Original subtitles

♪♪

-I'm gonna teach you how to make bread.

Here's a sourdough.

-And this is starter that you brought with you from --

-Yeah, this is starter that I brought from Mexico.

Smuggled in.

[ Chuckles ]

-It feels so good.

I can see why people get completely hooked on it.

-Into it. Yeah.

We're gonna add a little water.

-When you say a little more water,

are you eyeballing it and sensing it?

-I bake to feel. You know?

Like, I don't bake by numbers.

-You know, it's interesting because sometimes

in my business, people talk about acting styles.

And the truth is, it's not something I could teach,

because I'm pulling from all these instincts and memories

and emotions,

and it feels like that's what you're doing --

you're just sensing.

-And from experience,

and the more I do it,

the more I become one with it.

Every day I wake up, I think about bread, or, like,

I don't know, like, I'm literally always searching

to make this perfect loaf of bread, and I love it.

-Few things are more exciting than this.

Richard Hart, the Godfather of bread

in my very own Manhattan apartment.

Ooh.

-Okay. Lovely. Nice color.

This darkness is what you're generally looking for.

It's not burnt. It's perfectly colored.

[ Bread crunches ]

-Ooh. It's got a great sound. -Mm.

-I have to get my wife to taste this.

Maybe my stock will go up. Who knows?

Brooke, we're breaking bread here.

-Oh.

Oh! Oh, my God.

Oh, my God.

-We nailed it, right?

-Yeah. -Yeah. He just nodded.

-Thank you.

[ Laughs ]

-No, this is --

We're gonna turn it into a drinking game.

Anytime there's anything on anybody's face,

people get to take a shot.

-[ Laughs ] -It's gonna be great.

People are gonna love it.

This is a show about bread...

Oh, this is so good.

...and people...

-[ Toasting ]

-I'm Tony Shalhoub, and I have been an actor

for nearly five decades

I grew up in a big family where

bread was always at the center of the table.

Ever since, from family meals to movie sets...

The best thing in the world.

-...I've seen how countless forms of flour and water

have the power to bring people together.

I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

This is amazing.

So now I'm traveling the world,

connecting with friends, family, and total strangers

as we bake, break, and chew our way to the heart

of the most delicious breads on Earth.

♪♪

There he is. -Hello.

-Lin, good morning.

-Morning.

-Thanks for joining me.

-Thank you. Thanks for the invite.

-People come to New York from all over the world,

blending their traditions and cultures

and creating dishes that can only be found here.

It's a place everyone makes their own.

Maybe no one more so than my friend, Lin-Manuel Miranda,

who has forged his own path on stage and off.

I wanted to take you to my favorite Upper West Side place,

Orwashers' bakery.

I mean, listen, if Tony Shalhoub calls and says,

"I wanna eat bread,"

what is the answer besides "Yes"?

-Thank you. -[ Laughs ]

-Someone said that man shall not live by bread alone,

but I think they meant man shall not eat bread alone.

-[ Laughs ]

-Hey, Keith. -How are you, Tony?

-Lin. -How you doing?

-Nice to meet you. -Great, too. Lin.

-You got a lotta pastries,

but the bread is what

we're gonna be after today. -Great.

-I'll show you some of these breads in the back.

-Orwashers has been around for over 100 years

and is a bona fide Big Apple institution,

started by Abraham Orwasher, an immigrant from Hungary.

Abe's signature pumpernickel and classic New York rye

are still being served here today.

-I already called dibs on this one.

-Okay, good. -[ Chuckles ]

-So, what we have here is all

rye-based New York breads.

Different than Europe. Right?

Things changed when the immigrants came here.

They had to do things a little bit differently.

So, in Europe, the rye breads are 100% rye.

Very dense.

But the rye here uses a combination

of white flour and then rye.

When you think of New York deli rye...

this is the ultimate of it.

It's loaded with caraway.

And it's also the basis

for New York or American-style pumpernickel.

Tony's favorite here.

-Super. It's pungent.

Oh, wait. Alright. I gotta -- I'm gonna have --

-Gotta disrobe for this?

-Yeah, yeah. -[ Laughs ]

-This is gonna require -- -I'm joining you.

-Are we gonna do this together? -Let's go.

-What you're gonna get here is,

because the addition of the raisins

and the way it gets fermented, it's gonna be a denser bread.

A little bit of a tougher but sweeter eat.

-This is like bordering on desert.

You have the density of the bread,

and then you have these sort of light,

sweet sweetness of the raisins colliding.

Really good.

-[ Laughing ] I'm so happy. -Dessert.

-I don't know how you convinced people to make this a show.

We just get to eat delicious bread.

[ Laughs ] It is incredible.

-Like I've been saying for 40-odd years,

"Fooled them again."

