Original subtitles

This program is rated PG and contains mature subject matter. Your discretion

advised.

There's something about this place.

It's big, it's messy, it's old, it's new.

It's a million pieces that somehow create something that's magical and

A thousand feet high when it was built, this tower was the tallest in the world

and an instant sensation.

Daringly modern and yet so elegant, it embodies the city it soars over.

No matter how many times I do this, it's still the greatest thrill in the world.

Paris, I can't get enough of you.

I'm Eva Longoria, and I'm a serious Francophile.

Over the past 20 years, my career as an actor has brought me to France time and

again. It's my home away from home.

But those trips were more about work than joie de vivre.

Now I want something deeper. Not just France, but the whole world.

La haute gastronomie, c 'est comme la haute couture. C 'est une obsession

française.

Creating a legacy of classic after classic after classic.

I think I'm going to lick this off the plate.

And lately, a new food scene is sweeping the city, led by a fresh wave of

culinary giants.

Now we have people who can express their double identity.

But some Parisian cooking traditions are just too good to change.

Butter. More!

Oh, my God.

Truckloads of butter. It's too much. Yes.

Thank you.

In Paris, one of the greatest pleasures is picking up your morning baguettes. It

shaped this city. I'm so happy to be back in Paris, especially for the food.

I bet. I mean, everything comes together here.

Yeah. The baguettes in your hand. Yeah. The flour might be coming from Normandy.

And anything you would want to pair with that. Yeah. Butter.

Oh, Brittany. Yes. If you wanted champagne to go with your breakfast,

might. 100 miles east from here.

But, you know, I feel like there's a stereotype about Parisians, you know.

one? There are many.

What you might be hinting at is this sort of confidence that comes across as

arrogant. From the Parisians. Yeah. But the thing that I appreciate so much here

is that everyone cares.

They care about.

Their appearance, the way that they're put together, they care about food, they

care about a set. And anywhere is Le Mourir.

The fine dining vision of legendary chef Alain Ducasse.

Bonjour, mon ami.

Bonjour. Bon plaisir de vous revoir.

C 'est un plaisir.

Hello again.

A master of the Parisian art of the table, Alain Ducasse has accumulated an

astonishing 21 Michelin stars over his career.

A glutton and food obsessive said to have eaten six dozen oysters at a time.

was King Louis XIV who introduced the art of the table to his palace in

Versailles in the 17th century.

He enjoyed elaborate dining rituals.

creating the concept of haute cuisine, which Paris is still famed for, all

showcasing French power to the world.

To

honor

Versailles, executive chef Amaury Bouhoul is serving Louis XIV's favorite

Brittany oysters.

dressed with rhubarb four ways.

A rhubarb tofu, a tart salad, a delicate gel, and a frozen granita.

But where the king had 72 in one sitting, we just get one.

Wow.

Voilà. Unbelievable.

Oh, my gosh.

But what an oyster.

We have a beautiful oyster from the Key Bronze Bay.

The Britannians just poached.

Beautiful.

Enjoy and bon appétit. Merci, chef.

Mmm.

Wow. This is elegant.

Extraordinary.

Yeah.

There's so many different textures. It's crunchy, it's smooth.

I would

sleep

in these.

We have beautiful white asparagus.

Merci.

Next, delicate asparagus spears are balanced with salty seaweed.

Mmm. I love it.

Oh, merci.

Followed by a smoky grilled veal with a fresh vegetable sauce.

Oh, my gosh. This is so tender.

No.

Some say Canadians are apologetic.

Sure, we're sorry for being so nice. Thank you. Sorry we have so much talent

that it overflows our borders. I'm not going anywhere.

Sorry for making gripping drama and great music.

I love the new music coming out of Canada. Sorry for having the passion to

and rebuild.

Sorry for being dreamers and connoisseurs. Wow!

Yeah, sorry, not sorry. We're done saying we're sorry.

