[indistinct chatter] - the atavistic desire to spendtime with a community, gathered around fireand the food they've cooked, is deeply ingrained in our dna. - oh, jeez.- oh! - see the color of that.- in these decidedly hurried and unreflective times, the role of a modern chef isthat of a great unifier. they help enhance the diningexperience
into an act of camaraderie,community, and sharing. - you knowwhat they call that smell? - what's that?- the lowcountry cologne. - [laughs]i love that. - so many of our fondestpersonal memories revolve around food or music, and oftentimesat the intersection of both. fewer senses are as evocativeas smell, taste, and sound, and fewer pursuits areas creative
or as fueled by passion. [cork pops]- whoo! - the act of celebratingisn't meant to be analyzed or critiqued.- [laughing] - it's meant to be enjoyed. [upbeat music] [ambient music] - it's very easy to just, like,kind of go through the motions. and i did that.
i didn't knowwhat i always wanted to be. i was washing dishes, and would just play the drums. like, that was a good escapefor me. [bass tuning] music was my first voice, but i saw the realityof the situation. i had to make a decision. do i want to keep goingfor music?
[indistinct vocals][punk music] kind of helped me realize that icould start really finding out what i wanted to doin life. going to culinary school wasreally just a means of getting out of oklahoma. that's why i think the rubberhit the road, and i was like "this isa tangible opportunity here," and i really grabbed onto that. [punk music]
when i was a kid growing upin oklahoma, potlucks were taken veryseriously. people wanted to make surethat they brought the thing that best representedtheir household. whoa!- check out this little piggy. - no joke. that's amazing. - meep meep.- oh, my god. how are you? - good. how are you, babe?- great, great, great. the biggest benefitto any potluck is
that you want to putyour best foot forward. - hey, darling.- what's up? how're you? mwah. - but as chefs,we know it's okay to let your guard downa little bit. - have you guys met?you guys have met before, right? - um, no, we hadn't.this is our first time. - oh, man. the legend. - i'm happy to meet.i'm happy to meet. - the legendary iã±aki.
the idea behind the wholepotluck is just fun. do you guys knowwhat he's doing? - what is this?- do you know what he's doing? are you jealous?- what's this? - it's, uh...- it's a butterfly. - butterfly charcuterie.- yeah. - cool.- it's amazing. like, it's-- this is, like, the best. this is so good. i'm so happythis is happening right now.
that's what i go for. coming inwith the idea of fun. what i'm going to makefor this dinner-- i want it to be somethingkind of unexpected, but also something thatthere's an alarming response to. so, it's like this. when you do, like,a dinner party, you want to come strong. you want to come prepared. it's all about sandbagging itto where it's ready to go
so you show up with your a-game. you show up with, like,what you're known for. what can you do?i'm making this dish because it's meant to be shared. it's our versionof a beggar's chicken, but we do it with a duck. so what we decided is that wewould just confit a whole duck. we dropped it in duck fat.lots of duck fat. enough duck fat to cover,
and cooked itfor a couple of hours until it just gave way. it was very tender. here's where you cuethe duck-fat-dripping music. there's a korean soupthat i love called samgyetang. that korean soup isa whole chicken that's stuffed with rice,ginseng, dates, and chestnuts. this part of the dish is basedoff that korean soup. we omitted the ginseng,but we have rice,
and we have someof the duck glaze. the duck glaze is justshaoxing wine, sugar, soy sauce, that kind of stuff,all reduced down until it gets really thickand syrupy. add some dates. make sure you take the pit out. that's a very rookie move,not pitting your dates. chestnuts. these are cooked.these have been steamed. really, really, really, really,really simple.
it's just a rice stuffing. while this is hanging out here, i'm going to start rolling outthe clay. this is just potter's clay. it's good for the--good for the pecs. it has a hermetic seal. it creates this, like, chamber where this whole duck, like,steams. all the flavor from the ricegoes in the duck.
all the flavor from the duckgoes in the rice. it's super awesome. this is pretty even now. you want it to be like thatto where you put your hand in it and it kind of leaves a mark. put a clean piece of parchmentpaper down. this is going to make itreally clean for when you breakthrough the clay, it doesn't go all into the duck.