-[ Laughs ]

For years, we were able to convince my kids

that pumpernickel was chocolate bread.

-Really? You did? -Oh, yeah.

That's how we'd get them to eat it.

[ Laughs ]

-Again, it's a hearty bread

when you think about soups and stews

and other things that would accompany this.

-So, the idea is that this bread,

and really all of these breads,

came from the immigrant kitchen.

-Coming from Sicily or Poland or Russia,

they were bakers.

They were tradesmen.

And these breads they brought over with them,

and people here adopted that food as part of their culture.

-It's New York culture now.

-It's New York culture. -For real.

-Really good. Thank you, Keith.

-It's the best, isn't it?

-Of course, we couldn't leave the bakery empty handed,

so with sandwiches in tow,

we head to one of my favorite spots in Central Park.

I know you're from New York.

-Born in Roosevelt Hospital, a few blocks away.

-Really? Yeah. -Yeah.

-And I'm more of a transplant.

Lived here for the first time in the '80s,

And now I'm back here.

I'm so happy to be back.

What is it about this place, I mean, for you?

-I think it's the fact that there are so many New Yorks.

There's the New York City we live in.

There's the New York City you remember living in.

I mean, as I'm walking down this road with you,

I'm having memories from childhood,

from walking around here with my girlfriend from high school

and reading each other poetry outside the Delacorte,

to scouting for "Tick Tick Boom,"

the first movie I directed.

-Yeah. For me, New York,

it's mostly about, you know, transformation.

This place is in a constant state of flux,

always redefining itself.

-And you can never get your head all the way around it,

because by the time you've come back around,

this neighborhood has changed.

-It's moved on, yeah. -It's moved on.

-I could eat. -Oh, my God.

See, when you think of New York,

this is what the [no audio] I'm talking about.

-That's right. -But look at that delicious

everything bagel, just cream cheese and jam.

Life doesn't get simpler or better than this.

-God, this sandwich is good. -Great.

-It looks a little sloppy. -Yeah. It looks amazing.

-I promise it's not the sandwich.

It's me. -[ Laughs ]

-[ Laughs ]

It's this gorgeous pumpernickel.

And it's got avocado and sprouts and cucumber and some turkey.

-I am gonna taste this. -You gotta taste it.

-It's the aioli, baby.

-It is outrageous.

-Yeah. -And the bread is so soft.

Oh, my God, and the aftertaste.

-That's how you make brilliant bread somehow more brilliant.

-It's really delicious.

-So, how do you feel like the discoveries

you made in the city in general

has inspired you into this creative zone?

-I think growing up

in a historically immigrant neighborhood

probably shaped me as much as anything.

My parents were both born in Puerto Rico and met here,

and I'm in awe of people who start a new life here.

I think that's just the most radical and courageous

and incredible thing,

because I think every immigrant is a storyteller,

'cause you have to come here from somewhere else

and start from scratch and decide who you are

and decide what you bring with you.

The fact that we were just talking about bagels and bread,

but we're really talking about culture

and what we pass on and what we uphold.

-And we're really talking, too, about

the people that brought these things.

-Yeah. -And now in the present day,

the people that have taken that stuff and reformed it,

reshaped it, and made it their own.

-Yeah.

-Only in New York. -Only in New York.

♪♪

-Immigrant stories have baked themselves

into every corner of New York.

So I'm in the East Village this morning to meet a woman

whose own story of survival and resilience

has been shared worldwide.

And at the center of it all?

You guessed it -- bread.

Hi.

Mary O's Irish Soda Bread Shop

is the neighborhood's worst kept secret.

The instant I walk in,

I'm drawn to the flour-dusted proprietor herself.

-Welcome to Mary O's. -Thank you.

I have to admit, I've never had Irish --

-Don't tell me you've never had Irish soda bread?

Is that what you're gonna tell me?

-I am gonna tell you that. -Shame on you.

-I think I might have heard about it,

but, you know, as in sort of like in a far off galaxy.

-It's not the far off galaxy.

It's from Ireland. You know?

You hear him? Come look.

-You won't find pages of menu options here.

It's either the loaf or the scone.

I love simplicity.

So, there's a difference between Irish soda bread

and Irish soda bread scones? -Right.

-So, you're giving me a scone, too?

-Yeah. -So they're not --

So they're more like a muffin shape.

Not a traditional scone. -Don't use the word "muffin."

They're not a muffin. -I never said the word "muffin."

-They're a scone. -We're just gonna edit that out.

-Yeah. [ Laughs ]

-Scones I usually think of it

as a different shape, though.

-Yeah. So it's the exact recipe,

-like, that my mother would use. -[ Oven timer buzzes ]

But it's in a cupcake tray.

