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- [00:01]
Anne Burrell
Experience a membership that backs what you're building with American Express Business Platinum. Enjoy complimentary access to the American Express.
- [00:09]
Evan
Global Lounge collection and a welcome offer.
- [00:12]
Anne Burrell
Of 200,000 points after you spend $20,000 on purchases on the card within your first three months of membership.
- [00:19]
Evan
American Express Business Platinum.
- [00:21]
Anne Burrell
There's nothing like it.
- [00:23]
Evan
Terms apply.
- [00:24]
Anne Burrell
Learn more@americanexpress.com.
- [00:31]
Anthony Bourdain
You're listening to Comedy Central.
- [00:48]
Host (possibly Jon Stewart or Trevor Noah)
My guest tonight, he's a chef and author. His show for the Travel Channel is called no Reservations.
- [00:53]
Evan
The people here in Maputi, you know.
- [00:55]
Kwamwe Onwuachi
Whenever they have a hangover, they always come for plans. Either we take the medium ones or the big ones. Normally they open better than the small ones.
- [01:07]
Anthony Bourdain
All right, so generally you buy your fish here, you go back there and you pick a restaurant.
- [01:11]
Kwamwe Onwuachi
We choose a place, we sit there.
- [01:13]
Evan
And then they cook it for us.
- [01:14]
Anthony Bourdain
Done.
- [01:21]
Host (possibly Jon Stewart or Trevor Noah)
I gotta get out more. Please welcome Anthony Bourdain. Ryan, nice to see you.
- [01:35]
Evan
Good to be here.
- [01:38]
Host (possibly Jon Stewart or Trevor Noah)
We love your show. It's a great show. Here's what I have decided your job is what people would do if they didn't have to work. It's the greatest job. You travel around the world, American, all over, engaging with the local culture, eating the local food. It's amazing.
- [01:56]
Anthony Bourdain
I have the best job in the world. There's no doubt about it.
- [02:00]
Host (possibly Jon Stewart or Trevor Noah)
How often are you on the road?
- [02:03]
Anthony Bourdain
About 220 days a year, something like that. So I'm away from home a lot, but I decide where we go. I make the show the way me and my friends want to make it. The network interferes, near to not at all. So I can hardly complain about the boss.
- [02:22]
Host (possibly Jon Stewart or Trevor Noah)
Is there a place you haven't been to that was too difficult to get to? The arrangements couldn't be made. Was there A disappointment.
- [02:29]
Anthony Bourdain
I dreamed for a long time. We tried year after year to do a. I'm obsessed with Apocalypse now and Heart of Darkness.
- [02:36]
Host (possibly Jon Stewart or Trevor Noah)
Yes, yes.
- [02:37]
Anthony Bourdain
And I, you know, I see myself every year going up the river, you know, tracing the Marla's trip up to Kurt's and the Congo. There have been some health and safety concerns that have prevented that from happening.
- [02:50]
Host (possibly Jon Stewart or Trevor Noah)
I can just see the shot. You rising up from the river, having a man. So nothing in, let's say, war torn regions.
- [02:58]
David Chang
You have.
- [02:58]
Anthony Bourdain
Well, we had a taste of that in 2006. We were shooting what was supposed to be a happy food show in Beirut and ended up getting evacuated by the Marines. We've certainly shot at some places where anything resembling infrastructure is not really there.
- [03:18]
Host (possibly Jon Stewart or Trevor Noah)
It's impressive. Some of the Places you go to, some of the food you eat. It's impressive. I have gotten diarrhea from watching your show. I have. I was struck down recently with a terrible. Watching the Mozambique preview and just got hit. Just bad. Just couldn't leave the house for two days. We kind of joke on the show.
- [03:38]
Anthony Bourdain
That, you know, if there's not at least a 50% chance of diarrhea when you eat something, it's almost not worth eating.
- [03:43]
Host (possibly Jon Stewart or Trevor Noah)
It really isn't. Do you have, like. Are there certain precautions that you take? You go into these areas, like shots and.
- [03:50]
Anthony Bourdain
Yeah, I mean, we've had the full spectrum there, but honestly, we avoid the hotel breakfast buffet. That thing is lethal.
- [03:56]
Host (possibly Jon Stewart or Trevor Noah)
Would you say that even in the States?
- [03:58]
Anthony Bourdain
I would say even that sort of forlorn. The shiny ham, the congealed eggs, the little. No, that stuff is. That's a vector. That's not a meal.
- [04:09]
Host (possibly Jon Stewart or Trevor Noah)
The display of bacon, always. Because I'm a huge fan of bacon. But once it gets. Somehow when it starts to layer and get on top of itself in the crevices. Bacon. Ella. Or whatever it is. Yeah.
