The second season of Chef's Table recently came out on Netflix. I'm a huge foodie and while I love seeing all the yummy food, the compelling part of watching this documentary is getting into the minds of these creative and visionary individuals.
It has highlighted two things for me. That a shift has taken place in western culinary culture and the identity of a chef.
The early part of this century saw the rise of molecular gastronomy. The art of using all kinds of chemical procedures or different substances to enhance taste, change structure, etc. It has given away over the last decade to the sustainable food movement or "farm-to-table". It means sourcing food ethically, eating what's in season and what's local. The belief that getting the best ingredients and letting them speak for themselves is the Chef's mantra. It's funny how sometimes going so far in one direction (like molecular gastronomy) can cause us to boomerang back to the familiar. I'm hopeful this is happening in community now too.
Almost all of the chefs profiled in Chef's Table subscribe to this later philosophy. They have looked back and valued traditional wisdom in shaping their path forward. They've taken the essence of how things were done for centuries in the kitchen and adapted them for today. I'm hopeful that it is beyond a trend and we've just returned to our roots for good.
I was also struck with who these chefs were. Authors, scholars, artists, zealots, visionaries, change-makers, philosophers, the list goes on. Each of them had a gift they were expressing through food. It was about far more than cooking for each and every one of them. They were also all working chefs. They see the prep and cooking of the food each night as the important work and therefore they need to be side by side with those working for them doing this. So often chefs, and many other professions, think that as you move up you leave this work on the ground behind. Each of these amazing chefs recognize the value in staying close to where the magic is actually happening.
Being a Force for Good 