So here's the loaf.

-Irish soda bread was born out of a yeast shortage

during the Irish famine of the early 1800s,

so many households turned to the more readily available

baking soda as an alternative leavening agent,

resulting in a much denser yet equally delicious loaf.

-Would you like to pick your own scone?

-I get to pick one? -You get to pick one.

-Okay, great. Okay, should I just grab it?

-Grab it. There you go.

When you have your first scone at Mary O's, make a wish.

-Okay. I have to make a wish.

-Close your eyes when you're eating it.

Make that wish.

So, this is Irish butter. -Oh, my.

-And it's homemade blackberry jam, right?

And it's the same blackberry jam that like

we would have had when we were kids, right?

That my mother would have made for us.

Really, really simple, but tastes delicious.

There you go.

I'm gonna get you a cup of Irish tea or something with it.

-Irish tea. That sounds... -It's so good. Yeah.

It's amazing. -...brilliant.

-I'm serious. Make that wish.

♪♪

♪♪

-It is magical.

You discover a place like this,

and you just know you'll be back.

Mary? Excuse me. -Yes, darling?

-It's perfection.

-Is it? -I don't know how to --

-Did you feel it in here when you ate it?

I did, and I made a wish. -You did? Good man.

-But it involves us running away together.

But I know I'm not supposed to talk about it.

-That was the wrong wish.

For God's sake. -[ Laughs ]

-You shouldn't be wishing like that.

-No.

-You're too charming. You know that?

You're turning it on now I can tell.

Right? -Maybe -- Maybe a little.

-Yeah. You are, you are, you are.

-I'm able to bounce back from the rejection rather quickly,

and I'm delighted to spend the rest of the afternoon

alongside Mary at her pub around the corner.

Wow. Here it is. -Here we are.

[ Up-tempo folk music playing ]

-Mary O's pub was a local institution

long before she opened the soda bread shop.

For more than ten years,

Thursday nights at Mary O's

meant gathering for live music,

a cold pint, and one of Mary's scones,

a slice of home for the local Irish community.

That is until COVID forced Mary to shut the pub down,

leaving the musicians no place to perform

and threatening the livelihood of Mary and her six children.

-The music session, they started to play online.

Caitlin, who runs it, she's amazing.

She did all of this. It was fantastic.

-All on Zoom? -Yeah.

Anyway, she used to say to me,

"You should sell your scones online.

You should put them out to the people on the music session."

And people started to order.

It was amazing. It was absolutely amazing.

-Eventually, word of Mary's ridiculously delicious bread

and the fight to save her business went viral.

People around the globe rallied in support,

ordering more than $1,000,000 worth of scones

all baked by Mary,

ultimately allowing her pub to survive the pandemic.

-Every single night

it was people for scones, scones, scones.

I used to be here, and I used to think,

like, I'd get these letters from people

because of the scones and like...

[tearfully] some of the letters, like, you just...

[ Crying ]

...I would just spend my time, like,

looking at them and like, I'd cry, and I'd be like,

these people, like, they made such a connection with it.

And they would tell me like, "Oh, my God,

I got your scones in the mail."

And, you know, it reminded me of, like, you know,

my grandma or my mother or whatever it would be.

-I mean, you, obviously, your food,

your scones were connecting on such a deep level

when people absolutely needed that,

needed that kind of soul connection.

-Mm-hmm. Yeah.

-With her scones flying out the door,

Mary went all in,

opening her soda bread shop

just a few blocks away from the pub,

and the community showed up in droves.

Oh, my.

-Girls, you'll have a piece, too, right?

-Oh, yes.

-Then I'll cut it up for whoever wants them.

-Oh, beautiful.

-Kate, do you wanna take a slice of soda bread with you?

-No, no, no. -Are you sure?

-I'm down to 110 pounds. -Take one.

-Was that like, a comment about my weight?

Because I'm jamming soda bread in my mouth.

-He's very cute, isn't he? -He's gorgeous.

-I know. -He's amazing.

-Let's not go overboard.

-He is. -Okay. You're not.

You're handsome.

-Wow. Wow!

-[ Laughs ]

-♪ Oh, the session, the Thursday session ♪

-Around these parts,

Mary has become a patron saint of sorts,

and her warm loaves and scones have helped to carve out

another little corner of Ireland

right here in the city.

-♪ Oh, the session at Mary O's ♪

[ Cheers and applause ]

♪♪

[ Horns honking ]

-New York has plenty of famous foods,

bagels, pretzels, cheesecake.

But perhaps the most iconic of them all is pizza.

New Yorkers love a friendly,

or not so friendly debate, over who does it best.

So, for the real scoop, I turned to my friend

and New York City food critic, Adam Platt.