Stream the best of Canadian content on Stack TV.

Proudly Canadian, unapologetically entertaining.

Northeast of the elegant boulevards of central Paris, the former hilltop

of Belleville stands apart with its high rises and narrow streets.

This neighborhood played a key part in the Paris Commune of 1871, a workers'

rebellion against the authoritarian government, leaving an enduring legacy

defying.

This is a part of Paris I have never been.

It's normal. It's not very touristic.

Edith de Belleville is an author and expert in Parisian democratic café

Born and raised here, as you might have guessed from her name.

We had an archetype of someone who lived from Belleville or east of Paris that

we call city Parisien.

Have you heard about it?

It's a kid from the streets, you know, a bit like Oliver Twist.

The kid who lives in the poor neighborhood, working class, cheeky,

That's the kind of titi.

The streets of Bellevue are lined with cafes where people snack on the original

grilled cheese sandwich, the famous croque monsieur.

How do you translate in English? Crunch, gentlemen?

Croque monsieur, a crunchy gentleman.

That's good.

The croque monsieur first appeared in the cafes of Paris around 1910 and was

instant hit.

Made from simple white bread, layered with bechamel sauce, ham, and gruyere

cheese, and then grilled.

It's a quick and delicious bite for working Parisians.

Oh, it comes with french fries? Yeah.

All right, let me try it.

This is so good.

If you put an egg on the top, it's called croque madame.

Oh, yes, I've seen that sometimes on a menu.

In this neighborhood, you have one of the highest percentage of social housing

in Belgium.

40%, which is a lot.

Is that high for a neighborhood? Yes, yes, yes, of course. People call them.

It's very important to keep it.

Otherwise, well, the working class people will go in the suburbs.

Yeah, so they would move the poor people out.

That's why I have the spirit.

Belleville is hashtag fight for your rights.

I think everybody from France is rebellious. You think so?

Well, I was married to one.

Ah, yes.

The

TT spirit

and cheaper rents have brought waves of migration to Belleville, creating a rich

melting pot of cultures and cuisines.

all coexisting among these winding streets, allowing for a new generation

people and ideas to flourish.

Julien! How are you? Welcome to Belleville.

Thank you.

Restaurant consultant and Belleville local, Julien Delefemme, is at the

forefront of this revolution.

What I love about Belleville is that there's a sense of diversity that you

find in...

Other parts of Paris, people share the same schools, the same supermarkets.

And the same foods.

Yeah, the food spots. And why the food is so good in Belleville is because they

are made for the communities living in Belleville. Oh, my God. Now I'm really

excited to eat here.

Julien is introducing me to one of his neighborhood's hippest eateries.

There you go. This is it. Oh, my gosh.

This isn't what I expected.

It used to be like a Chinese restaurant in the 80s, and they kept the name. Is

this the original sign? Yes, but now it's owned by the team I'm going to

introduce you to. Yeah.

Now I'm intrigued.

Cheval Dolge's vintage 80s entrance hides a sleek, modern interior, where

Hans Gwecko is transforming traditional Parisian fare.

How are you? Good to meet you. Nice to meet you.

Where are you from?

I was born in the Philippines, but I grew up in Australia.

Oh, my gosh.

What are we making today? What are you making today?

We're making our take on our croque madame.

Okay. So it has an egg?

It has an egg, and then we fill it with prawn toast. So it's like a Chinese

shrimp toast. I love prawn toast.

By the way, I thought it was a croque madame because the egg was a boob.

Oh, then there would be two.

Two eggs.

What do you start with?

So first we're going to make prawn milk.

So we're going to fill the blender up with peeled prawn.

And then we add some egg white, sugar, salt, and some sesame oil.

Okay. That's it?

That's it.

Oh, my God. It already smells good and it's raw.

Where did the idea for this version of a croque madame come from?

With my family, every Sunday we'd go to Dim Sum, and I'd have the Chinese shrimp

toast. And when we opened here, I thought croque madame is very similar.

