South Philly Barbacoa Will Be Featured on Netflix’s Chef’s Table
The episode featuring chef-owner and activist Cristina Martinez drops later this month.
Cristina Martinez | Photo by Jeff Fusco
Netflix just released the lineup for season five of their much-lauded Chef’s Table series, and one of our own is being featured. Cristina Martinez, co-owner and chef at iconic taqueria South Philly Barbacoa, will be the first Philly chef and one of just a handful of American chefs to get her own episode in the series.
It’s been a big year for Martinez, who proudly uses her status as an acclaimed chef and undocumented immigrant to raise awareness of and support immigrant rights: she and husband/co-owner Ben Miller moved the restaurant into a new, outsized space in the Italian Market this summer. She also appeared on David Chang’s Ugly Delicious, another Netflix production, and was featured on Full Frontal with Samantha Bee in a segment about the challenges faced by undocumented workers across the American food industry.
Along with Martinez, season five of Chef’s Table features Bangkok chef Bo Songvisava; Musa Dağdeviren, who cooks traditional Turkish cuisine in Istanbul; and Spanish chef Albert Adrià, brother to famed El Bulli chef Ferran Adrià. Season six, which will premiere sometime in 2019, includes episodes featuring Mashama Bailey, chef at Savannah’s the Grey; South Carolina chef Sean Brock; Asma Khan, owner of London’s Darjeeling Express; and renowned Italian butcher Dario Cecchini.
Watch Martinez’s episode when season five premieres on Friday, September 28th — or you can wait to party with the South Philly Barbacoa owners, who will co-host a screening at Han Dynasty’s Old City location on Tuesday, October 2nd at 8:30 p.m. There will be drink specials at the bar, plus barbacoa dumplings in chili oil and dan dan noodles with pancita in addition to the regular menu.
