Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Chrissy & Dave Dine Out’ On Freeform, Where Chrissy Teigen And David Chang Visit L.A.’s Best Restaurants With Celebrity Friends

In Chrissy & Dave Dine Out, Chrissy Teigen and David Chang — along with comedian Joel Kim Booster in most of the episodes — visit amazing restaurants around Los Angeles. The format of the show plays to each host’s strengths; while Chang is back in the kitchen talking to the chefs and owners about their craft and passion for food, Teigen and Booster host celebrity guests for a fun dinner party in the front of the house.

CHRISSY & DAVE DINE OUT: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: Scenes from the first season of Chrissy & Dave Dine Out.

The Gist: In the first episode, Teigen, Chang and Booster visit Pizzeria Bianco in downtown Los Angeles. It’s the first LA outlet of Chris Bianco’s Arizona-based chain if pizza restaurants that have garnered praise for over three decades. Chang spends most of the dinner discussing food and life with Bianco, and Teigen and Booster host Jimmy Kimmel and his wife, Molly McNearney. Kimmel and McNearney are not only buddies with Teigen and Chang, but they’re good friends with Bianco, as well, and have eaten at his various restaurants a number of times.

Chang talks to Bianco about his career as he helps Bianco prepare an antipasto course, then a caprese course that includes burrata, which Bianco equated to Coldplay: Great the first time, but it feels the same after dozens of times. But he makes it shine. Then he makes three different pizzas as Chang tries to unsuccessfully convince him that he’s an artist.

Meanwhile, Teigen and Booster talk to Kimmel and McNearney about how they met when she started working for Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and the conversation starts to get a bit bawdy, like when McNearney talks about taking the term “blowjob” literally the first time she performed one on a boyfriend.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Chrissy & Dave Dine Out is a bit reminiscent of Jon Favreau’s series Dinner For Five.

Our Take: Yes, Chrissy & Dave Dine Out feels like a pretty standard food show in a lot of ways; Chang talking to chefs who make amazing-looking food for Teigen, Booster and their celebrity guests to roll their eyes in ecstasy over. But we were pleasantly surprised while watching the first two episodes, mainly because the vibe on both ends of the series is so loose and relaxed, like a real dinner table full of friends might be.

There’s a lack of pretentiousness in the series, which is refreshing. The restaurants that are chosen are ones that are accessible to anyone, not just ones that people make reservations to months in advance for a once-in-a-decade meal. The meals are created by the chefs from family recipes and have lots of heart and love in them. And when Teigen, Booster and their guests partake, they take big bites and talk while eating, just like any of us might do when we’re at a good restaurant with fun friends.

In the second episode, Booster isn’t there, but Teigen’s husband John Legend makes a fine substitute; it becomes a couples’ dinner at a well-regarded Mexican restaurant, with Chang’s wife Grace, as well as Kumail Nanjiani and his wife Emily V. Gordon joining Teigen and Legend. As you might expect with the funny Nanjiani and Gordon at the table, there’s lots of laughs and a lot of funny, relatable talk about each couple’s pet peeves with their partners.

Instead of waxing rhapsodic about the food or cuisine, both Chang and Teigen concentrate on the people they’re with, and what they literally and figuratively bring to the table. Because of that, the hour becomes less aspirational and more comfortable, making us remember the meals where we sat with friends, shot the shit and had a lot of laughs while eating a really memorable meal. If that’s what they were going for with the series, they pretty much nailed that vibe.

Sex and Skin: None, except for some of the bawdy talk with Kimmel and McNearney.

Parting Shot: Bianco and Chang come out to join the table, and Bianco talks about how friends are chosen family and he treasures nights like the one everyone is having.

Sleeper Star: Joel Kim Booster isn’t just there to be funny; he gets personal about how his parents adopted him and his upbringing. He’s a great dinner guest — and a former Decider contributor! — which is probably why Teigen has him tag along on most of the episodes.

Most Pilot-y Line: From time to time, it does feel like Teigen is asking questions given to her by the producers to help direct the conversation, but then again, why would we want to hear any of the inevitable conversational lulls?

Our Call: STREAM IT. Instead of making us envious of celebrities having meals at elite restaurants, Chrissy & Dave Dine Out reminds us more of fun dinners with friends and great food. And that kind of down-to-earth warmth is hard to find on food shows like these.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.