Our favorite food shows aren’t just about food—they’re about the stories and people who make the kitchen feel like a stage.
If you’re seeking good TV to devour over the holidays, these are the shows that Bon Appétit’s editors loved this year. Culinary Class Wars pit two groups of chefs against each other in a nail-biting battle of skill and strategy. The Great British Baking Show’s latest batch of contestants whipped up ’70s-themed and caramel-infused baked goods and a good dollop of drama. If you want to use your brain over holidays and watch something educational, the docuseries Omnivore traveled across the world to follow the people producing our planet’s most popular ingredients.
Whether it’s the cortisol-raising drama of a cooking competition or the untold origin stories behind the flavors we love, food TV in 2024 has served up a lot more than just eye candy. Read on for our recommendations.
Chef’s Table, Volume 7
If there’s any doubt about Chef’s Table’s impact on the cultural zeitgeist, let alone food TV, The Simpsons provided an exclamation point with a pitch-perfect spoof that aired in the weeks after the release of the latest season. Maybe I am dating myself, but The Simpsons has long been a standard bearer in parody, and the clip was full of attention to detail, right down to a caricature of critic Ruth Reichl as a talking head. What has always made Chef’s Table unique is the human storytelling, in which the characters just happen to be chefs and their food packaged in beautiful visuals. And this season is no exception. After a series of spin-offs over the past several years—on barbecue, noodles, pizza—the show returned to its original format, featuring the invigorating stories of four chefs from vastly different backgrounds: Kwame Onwuachi in New York, Nok Suntaranon in Philadelphia, Ángel León in Spain, and Norma Listman and Saqib Keval. As the show embarks on 10 years since it first revolutionized food TV in 2015, the creators and editors clearly know the role Chef’s Table plays in a hungry landscape. The stories and spin-offs are endless. The only roadblock would be whether there’s a thirst to keep telling them. —Pervaiz Shallwani, associate director of global foodways
Chicken Shop Date: Andrew Garfield
The people have waited for an Amelia Dimoldenberg and Andrew Garfield team up for far too long, and we finally got our wish this year. After years of “will they, won’t they” moments against the backdrop of glamorous Hollywood red carpets, celebrity interviewer Dimoldenberg finally took Garfield to the chicken shop. The ensuing 11 minutes were just as endearingly awkward as we all wanted. There was flirtatious banter, Dimoldenberg’s characteristic ribbing, and Garfield constantly devolving into a fit of giggles. I’m sure more than a few Wattpad fan fictions were inspired in those minutes (not that I would know personally or anything). It felt like a rom-com fantasy come to life and gave us all hope that we too could meet our own Andrew Garfield at the chicken shop. —Megan Wahn, commerce editor
Culinary Class Wars
Although the cooking competition format has been reinvented several times over, many end up formulaic to the point of staleness. But Culinary Class Wars is a fresh standout. I watched two episodes back-to-back one Sunday evening, and I’ve been thinking about them ever since. The show is a battle royal between two classes of chefs: the elite white spoons, who are culinary masters respected for their knowledge, longevity, and pedigree; and the black spoons, talented chefs, cooks, and restaurateurs who are still on their journey to mastery and recognition. The show begins with 80 black spoons and 20 white spoons pitted against each other in an escalating series of tasks. While these challenges share similarities with many culinary competitions, it’s the judging I found to be the most entertaining. The two judges—a beloved food critic and commentator as well as a chef (of the only three Michelin-starred restaurant in Korea)—represent two worlds of dining and cuisines. Their collaboration and juxtaposition are what make this show more cerebral than many. —Hali Bey Ramdene, content director
Great British Baking Show, Series 15
Part of the comfort in watching the Great British Baking Show every year is the uniformity—the familiar tent setup, the consistency of Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood’s feedback and preferences, even contestants that fit repeatable categories. But 2024’s season found a way to differentiate itself from previous years, mostly because of the high caliber of talent from this year’s competitors. Usually, by week three or four, a gap emerges among the bakers and the audience is able to predict which ones have the ambition, ideas, and follow-through to make it to the final episodes. This year, though, it was clear that most of the contestants were matched and able to execute on elaborate designs and technical skills early on in the season. We were no longer able to predict who would go home when—it all came down to who was having just a slightly harder time with each challenge. That surprise each episode makes the season worth watching in itself. —Olivia Quintana, social media manager
Omnivore
In René Redzepi and Matt Goulding’s documentary series Omnivore, we learn how very simple ingredients have very complex stories. Across eight episodes, the show journeys around the world to a paprika village in Serbia, coffee roasters in North Carolina, rice farmers in Kerala, India, and more, spotlighting the people and communities who produce such common ingredients as chile, coffee, or rice. With Planet Earth–like cinematography (think swooping pans over salt flats and closeups of gleaming tuna) and Parts Unknown–esque narration (by Redzepi, who travels to destinations with the viewer), it’s a show that dramatically reveals the human and ecological networks behind every ingredient. Yes, it’s serious stuff, but that’s also its point: It wants you to remember that the production of these foods has an enormous impact on people’s lives and their surrounding environment. Be sure to watch the tuna episode at the least—the beautifully loud and chaotic tuna auction in Tokyo’s Toyosu Market is one of the best scenes in the series, tying all these themes together. —Karen Yuan, culture editor
The Bear, Season 3
If there’s one thing I love more than an unpopular opinion, it’s a workplace dramedy that boosts Ayo Edibiri’s rocket to superstardom. Imagine how delighted I was, then, to watch season three of The Bear, and then, how my joy compounded when I got to be one of approximately three people who enjoyed its third season. Critics of the show’s third season called it meandering, confusing, and ultimately not as satisfying its first two seasons. But I saw the opening, an almost completely silent first episode that others called meandering, as innovative and quietly stunning. And the episode in which Natalie (Abby Elliot) goes into labor accompanied by her neurotic mother (Jamie Lee Curtis), which reviewers called irrelevant to the plot, was actually a beautiful and poignant reflection on motherhood and the legacy we leave behind. The constant back-and-forth, rat-a-tat comedy between the Fak brothers that haters called “tiresome” was…well, actually the haters got it right on that one. Still, the third season of The Bear came together as a challenging, rich portrait of the roller-coaster ride it is to love, work in, and own restaurants. What more can you ask for? —Sam Stone, staff writer