- [04:23]
Anthony Bourdain
If it's more jerky like, than bacon, like, you probably shouldn't be. Yeah.
- [04:29]
Host (possibly Jon Stewart or Trevor Noah)
Have you been struck by the ability of food to bring cultures together everywhere you've gone? Have you ever been to a place where food was not important to the culture? Where it was.
- [04:42]
Anthony Bourdain
It's a bad place. You know, where people are immune to the joys of eating. And that has nothing to do with budget. Dependably. The best food. The best times we've had on the road are often in very poor countries where they have very little to work with and they do a lot with it. Countries that just don't pay attention to food at all. It's like someone who says to you, I'm not interested in food. Really not interested. It's like them saying, I don't like, you know, music.
- [05:05]
Jose Andres
Right.
- [05:05]
Anthony Bourdain
And I'm not particularly interested in sex either. You know, it's just not a.
- [05:10]
Host (possibly Jon Stewart or Trevor Noah)
Not a fan of joy.
- [05:10]
Anthony Bourdain
I kind of got that from the first two.
- [05:12]
Host (possibly Jon Stewart or Trevor Noah)
Right, right, right.
- [05:13]
Anthony Bourdain
Hate joy.
- [05:13]
David Chang
Yeah.
- [05:14]
Host (possibly Jon Stewart or Trevor Noah)
Colors don't do it for me. Yeah.
- [05:16]
Anthony Bourdain
Not interested.
- [05:17]
Host (possibly Jon Stewart or Trevor Noah)
It's incredible. I'm always, you know, I do a very different kind of traveling. It's traveling for comedy. And you're going to clubs and you're not. But I'm always curious how you infiltrate the local restaurant system. How do you do that? Where do you go to find actual real good local food?
- [05:34]
Anthony Bourdain
Drink a lot with locals.
- [05:37]
Host (possibly Jon Stewart or Trevor Noah)
So it starts with drink.
- [05:39]
Anthony Bourdain
It really Helps you want to eat where Going to the early morning markets is useful because you see what people are buying and the little places around them that market workers eat in. People are proud of their food and they'll tell you, they'll recognize a freakishly tall American and say, have you eaten this yet?
- [05:57]
Host (possibly Jon Stewart or Trevor Noah)
You don't have to tell me. Oops. In New York, do you find. Is that your comfort level now? You just feel like, you know, all.
- [06:09]
Anthony Bourdain
In New York, you know, it's a big city. I'm always, you know, you always discover new things about it. But so perfect example, you know, you always are looking for what do you eat in New York if you only got one day here, you know, not the best restaurant in New York. What are we good at in New York? The best at in New York that nobody else is as good at? I'd say Bagel Nova cream cheese Deli. We're better at deli than anybody.
- [06:28]
Host (possibly Jon Stewart or Trevor Noah)
Big deli.
- [06:28]
Anthony Bourdain
So that's what you do. And you're looking for the sort of Vietnamese version of deli or the Singaporean version of deli. What do they do better than anyone else?
- [06:36]
Host (possibly Jon Stewart or Trevor Noah)
Like a noodle bagel, something like that.
- [06:39]
Anthony Bourdain
You might be onto something.
- [06:40]
Host (possibly Jon Stewart or Trevor Noah)
That's why I don't cook well. Listen, it's great to have you. We love the show. The eighth season no Reservations premieres on the Travel Channel April 9th, 9pm Anthony Bourdain.
- [06:50]
Jose Andres
This is pro linebacker T.J. watt.
- [06:52]
Kwamwe Onwuachi
And I'm back with YPB by Abercrombie for another activewear drop. My second co design collection has new.
- [06:58]
Jose Andres
Shorts and tanks that keep up with.
- [06:59]
Kwamwe Onwuachi
All my in season workouts. And their new Restore collection is a game changer off the field too, because.
- [07:05]
Jose Andres
Even pro athletes like me need rest days.
- [07:08]
Kwamwe Onwuachi
Shop YPB by Abercrombie in the app.
- [07:10]
Jose Andres
Online and in stores because your personal.
- [07:13]
Kwamwe Onwuachi
Best is greater than anything.
- [07:23]
Evan
My guest tonight is a world renowned chef and founder of the Momofuku restaurant group. He has a new documentary series on Netflix called Ugly Delicious.
- [07:32]
David Chang
The women in my life express love through food. My grandmother was an amazing cook. My mother is an amazing cook. Mama.
- [07:43]
Evan
Mm, mm, mm, mm.
