When faced with anxiety, we all have our coping mechanisms: Some people stress-bake or reconsider their sourdough starters or mix up a drink or two; I dig myself a nest on the couch and commit to some comfort viewing (with a light side of trying to decipher whatever's trending on TikTok at the moment). I originally wrote this newsletter before the results of the presidential election, a time when anxieties were already high but still unencumbered by what was to come. To say a comforting distraction feels necessary is an understatement; but to me, finding some peace feels required before we get to work. Here are five food-related streaming shows that might be a good fit.
Midnight Diner (Netflix)
The quintessential example of a Japanese "slice of life" show, this lovely, quiet series is an episodic look at the clientele of a late-night Tokyo diner whose proprietor doles out life lessons along with bowls of ochazuke. Each episode is largely contained to one story, focusing on a different patron who might be mulling a personal problem, facing a big decision, or simply seeking out a specific taste of home. What it captures in these modest stories is the tender warmth and sometimes unpredictability of human interactions — those small moments that punctuate and define a life worth living.
Delicious in Dungeon (Netflix)
I watch a lot of anime — and this is one of the most inventive and unexpected examples of the genre I've seen. Also known as Dungeon Meshi, this show is a master class in world-building, one that immediately sells you on a wild premise: That a group of adventurers, journeying through a dungeon seeking to save a friend, must eat the monsters and other fantastical creatures that cross their path not just for survival, but also for pure pleasure. The animated cooking scenes here remind me a lot of Midnight Diner, lovingly rendered and narrated, which is even more remarkable considering they're cooking up things like mandrake and "treasure insects." Just go with it; it's a delight.
The Great British Baking Show: The Professionals (Netflix)
If GBBO is the ultimate comfort competition show, this spin-off featuring professional bakers amps up the stakes just slightly while retaining much of the spirit of the original. If the semblance of order eases your mind during anxious times, know that here you can find immense satisfaction in seeing dozens of perfectly uniform, beautifully sheened mini tartlets lined up at attention.
Barbecue Showdown (Netflix)
Sometimes comfort translates into settling down with familiar beats: I watched much of this competition series in the middle of the night during my maternity leave, and everything about it is predictably by the book. The challenges will be to cook some sort of meat and a few sides. There will be fire. Judge Melissa Cookston will call something "the best [insert food] I've ever had," which after three seasons, starts to feel like faint praise. (They can't all be the best ever, Melissa!) But this repetition makes Showdown compulsively watchable, especially if you're only 35 percent awake.
The Apothecary Diaries (Crunchyroll)
Calling this a food show is stretching it slightly, but in this anime that takes place in Imperial China, teenage apothecary Maomao uses her knowledge of cooking up herbs (and her willingness to be a taste-tester for poison) to rise up the ranks of the palace's pecking order. There's tons of palace intrigue here, but the plots are borrowed more from House — i.e., they usually revolve around Maomao using her powers of observation and medical knowledge to solve an in-episode mystery — than Game of Thrones. This is a wonderfully escapist show where the knowledgeable, resourceful young woman always wins, even if she has to swallow a bitter pill or two along the way.
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