So it's just like a way to bridge the gap between the different cultures. The

different cultures.

So next we're going to just pan fry this, and then we're going to pop it in

oven. All right, why don't you guys have a seat, and I'll bring it right over.

Okay. Hans, do you have any wine in this joint? Absolutely.

Are any of the team from France? No, no one is French in the team. But to me,

it's the dream team. You have Chris and Luis from Cape Verde. Cape Verde, yeah.

You have Han from Australia, but grew up with the Filipino heritage.

You have Nadib from Palestinian parents.

Having this team of people coming from elsewhere also says a lot about Paris,

especially in Belleville. Yeah. Because Belleville allows you that freedom.

I think to be yourself and to express yourself through your identity.

Hans is finishing our croque madame, topping it with the traditional egg and

Asian -inspired reimagining of the Parisian café classic I tried earlier.

Oh, wow.

I'm so excited. This is my first croque madame.

Oh, my God, that is so good.

I love how playful this is, and I like the story it tells.

Taking such a traditional, iconic plate and then putting a twist on it that is

not dishonoring its roots. Yes, you see, this dish is like a mix of Chinese

culinary heritage and a classic of French café bistro. Now we have people

can... Express their double identity because they are kids of immigrants.

But it's sincere and authentic.

It is.

So, like, the whole experience from the staff to the menu to the aesthetic is so

representative of what Paris eating is today and the future of it. Yes, and

is what I want for my kids, to eat in places like that.

They represent the present and the future.

That's what's beautiful with mixing things.

I can't help feeling the flavor of rebellion lives on as this new

chefs lead the charge to revolutionize classic Parisian cuisine.

So this is a first for me. I am meeting someone at a cemetery in Paris.

Just down the hill from Bellevue, Père Léchaise is the world's most visited

cemetery. It's the final resting place for luminaries like Chopin, Edith Piaf,

and Jim Morrison, as well as a hero of Parisian gastronomy.

Bonjour, Marilyn!

Bonjour, Eva!

Heureuse de te rencontrer.

Food writer Marie -Laure Frechet is taking me to meet the champion of Paris'

most beloved ingredient.

Et voilà.

Let me introduce you to the king of potato.

Antoine Auguste Barmentier.

Oh, there's little potatoes.

People visit him.

Yeah. Just to say thank you.

Why is he called the king of potatoes?

Because he did so much for the promotion of potatoes.

It was before the French Revolution.

In France, nobody was eating potatoes.

People were very suspicious.

In the late 18th century, war and bad harvests led to famine on the streets of

Paris.

Parmentier, a pharmacist, knowing the potato wasn't easy to grow food,

confronted this French mistrust.

He was very good at promotion and marketing at that time. He wrote books

potatoes, how to eat them, and he organized big parties.

Potato parties.

Yes, with the king and the queen.

So he was like a potato influencer.

Oh, that's right.

If he had an Instagram page, he'd have a lot of followers.

As Paul Moutier's in the flavor, Chef Laura Palfi is making the sophisticated

cousin of our more homely mashed potatoes.

I need to work

up an appetite.

Now I'm not as strong.

Okay.

Workout complete.

Laura whisks the cooked potato into a pan of hot milk before revealing the

guilty secret to the perfect pomme purée.

That's over a pound of butter.

This is not your mom's typical recipe.

Oh, okay.

It's taking everything out of me not to lick this whisk.

Je peux goûter maintenant?

Ah, non. Je pense que ce sera préférable pour vous d 'aller dans le salon du

Maxime's pour tout goûter les plats. D 'accord.

My patience will be rewarded because Laura's not done yet.

She's making another classic, gratin dauphinois.

There's no butter, but don't worry. There's plenty of milk, cream, and comté

cheese.

Bonsoir. Oh my gosh.

Merci beaucoup.

Look at that.