The bolder, more sarcastic version of his brother,

actor Oliver Platt.

Adam. -Tony, my friend.

Good to see you, sir. Welcome to Jersey City,

home of the finest pizza in New York.

♪♪

-We're supposed to be doing a thing about New York.

And yet we're in New Jersey. -I know.

It's one of the strange wonders of the world.

We're on Grove Street.

This is downtown New Jersey City,

home of the great Dan Ricker.

He's been chasing elusive pizza perfection,

basically on his own in the shadows,

until he was discovered first by The New York Times,

then by pizza lovers all over the place.

And now it's become a place of pilgrimage.

And it's a wonderful combination of Jersey style,

New York style, Neapolitan style.

And in his madness,

he's created something that is his very own.

-Amazing. I am ready. -Alright. Enter the sanctum.

-Hello. -How you doing, Dan?

-Lovely to see you.

-Dan, I'm Tony. -Thanks for being here.

-The question is, are you a baker or are you a pizza maker?

-I'm a pizza maker first, but to be a good pizza maker,

we have to understand bread making.

-And for the last 20-plus years,

Dan has been doing just that,

obsessing over timing...

-We mark. We measure.

-...temperature...

-Thermometer here.

We got one over here.

-...and technique.

-Smelling it every day throughout the day.

-He's an original.

You're basically talking

to the Aristotle of canned tomatoes, okay?

-The devil is in Dan's attention to detail,

so I need to watch his every move.

-I like to do hands at ten and two,

and we're just gonna push down and out.

There you go.

Touched it a lot more than I did.

-Don't over touch the pizza, Tony.

-It's about the amount of pressure

that you would give somebody a pat on the back,

or a high five with, assertive, but --

-But not assaultive.

Yeah, not assaultive. -Exactly.

The way I teach my kids to stretch

is just the gravity stretch.

-Oh. Oh. -Let gravity do its thing.

It's not gonna stretch when it's on the ground.

-[ Adam laughs ]

-Now I know why you became a critic.

-[ Laughing ] -[ Dan laughs ]

-You were born to that profession.

-Can we eat? It's time to eat.

-Let's start simple with a margherita.

-Ooh, look at that. So, glistening.

-It's a lot less tomato than you think.

-Less than a ladle. -Yep. Right there.

-Okay.

-Don't get too close to the edge.

-[ Adam gasps ] -Oh, too close to the edge.

-Oh, boy. Oh, boy. -It's alright.

I'm just gonna lick that one off.

-And then we have two different types of mozzarella.

This one we make here in the restaurant.

I'm just gonna tear exactly

90 grams of mozzarella cheese. -[ Chuckles ] Alright.

-That one is from a small artisan

cheese maker in Pennsylvania.

-And 90 grams, you said? So, I've got that perfect.

No, wait, that's 92.

-Yeah. -Okay, there we go.

-You got enough cheese. -That's enough?

-Yeah. -Okay.

-This one is yours. -And then that's it.

-So, I'm gonna lift this up just a touch.

And then...

-[ Exhales heavily ] -[ Adam chuckles ]

-Yeah. -Almost.

-Yep, yep. Do it, do it.

-Ahh! -It's so close.

-Okay. Now can I do the little stretch?

-I'll do the re-stretch. -Alright.

So you basically wanna get it the size of the pad.

-Peel. -It's a peel?

-Yeah. A pizza peel.

You're up...

Further in. Further in.

Pretty good!

So now we're gonna switch.

We switch to our turning peel.

So now I'm gonna lift mine up

because the bottom is fully baked.

-So you're pulling the heat from the top, right?

-Because heat rises. -Like a broiler situation.

-So, pizza in Italy is completely different.

-In what sense?

-The textures that they're looking for are not crispy.

-Should I do the top and keep it off the floor?

-Yes, sir.

So hold it up for like two seconds.

Now put it down. Give it a spin.

I think you're done. -I think I'm done.

-Yeah. Let's get it out.

-Oh. -Not bad.

-Got a little dark on the top there.

-Okay. You wanna taste?

-Yes, but it's hot.

So good.

Watch the structure. No tip sag.

-Not floppy. -Nope.

Mm...

A little charcoaly.

-Not half bad. -A little charred.

-I'm not really tasting the burnt crust so much.

Are you tasting it? -Yeah.

-Leave that to the professionals, my friend.

-With pleasure, my friend.

So, I gladly sit back as Dan spoils us rotten.

Amazing.

This is outstanding. -It's delicious.

-Bread served with three different house-made butters.

Kale Caesar with homemade croutons,

pork and beef meatballs topped with ricotta,

and so many different kinds of pizza I've lost count.

-Oh, my goodness.

-It's delicious. -You've outdone yourself.

