Fall is set to be a tasty season where food TV is concerned, whether you go by Somebody Feed Phil’s new season or Wild Harvest’s Chef Paul Rogalski’s hunt for stinging nettles, balsamroot, and fiddlehead ferns. Following are our picks to stream.
The latest season of the widely acclaimed Wild Harvest foraging series on PBS features Canadian survivor expert-cum-musician Les Stroud in cahoots with award-winning Paul Rogalski, who co-owns and serves as culinary director at Calgary’s famed Rouge Restaurant. It has started off at a brisk pace with wine country travels, digging up sagebrush and balsamroot for an experimental take on classic dishes.
Stroud, through the course of this outback series, shares his wisdom in a backdrop of adventure while gathering edible ingredients of the wild variety that are found only in rugged terrain; meanwhile, Rogalski crafts gourmet dishes—such as Merlot chicken and balsamroot plate—from bark and berries over open fire. This happens anywhere from the Alberta foothills to the Oregon coast, and here, Rogalski explores every culinary possibility that wild ingredients have to offer. For viewers, this is both therapeutic and fascinating, and for watchers in LA people, there’s good news: the duo is looking to try their hand at capturing urban adventures in the city.
Then there’s Devoured, for lovers of both food and true crime. This show debuted on Vice this year and can be addictive to say the least. A Slice of the Pie, the first episode of this top-notch docu-series, has old-timey mafia justice being served up in response to—we’re not kidding—someone stealing a family recipe from a pizzeria.
The episode We All Scream delves into four listeria outbreak deaths which occurred due to Blue Bell Ice Cream not pulling its product from shelves. Texans still stand by their brand, showcasing what can only be labeled cult-like devotion.
The most fascinating episode, according to us, is the one that centers on the cross-country bee heist which stretched all the way from LA to Central Valley, and which involved the theft of bee hives in the hundreds. The access to insiders is impressive; you even get to see the sheriff who indulged in the activity of beekeeping as a hobby, and who finally cracked the case.
Phil Rosenthal can let out the breath they’d been holding in anticipation of Somebody Feel Phil’s season six, which will premiere Sunday, Oct. 18 on Netflix. This time around the lineup of cities is just as impressive as expected, and includes Philadelphia, Croatia, Austin, Nashville, and Santiago. There’s also going to be a special episode in tribute to Rosenthal’s parents Max and Helen.
Bobby and Sophie On The Coast, which premiered on discovery+ and Food Network this week, comprises three episodes has celebrity chef Bobby Flay and LA community journalist Sophie Flay going on a food travelog through LA, visiting Jitlada kitchen, the Original Farmers Market, Yamarisho, Nancy Silverton’s The Barish, Salt’s Cure, Gigi’s, and Mashti Malone’s.
Chef’s Table is returning to Netflix on September 7, and the new season is set to center on pizza. We see chefs from Japan to Italy and Phoenix to Portland elevate this ordinary dish using their creativity, creating singular flavors and inspiring backgrounds, as well as showcasing their passion for coming up with the perfect slice. The chefs that are featured include Chris Bianco of Phoenix, Gabriele Boncifrom Rome, Ann Kim from Minneapolis, Franco Pepe from Italy, and Yoshihiro Imai from Japan.
Also stay tuned on Netflix for the Easy Bake Battle: Home Cooking Competition, a novel culinary competition series that draws inspiration from Easy-Bake Oven, where they used a pair of regular light bulbs to heat the food. This show has clever, skilled home cooks using ingenious kitchen hacks, and vying to come up with the most delicious, easily-made and fastest food. Be ready when it streams on November 4.