- [07:46]
David Chang
Love was shown as. Have you had enough to eat? Till this day, when I talk to my mom, the first thing she says is, what have you eaten? Have you had enough to eat?
- [07:55]
Evan
Please welcome David Chang. Welcome, sir.
- [08:10]
David Chang
Excited to be here.
- [08:11]
Evan
Welcome to the show. Glad that you're here. Disappointed you didn't bring any fried chicken with you? Uh, I'm addicted to a lot of your food and so many other people are. Uh, this Netflix series has started off with a bang. People are loving it. Why the title Ugly Delicious?
- [08:24]
David Chang
Well, as you saw in that clip, I grew up eating really well. My mom cooked a lot of Korean things, and growing up in Northern Virginia, it wasn't that cool. In fact, I was like the butt of many jokes. So when I started cooking professionally, those were the foods that I never wanted to touch because I was ashamed of it or I just didn't want to, like, embrace it. And that sort of encapsulates a lot of the foods that I think are truly delicious, but may not be cool or looks good on a photograph Sometimes, like a curry is a perfect example. Bowl of curry is so good, but isn't something that's going to be on the COVID of a magazine.
- [09:00]
Evan
And for you, growing up, your food was a part of your culture, but it was also something that people used to tease you about. Do you think that that's. That's a big part of food is the cultural identity that comes with it?
- [09:10]
David Chang
Absolutely, because we're at a. Not at a crossroads, but food is more popular than ever before, and it sort of intersects so many different parts of culture throughout the world.
- [09:19]
Evan
Right.
- [09:19]
David Chang
So in so many ways, you know, creating the show with Morgan Neville and Eddie Schmidt, we decided that food could be sort of a Trojan horse to talk about many of the great things in culture and many of the bad things in culture.
- [09:30]
Evan
Right. Like, for instance, with Chinese food, there's an episode where you delve into Chinese food and it feels like it's less about the Chinese food itself and about how Chinese people in America have had to assimilate and what. What that means and how the food has had to assimilate in many ways to fit in with American culture. What, like, what did you learn in that experience when looking at Chinese food on its own in America?
- [09:50]
David Chang
I mean, it goes all the way back to when they came to work on the railroads and how they were marginalized way back then in the 1890s or so. And without getting too much in the history, the. I feel like as delicious as Chinese food is, and it's, like, the most prevalent kind of food throughout the world, it seems it's never been seen as, like, as cool as other European cuisines.
- [10:10]
Evan
Right.
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David Chang
And quite frankly, I think that there's been a lot of sort of hidden racism in how people perceive not just Chinese food, like, basically anything that's, like, different than the mainstream America. Right. You see that with MSG or how people see, like, cheap meats in Asian restaurants, Chinese restaurants. And a lot of that's not true. Right. They're just, you know, not even misperceptions. They're just wrong.
- [10:32]
Kwamwe Onwuachi
Right.
- [10:33]
Evan
It's interesting that you bring up racism with regards to food, because those are stereotypes that you see, you know, rearing their ugly heads all over the world. You know, people go, oh, watermelon black people and chicken, black people. And they'll be like, oh, you eat this type of food if you're Asian and you. You eat this. There are certain ideas that come from food. There are certain stories that are told by the food. There's an episode where you talk about fried chicken. And what I loved is in the story, you know, you're out in the south, you're meeting with people who cook fried chicken, white people who make fried chicken. Did you find that it was interesting to speak to people about where the chicken came from, how it came to be popularized, and how they saw the story as it related to the food?
- [11:14]
David Chang
Absolutely. And I think first and foremost about fried chicken, it's a story that, you know, a lot of people don't know about. Everyone, I think, that eats chicken will find it to be a fried chicken to be delicious again the world over almost. But the story of how it was born out of oppression and slavery, for the most part, the fried chicken that we all. Most are commonly associated with, that's a really tough story to tell.
- [11:37]
Anthony Bourdain
Right.
- [11:37]
David Chang
And if we can't talk about fried chicken, how are we supposed to talk about other things that are problematic?
- [11:40]
Evan
Right.
- [11:41]
Kwamwe Onwuachi
So.
- [11:42]
David Chang
And going back to the popularity of fried chicken shops, there's a scene where I'm talking to my friends, really, and questioning them. The same questions I answered myself. And the reality is, it's like, it's a responsibility that I think today in 2018, that we should know more about and we should talk about. And it's not easy to talk about. I mean, I think you have to watch the episode because I think we're not trying to answer anything. We're just trying to start the conversation about that because it's just too dense of a topic.
