When it comes to reality television, the genre that always has interested me the most is food and travel. What I've always liked about the genre is it's ability to represent a culture and take me to a place I've never been, as well as introducing me to something I've never experienced before. Duh, right? Food TV has begun to represent the tastes (pun intended) of every reality television demographic, with different moods and personalities for each audience. But all of these suffer from usually one of two things: these shows are either boiled down to a basic, mainstream view of the culture and cuisine that is mainly targeted towards white middle aged moms and their children (think any show on TLC and a majority of the Food Network), or is aimed at a demographic that believes itself to be superior in taste with a level of pretension that either insults the culture that is engaging itself in or inserts an equally insulting level of appropriation. God forbid they end up doing both. The closest thing I've seen to breaking this mold was Anthony Bourdain's television efforts, and up until now, his entries were my favorites. But even then, these shows were coming from a white, upper class, gourmet male chef's point of view. No matter how much of a "cool dad" aesthetic Bourdain put on, he's still experiencing culture from a point of view that is entirely privileged. Until recently, Bourdain was the only celebrity chef host that was permeating the genre to a mainstream audience, whilst keeping himself mostly unpretentious (although his attempts to do this could very well unintentionally land him in the very direction he was clearly avoiding.) Then enter the new Netflix series from chef David Chang, Ugly Delicious. Ugly Delicious is a show that focuses on a different type of food each episode, dissecting the individual food's culture, its representation, its roots and history, and the reflections of it from various individuals. David Chang brings a new view that is unique to him particularly as a Korean-American chef, and his background and history is referenced frequently. Each episode of the show feels like it's own documentary, about Chang and his personal relationship with a different kind of food or tradition. Now, this isn't anything extraordinarily different. What is different, however, is that this show is not about David Chang experiencing food and culture exclusively. Alongside Chang is a revolving door of casually introduced food-world individuals; Restaurateurs, chefs, food critics, food journalists, cookbook authors, and even actors with a personal connection to the food that they're experiencing. This keeps the show incredibly interesting. Nearly none of these people (besides a brief appearance from Jimmy Kimmel and arguably Eric Wareheim and Aziz Ansari) are talking heads whom you've seen a thousands times before. These are all people who know their stuff because they're actively working on it away from television. This is what keeps the show from approaching the mainstream baseline that the Guy Fieri's of the food tv world so frequently engage in. What's more, there is a story to each episode that makes it unique from every other show of its kind. We jump between different times in Chang's food journey, varying between different company members, and even occasionally omitting Chang entirely. This show is about people, and about food, but does not focus on one or the other exclusively. Here's an example: In the first episode of the show, the Pizza episode, which is my personal favorite, we open to Chang and longtime friend and food writer Peter Meehan observing pizza chef Mark Ianco at his Brooklyn Pizza Lucali, talking about pizza and Ianco's personal craft, to then talking about pizza as a conceptual whole-what makes pizza authentic, what makes pizza, "pizza"?. But then we begin jumping around to different settings and stories. We see Chang and actor Aziz Ansari trying a unique japanese pizza, discussing the culture of japanese cuisine and what is fusion. This continues on the theme of what authenticity is when it comes to pizza and food as a whole, and continues into the following segments: Ianco trying Connecticut pizza for the first time, Meehan and Ianco visiting traditional and conventional Neapolitan pizza restaurants in Naples, Italy, Attilio Bachetti, of one of the oldest pizza kitchens in Naples talking about their tradition and techniques, a charming animated segment about all the ways to fold and eat pizza, Chang visiting Wolfgang Puck talking about his pizza and his freezing of it, Meehan and Ianco observing an italian mozzarella making process, Chang talking to Norwegian/Italian chef Christian Francesco Puglisi about his process and cultural background, trash food writer Walter Green attending a commercial pizza convention, Chang visiting a Domino's location and observing their process to then adouring the blue uniform himself and making deliveries. That is a lot of different content to fit into a fifty minute episode, and each of these segments is woven into each other, coming back anywhere between two to four times, all the while talking about what it is to be authentic, with various ideas presented throughout in a very conversational way that ranges from calmly neutral to incredibly aggressive. To a frequent food and travel television viewer, this approach is extremely refreshing, as it defies the convention of what food and travel TV is, and blends them both incredibly. It's not just about Pizza, and it's not just about New York, or Naples, or anywhere else Pizza is produced- it's about both. All the while doing so in a tone that doesn't avoid pretension specifically, but naturally dips in and out of it, leaving the show with not just one identity or voice, but many. Many of these people come from places of success and privilege, and some of them aren't even entirely aware of it at times, but this adds another layer to its tone. Whether its Chang cooking traditional "white people" Thanksgiving food alongside his Korean mother whilst she cooks Korean, interviewing restaurant chefs on cooking at home, debating on dumplings vs pasta, eating Donkey in china, ordering Taco Bell in car full of food critics, or in what is my favorite scene from the entire series, talking about Asian Americans making themselves more prominent publically with Steven Yeun, the curtain is being pulled back in many ways that we've never seen before in this kind of TV. The individuals who become mouthpieces for the discussion shape it, but they all think rather differently, and while Chang is always a voice in each episode, talking about almost all foods from an Asian American approach, he's not always the primary one, so different views are always being represented. You'd think by doing all this at once the show would be unfocused and even hard to follow, but it's actually quite opposite, being very organized, and cohesive, without ever becoming boring. Visually, the show ranges from creative, colorful, and cinematic, to pretty standard jump cuts and average doc shots that don't reach very far beyond the genre's standard. Each episode has an entirely unique introduction, many of them very cinematic and enjoyable, but sometimes have very little to do with the particular topic the episode is addressing. Some intros flair simply lies in the editing, going for very little further than the bear minimum of an introduction. Some episodes also have informative animated segments that never really feel to have any continuity between episodes, which I think is kind of the point, but this is never explored to its full potential. Much like Anthony Bourdain's productions, each episode of Ugly Delicious has its own thesis layden throughout, which almost always has to do with cultural, racial, and political history. This is the shows biggest strength, and also, its only true weakness. In watching this show, we very quickly learn that David Chang is both progressive and aggressive in his standing by his opinions. Whether it's all but berating a vietnamese New Orleans chef to cook VietCajun food in an area of the country that clings to its food traditions without question, or his asserting his views on working and immigration while in the home of an Vietnamese immigrant chef who believes in long term, vetted immigration, we see that Chang stands by his views that both food and politics should be continually moving and changing. But we also see that he does have a reverence and appreciation for long standing tradition in both respects. While I personally agree with Chang's approach, and what he says about it, I don't think the show ever tries particularly hard to reach an answer; sometimes leaving us floating with no real conclusion, whilst other times it belabors its point. I'm not saying I want to be told what the right thought is- we have Bourdain for that- but there's definitely something here that is extremely interesting and intriguing, but isn't bringing us far enough. Again, we see really good, unique ideas being brought forward, but they're not always explored fully. The show is defying convention, but occasionally stops halfway when it gets tired and relies on the crutches of that convention again. Hopefully, we can see these ideas pushed further in a second season, and really bridge this slight gap in the show. Overall, I really, really enjoy the this first season of Ugly Delicious, and hope to be able to see more. The direction in this show is incredibly refreshing, and is proving again that while you can't reinvent the wheel, you can still modify it. What David Chang has done is brought forth something that all travel and food audiences can nearly unanimously appreciate- something that isn't quite artsy, and yet not quite undignified. Ugly Delicious has a voice in that it is made of many voices, with many different views and backgrounds- and honestly, isn't that something we could use more of right now? 9.2/10
Review of Ugly Delicious
