Television series
The Best Thing I Ever Ate
- Light-hearted
- Dip in and out
A half-hour celebration of food obsession told by chefs and Food Network personalities describing the meals that haunt them. No competition, no drama—just genuine enthusiasm about a perfect bite, a regional treasure, or a dish that changed someone's life. Pure comfort viewing for anyone who eats with intention.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you collect restaurant tips the way other people collect grudges, and you want a stranger's single favorite bite to make you hungry for a whole town.
Skip it if you need a story with stakes or a through-line, because each half hour is a little anecdote about one meal and the format rarely builds beyond that.
What it asks of you: Short, self-contained half-hours you can dip into in any order, with a light, unhurried rhythm and plenty of eating on camera; little concentration needed beyond keeping your appetite.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
Chef's Table2015
Gorgeously filmed deep dives into how world-class chefs think about food and meaning. Same reverence for the craft and the story behind each dish, but with far more ambition and visual poetry.
But Slow, contemplative, sometimes abstract. If you want quick recommendations and banter, this takes the opposite approach entirely.
Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown2013
Anthony Bourdain traveling the world eating with locals and chefs, finding the soul of a place through food. Same infectious curiosity about what people choose to eat and why it matters to them.
But Bourdain is a larger personality than the show's food focus; it's as much memoir and philosophy as gastronomy.
Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner2019
Alton Brown in Tokyo, Los Angeles, and other cities, eating through neighborhoods with chefs and writers. Conversational, knowledgeable, and deeply rooted in actual discovery rather than performance.
But Only four episodes and it ended years ago. If you fall in love with it, there's not much left to find.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Best Thing I Ever Ate
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Somebody Feed Phil2018
Both are built on the simple premise that asking people about their favorite meals reveals who they are. Food as autobiography.
Phil Rosenthal travels cities eating with locals and chefs, and his genuine delight in food and connection is utterly disarming. Same DNA as Best Thing—people talking about meals that matter—but elevated by an unusual kindness and curiosity about people, not just their cooking.
But Rosenthal's sentimentality can tip into schmaltz. Also far more about the person telling the story than the technical side of the food.
More like this (3)
Ugly Delicious2018
David Chang exploring global variations of the same dish—pizza, tacos, fried chicken—and what makes each one matter to its community. Smart, playful, and built on the same premise of chefs talking about food they love.
But Frequently more interested in sociological questions than the food itself. Can feel digressive if you just want to watch people eat.
Street Food: Latin America2020
Miniature profiles of street vendors across Asia and Latin America and the dishes that define their lives and neighborhoods. Food with genuine stakes and history, told with real warmth.
But Serious in tone and often touching on poverty or survival. Not a comfort watch when you want something light and breezy.
The Godfather Part II1974
Food as a way to show who someone is, and who they want to be. The same emotional truth that Best Thing uses as its entire foundation, hidden inside a completely different kind of story.
There is a scene—just a handful of minutes—where Vito Corleone buys groceries, prepares a simple meal, and shares it with his grandson. More food love and storytelling happens in that sequence than in entire episodes of conventional cooking television. It is unforgettable.
But It is a three-and-a-half-hour crime epic and only one scene has anything to do with cooking. You will have to sit through an entire Mafia saga to get it.
