From Scratch is a love story that refuses to sit still. It follows Amy Wheeler, played by Zoe Saldaña, as she falls for Italian chef Lino, played by Eugenio Mastrandrea, and lets that romance pull her through grief, loss and a slow, continent-hopping rebuild of her life. The series is based on a memoir by Tembi Locke, who co-created the show with Attica Locke, who also served as showrunner. It ran for eight episodes on Netflix, premiering on October 21, 2022.
Trailer, via Netflix Malaysia.
Amy’s Grief
Amy loses her husband early in the series, and the show spends its first few episodes tracking her slow descent into a numbness that almost swallows her whole. Saldaña plays this well — her face goes flat, then cracks open again in quiet moments, and the transition between the two is the engine of the whole story.
Lino, meanwhile, is not a sidekick to her recovery. He is a chef with his own history, and Mastrandrea gives him a warmth that makes their partnership feel earned rather than scripted. Their scenes together, cooking side by side, are the show’s best stretches — the kitchen becomes a shared space where both characters can be fully present, even when everything else around them is falling apart.
The Cast Around Her
The supporting cast is deep. Danielle Deadwyler, Keith David and Kellita Smith round out Amy’s family with a mix of warmth and friction, while Judith Scott plays Maxine Wheeler, Amy’s mother, with a quiet strength that anchors the series’ emotional core. Roberta Riganò and Paride Benassai add texture as Lino’s family, and Jonathan Dylan King, Saad Siddiqui, Rodney Gardiner and Lorenzo Pozzan fill out the world around them.
Pace Problems
Where From Scratch stumbles is pacing. Some episodes spend too long circling the same emotional territory, and the show’s eight-episode run occasionally feels stretched thin rather than built to a satisfying shape. The story asks viewers to sit with grief and uncertainty for longer than the material fully earns, and a few middle chapters drag as a result.
The Italy Setting
The series is set across cultures and continents, moving from Amy’s home to Italy and back again. The production design leans into the colors and textures of each location, and the contrast between Amy’s old life and her new one in Italy gives the story some visual weight. But the setting often reads as background rather than character, and the cultural shifts feel more symbolic than lived.
Where It Lands
The final stretch of From Scratch pushes toward a hopeful ending, and the show earns that note by staying close to Amy’s perspective rather than leaning on easy resolutions. Saldaña carries the weight of that arc, and the series closes on a note that feels honest rather than tidy.
Key Facts
- Creator: Attica Locke and Tembi Locke
- Network: Netflix
- Episodes: 8
- Premiere: October 21, 2022
- Stars: Zoe Saldaña, Eugenio Mastrandrea, Danielle Deadwyler, Keith David, Kellita Smith, Judith Scott
From Scratch is a sincere, sometimes uneven drama about love surviving loss. Saldaña’s performance is the reason to watch, and Mastrandrea gives her a partner worthy of her grief. The series drags in its middle stretch but finds its footing again by the end. It is a show about building a life after losing one, and it mostly lands where it aims.
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