Maestro, brava, maestro! Brava!

-You really have outdone yourself.

How did this all get started for you?

I mean, really, what drew you into this

amazing artistry?

-So, I went to Italy for the first time.

Right after I got home,

my mom actually passed away of breast cancer.

And because I was cooking, it brought people to me.

And I needed people at that moment.

-Oh, I see.

-And friends and family would come if I cooked.

And that's the best part about owning a restaurant --

people come.

-Dan continues to draw his community together

in all kinds of imaginative ways.

-I had a dream one night, and I came up with the clam calzone.

-No. -Yeah.

-The reveal. -Adam and Tony: Oh!

-Think of it as a bowl of steamed clams.

[ Tony whistles ]

My two favorite things in the world,

clams and bread.

It's actually my three favorite things.

-Lemons. -'Cause leeks.

-You like leeks?

-I'm a leek freak. Okay. I'm just gonna --

-A lotta clams in Green Bay?

-No.

[ Laughs ]

-I'm just asking. -What are you waiting for?

-Let's go. Come on.

Oh, it's nice and salty.

From the salination of the clams.

Look at that. Mmm. Come on.

-Come on, man.

-Welcome to our world, Tony.

It's not gonna get better than this.

-No. Mmm...

-Thank you. It's delicious. -Thank you.

♪♪

-Both Italian and Chinese immigrants

have shaped New York City for over a century.

And Manhattan's Chinatown

is one of the largest in the United States,

home to 150,000 residents

all living within just 2 square miles.

Maestro.

-Adam. -Welcome to Chinatown.

-Thank you, sir. -How are you, sir?

-Today, I'm meeting back up with Adam.

He actually grew up in Taiwan and Hong Kong,

so he's pretty knowledgeable about East Asian cuisine,

but not as knowledgeable as Cory Ng.

-Cory. -Welcome, welcome.

-Cory. What a pleasure. -An honor, an honor.

-Nice to meet you. -Sir, sir, sir.

So, Cory is a Chinatown native.

-Yes, yes, yes. -Born and bred.

-Went to elementary school at P.S. 124,

literally two blocks down that way.

This is our community. This is where we grew up.

-Cory is a first-generation Chinese-American

who co-owns two restaurants in Chinatown,

both known for blending Cantonese cuisine

with New York's bold, diverse flavors.

-Lotta people come to Chinatown for dinner late nights.

But yeah, I think today we're gonna explore some

really great Chinese breakfast items

that people may not be used to or accustomed to.

-It's funny, I don't think of breakfast

when I think of Chinatown.

I know, I think of nighttime. -Yeah.

-Right. -Yeah, we have to move.

-[ Woman speaks indistinctly ] -Yeah.

-Chinatown, baby. -[ Laughs ]

-Hey, they're not playing games out here.

-Chinatown, baby. -No, you gotta pay attention.

-Alright, let's go. -Alright, let's do it.

-So, we're gonna come in here, Deluxe Market.

It's a one-stop shop.

They have a butcher shop in there,

fresh seafood, cooked food.

It's almost like walking into a Whole Foods,

but a real authentic Chinese version.

This is what we're looking for.

So, this is the youtiao, yes.

-So, Cory, this is just fried dough, right?

-Yeah, it's fried dough.

-Oh, my goodness.

-Those are the sweet ones.

-Crispy fried dough.

-Can we just tear into it?

-Sure, sure, sure.

So, this is a warm soy milk.

And this is a kanji.

So, it's almost like a rice porridge.

Yeah, this is -- -You dunk it in.

♪♪

-Different shape, different name,

and from a different country, but the same warm,

familiar feeling I get every time I take a bite of bread.

Like the ultimate comfort food.

-Come on. Golden. Crunchy. Salty.

-I could easily become addicted.

-You can't eat too many of 'em. -Why not?

-'Cause you'll pass out.

-[ Laughs ]

-That's the beauty of that market.

It's like one-stop shopping.

-One stop. -I could go in there, get...

-Barbecue chicken feet. -...14 different things.

And then I'm out.

-And this is why you come down to Chinatown,

'cause it's real.

-It's a community. You know what I'm saying?

Some of the Chinatowns in America,

they're kind of just like strip malls with Asian food,

maybe one Asian supermarket.

This is a community. You see what's around here.

-But Chinatown is shrinking.

With gentrification

and real estate development booming,

this community is fighting to hold on to its identity.

-You know, all these buildings, they're tenement apartments,

very, very small shoe box apartments,

some with a bathtub in the kitchen,

a toilet in the hallway.

A lot of the millennial kids

that grew up like that got the chance

to get educated in this country.

College degree, corporate jobs.

When you make that type of money,

you're not looking at the bathtub in the kitchen anymore.

