Starz has announced that their original series Sweetbitter, based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Stephanie Danler, has been renewed for a second season. The series stars Ella Purnell (Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children) as Tess, alongside Caitlin Fitzgerald, Tom Sturridge, Paul Sparks, Evan Jonigkeit, Daniyar, Eden Epstein, and Jasmine Mathews.
Chris Albrecht, the CEO of Starz, said: “Season one gave audiences a taste of the characters and backstory of an upscale New York restaurant, leaving them wanting more — which we will deliver with a second helping of Sweetbitter. The immersion of the audience into the world in and around the restaurant will deepen as the series looks further into the complexities of Tess’ awakening and the lives of her new friends and colleagues in the second season.
Sweetbitter tells the story of Tess (Purnell), a 22-year-old who arrives in New York City ready to pursue a new life. When she’s invited to train at one of the best restaurants in the city, she thinks she’s found a steady income and a safe place to wait. But Tess is quickly intoxicated by the chaotic, adrenalized world behind-the-scenes: tasting expensive wine, exploring dive bars, and learning who she can trust.
In season one, we follow Tess along the path of the L train circa 2006: the prestigious Manhattan restaurant where she serves an upscale clientele, an industry dive bar, a corner bodega in Williamsburg, and an East Village apartment with a bathtub in the kitchen. She came to the city without a friend or ambition because she wanted more from her life. Underneath the oysters and champagne is a love letter to the way New York City changes and can change you.
But it’s the people Tess meets at the restaurant who end up marking her for life. Sweetbitter is not only Tess’s story — it is also the story of the backwaiters, servers, bartenders, and dishwashers as they navigate friendship, intimacy, lust, and betrayal. Her co-workers become her family, and through them she finds a degree of belonging that she’s never encountered before.
Sweetbitter is a half-hour drama that illuminates the sensory journey of a developing palate. How the sweet, sour, salt, bitter, and umami threaten, complement, and ultimately need each other so that we can learn to taste.
Danler serves as creator, executive producer, and writer on the series with Stu Zicherman serving as showrunner and executive producer along with Plan B.
Season one of Sweetbitter premiered in March and ended in June after six episodes. Ten half-hour episodes have been ordered for the second season of Sweetbitter with a return date to be announced later.
