If your idea of a good time is intense kitchen drama and high-stakes intrigue, you might want to clear your watchlist. Because Apple TV+ is about to serve up Carême, a French historical drama that’s basically The Bear meets The Bourne Identity, with a dash of powdered sugar and powdered wigs.
Set in post-revolutionary France, Carême (which hits Apple’s streamer on April 30) tells the story of Antonin Carême, the man who basically invented the idea of a celebrity chef. But this new series isn’t just about sauces and soufflés. It also incorporates espionage, palace politics, and backroom power plays where the kitchen is just as cutthroat as the battlefield. Carême didn’t merely cook for kings — he navigated a volatile world of shifting alliances, royal secrets, and revolution-fueled suspicion, all while shaping haute cuisine as we know it.
And yes, the food — decadent, jewel-toned, and plated like fine art — is as much a character in this new Apple show as are the pampered aristocrats who eat it.
Per the streamer, Carême ”follows the thrilling story of the world’s first celebrity chef, Antonin Carême (Voisin), who rose from humble beginnings in Paris to the height of culinary stardom in Napoleon’s Europe. While he dreams only of becoming the most famous chef in the world, his talent and ambitions attract the attention of renowned and powerful politicians, who use him as a spy for France. Determined to escape poverty and fulfill his dream, Carême can choose revenge or he can have it all — women, wealth, fame — but at what cost?”
Apple TV+ certainly has a knack for stylish historical dramas (Pachinko, Masters of the Air), and the streamer’s French-language series (like La Maison and Drops of God, which I’ve written about here and here) have been particularly elevated in terms of their storytelling and visuals. What Carême brings to the table: Lavish sets, political tension, and impossibly photogenic French food. It’s a feast for the senses — and yet another example of how Apple TV+ continues to punch above its weight.