- [12:15]
Evan
Do you feel like that's something people could do? Like, at restaurants, like, the waiter should have to tell you about the history of the food when they give it to you. So you should be like, what are you gonna have? I'll have the fried chicken. Let me tell you about slavery and oppression. Like, this chicken over here comes from a long history of people being oppressed. And you're like, mm, I'm gonna go with the rice? Can I go with the rice?
- [12:31]
David Chang
No, it's not about that. I mean, certainly it could be, but we live in a world where there's so much information at your fingertips, like, why not go down that rabbit hole just a little bit? And, you know, there's a scene in that fried chicken episode where it's not about fried chicken, where I say to David Simon, great director of the Wire, where I'm like, hey, I would have a problem if someone that's not Korean starts making kimchi. And he sort of smacks me down being like, you're an idiot.
- [12:56]
Anthony Bourdain
Right?
- [12:56]
David Chang
Like, America is about cultural appropriation when it's done, like, very well, if that makes any sense. And I thought about that and I was like, man, he's absolutely right in the sense that the only way I'm gonna get this person that's making kimchi to appreciate kimchi is to let them go down the rabbit hole.
- [13:12]
Evan
Right, right, right.
- [13:12]
David Chang
And maybe they're gonna be the biggest advocate of it. But if I'm there judging them, saying, like, you can't do this, then I'm not making any progress there. So I feel the same way about fried chicken. And I think that I could have been that fried chicken shop down in Nashville because I love hot fried chicken so much. Of course, the first thing you want to do is pay homage, but it's a problem sometimes, right? What happens if you start killing the very thing that inspired you?
- [13:40]
Evan
Right. That's really interesting. And that's, I think, what the show does. It asks questions and it starts conversations, and most importantly, it makes me hungry as shit. Thank you so much for being on the show.
- [13:49]
Host (possibly Jon Stewart or Trevor Noah)
Thanks, Evan.
- [13:50]
Evan
Amazing to have you here. Ugly Delicious is available on Netflix now. David Chang, everybody. My guest tonight is a Michelin starred chef with more than 30 restaurants around the world. He is the founder of World Central Kitchen and author of the new book, We Fed an Island the True Story of Rebuilding Puerto Rico. One Meal at a time. Please welcome Jose Andres. Please, please take a seat.
- [14:29]
Kwamwe Onwuachi
Please.
- [14:29]
Evan
No, no, you.
- [14:30]
Jose Andres
No, no, you.
- [14:31]
Evan
Please.
- [14:31]
Jose Andres
No, no, you, please.
- [14:32]
Evan
It's you show.
- [14:33]
Kwamwe Onwuachi
No, you.
- [14:33]
Evan
That's why you might.
- [14:34]
Jose Andres
No, come on, man.
- [14:35]
Evan
No, no, I am an immigrant. You first. I'm also an immigrant, so you first. Hey.
- [14:43]
Jose Andres
Okay.
- [14:44]
Evan
Welcome to the show. What an amazing book you've written. I. You know what's funny is I met Jose at an event and we started talking about food. I don't know, he looked at me and he was like, you like food? And we started talking about food. And this Is a fascinating man who told me a story about going to places that have been hit by natural disasters or disasters of any kind and cooking food for the people who have been removed from their homes. How do you get started in that and how did your story begin with Puerto Rico specifically? Cause you've had an interesting relationship with the nation.
- [15:16]
Jose Andres
Well, Puerto Rico went there first time over 25 years ago, and I really fell in love with that island. Puerto Ricans are amazing people. They love to dance salsa. They celebrate life. I was lucky enough to have a restaurant in Dorado for the last few years. But then, Maria, the hurricane was coming, and I was watching my team and I, we already were in Houston, so we helped there. We made few hundred thousand meals. We were kind of all right. Hurricane hit on the first plane we landed, and we began making few meals, few thousand meals a day. But we saw that the problem was getting, if anything, bigger and bigger. So we kept cooking, and we went from 1,000 meals to 150,000 meals a day, more than 3.7 million meals in total, from 20 volunteers to 25,000 volunteers. From one kitchen to 26 kitchens. We didn't plan. The only thing we did was start cooking. Every phone call we got, any email, tweet, Facebook. We are hungry. We never said no. We kept feeding anybody that asked us for a meal.
- [16:26]
Evan
It's a.
- [16:27]
David Chang
It's.
- [16:33]
Host (possibly Jon Stewart or Trevor Noah)
It.
- [16:34]
Anne Burrell
It's.
- [16:34]
Evan
It's really a story where, you know, the beauty of what yourself and your team have done is. Is. Is only, you know, I guess amplified by. By the tragedy of the island as well. Because you.