You move you, yourself, and your whole entire family out.

But within that, you lose all the culture.

You lose everyone living here.

You lose the youth who are willing to build.

-So, we need 100,000 more of you.

You may not guess it from his tough-guy exterior,

but Cory has a huge heart

and is deeply invested in the community that remains.

He and his partners give out hot meals and groceries

every month to hundreds of neighborhood seniors.

-Next stop is we're gonna take you to my place

I opened up with five of my best friends since we were kids.

It's called Phoenix Palace.

-In a changing Chinatown,

Phoenix Palace stands as both a tribute to tradition

and a blueprint for the future.

Because you're doing what you call Cantonese-American food,

so you're getting a much younger clientele, mostly?

-Oh, yeah.

The older generation,

they're not used to even coming into a space like this.

It's maybe a little intimidating for them.

-The older generation holds on to time-honored recipes

while the younger generation blends those roots

with the city's energy

to create something all their own.

At Phoenix Palace, you get both tradition

and reinvention on the same table.

-This is not your classic youtiao what we had at Deluxe.

-This almost looks like it's like

whole wheat or something crazy.

Is it whole wheat? -He hasn't even tried it.

And his dinosaur thinking, he's not gonna like it.

You sound like every other old person in Chinatown.

-There you go. -[ Laughs ]

-When they walk in here and they're like,

"This ain't Chinese food." -It ain't.

It's Disneyland. -[ Laughs ]

-Where's this chef?

He's gonna tell us his crazy influences.

-Zan, get over here.

-Give us the elevator pitch on this madness.

-Okay, so these are olive youtiaos.

For us, we wanted to introduce it in a different way.

-Olives add a sharp, savory twist

and this version is served with sausage jam, and fig mustard.

That jam is damn fine.

-Well, I gotta give you points for moxie.

It's a delicious thing. -Thank you.

-You come up with the idea to put these olives in this.

Where did that come from? How did you get to this?

-We are so close to Little Italy,

and that influence is not lost.

Also, I've been in New York my whole life

being influenced by --

-Yeah, you're a New York chef. -Yes.

-We're happy you are. -Yeah.

-Thanks.

-What's your favorite food?

-My favorite food? This.

[ All laugh ]

-From the duck breast

with hoisin romesco sauce and spicy cucumber

served with delicate little spring pancakes...

-All good.

-...to some of the most delicious tofu

I've ever tasted, chilled and served

with a spicy sesame dressing

and soy pickled shiitake mushrooms...

How can you not love this?

...Phoenix Palace captures the spirit of a changing Chinatown,

blending tradition with fresh ideas

to reflect a younger generation.

It's a distinctly New York kind of fusion,

where old and new come together

to create something truly original.

-This is delicious. -Thank you.

-Can I have some more? -Have it all.

♪♪

-I'm jumping over to an area in East Flatbush, Brooklyn,

known as Little Caribbean, where since the 1960s,

immigrants have been settling en masse,

making it home to the largest Caribbean American community

outside of the West Indies.

I'm here to meet one of the most dynamic young talents

in the New York pastry scene.

-Hi. -Camari Mick.

-[ Laughs ] -Wow.

-Have you ever been to Flatbush before?

-Oh, yeah, but this,

this is new to me, really.

Shall we stroll? -Yes.

-Alright, I'm ready. -Yeah.

-Camari is a three-time James Beard Award nominee

and was named as one of Food & Wine's

best new chefs in 2024.

She's worked her way through

some of Manhattan's most revered kitchens,

and now is the executive pastry chef and a partner

in some of the city's most acclaimed eateries.

-There's little pockets of each part of the Caribbean down here.

Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad,

like, every island has a little something here.

-No kidding? -Yes.

-And your whole connection to this place?

-My family is Jamaican, and as I, like,

was really trying to find my voice as a chef,

I decided that the first place

I should come to is Little Caribbean.

And Allan's had a little bit of everything

that the traditional bakeries in the Caribbean would have.

-Hi. -Hi, Christian.

-How are you? -Good. How are you?

-Good. Nice to see you. -Hey there, Christian.

I'm Tony. -Nice to meet you.

-Thank you for having us.

-Your place smells...so good.

-Thank you, thank you. -Yes.

[ Indistinct chatter ]

-Everything here is delicious.

The black cake, oh, my gosh.

It's like one of the most phenomenal pieces

of cake that I've ever had in my life.

I don't even think I could make. -So, what is it? Chocolate?

Or what is it? -No, it's not chocolate.

So, mostly molasses.

-And dried fruits. -Mm-hmm.

And then you soak it in...?

-Rum and wine. -Uh-huh.

Look at that crumb on this.

Like, it is so soft.

