Chef's Table - Noodles is fascinating, Jen Shieff says. Photo / Netflix
Chef's Table - Noodles is fascinating, Jen Shieff says. Photo / Netflix
Chef’s Table - Noodles, four episodes 50 mins each. Streaming on Netflix
Reviewed by Jen Shieff
Evan Funke, who owns and runs the restaurant Funke in Beverly Hills, cracks eggs into a valley he’s created in the middle of a mound of flour, saying, “Few people know what it takes to be really good at making pasta.”
So begins the first of four new episodes on Netflix, featuring noodles, each episode concentrating on a single chef: Funke, Guirong Wei, Peppe Guida and Nite Yun.
They show not only what kind of food they make and how they do it, but also where they’ve come from and how they’ve got to the top - a formula Netflix has developed for their Chef’s Table series, all having great appeal for foodies, and anyone who enjoys a good business success story.
Funkemakes all the pasta his restaurant uses by hand, mixing the dough, rolling it out, cutting it and squashing, curling or squeezing it into the required shape, meticulously, with machine-like precision but hand-made authenticity.
Vast quantities of pasta shapes are laid out, row after row, Funke having learned how to do everything he does in Bologna, where this first episode takes us.
It’s in pasta goddess Alessandra Spisni’s kitchen that Funke became inspired, dedicated and determined, and Alessandra herself, maternal, watchful, encouraging, regards him as a star pupil. Some wing to be taken under.
With a backstory involving supportive parents, a lack of confidence because of being overweight as a teenager and a girlfriend who urged him to go to culinary school, Funke, a big confident-looking chap, goes to Bologna to hone his craft.
He reveals feelings of being out of place, which drives him to try harder, spending long hours rolling his dough, perfecting it and ultimately, taking the all-important step of choosing the best possible wood grain for his Matarello, or rolling pin.
Off he goes to select the right piece of timber, and we see the craftsmanship that goes into the making of a treasured object. Fascinating.
Brian McGinn executive produces all four episodes and directs Episode 1, Funke.
McGinn, together with David Gelb, developed Chef’s Table for television, the longest-running programme on Netflix, earning three Primetime Emmy nominations and five James Beard Awards.
He clearly knows exactly what he’s doing when it comes to food documentaries, ensuring perfect use of close-ups, lighting and music and making sure each scene is timed just right.
Chef Evan Funke stars in the first episode of Chef's Table - Noodles. Photo / Netflix
The close-up of Funke detailing his Porsche, attending to every part of it as if it’s the most important thing he can possibly do, says as much about him as the shots of him making his sfoglia, tenderly, consistently, almost worshipfully.
As he works, he says, “Every sfoglia I make is a part of history.” It’s a big claim, but it’s completely believable that Funke would think like that and that his pasta would reflect his high ideals.
His over-the-top perfectionism does not make Funke are bore or a freak.
What he’s achieved seems almost within reach for anyone who’s prepared to put in the hard yards, picking themselves up and dusting themselves off when things go wrong. Inspiring.
