The 12 Most Chef's-Kiss Worthy Foods Concocted On Servant
If we asked folks to name a prestigious television show (airing in 2023) rife with eye-dazzling culinary imagery, we'd expect "The Bear" to dominate the conversation. Now, the critically acclaimed Hulu series obviously deserves recognition as a top-tier purveyor of fiction-based food porn ... but it's not the only 2023 television show to do so. In fact, some might argue the food exploits seen on "Servant" – the disturbing and often-unhinged Apple TV+ horror series — actually surpass the Hulu series' portrayal of haute cuisine.
"Servant" follows Sean (Toby Kebbell) and Dorothy Turner (Lauren Ambrose), a wealthy couple from Philadelphia who hire a mysterious nanny, Leanne (Nell Tiger Free), to help care for their infant son — or, rather, care for a lifelike replacement doll used by Dorothy after their son's tragic (and highly suspicious) death. When the doll pulls a Pinocchio, and miraculously morphs into a real boy soon after Leanne's arrival (that's the premise, not a spoiler), the series explores the ensuing fallout — often focusing along the way on the professional endeavors of Sean, a world-class celebrity chef within the show's world.
Featuring chef Marc Vetri (founder of renowned Italian restaurant Vetri Cucina) as an on-set consultant, "Servant" has produced a number of visually stunning (and thematically resonant) food items over its four-season run. Since we've seen a genuine smorgasbord of delectable dishes, we decided to highlight the best of the best and present the 12 most chef's-kiss worthy foods ever concocted on "Servant."
Pan-fried eel with beet agrodolce (Season 1, Episode 3)
Oftentimes on "Servant," viewers were treated to the entire preparation process of a dish from start to finish — including the actual killing and butchering of an animal. Frankly, the many leering, almost-voyeuristic shots of certain foods (before, during, and after being cooked) could easily oscillate between appealing and nauseating — often within the same episode. This was never more apparent than in "Eel" (Season 1, Episode 3), which featured Sean (and, later, Leanne) killing, then skinning, a live eel.
Interestingly, though, the finished, chef's-kiss worthy food we actually see during this episode wasn't prepared by Sean, but his chef de commis Toby (Tony Revolori). Left alone at the Turner house with Leanne, Toby whips up a pan-fried eel meal for the two of them (after Leanne cold-bloodedly preps the then-still-living protein), topping it with a beet agrodolce.
It's one of the first completed dishes we remember seeing (and wanting) from the first season of "Servant." We'd leap at the opportunity to try this pan-fried dish. We'd even be pumped to sample Toby's sweet-and-sour agrodolce topping — though we'd likely find ourselves wishing we were eating Sean's cooking, not his assistant's.
Lobster ice cream (Season 1, Episode 4)
One of the hallmarks of "Servant" was a tendency to do the unexpected story-wise, and many of the show's food choices demonstrated this ethos as well — including lobster ice cream. Prepared by Sean during "Bear" (Season 1, Episode 4), the fishy ice cream earned scorn from his brother-in-law Julian (Rupert Grint), Dorothy's amusingly spoiled younger sibling. Of course, while we can understand how a shellfish-centric ice cream may not be enticing at first blush, it's not as though it's unheard of in the real world. And frankly? We were immensely impressed by Sean's fine dining dessert-adjacent entry.
Now, to be perfectly honest, it's not entirely clear what prompted Sean to make lobster ice cream in the first place. But the professional chef deciding to prepare an exorbitantly fancy item for no real reason happened a lot on "Servant" — a byproduct of the Turners' elitist life among the upper class, we suppose.
Plated in a bowl with a shell-and-head garnish, the lobster ice cream seemed to look far better than it tasted. In fact, the on-set dessert actually divided the cast, according to Twitter, with Ambrose enjoying the unique flavor, and Kebbell detesting the frozen dairy concoction.
Haggis (Season 1, Episode 7)
Realistically, some of the most chef's-kiss worthy foods concocted on "Servant" are enticing from an aesthetic standpoint rather than an intellectual one. Along those lines, the finished haggis made and served by Sean in "Haggis" (Season 1, Episode 7) undoubtedly looks delicious on screen. But the underlying offal (or maybe awful) ingredients found in this traditional Scottish dish might make your stomach turn if you ponder them too much. After all, haggis notoriously features a sheep's minced lungs, heart, and liver stuffed (and cooked) inside the animal's stomach.
Now, if that combination gets your mouth watering, all the power to you! As for us, we prefer to ignore the individual ingredients and focus solely on a fully cooked, ready-to-eat haggis. Quite frankly, that's a much easier task when the product is prepared by a master chef — like the sheep-skull-garnished platter served by Sean.