we struggled with thatin the beginning. then we were like, "oh, weshould just wrap it in paper." lotus leaf that's been soakedin water. right. so when you place the duck,you want to put it down smack-dab in the middle, right? you're gonna wrap it upreally nice and tight like a christmas package. then this part,and flap it over. you want this thing sealed.
it's likeyou're wrapping something in a bunch of play-doh. so that's that. all right. duck's in. it takes about 45 minutes or so. you'll know.the clay will tell you because the clay will behardened. when it's hot,it's really, really hot.
the easiest partof this whole process is just cracking it open. i like to cover it with a towelfirst. it kind of adds to the mysteryof what's going to happen. so, i like to hit ita couple times. hit it in each corner and then right in the middle,right? this is the temperature of hell. it's so hot i don't understand.
clear all this debris away. and the duck,because of the intense heat, it just kind of, like, darkens. the skin does not get crispy, so if you're lookingfor peking duck-- i actually hate peking duck. the flesh gives way, and you just kind ofbarely push it. this is really tender.this is just a reduction of,
like, wine and duck bones,duck stock. i like to sauce the rice. and again,what's cool about it is this rice and chestnut in herejust gets super tasty. and you get this kind of, like,rendered super delicious skin. you get this really soft meatthat you can just pull apart with your fingers. that's so good. it's notabout impressing anyone.
it's about exciting people, and getting peoplereally in the mood to party. wait, so,what are you doing, sean? - i thought it'd be funto serve some charleston food, so this is a dishthat i've been eating, like, once a weekfor the past couple years. - [laughs] really?- yeah. it's called crab rice. - right.
sean, when you wentto culinary school, did you wear the big toque? do you have it still? - i used to sweat throughlike six of those a day. [laughing]they're paper. yeah. - really?- [laughing] yeah. - oh, man.so, we had these hats that were, like, cloth hats that we were responsibleto launder.
you could just tellwho was doing well in school just by the condition of theirhat that they wore every day. mine was always crumpled up and, like, dirtybecause i would, you know, stuff it in my bagat the last second. but it's funny some people wouldpress their hat. - that's one of the reasons iwanted to go to culinary school is to the wear the hat.- to wear the hat? - yeah.- oh, man.
sean brock i met at the firstmission chinese food. he had come in townfor big apple bbq. the positive thingabout being a chef that participatesin these things is that you can just go behindthe scenes and just like-- so, he had curatedthis sheet tray of, like, the best of everything. and we were working lunchgoing into dinner service,
and he walks inand dropped a bottle of whiskey, dropped a plate of foodon the pass, and, you know, i was like "that's the coolestthing anyone has ever done." - i grew up in the coalfieldsof virginia, bluegrass country. growing upin such a rural place, we didn't have restaurantsto go see live music. we had to entertain ourselves. [bluegrass guitar picking] there was always someonepicking guitar,
cooking nonstop. that's just what you do when youlive in such a backwoods area: two things that provide comfortand enjoyment. that's the beauty of soul food, and that's the beautyof soul music. my grandmotherand my mother were enormous, crazy, crazy,hard-core willie nelson fans. i grew uplistening to willie nelson, but i'd never beento an actual concert.
i was 11 years old, and willie nelson was playinghis irs tour. of course it's thewest virginia state fair, so the smell of funnel cakes isin the air. [country music] willie nelson comes out, and i'd never seen or heardmusic that loud just filling the air. i sat there in aweof seeing these songs
that i grew up listening to. it was just so captivating. - [singing]have i told you... - he started playing"have i told you lately," and i'd never really paidmuch attention to that song. i was 11. but i'd look over-- my mother and grandmotherin tears. - [singing]without you anyhow...
- it was the first time i'dactually seen music touch someone that way-- really move someone. - [singing] have i told youlately that i love you? - i've paid a little moreattention to the lyrics ever since that day. - [singing]well, darling, i'm telling you now. - i just bought this new house.
it's completely empty. tomorrow we're gonna christenthe kitchen and the fireplace, cook a meal amongst friends,and celebrate a new home. [saw buzzing] - so, this is the beginnings ofyour dining room table here. we got all this woodout of a house built in the 1930s originally. what's cool about it is it's already almost 100 yearsas a dead tree.