Yeah.

It's so silky looking.

How is the puree?

It's heavenly. It's like heaven in your mouth.

Delicious.

You can taste the butter, but also the cream, the milk.

And we can feel the taste of the potato.

And the texture of the potato. Even though it's so pureed and fine.

Oh, my God. I think I'm going to lick this off the plate.

All right. Let me try the gratin.

Oh, my God.

Do you like it? Wow.

The potatoes are very soft.

Yeah.

This is amazing.

Paul Mintier would be proud.

Really, yeah. It's part of French culinary heritage, all these recipes.

The crazy thing is, these are just the sides, but they're the star of the show.

Yeah.

I

think

it's fair to say that one 18th century pharmacist changed the course of

history.

Merci beaucoup.

Amen.

Kill your strokes again.

He will kill again unless we stop him.

Rick and Morty, we're back, baby!

Now we can be together forever!

I came here to help you. Shut it down!

There we go!

I'm in life now, let's go!

Here we are in the Passage Roussel. It's crossed with Rue Sainte -Anne.

It's one of the few Japanese districts we have in Paris.

Just north of the Louvre, this Japanese quarter might be small, but it's had a

big influence on Mori.

This week is where I discovered the Japanese food.

From my childhood, I'm very passionate about the Japanese culture. So starting

with the manga.

And when I was looking at the manga, one of the most popular was Naruto.

And Naruto's favorite dish was ramen. So I was really curious about, what is

this ramen? I want to try it.

How do you say the name?

Kodawari. Does it mean something in Japanese?

It's like the attention to the teachers.

So, after you.

Thank you so much.

Mori is taking me to his favorite Japanese restaurant to taste the deep,

ramen that shaped his own cooking.

I start working at 15 years old. And with my first salary, I say, okay, now I

will go to the Japanese restaurant.

And buy a meal. And I try one bite and say.

Oh, wow.

Look at this. His own restaurant, Motsuke,

which celebrates his love for Japan and his French and African heritage.

I have to say, I don't think I've been in such a clean kitchen before.

Okay, we're going to make beef with mashed potatoes.

The mafia sauce is a typical sauce from West Africa. Oh, okay. It's the recipe I

learned from my mom. Oh. Yes, I try many kind of sauce, but I never reach the

same taste as my mom. Of course. So one day I take my phone and say, okay. Mom,

help. How you do the sauce?

So you just add up.

She has a recipe with some Japanese ingredients.

Has she tasted this dish here before?

She liked it, but she said, no, this is not a muffin. It's something different.

I love it. Leave it to our mom to keep us grounded.

Okay, where do we begin?

So I have butter.

Oh. Well, this is the French part, lots of butter.

Yes. Now we're going to wrap the beef in the butter.

Oh. It's like a spa, but for the beef. A spa day for the beef.

So how long does the beef take a bath in this?

Like five or ten days.

Wait, five or ten days? Yes.

Well, it's going to be a minute before we eat, you guys.

We just wrap it?

Yep.

You got to make sure it's all covered.

And now let's go for five days.

Okay. Like this. All right. Au revoir.

Au revoir.

Au revoir.

So next we're going to make the sauce. Okay.

Classic West African mafe features chili, peanut paste, and beef broth.

Ah, smells so good.

Yes, it's tough to smell.

But Maury's version adds soy sauce and Japanese miso.

I'm thinking that that's the part your mom doesn't like. Yes, this is the part

where we go out from the tradition.

We're leaving West Africa.

We've entered Japan.

After 10 days bathing in butter, Oh, that's so pretty!

Mori steers slices of the beef filet on a Japanese grill.

Then we add some butter into the shark roll directly.

Oh, more butter.

But why wouldn't you put the butter on the meat? We just want the taste of the

butter, but not the fat. Yeah.

It's going to give a completely different taste to the beef.

The finished dish comes together with a perfect square of beef on a bed of mafe

sauce and a crushed peanut garnish.

