Gastro-Documentaries Featuring Brilliant Minds

These days most discussions on the future of our food system seem to focus on Covid-19 and how the virus will affect the ways we produce and enjoy food. Yet other topics such as climate change and social accountability are no less urgent. 

Can Chefs Save the World is a three-part gastro-documentary examining the growing influence of chefs and the roles they play in today's society. Although it’s based on interviews conducted in 2019, the recent launch provides new, relevant and thought-provoking insights from 15 visionary chefs –– some of the food chain’s most innovative thinkers –– who aim to feed the world in sustainable, intelligent and creative ways,

Andoni Luis Aduriz analyzes how chefs’ roles have changed, starting in the 1970s when toques were ”manual craftsmen” who cooked and sculpted meals, and progressing to the current culinary scene, where they are lauded as artists who influence and challenge guests in conceptual ways. In Hong Kong, May Chow describes how her local restaurant community has become much prouder of serving Chinese food thanks to the last 15 years advancement of a global cuisine that melds international and regional tendencies. Meanwhile, fine dining maestro José Andrés, whose non-profit, World Central Kitchen, feeds millions of disenfranchised people across the planet, suggests the documentarians are actually doing the wrong thing by focusing on famous chefs who serve the privileged few, instead of featuring unknown chefs who cater to the masses. It’s bold and necessary to question the status quo.

Can Chefs Save the World is produced by Utopic Films and co-created by veteran award-winning food writer John Krich and publisher/film producer Mason Florence. 

12forward by White Guide lists 12 eateries in each chosen city that represent the very forefront of gastronomy.

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