- yeah.- i can't even imagine how old the tree waswhen it was cut down. - this is the kind of woodthat you can't go to the store and buy because it's antiquehard pine. this is probably200 to 300 years old before it was even chopped down. - what? that's amazing. pine is so dense, isn't it?- i know. - it's so cool.it'll last forever.
- oh, yeah.i think this stuff actually came out of the kitchen,which is the coolest part of it. these are the floorboards.people shared meals over it for what--the last almost hundred years. - so cool. this is unbelievable.- so we're gonna finish it up. we're going to doa really cool process where we char the whole topof it, and then kind of take it downuntil it finds, like, the perfect tone of--
- how do you do that? with a blowtorch or something? - a really big blowtorch, yeah. it's like a jet enginethat we hook up to a propane tank, and then just pray that we don'tburn the shop down. - [laughs] man, this is going to be cool. - one of our prized possessionsin the lowcountry: blue crab.
this showcases the waterwaysand the traditions. it's certainly oneof my favorite ingredients. this dish means a lot to me. i enjoy sharing itwith other people, so this is the perfect occasion. this is my favoritecelebratory dish to make. [soft bluegrass music] - you've really gotto love someone to pick that much crab for them.
it's a lot of work,but it's worth it. it's so decadent and luxurious. and the technique is what givesthis beautiful depth of flavor. one of the tricks is putting thecrab in a nice thin even layer, and you don't want to messwith it-- this beautiful brown crustwill form on the bottom, and that takes a little bitof patience. and here i have onions, celery,pepper, bacon, and crab roe. i stew it down separately,
what i call a crab roe sofrito, which will give it that soul. the equally important partof crab rice is the rice. i have some carolina gold ricecooking: one of our coveted ingredientsin lowcountry. fresh bay.that's very, very important. so, if i can peek-- yep, see, i'm starting to getthese little crusty pieces on that crab right there.
another little pat of butter, tiny bit of salt,and lemon juice. to complete this, i like hidinglots of flavors. this is tomatoes that getcooked down for a few hours with a little bitof tomato vinegar. beautiful charleston nice cream. this is lovage.tastes like really fresh celery. crispy crab. lightly smoked and sundriedoysters.
i grind that into a powderwith a little bit of crab roe. and to lighten it up, egg yolkthat i've salted and cured for a few days,and add a layer of complexity. and then the last thing,one of my favorite ingredients: benne seeds. beautiful, floral, and earthy,and grassy, and also addsa really nice texture. that's it.lowcountry crab rice. damn, i want to eat that.
[exhales strongly] the kitchen in this house-- i've just been dying to cookin there. i want to smell it up. the first fire isthe most exciting. i'm going to cook some potatoesin the coals. [torch whooshing] i'm going to wood firesome bear creek ribeyes. heaven.
the dining room table. that's the most important placein the house. this looks like the insideof a whisky barrel. - yeah. it's awesome. - that's incredible.- thanks. - that's the perfect mixof my personality: modern and redneck. it's the new thing. [laughter]
a table is a sacred thing. it's where we spend a lotof time. it's where we celebrate,enjoy ourselves. it's where we relax. dude. that is so cool. what a good day. [laughs] i'm, like, mesmerized.
music's celebration in food. we can all find excuses to enjoythose things on a daily basis. and we should. dig in. you can have all those thingstogether in one room when it's for people you lovebeing around and your family. man, that's the greatest feelingin the world. that's what heaven's like. [light guitar strumming]
- every time i tell this story,i'm like, "oh, you know, like, one in, like, x amount is,like, actually spicy." and for some reason, recently,every time i say that, i'm the onethat gets a spicy one. they're like,"oh, mine's not hot." this is so nice, huh? i wish you could get, like,the shoots. oh, the black gloves, dude. i want the black gloves.