This has to be the most beautiful plate I've ever seen. It's like an art piece.

I don't even want to dig into it.

Oh, no, you have to really.

It's perfectly cooked. My goodness.

Mmm.

Wow.

This is so beautiful.

Thank you.

Everything tastes smoky, but not like barbecue smoky. Yeah, so it don't hide

taste of the beef.

Mmm. Wow.

Mori's Japanese take on his mom's mafe sauce adds a deep, savory layer to the

beef.

Mmm. It's a really, truly West African dish, but using French and Japanese

products. Yeah.

So much creativity comes out of Paris. The fashion and, of course, filmmaking

and, of course, the gastronomy. But you are the perfect example of creativity in

gastronomy for Paris.

Thank you.

Really.

I mean, this is insane.

Dak TV has big shows and big darts that has everyone talking.

Survivors ready.

This is a place to be.

This is it.

We'll need a code name for you.

Why not the Jackal?

Press helmets on. Brace for impact.

There's something about Paris that has called out across the pond to us

Americans for centuries.

Whether it's for education, adventure, a job, safety, love,

many generations of us have followed our heart and made our way to the banks of

the Seine.

Like my friend, pop star Christina Milian, who was drawn here by the love

Frenchman. Does she love it when we're here together? We love it when we're

together. And we always catch up whenever I'm in town.

We're so loud. We're so American.

Yes, that is definitely American.

I brought some little snacks.

These are shukets.

It's sweeter.

It's sweet.

Yeah? Anything you like, I like. Yeah. These are really fresh.

They're light, fluffy.

It's nice because it's like you get the pop of sugar on top, but they're really

good with a little coffee or tea or something.

Oh, my God. I love this.

This view is beautiful.

I know.

Now I know why you live here.

I mean, wherever you are, there's something about it that's so rich in

Yeah. The pace of life is different, especially for eating. Like, people

stop. Enjoy meals here.

Do you find that's how it's been for you? I think that's what helped make

choice. I looked around, and people every age you can think of are out and

about. We're talking at the table. People passing the food over to each

I love that, too, about the multi -generations in a restaurant. You can

baby, a baby in a bar, and a grandma can be there with you. It's a culture that

really includes the whole family all the time.

By making Paris her home, Christina is following in the footsteps of

of Americans, many of whom settled in Montparnasse on the left bank.

In the 1920s, this more affordable side of the city became a magnet for expats,

artists, and writers who would meet at brasseries like La Coupole for artistic

exchanges and wild parties.

Brian Bouillon Baker, a writer, is the son of dancer Josephine Baker, who fled

poverty and segregation in the U .S. to become one of Paris' most beloved icons

and a personal hero of mine.

La Coupole has been created in 1927.

So around the time your mother arrived? My mother arrived in 1925.

And she was here for the opening.

Then she was a regular customer.

So once she arrived in France, she never went home?

No. She fell in love with Paris. And Paris fell in love with her.

The young Josephine was an overnight sensation with her daring dance shows.

Soon she became the darling of the artistic circles on the left bank.

My mother was very friend at the time with Frida Kahlo. Of course she was

friends with Frida Kahlo. They were the cool people. They were the artist, the

poet, the writer, Picasso.

And it was Hemingway who said to my mother, the most extraordinary woman

met in my life.

Merci.

Brian has ordered a couple of Parisian brasserie classics, steak tartare, and

a steaming bowl of French onion soup.

Wow.

I'm a big fan of French onion soup, but this one is spectacular.

It was one of my mother's favorite dishes, especially after she was doing

fiesta. All night after forming.

So Montparnasse is like the place to be.

But then what does your mom do once the Second World War starts?

She proposes herself to be a spy.

A spy?

For French intelligence.

Wow. I want to be this woman.

She said it was a duty.

It's a duty for France. Yes. And for the world.

