Chef’s Table

David Gelb, the creator of Jiro Dreams of Sushi, has become something of a guru, not just for foodies but also in the world of business, where the film has become a totemic motivational tool. But if Jiro represents a fascinating illustration of how human beings strive for perfection, Gelb’s newest venture points us instead to the power of unbridled creativity, grounded in the ferocity and beauty of the world around us. In a ravishing six-part Netflix series called Chef’s Table, he has teamed with exceptional directors to create portraits of radical food artists around the world. Each episode delights in lovingly capturing exceptional dishes spiritually connected to unusual terroir and obsessively presented within highly bespoke environments. In the two segments presented here, Argentine master of open-fire cooking Francis Mallmann rules over his Patagonia institution 1884 with large-scale outdoor scorchings of behemoths, while lord of winter Magnus Nilsson, bundled into his far northern Swedish sensation Järpen, brings forth Nordic magic from local meat and fish with ancient curing techniques and recherché roots and berries. The two 50-minute episodes will play back to back. —Noah Cowan