- yeah.- i got those from carlo at blanco the other day. - those are like tattoo artistgloves, aren't they? - i know. yeah.or bbq pit master gloves. - yeah. totally. - oh, april, what are you doing?what are you making? - i'm doing the whole roastedsuckling pig, and a little salsa rossa. it's starting to get coldoutside.
a bit of cinnamon,because it's nice and warm, a little bit of chili,sliced garlic, tomato stewed down. this is like my go-to saucefor pork. it's going to go well, you know,because it's nice and sweet and sour at the same time. - yeah. that's awesome.so, kind of like a sweet and sour suckling pig. - yeah.cuts all that fat, you know?
- yeah. i'm doing duck tonight, so i was kind of like,"what can we do that's going to counterall of that, like, richness?" with beggar's duck, i liketo have different condiments that can add different, like,contrasts of flavor, texture, color. the first onethat i wanted to do is this ginger scallion sauce. this is based on a super, super,
super traditional chinese sauce. take some grapeseed oil. smoke is a good thing. you want to see a little bitof smoke happening. thinly sliced scallions. most chinese restaurants,i would ask, like, "how do you make this sauce?" they would not tell me.it was a very guarded thing, so it took me a long timeto figure out
how to make this sauce. most of the ginger scallionsauces they have at chinese bbq shops islike four ingredients. it's oil, scallions, ginger,and msg. so, i have ginger,scallions, oil, and in place of msg we're using a little bitof really awesome fish sauce made with fermented anchoviesand mushroom powder. that's going to helpkind of add that umami
that typically msg would. and on record i don't haveany problem with msg. i grew up eating lotsof powdered soup mixes, lots of french onion dip. this is something that's amazingbecause it keeps for a long time in your refrigerator. i think that's pretty much done. i've eaten duck with, like,really rich sauces or something that's, like,very pungent
like the ginger sauce,but i've never really eaten duck with, like, cream, or something,like, really pickled. and so the idea with this was,like, "well, let's just makea pickled cream." i have some crema culturedwith a little bit of kefir. and then i'mjust gonna ribbon in some of this pickled beet puree. it really, really works.it really works with the duck. so the idea with this is also,like,
asking why hasn't it been done, and then doing it,going for it. yeah, that's good. the acidityfrom the vinegar pickled beets and also the crema isreally nice. i want to offset that with salt,salinity. i like to use salt of the sea,so i used salmon roe. you're gonna be eatingthis cream and have these little popsof salinity,
and that's what we wantwith the duck. people get really excitedif you're throwing a party when you put fish roeon something. what i wanted to accomplishwith this condiment is to add acidity, vibrancy,and color. you know what i mean?you eat with your eyes. this is gonna add the popto the duck for real. this next one's gonnabring the heat. these are red shishito peppers,
which have lots and lotsof flavor. you can do thisover an open flame. i like to just use a blowtorchbecause it's fun. i think there should be moreblowtorches used at dinner parties. you really want to blacken this. [crackling] and then i got some peaches. [whooshing]
a pinch of salt here. and then i'm just gonna chop ittogether. so this should be really salty,spicy, sweet, sour. everything i want on a foodreally. this is brown rice vinegar. really want to kind ofhammer this with that. fish sauce. so, there you go. tomorrowwhen people are eating this,
it's really like a kind of achoose your own adventure thing. - the best thingabout this supermarket is that it's open, like,super early. because i was adoptedand grew up on oklahoma, i didn't know anythingabout korean food at all, so it's been quite a journey. it's fun to kind of decodewhat all this stuff is. this kind of even classifyinto a-- like, these are kind of,like, drinking snacks, right?
so, for the potluck we haveto have like this much of this. because so basically it's friedpeanuts, fried dried anchovies, sweet, salty, sticky, chewy. you know, i've beenin situations too with friends and chefsthat like, they don't even knowwhat they're eating. we'll be at like a thing,and they'll be like eating it, just talking to me, like,"oh this is really good." i'm like, "oh it'sbecause there's a ton
"of dried little anchovies, and that's tons of umami,you know?" so, these guys,i'll grab a couple of these. if you go to an asian market,and you think it looks good, take a chance, you know? [sizzling] - i love that toastiness,you know? - uh-huh. yeah.- and i like getting it nice and brown, the garlic,so it gets really warm.
