Five Star Chef is good... but is it Five Star!? Plus the LA Times loves NY, and another big LA restaurant bites the dust.

UK cooking show Five Star Chef has finally made it to Netflix, and Father Sal joins me today to break down what can only be described as the best British export to grace these shores since Harry Styles began serving angelic sounds and androgynous fashion choices. Five Star Chef follows a cast of up-and-coming chefs as they compete to take over the iconic Palm Court restaurant at the five-star Langham Hotel in London. The show is a bona fide rollercoaster of emotion, and whether you’ve seen it or not, I think you’ll enjoy our discussion of what makes a cooking show actually good, as opposed to the gimmicky nonsense clogging up our Hulu home screens. 

But first, Sal and I get into the Los Angeles food news of the past couple weeks. We discuss an absolutely heinous list brought to us by the LA Times, why a vegan restaurant in Santa Monica has decided to add meat to their menu, and what the heck is driving all of the high profile restaurant closures we’re seeing in 2023. Tallulah, we hardly knew ya.

Helpful links:

Five Star Chef https://www.netflix.com/title/81507383

Margo starts serving meat https://la.eater.com/2023/8/21/23840379/margos-former-plant-based-adds-meat-to-menu-santa-monica-restaurant

Restaurant closures https://la.eater.com/2023/8/22/23840539/biggest-restaurant-closures-los-angeles-summer-2023-news

Etta-gate https://la.eater.com/2023/8/22/23842250/etta-culver-city-eviction-staff-layoffs-los-angeles-news

Kristen Kish feature https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/22/dining/kristen-kish-top-chef.html

LA Times NY list https://www.latimes.com/food/list/15-nostalgic-new-york-inspired-restaurants-for-a-slice-of-the-big-apple