanks to the miracle of Netflix, allowing us to feast on food porn of the highest quality. If you have a craving to binge some stellar food-oriented media, you can’t do much better than the crew we’ve assembled here. Don a bib and get comfortable – you’ll be drooling by the end of the first episode.
Chef’s Table: Pastry
One of the freshest shows out of the Netflix oven comes from the team behind the acclaimed Chef’s Table series. Chef’s Table: Pastry focuses on the sweeter side of cooking, with a concise four-episode season focusing on some of the most innovative names in dessert and pastry. The show features renowned names in the sweet scene such as Momofuku Milk Bar creator Christina Tosi, Sicilian gelato maker Corrado Assenza, Spanish pastry whiz Jordi Roca and American chef Will Goldfarb. Like previous seasons, this series has all the hallmarks of excellence – montages soundtracked by classical music, high-definition glimpses of picture-perfect food and confessional interviews. If you treat your food like high art and enjoy the subtleties and stories inherent in cooking, this is the show for you.
You can binge all episodes of Chef’s Table: Pastry now on Netflix.
Somebody Feed Phil
You wouldn’t expect the next move for an award-winning sitcom writer would be a globe-spanning gastronomically focused tour, but if you’re Phil Rosenthal – the creator of Everybody Loves Raymond – then you can do whatever you damn well like. Known for his quick wit and observant humour, Phil has decided to explore the world for his new show Somebody Feed Phil, sampling the local cuisine in cities such as Bangkok, Lisbon, Tel Aviv, Mexico City and more. Phil’s earnest enthusiasm and fearless approach to trying new things make this an enjoyable watch.
Somebody Feed Phil is streaming on Netflix now.
The Mind of a Chef
Anthony Bourdain is not only an acclaimed chef in his own right, but he’s also one of the savviest creators of food-oriented television in the world. His hit series The Mind of a Chef has followed and examined culinary luminaries such as Sean Brock, Magnus Nilsson and David Chang, and the latest season has selected chef Danny Bowien of Mission Chinese for its latest eight-episode season. Follow Danny as he works in his home kitchen and as he scoots around the world, sourcing inspiration from all corners of the globe. The coolest thing about The Mind of a Chef? You can watch it on Facebook. Yep, that’s right – all episodes can be binged online right now through Facebook Watch.
Nailed It
When it comes to kitchen tension, the pressure cooker atmosphere of MasterChef and My Kitchen Rules is near unparalleled. Nailed It is a competitive baking show that takes a bit of the anxiety out of the equation and infuses the process with some light-hearted humour. This original series sees three home bakers with iffy skill levels compete to recreate a dish as accurately as possible. Hosted by comedian Nicole Byer and judged by acclaimed chocolatier Jacques Torres (and a few special guests), Nailed It makes us feel a little bit better about our kitchen capabilities and gives us a chance to revel in the hot mess and hilarity of each contest.
Netflix is screening the first season of Nailed It online now.
Ugly Delicious
Earlier in the year we lost our minds over the prospect of David Chang’s considered and thoughtful series Ugly Delicious, and now we’ve consumed all episodes in their entirety we can confirm that it is indeed the goods. Ugly Delicious looks at the way food cultures originate, evolve and intersect and how we approach food fusion in modern society. David and his array of guests discuss the best way to respect cultures in order to merge them appropriately (or debate whether it should be attempted in the first place), opening up viewpoints and furthering the cause of culinary excellence.
Catch Ugly Delicious on Netflix now.