Given the proliferation of cooking channels, food travelogues and generally the general rise of foodie ethos in the culture, times seem certainly ripe for a kitchen-based TV drama. Enter Feed the Beast, AMC’s new restaurant themed series. The show is based on Danish antecedent Bankerot, which was adapted for the U.S. by TV veteran Clyde Phillips (Dexter, Nurse Jackie). FTB stars Jim Sturgess and David Schwimmer as two brothers trying to right their fortunes by opening a high-class restaurant in the Bronx. For wine connoisseur Tommy (Schwimmer) it's a way of dealing with personal tragedy (his wife’s death in a hit-and-run accident). Dion (Sturgess) – the talented but unpredictable chef – hopes to dig himself out of the multi hundred thousand dollar hole he is into with the wrong kind of customers.

After his acclaimed turn as Robert Kardashian in The People vs OJ, Schwimmer continues his reinvention here as an impressive dramatic actor. We spoke to him about the show, about playing a “som” (sommelier) and about life after Friends.