10 Terrific Food Documentaries To Stream On Netflix Tonight Whenever I'm hunting for a movie to watch on a Friday night, I inevitably find myself scrolling through the documentaries on Netflix. Thankfully, there are quite a few great ones, particularly in the food space. Here are 10 food documentaries you should add to your Instant View queue: Jiro Dreams of SushiGood for: Sushi lovers and those who believe discipline and hard work is the key to everything.Synopsis: Jiro Ono is arguably the greatest sushi chef in the world. This documentary looks at his life and the lives of his two sons as they attempt follow in his footsteps. Kings of PastryGood for: Anyone who pins over-the-top desserts to their Pinterest board.Synopsis: This documentary follows participants in the brutally competitive Meilleur Ouvrier de France, the legendary French pastry competition, as they vy to take the career making title of "best patissier." A Matter of Taste: Serving Up Paul LiebrandtGood for: Fans of haute cuisine and food as art.

Synposis: What does it take to become a successul haute cuisine chef? This doc chronicles the rise of "brilliant and controversial" chef Paul Liebrandt. Beer WarsGood for: Beer lovers, of course!Synopsis: Since this documentary was made, it's probably a little easier for craft brewers to get a share of the market, since craft beer is trending pretty heavily right now. But it's still hard for independent brewers to compete with the corporate giants of the beer industry. Beer geeks should look out for cameo from Sam Calagion of Dogfish Head, among others. Pressure CookerGood for: People who like inspirational films and believe it's important to teach young people how to cook.Synposis: With the help of their tough culinary arts teacher, three inner-city Philadelphia high school students enter a citywide cooking competition with scholarship money on the line. King CornGood for: Anyone interested in knowing where their food comes from.Synopsis: When two college friends move to Iowa to grow an acre of corn, they discover just how big a role corn plays in American life.

They also hit on big issues like government subsidies and public health. FRESHGood for: Anyone who wants to see our food system transformed.Synopsis: This film is really a celebration of farmers, thinkers and businesses striving to re-invent America's food system. Among the people profiled are urban farmer and activist, Will Allen, the recipient of MacArthur's 2008 Genius Award, and Joel Salatin.Living Off America's WasteGood for: Anyone trying to throw out less food.Synopsis: This film is about dumpster diving, so if you've ever wanted to get a glimpse into that world, this is it. It's also a look at America's attitude toward waste in general. FarmaggedonGood for: Anyone with a strong sense of social justice.Synopsis: In their review of the movie, The New York Times called Farmaggedon "part consumer-rights advocacy, part abuse-of-power exposé." The film focuses on small family farms forced to shut down by the government. VegucatedGood for: Anyone who's ever thought about going vegan.

Synposis: This is what happens when three die-hard meat and cheese lovers try to go vegan for 6 weeks. Lots of ups, downs, and lessons learned along the way. Related: Fair Food: The Farmers, the Growers, the AdvocatesThese are boom times for lovers of beautiful documentaries about tremendously talented, existentially enlightened chefs. umi sushi nyc order onlineThe phenomenon gained steam with the worldwide success of Jiro Dreams of Sushi, which spun off the Chef’s Table series, and now everyone’s Netflix recommendations are filled with these films: Noma: My Perfect Storm, For Grace, Entre le Bras, Spinning Plates, and on and on. sushi bar gioco onlineThis is prestige food porn, and, as is always the case with porn, a parody was inevitable.jiro dreams of sushi free online streaming

Last night’s episode of Documentary Now!, the IFC series from Bill Hader, Fred Armisen, and Seth Meyers, was that parody, and it’s a more or less perfect encapsulation of everything that’s right, and wrong, with the genre. Juan Likes Rice & Chicken, the title of the faux doc, follows the chef and owner of a remote restaurant in Colombia — “a 40-minute walk from the nearest road” — who has earned three Michelin stars on the strength of his rice and chicken. where to buy sushi grade fish in boulderThe restaurant offers just one set menu: “warm coffee,” a halved banana, rice with butter, and, “most days,” chicken. where to buy sushi grade fish in los angelesJuan, of course, is also nearing retirement and wondering if his son Arturo has what it takes to carry on the family legacy.sushi club delivery capital federal

In 22 minutes, the episode nails every trope of prestige food porn: the ridiculously isolated restaurant, the chef’s unyielding devotion to the craft (Juan, we learn, “hasn’t missed a day of work in 35 years; he’s had three heart attacks, and each time he toughed it out and didn’t go to the hospital until the last customer left”); sushi hry onlinethe reluctant son taking over for his famous father; horrible American foodie tourists; trips to the local produce market; arcane cooking techniques that raise the food to near-mythic levels of deliciousness; so much slow-motion footage; a soundtrack pulled from Classical Music for Dummies; and a cameo by David Chang. There is also a lot of pontificating. Anyone who’s watched Chef’s Table, or Jiro, or any of the Noma documentaries knows that navel-gazing is as much a part of these films as sea-urchin beauty shots. It’s as if chefs like Dominique Crenn and Alain Passard do nothing else but sit around all day dreaming up new ways to express themselves through beets and salmon.

These people are undeniably talented and driven, but it’s as if the featured chefs have never had to examine a P&L, or fix a broken sink. (Granted, chefs on the level of Dominique Crenn probably have people who call the plumber for them — but still, it’s something you’ve got to deal with.) Instead, these documentaries present the same story in different shades: chef as virtuoso. Critics, food writers, and fellow kitchen professionals sing the subjects’ praises, the chefs stare off into the distance and talk pointedly about the way childhood beach trips inspired a signature langoustine dish (or whatever), and then we see all the beautiful food porn. Lay down some Vivaldi, throw in a few breathtaking landscape shots, and you’ve got a solid hour of entertainment. That this is so far removed from the reality of running a high-caliber restaurant is obvious, but it’s also an excellent fantasy for chefs to project if they want to charge couples $1,000 to eat dinner. it’s the work of a genius.

Besides, the format works. It even works in a fictional documentary about chicken and rice that isn’t too far off from reality. Juan’s joke is the obsession over such a simple dish. It isn’t much different from poor Daisuke Nakazawa devoting his life to the perfect omelette in Jiro. All of this introspection is simultaneously the most compelling and most insufferable part of these documentaries. On one hand, it’s like, Come on — it’s an omelette. But without the struggle, all that’s left is the drudgery of kitchen labor, which is probably not the most exciting subject matter for a TV show. Three decades ago, the only way the world’s best chefs got on television was through something like Great Chefs, the prestige-food-porn forebear that aired basically forever and always featured hypertalented chefs mundanely cooking exquisite food in stark, utilitarian kitchens. That show is not without its charms — Alain Passard’s truffle-and-Parmesan “fondant” for two is still awesome — and Mary Lou Conroy’s narration remains mesmerizingly deadpan.