Who doesn’t love shows that are full of food and sex? Almost no one, right? Do you know who especially loves stories that are brimming with those things? The French. And a new Apple TV+ series delves into both, examining how Antonin Carême became the world’s first celebrity chef.
Opening Shot: A man and a woman sit in a pantry; the man erotically has the woman try fingerfuls of cake icing to see which has regular sugar and which has icing sugar.
The Gist: Antonin Carême (Benjamin Voisin) has become an expert baker, under the tutelage of his father. And as his pantry exploits with his lover Henriette (Lyna Khoudri) indicates, food is also his love language — or more like “lovin'” language.
Antonin and his father run their own patisserie, but they also work as part of the staff that cooks for a wild party held by First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte (Frank Molinaro). The two of them are definitely more sympathetic to the revolutionary factions in Paris, though, but begrudgingly do this work to keep the bakery going.
When Antonin is brought into Bonaparte’s chambers, the general is having a seizure with the woman he’s sleeping with. Antonin creates a balm that helps stop the seizures. The next day, Bonaparte’s butler arrives at the bakery with an offer for Antonin to be on the general’s staff at the Tulleries Palace. Even though it’s an offer you don’t usually refuse, Antonin turns the job down. Even his father, no fan of Bonaparte, is flabbergasted at the refusal.
Bonaparte’s men, of course, don’t leave it at that; they arrest Antonin’s father and hold him captive. His father tells Antonin to go see Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord (Jérémie Renier), a nobleman who seems to have revolutionary tendencies but also seeks a position in Napoleon’s consulate. Talleyrand suggests that Antonin accept the job at Tulleries, and he has his reasons for that.
As Antonin tries some experimental desserts that become well-regarded, Talleyrand asks for his first favor: Bake a special dessert for a diplomatic meeting he’s fostering between Bonaparte and the British ambassador. If the meeting goes well, Bonaparte will likely make him the foreign minister, giving Talleyrand more leverage to get Antonin’s father out of prison.
The dessert is spectacular, even after a last-minute request from Bonaparte almost throws Antonin. But when the dinner doesn’t sway Bonaparte, Talleyrand tells Antonin to get the general’s itinerary from his bedroom. The intention is to attack the general’s carriage. But Antonin finds out exactly whose side Talleyrand is on after the bomb goes off.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Carême is like Marie Antoinette, but with more food.
Our Take: Based on Ian Kelly’s book Cooking for Kings: The Life of Antonin Carême, The First Celebrity Chef, Carême tries to balance the historical aspect of Carême’s rise to fame with some comedy, lots of sex, and loving montages of Antonin making dishes that would become as famous as he is. It doesn’t always work, but at least the series, directed by Martin Bourboulon, looks good while doing it.
It’s definitely not a series that tries to slap a modern sensibility on top of a historical drama. Because of the charm of Voisin’s portrayal of Antonin, it’s easy to see how he can wend his way through the ranks of Bonaparte’s Consulate. But in the process of showing just how skilled and rakish Antonin is, and how much sex he and Bonaparte’s coterie end up having, the actual story gets lost.
It feels like the first episode takes out some details that might have helped us follow the story a little better, especially when it comes to Talleyrand’s motivations. We’re usually okay when a show’s writers don’t spell out everything to us, but in the scene where Talleyrand tells Antonin to help get a map of where Bonaparte is going in five days, it’s only implied that Talleyrand is planning an attack. It’s not clear that’s what he’s looking for, which makes what Antonin discovers later all the more confusing.
Another character we’re not sure about is Henriette. In a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it scene, we find out that she’s part of a seemingly random set of “friends” in Talleyrand’s universe. But where we’re introduced to her is with Antonin licking icing from between her legs. So when we see her later, her presence is confusing.
What we hope is that the main players in the story become clearer as the series goes along, because there needs to be some sort of coherent story to make all the sex and food scenes make sense.
Sex and Skin: Lots, even if there isn’t any flat-out nudity.
Parting Shot: A scene of devastation in the square where the bombing occurs.
Sleeper Star: Alice Da Luz is Agathe, a fellow cook at Tulleries; the two of them seem to connect almost immediately. Whether they become lovers as well as confidantes will be interesting to watch.
Most Pilot-y Line: When Antonin introduces himself to the kitchen’s head cook, the boss says, “Do you want to suck my cock or do you want to cook?”
Our Call: STREAM IT. Carême is compelling enough to recommend, especially given the show’s lavish look and Voisin’s charismatic performance. But the storytelling needs to become a bit more robust after the first episode in order to keep viewers’ attention.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.