A chef’s table is a special table set inside or right next to the kitchen, where a small group eats a menu chosen by the chef and watches the brigade at work instead of the room.
The phrase gained a second life on 26 April 2015, when Netflix released Chef’s Table, a documentary series created by David Gelb, the filmmaker behind Jiro Dreams of Sushi. The first season profiled six cooks on four continents, including Massimo Bottura in Italy, Francis Mallmann in Argentina, Magnus Nilsson in Sweden and Niki Nakayama in Los Angeles.
Slow motion, string music and steaming plates did the rest: chefs suddenly looked like the heroes of an art-house film, and booking lists grew accordingly. The real thing is less cinematic but closer, with the bonus that it is the only seat in the house where the kitchen noise counts as entertainment.