Tradition, for me and, you know, Jamaicans

and, I imagine, Trinidadians,

that it's at a wedding, it's at a funeral.

-Okay, but let me just get one thing straight.

This is a dessert. -Mm-hmm.

-We're not having this with eggs in the morning

or something, right? -I mean, no, not me.

-Okay. I just wanna be clear about that...

because I haven't had my dessert yet.

-[ Laughs ]

Like, that is a cake that you have with a cup of tea.

Because if you have it with a glass of wine,

you're gonna be passed out.

[ Laughter ]

-So it's basically a cocktail in cake form?

-Yes. Yes. [ Laughs ] -Exactly.

-I also have some bread and currant rolls

going on in the back. Would you like to take a look?

-Let's do it. -I would love to.

-In the Caribbean, bakeries aren't just places

to grab something sweet,

they're community cornerstones.

And their pastries blend African,

European, and Asian influences,

turning everyday ingredients into stories of heritage,

resilience and community.

So, my understanding is that you're the third generation

of this family, this bakery.

-My grandparents started the bakery in 1958,

technically out of their car.

My grandpa is still going at it every single day,

lifting up bread, lifting up flour,

at 90 years old.

-It's so moving to hear that.

And over 60 years later,

the most popular item sold at Allan's is the currant roll,

puff pastry filled with currants, sugar, and spices.

So unbelievably good.

The recipe was developed by

Christian's Caribbean-born grandparents,

who must have done something right because on any given day,

Allan's sells more than 1,000 of them.

-I think we did a good job. -Yes.

-I know I did. -[ Laughs ]

-You guys are hired.

-Good. 'Cause I happen to be available.

-Yes. -[ Laughs ]

Nice, fresh, hot currant rolls.

-Wow. Those are beautiful. -Wow.

[ Bread crunching ] I mean, listen to that.

-That's bread.

It sounds like bread. -That's bread. [ Laughs ]

-Oh, boy.

[ Bread crunches ]

-It's like Christmas morning.

-Yeah. Snow falling. -Mm-hmm.

-You know what's really incredible?

The baked currant has become like this jam.

You know what I mean? -Yes.

-It's like a preserve or something.

And I'm not sure what you've put in that sugar.

The mixture. [ Both laugh ]

-Whatever it is, it should be illegal.

-Thank you. -So good.

-Also extremely popular at Allan's -- the beef patty.

Every culture seems to have their own

handheld savory pastry,

and in the Caribbean, it's the beef patty,

filled with a mixture of beef, herbs, spices, and breadcrumbs.

It's close-cousins to the empanada, the samosa...

Oh, my God.

...and the Lebanese fatayer that I grew up on.

You're not gonna tell me what's in that meat mixture.

But...damn. -Mm-hmm.

-So, how did meat patties, beef patties

spread all over New York?

-We actually started selling our beef patties

in around the '70s.

And then eventually it kind of grew

throughout New York through the help of local pizzerias.

And they would add their cheese to it

and put it in the oven with their slices of pizza,

and that's said to be how it kind of spread

throughout New York.

-As delicious and filling as they are,

I know these beef patties are so much more than food.

They're a living tradition.

-[ Laughs ]

-Definitely bread. -Mm. Mm-hmm.

-I could live on these. -Yeah.

And you can make a sandwich out of this.

-Mm-hmm. Yeah. -Take two patties,

and put more patty meat in the middle.

-Ooh. -Like, that's a sandwich.

-Let's do that. -[ Laughs ]

-Alright. [ Laughter ]

♪♪

-Our bread window. -This is you, right?

-Yeah. -Wow.

Camari and I cross the river back to Manhattan

and head into her kitchen for a masterclass of sorts.

-I'm putting you to work. -Yay.

She's re-imagined the classic beef patty,

like the one we tried at Allan's,

with her own flavor and flair.

-We're gonna do a beef patty croissant today.

So, I have the croissant dough ready for you.

This is the turmeric in the curry.

-Oh! -Yes.

-Heavy on the curry. I love that.

-Heavy on the curry. -Yeah.

-So, we're going to shape some croissants.

I've made the beef patty filling.

-Oh... [ Laughs ]

Oh, my.

Allspice, turmeric, and garlic

are defining spices from the Caribbean.

And I love what Camari has dreamed up,

blending her island roots

with her French and Italian training

to create something so unmistakably her own.

Is there anything about this that's unique to New York?

-I would say, like, the idea of crossing cultures

itself is uniquely New York.

-It is. It's the melting pot

of all melting pots. -It is. It's the melting pot.

So, bringing two cultures together and being able to,

like, have this new flaky pastry baby is New York in itself.

-Exactly right. -Are you ready?

-Let's do it. -Alright.