We imagine we'd find haggis a bit easier to digest (no pun intended) if it were served at a dinner party, like the one seen at the Turner house in this episode. The peer pressure would likely make us more courageous, and, consequently, that much more excited to sample this beautifully cooked haggis.
Croquembouche (Season 1, Episode 10)
Since we've never had the opportunity to set our sights on an actual, in-person croquembouche — the towering French dessert made of stacked pastry balls and wrapped in a caramel sugar web — we've yet to taste the treat whose name translates as "crunch in your mouth." Of course, while the tall croquembouche crafted by Sean in "Balloon" (Season 1, Episode 10) made us salivate through our screens, we may not be eager to sample that specific food even if we could.
Now, we don't want to spoil any part of this series' deliberately puzzling plot points. But it's not really a spoiler to reveal why Sean's croquembouche is such a bizarre creation: He added dried, ground-up placenta as a thematic complement to his son's baptism party.
Perhaps we're in the minority here (we're not), but we aren't keen on consuming another human being's discharged organs. So while Sean's croquembouche clearly belongs on any list of chef's-kiss worthy foods from the show, we would understand if you decided to pass on a real-life chance to try this particular version (given that it contains human body parts). In fact, we'd be saying "no thanks" right alongside you.
Neapolitan-style pizza (Season 2, Episode 3)
The Turners were often afforded (and took for granted) luxuries and comforts that eluded most of the population in this show. Frankly, there are countless examples of the central family's rich, entitled privilege spilling forth throughout the series. But no event may have been more ridiculous in that context than Sean, Dorothy, and Julian's decision to open a fake pizza restaurant while searching for Leanne during "Pizza" (Season 2, Episode 3).
Clearly, the entire notion of starting a fake business to try and spy on a person is absurd enough. But the lengths Sean and Dorothy go to when opening Cheezus Crust (like Jesus Christ) are so far beyond what's required of two people in their situation that it's laughable. After all, Sean couldn't just make a standard, run-of-the-mill pizza — he had to make upper-echelon, gourmet-style, Neapolitan pizzas.
Sean and Dorothy were able to spend days (maybe weeks?) running their harebrained scheme slinging pizzas before they finally connected with Leanne, with each pizza losing them $17 in the process (as Sean mentions at one point). In that sense, it's hard to conclude the Cheezus Crust mission was anything other than a huge waste of untold time and money — but those pizzas sure looked tasty.
Century eggs (Season 2, Episode 4)
Not unlike our previously stated feelings regarding haggis, we're not entirely sure we'd be thrilled about trying the century eggs Sean serves Leanne in "2:00" (Season 2, Episode 4). But that doesn't diminish our appreciation for the fictional chef's craft, or his immense attention to detail in creating this Chinese delicacy. In fact, while century eggs aren't actually preserved for 100 years (it's closer to 100 days), they require enormous patience — an attribute Sean appeared to have in spades (as a chef, at least).
Of course, we'd have to admit the blackened eggs (a color derived from tea, which the eggs soak in during the preservation process, as Sean explains) aren't all that aesthetically exciting. But since life is short, we'd simply have to try this chef's-kiss worthy food if the opportunity arose.
Obviously, we'll never be able to sample Sean Turner's century eggs (he's a fictional character, don't you know). But with the memories of "Servant" fresh in our minds, if any century eggs akin to Sean's come our way in the future, we're going for it.
Roasted goose (Season 2, Episode 9)
Why hasn't goose remained a popular Christmas dinner selection among modern day celebrants? It's hard to say. Regardless of the explanation, though, the demise of the Christmas goose as a standard holiday protein is impossible to deny. Of course, a little lack of mainstream appreciation never stopped Sean Turner when planning a menu. So while we haven't been served goose at any of our own Christmas gatherings through the years, we were licking our lips at the sight of Sean's roasted goose from his holiday meal in "Goose" (Season 2, Episode 9).
Actually, part of what made this particular food so memorable as a viewer was the show's decision to trace the goose's journey from bird to meal. The episode indulges in the entire, gruesome preparation process — including Sean gruffly plucking the dead bird's feathers (outside in the snow) as he readied the goose for roasting.
In the end, the divine beauty of Sean's golden-brown goose (once it's finished and placed on the table, ready to be carved) is simply remarkable. We certainly enjoyed witnessing the process, but if we had to choose between watching this otherworldly goose cook or eating the final product? Well, the choice is clear, isn't it?
Block party French toast (Season 3, Episode 5)
When we assembled our list of the most chef's-kiss worthy foods concocted on "Servant," we strived to include only those foods and dishes that were displayed in full, complete glory on screen. And, by and large, we stuck to that prerequisite — save for the one exception with Sean's block party French toast dish. We may not have been graced with a glance of this fully conceived dessert-adjacent item from "Tiger" (Season 3, Episode 5), but based on the description alone? We'd be hooked.