- that's nice.- yeah. i like a lot of garlic.let me tell you. maybe a little past toasty. - oh really?- you really want to smell that warmth. it really makes it a little bitmore complex. you can see it's kind of happyright now, isn't it? - yeah, totally. - check this out.see how dark that is?
it's gonna splattera little bit. but they're tomatoes so theystop the cooking of the garlic. - april--she's very much old-school. she'll get in there.she'll get her hands dirty. i see the way she workswith her team. - so this is, like,serious business. someone blanched, chopped,peeled, seeded-- - somebody blanched and peeledall of these babies. but all of this is gonnamelt away,
and it's just gonna becomereally warm and delicious. - she knows flavors. she won't overcomplicate itfor the sake of that. she'll just put out food that there's no questionthat it's delicious. - you know all of this skin hereis going to get tough, and once it's cooked,i'm going to pull it away and just mush it all in. - oh, wow,so it just disintegrates inside.
- yeah, it just disintegrates. so it's going to bea little spicy. - oh, good.it's still extremely hard for me to put asidehow big of a fan i am of hers, and how much respect i have. like, it's hardto not just fan-boy out the whole time. - i think we tie foodand celebrating together because it's a very intimatemoment.
you can have that with yourself, but it's so much better to sharewith other people. so, we invited some friendsto have a feast. gonna do a slow cooked ribeye, have some wine, veggies grown on the farm. we'll get this hintof this sweet smoke. is that for billowing? - yeah.we're not using a service tray
to light the fire--don't worry. that isn't happening. - tom adams ismy business partner. - it's getting raging. tom wanted to remove himselffrom london and be in a more rural setting, and for me,i have a busy life in new york, and i just kind ofwanted a contrast. somewhere i could be inspiredand inspire others.
oh, my gosh. yeah. do you have any marshmallows? we realizedthat we're very similar, so we purchasedcoombeshead farm, where people could come in and have their intimaterelationship and connection to the earth. whenever i've cooked over fire,everybody just takes a moment
and just kind of zones out. conversation stops, and they just look at the fire, wondering and daydreamingtogether. it's what i wantto give other people. i mean, it's kind of a dream,right? [birds chirping] [whispers] the birds. you know?
it's amazing. there's nothinglike an english songbird or, you know,just being in the country. [kate bush's "under the ivy"] - [singing]it wouldn't take me long to tell you how to find it... - when i was younger, we usedto come to devon and cornwall a lot to go camping. i remember this vanmy dad used to call chug-a-boom.
it was an old british telecomvan that he painted royal blue, and me and my sistersused to sit in the back. i just remember hearing"under the ivy" by kate bush. - [singing]go into the garden. go under the ivy. - i could listen to that track,and it just makes me take stock. there's something very special about drivingdown a country lane. the hedgerows beingreally high,
the canopy of the treesmaking a tunnel, and all of the sudden,we'd get to the sunshine. and you're like,"wow, that's magical." - [singing]for me i sit here in the thunder the green on the grey [chickens clucking] - morning, ladies. - [singing]go into the garden
go under the ivy under the leaves - my mom did a bit of gardening. she'd have tomatoesand cucumbers, lots of salad. mm. to plant the seed and being able to harvestsomething and then cook it and serve it--
it's very special. it's like a whole cycle. it's soulful, calming. i have to tie that gate, because you ladies will decimatethose veggies. you know i've got your number,ladies. you know,you don't want it too hot. if you can't hold your handthere it's too hot. you can seeit's not full on smoke.
it's just kind of being kissedvery gently by the wind. beef and rosemary are,like, a great combination. it's a little brine.rosemary, thyme, bay leaf, garlic, salt, and i'll just dip and baste. probably like every halfan hour, keep it a little bit moist, give it a nice salty crust so when you carve you'll getthis kind of nice saltiness.
so, in about seven hoursit's going to be ready. - here's a little bit of rumpto hang. let this just slowly cookall day. cool. - a little kohlrabi, celery root. the rocks are nice and hotright now, so i'm just gonna let them cookreal slow. - bonny, bonny fire.
