The Chef Show Season 1 Episode 2: Avengers Atlanta Review

The Chef Show on Netflix, Episode 2

The second episode of Jon Favreau and Roy Choi’s The Chef Show heads to Atlanta for delicious food and to meet some Avengers!

Based on Jon Favreau’s 2014 film Chef, The Chef Show sees Favreau team up with his culinary mentor, celebrity chef Roy Choi, as they travel around America cooking with fellow celebrities and introducing artists from a variety of fields to the joys of cooking world-class food.

Chef may not have changed the cinematic landscape, but it meant something to chefs. In this second episode, Favreau and Choi meet a chef with the words ‘El Jefe’, the food truck Favreau’s character had in the film, tattooed on his hands. Another chef talks about returning to the culinary arts because of the film. Talk about the power of movies!

We also see Favreau and Choi assemble a couple of Avengers to share some culinary delights and insights into the bonds between chefs.

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Holeman and Finch Burger

The second episode of The Chef Show starts off at Holeman and Finch in Atlanta, where Favreau and Choi are treated to some homemade Serrano prosciutto by Chef Spencer, giving Favreau the opportunity to show off his knife skills. He is astounding with the knife—a natural, according to Choi—the slices he cuts are so fine.

They then move on to the restaurant’s famous burgers, which is made up of 50/50 chuck eye and brisket. No binders, like egg, are used—the burger patty has the right combination of meat and fat to accomplish the binding. Impressive!

Favreau completely takes over the griddle and the chefs actually let him. Choi is the only one who looks nervous about Favreau—he is Choi’s student, after all—but the other chefs are completely cool about it. In Favreau’s defense, he does a great job and the final product is a burger that both he and Choi declare is the best burger they’ve ever had. It looks simple, yet delicious.

The Optimist Lobster Roll

Chef Ford Fry of The Optimist greets Choi and Favreau with a lobster roll. When making, or ordering, lobster roll, chefs don’t choose between mayonnaise or butter, they use both because they want all the flavor. Something for us regular people to remember.

Lobster is new territory for Favreau—Choi never taught him to deal with lobsters, but he picks up the skills from Chef Ford fairly easily. This lobster roll looks so good! And paired with salt and vinegar chips, the combination is heavenly.

The Optimist Shrimp Toast

There’s tons of butter on the shrimp for this shrimp toast at The Optimist, along with some chili paste, cooked in olive oil, before being put into 700-degree heaven. It cooks fast and smells great.

For the bread, Favreau takes on toast duties and uses Choi’s grilled cheese method on the rustic bread. Considering the popularity of the grilled cheese in Chef, it isn’t surprising that Favreau gets sent a lot of grilled cheese photos on Twitter. Are they good, though? He doesn’t say.

Interestingly, Chef Ford actually believes this shrimp toast is more about the bread than the shrimp. The broth has all the goodness of the flavors in the pan and the shrimp, and it’s soaked up by the bread so, essentially the bread is the most flavourful item on this plate. The shrimp still looks good, though!

Avengers Seafood Platter

It’s the Avengers! Okay, only two on-screen Avengers—Robert Downey Jr, aka Iron Man, and Tom Holland, aka Spider-Man—along with a few behind-the-scenes Avengers, Kevin Feige, Executive Producer of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Joe and Anthony Russo, directors of several MCU films.

According to Feige, the Kogi truck, which shot Roy Choi to fame, is a major hit with Marvel crews. It’s brought in as a treat on set during post-production for the staff who work 24/7 on the visual effects. That’s great to hear.

The first course is an insane seafood platter. Holland has never had an oyster before so is looking deeply skeptical about trying one. Choi kindly prepares one for him with some cocktail sauce. Unsurprisingly, Holland loves it. Who wouldn’t? It’s oysters.

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While digging into the platter, Choi explains that chefs go to each other’s restaurants and try to out-do each other with their culinary skills. It’s a kind of showmanship but also to share knowledge.

