Emmy-Nominated 'Chef's Table: Legends' Composer David Bertok On the Music of Food

Composer David Bertok. He's worked on award-winning feature films like Peace by Chocolate, Daughter of the Sun, and Botero.

Now, he's got an Emmy nomination for his work on Chef's Table: Legends. How do you score a show that looks so delicious?

We had the pleasure of sitting down with David to discuss his process and why the human element of live music is so beautiful.

Let's dive in.

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NFS: First off, congratulations on the Emmy nomination! What was your initial reaction when you found out, and where were you when you got the news?

David Bertok: It was surreal. I was home and watching the announcements, but they only announced a few categories. So then I clicked on the Television Academy’s website and was scanning through the nominees, and when I found our category. I saw Hans Zimmer’s name first, and then mine and Duncan Thum’s (my co-composer). I couldn’t believe it, so I called my publicist, Andrew Cohen (from Impact24), to ask him if this is real. He said, “Congratulations…” and I was just amazed. Honestly, I am still humbled and processing it. Hans Zimmer’s score for The Rock was the first film music album I ever bought (as a teenager), and to be nominated in the same category now…just incredible.

NFS: This nomination recognizes your work alongside your longtime collaborator Duncan Thum. What does it mean to share this moment with someone you’ve been creatively growing with since USC?

DB: It’s a wonderful experience, our collaboration, our friendship, our trajectories aligning… It’s so great to be able to share this with someone. We both feel that we learned a lot from each other, pushed each other creatively (in an uplifting way), and are very proud of the music we composed together. It feels like something more evolved than what each of us could have done on our own.

NFS: How did you and Duncan decide when to go big and when to keep things minimal?

DB: José Andrés’ personality and story were our guide. The great thing about him is - at least for us who got to write music for him - that he is living this rich life, or maybe you could say, double-life…he is an incredible chef and culinary mastermind. But he is also an iconic humanitarian and the founder of World Central Kitchen. So we had those two pillars to depict with the music. And as a third pillar, there were a lot of vulnerable, very personal contemplations of him reflecting on his life and how to balance those two lives that he is living.

NFS: Was there a particular cue or scene in the José Andrés episode that you feel really captured the essence of your work?

DB: There is one piece (in every Chef’s Table episode) called "Food Symphony," which is something like a poetic montage of dishes. In it, there is no dialogue or sound other than the music. So it is a “showcase” moment for us composers, and of course, the pressure and expectations are high. We found this wonderful blend of a driving piano, rhythmic string orchestra, soaring virtuoso solo violin, and wistful Spanish guitar. I think it captured José’s playfulness, drive, poeticism, and charisma.

David Bertok Credit: Crushed Eyes Media

NFS: The episode follows José Andrés through so many contrasting environments. How did you musically navigate those tonal shifts without losing cohesion?

DB: Honestly, we didn’t think too much about it. The story is so well told, beautifully shot, perfectly edited, and yet there was so much space to lean into the music, and be artistic with it…I feel that this part came naturally to us while writing. It also helped that we started writing together in the studio and spent quite some time testing ideas and being playful with the instrumentation. The resulting eclectic instrumentation was held together by the string orchestra, which gave us a certain degree of cohesion. Depending on where we were in the story, we would lean more into the synthesizers, processed vocals, piano, or the nylon string guitar. Similarly, we were able to traverse from the pole of the quiet moments to the opposite pole of the grand moments…maybe because José makes it look so effortless.

NFS: Scoring Chef’s Table means walking a fine line between art and documentary. How do you think your approach to balancing those elements contributed to the success of the score?

DB: I think Chef’s Table leans into both those worlds unapologetically, and that is its strength. There is a very loving and deep approach in every department, and everyone works with so much passion and care on this show. And you have these honest, real-life stories that are told with authenticity and genuineness. Plus, the fact that the show leans into the theatrics of presentation and the artistic perspective so strongly allows the music to also do that in an unrestricted way.