- look at the smoke on there.it's, like, perfect. just think: in about in four,five, six hours, somebody is going to be nibblingon that big, fatty, salty bone. my nan used to cookthe best sunday roast. such fun, fun memories. she used to listento old cronies on the radio, spanish eyes by al martino. - [singing]blue spanish eyes teardrops are fallingfrom your spanish eyes
- she loved that song. sometimes i listen to it,and it reminds me of her. - [singing]please don't cry... i remember being very,very young and just coming downin the morning and smelling the roasted pork with sage--ugh, it's just so good-- and applesauce. and all the windowswith steam dripping down.
- [singing]bringing you all the love your heart can hold. i didn't know it wasmise en place at the time, but little pots of, like, peeledpotatoes and sliced carrots with nubs of butter and water, or parsnips, you know,roasting in a pan, and stuffing all made. - [singing]will wait for me - it was a very intimatesetting, just family,
so my mom, my dad, my sisters,my granddad, my nan, sometimes uncles and aunts. it was very comforting.it was very inviting. it was a time to kind ofsit down and just talk, and eat a lot. i mean, the plate was, like,this big, that would be, like, piled high. you'd have a pileof mashed potatoes. like in "close encountersof the third kind"
where richard dreyfuss isjust, like, piling up these mashed potatoes. and it was all coveredwith delicious gravy. and that's what my nan'ssunday roast used to be like. it just--it was epic. - [singing]you and your spanish eyes will wait for me... wow, i miss that. [light instrumental music]
- i've got a little trancheon there. all of the juiceand the fat from the ribeye will kind of soakinto that bread. this is a medieval dish,basically. noble rich people would havea roast joint rested on a piece of bread. the noble people would eatthe beef, and then the poor people wouldeat the kind of plate-- the vehicle for the restingof the beef.
that's ready.it feels kind of medium rare. these are ready to come off. so, you can see the saltbecause i basted these in the salty brine. mm. it kind of tasteslike seaweed. i think i'm going to leave someof that char on there. give it a little contrast. celeriac is really soft, creamy,kind of like a potato. peel these kohlrabi.
they kind of taste like turnip:fruity, earthy, and clean. so, you can see this is,like, a little smokey on the outside and nicely steamedon the inside. so, we'll just kind ofchop this up. dressing--it's a littlefermented tomato, tarragon, lovage oil, red wine vinegar. it makes things very "morish":you want to eat more. you want to like, "poof,"shove it down your neck.
we're gonna actually use theseinstead of the salt because they're really quiteumami like. it's like walkingthrough a forest on a fall day with the leaves. [leaves crunching] great match for the meat. - oh, this looks fantastic!nice to see you. - how're you doing? - your birmingham accent islong gone.
- yeah, no, i know.[laughs] - how thirsty are you? - oh!- oh, beautiful. - see the color of that fat.- it's one of these old british dairy breeds, so they convert the grass into super buttery, yellow fat. - who wants a little bitof this bit? come on, jay.you take that, darling.
- oh, boy.- i've got your number, baby. - yeah, just help yourselves,guys. - and this is the roast cabbage. - ahem, excuse me, peter pig.- sorry. - the meat needsto be passed down. - oh, i'm sorry. yeah, sorry.- [laughs] - is it fingers, or do we--- well we're all friends, right? we could all use our fingers. the tranche is good, huh?- absolutely.
- the celeriac is sucha good taste. - it's funny how something cantake so long and then it's just gonein a second. to be all together, everybody, and have a celebrationaround a fire, and having friends aroundthat know all about you. you're in that moment together. petey, i don't think i got you,darling. to be able to sharethat connection
with this big feast, you just can't beat it. - how's that? you like it? this one, yeah?or do you like the other one? - i don't know.i prefer the-- - the electric?- yeah. - yeah, it's faster.but for your apartment-- - it's modern, you know?it's modern. [both laugh]- oh yeah, i forgot.
- no, it's good. - it's nice, though. - iã±aki aizpitarte--he's arguably one of the chefs i draw the most inspiration from because of his approachon how he cooks food and just how he is as a person. he's just one of the funnestpeople i've ever met. you can tell he puts it allout there. - april, did you go to culinaryschool or no?