The Optimist Main Dishes

Next up is a tuna poke which looks so fresh and inviting. While the group is eating, Holland talks about his little brother Sam’s love for cooking. Apparently, his best dish is a chicken larb, which everyone laughs about because there’s a pivotal scene about larb in Spider-Man: Homecoming.

And then they get some shrimp slaw dog and burgers. It’s clearly a happy kitchen, notes Favreau and Choi, and the chefs also have a chant—“Oui, Chef’’—to let the conductor know that they’ve heard their orders and are working in synchronization. There’s even more food—fish and salads. The group keeps saying they’re full but they’re eating it. How?

The Chef Show on Netflix, Episode 2

Fish and Chips (kind of)

Talk turns to food in London, but Choi has never been there. Anthony Russo takes a dig at Brexit, saying that the only reason British food has changed over the last few years is that European chefs managed to move there and make their own kind of food. We don’t get to see Holland’s reaction to this, unfortunately.

Can’t talk about London without talking about Fish and Chips. Everyone at the table loves it but, as Downey Jr notes, there are places in London that will tell you to stay away from touristy spots because they don’t have the authentic fish and chips experience. Holland agrees because there are a number of family shops that have their own particular recipes for fish and chips, which, along with a pint, you have to enjoy by the river. Keep that in mind next time you go to London.

And now it’s time for dessert! Lots of different kinds of desserts so the group decides to pace themselves. A wise choice because wow, that’s a lot of food.

Mojo Pork Carnitas Style

Chef Ford made such an elaborate meal for Favreau, Choi, and friends, and it’s time to return the favor. Pork has been cooked overnight for 15 hours and is going to be served with a bowl of very aromatic rice.

While Choi instructs Favreau on how to cut the fruits and vegetables, I love how all the restaurant chefs just stop working and watch them. It must be strange to hand over their kitchen to a non-chef. Meanwhile, Choi is making a version of the Kogi vinaigrette, which has a lot of ingredients. Apparently, Choi changes his recipes all the time but they always taste good. Maybe don’t try that at home unless you’re really sure of your skills. But The Optimist’s staff get a delicious meal of rice, pork, and salad, and that’s all that matters.

Avengers Tidbits

There’s obviously a lot of talk about Marvel films on The Chef Show but Favreau also mentions how he and Choi met, and how he essentially followed Choi around to convince him to help out with Chef. Interestingly, Choi was reluctant to do so.

With some coaxing from Downey Jr, Choi explains that he didn’t really think he needed to do this for Favreau, but knew that if he could elicit an authentic performance out of Chef, he would do the culinary arts proud. And thus, Chef and The Chef Show were born.

I loved all the chat about Holland’s ability to do flips and his own stunts. And the banter between him and Downey Jr is fun. Looks like everyone’s enjoying themselves.

Tips for Home Cooks:

·       Chefs can be a bit OCD, and though you don’t need to be so thorough and precise in your cleaning routine, do remember to stay hygienic in the kitchen.

·       Most cheeses melt all over the griddle, but not Kraft cheese, which holds its shape even when heated.

·       Steps to cutting a lobster – boil first, pull off head, pull off claws, slice body in half, scoop out the meat.

·       Restaurant kitchens use a lot of butter and salt. Do not try this at home.

Final Thoughts

There wasn’t nearly enough cooking, or Avengers, in this episode of The Chef Show, but the delicious food drove me mad with hunger. I have no idea how anybody can eat that much; but with such great food, how can the stomach complain?

There’s clearly no structure to be followed in The Chef Show—it’s more about the experiences that Choi and Favreau have. I have to admit, as exciting as it is to see Downey Jr, Holland, the Russo Brothers, and Feige in this episode, my favorite moments are still the ones shared between Favreau and Choi. They have this easy-going, proud teacher-eager student relationship that is fun to watch. I hope we get to see more of that in upcoming episodes.

The Chef Show is streaming on Netflix internationally.