The Final Table

Nothing affected, no artificially created drama, participants don´t plot against each other, but “only" real professionals (usually already having Michelin stars, super-successful concepts/restaurants, etc.) doing their best to please particular cuisine experts and celebrities with their culinary art. It's a simple version of MasterChef free of American smiles, even though lacking the enthusiasm of self-taught chefs and enthusiasts, but great in terms of ubiquitous professionalism and respect. Yes, it's like “MasterChef's concept remade by the distinguished grace of Chef's Table, where every episode it's a tribute to one of the world's cuisines." But that is a brilliant concept by itself. In addition, Netflix has wrapped it in considerable production values, despite the hourly footage, it has a frantic pace and the taste buds will be stimulated a lot. And if you like to cooking, you might even learn something. The only shortcoming is the finale sequence, which does not use the concept of “top chefs at one table" at all; moreover, in term of the winner, they played it safe which a consider contradicting the “original task". | S1: 4/5 | (08.01.2019)

Food is my lifelong passion and one of the things I enjoy most about life. And even more than that I love discovering the differences between cuisine from different parts of the world and trying new flavors and ingredients. Just as someone would spend their excess money on a car or even clothes, I would not hesitate to stuff it into food tourism. Food is joy, food brings people together without needing to know the same language. The feeling when the chef waits to hear what you have to say about his creation, and you smile and give a thumbs up after the first bite to say you like it, is a unique bonding experience. That's why watching people who live for preparing good food, who don't look for shortcuts in the kitchen, but instead don't hesitate to take the most complicated path if it improves the final taste even by a tiny bit, was an absolutely amazing experience for me. It was beautiful to watch different cultures and culinary legends meet in one place. The show is really all about the beauty of cooking, not a cheesy reality show laced with exploitative stories. There is a good atmosphere among the contestants, no one is berating anyone, no one is mad that they didn't win, everyone is just cooking the best they can. And I, who naively thought I knew a lot about cooking, was watching in disbelief, open-mouthed at how creative chefs can be and how much information and preparation techniques they carry around in their heads. 5 stars. (27.04.2020)