- i did, yeah. i did two years. - you didn't goto culinary school. - no.- what'd you do before you started cooking? - try to work in a garden.- uh-huh. how old were you when youstarted cooking? - i start 27. - wow.- that's late, huh? - started at 27.- yeah, that's late.
- yeah.- that's crazy. in a lot of ways,iã±aki broke a lot of rules, but not for the sakeof breaking rules. it was just an organic thing. how we eat food today a lot ofpeople drew influence from you because you were just doingthe opposite of what everyone else was doing. you were being your own thing. it's because you had a differenteye on things.
- because, yeah, no schooland start late, and you do what--how you feel, you know? - yeah, yeah. it's the best. [instrumental music] [chatter] [whirring] - [speaking french] [rock music]
[both giggling] [chattering] - [singing in french] [all speaking in french] - how's the charcuteriebutterfly coming along? - this is amazing.it's very retro, isn't it? - this would be an amazing lowerback tattoo. - oh stop. - [laughing] where'sthe nearest tattoo place?
- [laughing] - tonight we go. - mmm. this is good. danny, taste this. - oh, yeah.- it's, like, warm, right? - yeah, it's so good.in your kitchens, do you allow people to listento music when they're prepping? - as i'm getting older,i'm like, "yeah, it's good." - i have to. i have to.i can't operate without it.
- yeah. but not during service.when you're prepping and-- - well, both husks areopen kitchen, so i like to listen to whatthe guests are listening to. i'm very strictabout the playlist. - you know, now that you haveyour own business, you have your own restaurant, it's nice--it's like you're home. you're always at home.it's nice to able to hearwhat you want to hear.
- when we openedmccrady's tavern, i wanted to feel like van halenwas there, you know? - really?- and we were playing so much van halenso loud at brunch that people were saying, "if you don't turnthe van halen off, i'm leaving." - what? really? that's amazing.- a couple people left. [laughs] - no way, no way.because brunch needs to be loud. - and the servers were like,"you're gonna have to talk
to chef brock about that,"and i'm like "what? you don't like van halen?who doesn't like van halen?" - i don't know. i don't wantto talk to that person. - wow.- i was brought up in a very christian-- like, fundamentally christianhousehold, so i went to church,not once or twice a week, but, like,four or five times a week. my parents were, like,really into church.
i wasn't allowed to listento secular music growing up. i was only allowed to listento christian music, which is horrible. the first time i bought a cdi think i was 15 or-- maybe younger than that. i got a gift certificatefrom my grandma or something, so i went with my parents,and my dad ran in with us and was like,"that doesn't look christian." and i'm like "it's christian,dad, it's christian."
so i sandwiched in betweenthe two christian cds a van halen greatest hits album. i get into the car, get inthe back seat of the minivan, strap myself in, and the moment i put it on... [van halen playing] - [singing]hey! [van halen song playing] - there was this, like,crazy sensory experience.
it was, like,that moment for me, like when i eat food, and i'mlike, "what did i just taste?" like from the first moment ihad szechuan food, i was like,"how do i get more of this?" eddie van halen playingthat solo, it was challenging me in a way i had never been challengedbefore. i really think that that momentthat i started to push play on that cd player,something clicked.
any event we do, it's like musicis just as important as food. it's about setting a tone. whoo![cork pops] give it a nice little--right there. there you go. it's, like,a duck that's cooked in clay. as a chef, my job is to providean experience for someone. it's like music.you go to see a show, and for a couple of hours,you lose yourself, and on a sensory level, youexperience everything you can.
- we need some kind of a bucketor something i can put this in. - you know what they callthat smell? - [laughs] i love that. - if i can get a bunch of peoplearound a table eating food with their hands and unbuttoning the top buttona little bit, that's what food is to me. it's really about flavorand deliciousness, and then also sharingan experience and that moment,
and really just relaxing. that's the best kind of partyyou can throw. [ambient electronic music] it's when people are leaving,they don't want it to end. hopefully we haveto kick everybody out and then also people are like, "when do we get to do thisagain?"