So, all we're gonna do right now,

I'm gonna have you help me cut some.

-Sure. -We can switch spots.

Just right along the edge of the ruler.

-This is Adrian Monk's dream --

to be making food with an actual ruler.

-[ Laughing ] Right.

-I'm gonna try not to slice my fingers.

-Perfecto.

-Ooh. Love that. Look at that.

-Okay. We're going to stretch it out.

And then we're also gonna stretch out the dough,

like so, okay?

-Camari's technique, the precision,

I'm just trying to keep up and not make a mess of it.

Tell me how all this got started for you.

-Growing up, nobody in my family

was a sweet-toothed person except for myself.

So, I got my mom to start baking with me a little bit,

and we would just bake and we would talk about our days.

-How cool is that? -Yeah.

So it was a really lovely bonding moment.

-I'm from a big family, and when all my older siblings were,

you know, off to school, I had that.

I had that time at home with my --

just with my mother cooking and preparing food.

-Were you the favorite? -I was -- [ Laughs ]

-[ Laughs ] -I actually was, but --

[ Both laugh ]

And what drew you to the profession?

-To the profession?

You know, when it came time to really decide

what I wanted to do with my life,

my dad sat me down, and he's like,

"Listen, you clearly have a love for this.

You can make a career out of it."

And I had never really thought about that.

Especially, like, as a first-generation Jamaican,

being pushed into the culinary arts

is very rare due to the fact of slavery.

Essentially, like, it's looked as a domesticated job,

which our people have fought to not be seen as that.

-How great that he gave you that vote of confidence.

-Yeah.

-This is what led you into mentoring

other young chefs coming along, especially black.

-Yeah, that's why it's really important to me

to continue to uplift

the newer generation and follow suit.

-Beautiful. -So, these look gorgeous.

You're gonna do 375. We'll do 9 minutes, rotate.

-Just keep an eye on 'em.

-We keep an eye on 'em. -Yeah.

-So, you can even see already this one over here,

you see it's kinda, like, oozing the butter a little bit.

-This is the thing about bread and about baking.

For me, it's all about transformation.

You know, you're starting with one thing,

you mold it into another shape,

and then heat is like a birthing almost.

-Mm.

-Oh...

[ Laughing ] Ooh.

Oh, yeah. -Oh.

-Ooh, look at that beautiful thing.

-This is just like the beauty of lamination.

-It looks like some kind of beautiful

geological strata of rock or something.

-[ Laughs ] Right, right. -Shall we?

♪♪

[ Bread crunches ]

-[ Camari laughs ]

Look at the flakiness. -Buttery and warm and soft.

Spicy. -Mm-hmm.

-You know, it's heating up as I'm eating it.

In a good way. In the best possible way.

-That's the Scotch bonnet.

And then in the curry there's also a bit of cayenne.

So, there's definitely layers of heat.

-Do I have food all over my face?

-[ Laughs ]

-We're changing the name of the show to "The Crumb Catcher."

-"The Crumb Catcher." [ Laughs ]

-Okay.

Camari's beef patty croissant may be a bold reinvention,

but at its heart, it's the same comforting classic,

a bite-sized invitation to share and connect.

So it makes perfect sense

to gather friends for dinner at Raf's,

Camari's restaurant upstairs.

Thank you, Camari, for hosting us here.

-Let's dig in. -That sounds amazing.

-It's amazing, yeah. It looks beautiful.

-I'm joined by some fellow bread lovers

for a spectacular dinner.

We're passing milk bread rolls, sourdough,

and focaccia topped with an olive tapenade,

sharing and tasting the many ways

the city brings people together.

Oh, my God.

I really just want to share some food,

talk about the good stuff.

-Do you find that people order the bread basket a lot, yeah?

-Yes. This is our number-one seller.

We make about 30 loaves a day.

-Okay, that's super nice to know.

-If my behavior with bread is a little weird and neurotic.

-No. -I can be too much of a --

-Bread nerd? -Yeah.

-That's alright.

-I've had similar experiences.

I've had people tell me

they've never seen someone sit down

and eat so much bread at the beginning of a meal,

and that it's distracting.

-That it's distracting? -Yes.

-Bread binds us across boroughs and backgrounds,

from pumpernickel to pizza,

each bite telling a story of who we are,

where we've been, and where we're going.

In this city of endless reinvention,

bread isn't just food.

It's a bridge between cultures, generations,

and strangers turned friends.

And maybe that's the secret to New York's magic,

not just the bread we bake,

but the bonds we make breaking it.

-Don't overthink it. Just whatever comes first.

Butter or olive oil? -Bread and butter.

-Butter. -Butter.

-Olive oil.

-You're overthinking it. [ Laughs ]

[ All laughing ]