While we generally prefer waffles to French toast, we'd never turn down a restaurant-quality slice of pan-fried bread — particularly not one that features flash-frozen ice cream as well as dehydrated maple and pancetta. Frankly, it's almost impossible to believe this rich, slightly decadent food would leave anyone dissatisfied.
Actually, on second thought, the entire ice cream-making demonstration by Sean before an adoring crowd was enough to overcome the fact we weren't treated to a clear, unencumbered view of this dish. We're not sure many chefs could seamlessly pull off liquid nitrogen ice cream like that, after all, so kudos to the character — and his absolutely fantastic food.
Hikarimono (Season 3, Episode 6)
We're fairly big fans of sushi and sashimi, so we're always searching for new types of each to sample. Clearly, it's no surprise to learn Sean Turner is a proponent of raw fish-derived dishes as well, as demonstrated by his spectacularly presented dish hikarimono in "Fish" (Season 3, Episode 6). Featuring a pair of simple and clean pieces of fish, Sean's hikarimono — a category of sushi that features a variety of silver-skinned fish such as mackerel and sardines — may in fact be the most appetizing food he concocts in the show's history.
Now, setting aside the completely baffling (and largely tone-deaf) way Sean forgot that his dinner guest was a vegetarian before preparing this dish, it's crystal clear from its plated presentation why it caught our eye. After all, when you've got a lovely, fantastically fresh piece of fish, well ... there's little else required for satisfaction.
While we've never noticed hikarimono when ordering sushi in the past, after getting a glimpse of a high-quality version on "Servant?" We may need to change that in the near future.
Biltong and caviar (Season 3, Episode 9)
We have to admit we weren't especially familiar with some of the most chef's-kiss worthy foods concocted on "Servant," at least when those items first appeared on screen. Of course, when the food in question is biltong – which Sean makes for Dorothy, paired with caviar, in "Commitment" (Season 3, Episode 9) — well, it's not exactly a mystery why we might be uninformed about this popular South African snack. But whether we knew what this food was initially or not, when Sean drizzled his sauce over the dish? We were salivating.
While biltong is similar to beef jerky, there are some differences between the two types of dried meat. Thanks to its air-dry preparation, biltong is much more tender than beef jerky. Additionally, biltong appears to be produced exclusively in South Africa — and being an imported food, it fits perfectly with Sean's identity in the series as a worldly culinary expert.
We're not sure what sauce Sean drizzles over the top of this dish before offering it to Dorothy, but we do know this: It looks outstanding. If we could grab the dish through our television screen, we'd do so in an instant.
Duck and truffle pithivier (Season 4, Episode 3)
What is a pithivier, you may be asking? Well, while the name may appear complicated and confusing to the untrained eye, it's essentially just a delicate French pie made with puff pastries. Of course, when you consider the fragile nature of puff pastry, it's no wonder Sean recalls facing an arduous challenge when he first attempted to concoct a duck and truffle pithivier during culinary school. But initial barriers aside, he clearly mastered the food in time, and the duck and truffle pithivier shown in "Seance" (Season 4, Episode 3) looked legitimately heaven sent.
Obviously, the difficulties presented by actually crafting this duck-and-truffle-stuffed savory pie is less of interest to us than its taste. But, frankly, the three main ingredients — duck, truffles, and puff pastry — portend an exquisite meal awaits anyone lucky enough to consume it.
Actually, this chef's-kiss worthy food is one of the saddest shown on "Servant" during its four seasons. After all, despite the intense time and effort the item took Sean to assemble, Dorothy flatly rejects it — leading to a painful scene where Sean dumps the untouched pithivier into a garbage disposal.
Blueberry-topped pancakes (Season 4, Episode 3)
Perhaps the simplest food item we've included on this list (at least on paper) is the stack of blueberry-topped pancakes that Sean makes for Dorothy in "Seance" (Season 4, Episode 3). After all, blueberry pancakes are one of our go-to breakfast, brunch, and dessert options. So if a world-famous chef took the time to prepare us a gorgeous, perfectly cooked, fluffy stack of blueberry pancakes (whether the berries were in, or on top of, the pancakes), we wouldn't hesitate to dive in.
Even if we were initially hesitant (as was Dorothy, who rejects the pancakes at first before requesting them back), we'd find a way to save those delightfully decadent pancakes for a later time. Reheated pancakes are nothing to cry about, frankly, particularly when the quality is impeccable (as we're sure Sean's would be).
What other fruit-forward pancakes could Sean whip up for us if the mood struck? Strawberries, we're sure. Maybe a banana version, or some sort of cinnamon apples variety. Actually, you know what? We're just going to make them ourselves.