A Love Letter To Chef’s Table From A Designer
I recently stumbled upon this show when it’s second season arrived and people started talking about it on twitter. I found that it’s a documentary series that profiles a world-renowned chef every episode — their thought process, struggles, story, motivations and passion for their craft. And of course there’s the beautiful imagery of food you’ve never seen before that makes you drool and your stomach growl.
It’s easy to misconstrue this show for something very pretentious. After all, our general thinking is that why would you want to go to a restaurant, pay $1500, not be able to choose what you want to eat and then eat something that wouldn’t fill you up.
As it turns out, it’s not about that. It’s about bending the rules, elevating your craft, fighting your demons, creating something that is true to yourself and make people feel something.
I am a designer and when I ask other designers where they draw inspiration from, more often that not I get this answer — dribbble! Or they go for a walk and observe people. The general meaning of inspiration in terms of design has become very shallow and has been reduced to lickable UIs and animations. It feels like we’re too comfortable to push the boundaries.
What inspiration means to me is thinking of ways to elevate your craft, coming from a totally different background and learning the business, and growing forward without leaving the basics. And, in that sense, Chef’s Table is a great source of inspiration.
I think there are a lot of similarities in the two worlds — food and design. In both the disciplines there are sets of principles that define the basics of good food or good design, you follow different techniques, you can have your own style and in the end it’s all about creation.
Chef’s table tells stories about chefs who go to the edge of the world to get on the plate what they have in mind. On the other hand, some chefs refuse to be limited to a plate and serve you art on a canvas. There are chefs who keep track of what you ordered the last time you visited the restaurant and they serve you what you want before you tell them. The whole process consumes them but they do it to give you a personal experience. And then, there are chefs who refuse to serve what everybody else is serving and follow their gut despite of bad reviews. And that is why they are where they are.
It teaches you the value of relentless practice, having the passion for your craft, following your instincts and pushing the boundaries.
If you are a creator or ever want to create something, I strongly recommend that you watch this show. You might find inspiration where you least expect it.
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Thank you for your time.
You can find me here: twitter.com/thatnitesh