Josephine Baker's ideals took her from spying for France against the Nazis to

defending civil rights in her homeland, even speaking at the Lincoln Memorial

before Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream speech.

You are a united people, at last.

And also adopting children from around the world, calling them her rainbow

tribe.

My mother was saying, We are all universal persons.

But to you, she was just your mother.

Yes. We never really thought about her as an artist.

Anyway, so I think you prefer to hear the Beatles or Rolling Stones or the Woo

or the Deep Purple than the songs of... And we are saying, yes, we are not crazy

about your music.

It's not our type.

I have to tell you, too, that the government has created...

A 20 cent.

Oh, she's on a coin.

Yes. It's this one. With her face here.

Wow.

And how did you feel when you saw?

I felt like it's a major tribute. And she would have been proud and moved.

Really moved.

So keep it. Oh, I'm keeping it.

I'm feeling your 20 cents.

I have to say, I've been so inspired by your mom.

She was a dancer, but she was too great.

I'm ending my Parisian journey at a left bank landmark.

It's hard to believe this Art Nouveau hotel with its graceful facade served as

German intelligence headquarters during World War II.

Here in Paris, there are very few hotels that have a more layered history than

the Lucetia.

The best and worst of humanity have passed through these doors.

Hello!

After nearly 30 years of service at the Lutetia, Romain Coutillon -Côté knows

all of its secrets.

I'm excited to learn about the history. Where are we going to start? We could

start from here.

Okay.

At the end of World War II, the hotel opened its doors to Jews and other

prisoners liberated from the Nazi death camps.

You receive thousands and thousands of survivors on the upper floor. There is

like a hospital, so people have rest.

You have this harbor to restart a new life.

How many people did Lutetia receive?

A third of the survivors come through our doors. Wow.

And more keys to the hotel's tumultuous past lie beneath our feet.

Welcome to our wine cellar.

Where few get to go.

Wow, this is high security.

Indeed.

Oh, this is my favorite room of the hotel.

Yeah, you have many jewels here.

Wow. In 1940, my colleague built a false wall to hide

the best bottle we had.

From the Nazis? From the Nazis, yes.

When the Germans invaded Paris in 1940, they ransacked the city's wine cellars.

But even though the Lutetia was occupied by the intelligence service, the

cellars' hidden treasures survived undiscovered.

After the war, the hotel and its fine wines were bought by one of France's

leading champagne families.

You can take the bottle just behind you.

You will soon. It's a Tétanger bottle. Oh, in America we say Tatinger.

Tatinger. Tétanger sounds much better.

French name.

He owned the hotel?

Yep. And they create a special cuvee for the Lutetia. And the only place in the

world you could have that bottle.

Well, let's go put it on ice.

To toast the Lutetia's extraordinary past, I'm honored to be sharing one of

their historic bottles with my old Parisian friends, Jordan, Thierry, and

Jessica, who I've known for 20 years.

Oh, hello.

Champagne.

I like it, but I like it cold, cold, cold, like frozen. Yeah, but normally

champagne is not supposed to be drink super cold, no? Not super cold, just

perfect temperature, 8 degrees, 7 degrees.

Oh, my God, that's amazing.

It's so good. Yeah. It's fruity. It's so good. It's also not that bubbly, which

I like. Yeah. No, they're really thin.

But you have more than me. I know. Hey, I'm jealous.

That's true. We are a little bit snowy.

But then, you know, it's Paris.

We love it. Otherwise, Paris is not Paris if there's no Parisians.

Okay. Wow. I'm so happy that I got to share a meal with my favorite Parisians.

Santé. Santé. Cheers.

Paris is a unique, beautiful, rowdy, rebellious city. It has seen

the worst of times and the best of times. And it still shines as a beacon

light for all of us.

It's a city that never stands still, embracing new influences and striving

brilliance, leaving me once again with wonderful memories.

After all, we'll always have Paris.

Uh -huh. Come on.