- [16:44]
Jose Andres
You.
- [16:44]
Evan
You went through a really tough period of learning how to cook for the people in each place. Because, I mean, you. You did this in Haiti as well.
- [16:50]
Jose Andres
Yeah.
- [16:51]
Evan
And what's interesting is a lot of people might say, well, why don't you send food packets there? You know, why are you going there to physically cook for the people? But you talk about that in the book. Could you share why you do that?
- [17:00]
Jose Andres
I mean, you imagine, right? I think we are who we are thanks to, in a way, the food we eat. And it's okay in emergencies, you just give the MREs the meals ready to eat.
- [17:10]
Anthony Bourdain
Right.
- [17:11]
Jose Andres
But that was created for our military during war. But I saw in Haiti that kids, even hungry, they didn't want to eat those MREs. They prefer use a humble plate of beans and rice. That brings comfort. Even. I was cooking in Haiti, and I made those beans. And we cook for almost a camp, a refugee camp, a thousand people. And the woman came to Me with a translator. And they were saying, like, we don't like that. And I'm like, what? I am Jose Andres. Well, they wanted to eat their beans in the way they liked them. They didn't want them whole. They want them puree to make the beans into a sauce. You know what we did, we followed their guidance. We made them into a sauce. All of a sudden, they were happy they were being fed in the way they like to eat. Food, in essence, gives you hope that tomorrow, maybe things will be better. That's why a plate of food is so important in those moments.
- [18:09]
Evan
It's so fascinating because you've been out there on the ground, and it's, I mean, really incredible timing that you're here now, today, speaking about this, when the President of the United States is tweeting out saying that the, you know, the, the disaster wasn't as much of a disaster as people claim it to be. You were actually on the ground. You saw what happened. How does it make you feel? And, and how do you respond to what people are seeing the president saying today?
- [18:36]
Jose Andres
I mean, we need to help our president. We really do, because we should be showing the empathy he doesn't have. I think he tries, but I think he's lost somewhere between his hair and somewhere else. And only to see him used to say was only 16 deaths when it was very obvious for many people in the island that the death toll was much higher. And used to come all of a sudden with this stupid tweet saying, well, actually, the 3,000 people, the Democrats made it up. When you are dead, you are not Republican or you are Democrat, you are American people that your government forgot about you. And all those people were on the watch of President Donald Trump. So come on, man, show some empathy. You show some support, because those people die, die under his watch. And if he did more, probably we will be talking about a much smaller number.
- [19:36]
Evan
Right.
- [19:36]
Jose Andres
Unfortunately, didn't happen.
- [19:38]
Evan
When you look at the story of Puerto Rico, as someone who's been on the ground, what are some of the most inspiring stories you've encountered? Are there, are there moments where you've thought to yourself, you know, this is. This is how Puerto Rico will get through it. This is, this is what makes Puerto Rico so special.
- [19:54]
Jose Andres
You know, I saw so many children, especially girls 10 years old, like Lola, their father and mother, they work in a food truck and they will go around the island. We had a total of 10 food trucks. She would stay in the headquarters, in a kitchen that we were doing 75,000 meals a day. She was 10 years old, but she was in charge of the entire line of making sandwiches. Ham, cheese, mayo. And you had to sit there, a 10 year old in charge of 100 people in a line telling them, come on people, quicker, more ham, more cheese, more mayo. President trump, if a 10 year old can lead a line of hundred people making sandwiches, shouldn't you be living better? Simple.
- [20:37]
Evan
So simple even a 10 year old could do it. We fed an island is available now. An amazing story. Jose Andres, everybody. We'll be right back.
- [20:49]
Host (possibly Jon Stewart or Trevor Noah)
I got tonight a chef. She hosts the Food Network's Secrets of a Restaurant Chef and co host Worst Chefs in America. Her new cookbook is called Cook Like a Rock Star125 recipes, lessons and culinary secrets. Please welcome to the program Anne Burrell.
- [21:02]
Kwamwe Onwuachi
Hello.
- [21:04]
Host (possibly Jon Stewart or Trevor Noah)
Very nice. Nice to see you. Thank you for joining us. Cook like a rock star. First of, let me tell you, this book's called Cook Like a Rock Star. There. Very nice. Let me, let me tell you this. I'm watching the Iron Chef super chefs. You, you were in there, they a couple of weeks, your sardine spine crispies with the terrine of sardine and sardine soup. The fact that you got cut for that, I was very, I was upset about. I thought that they.
- [21:34]
Anne Burrell
The way you spin it, it just makes it sound so delicious.
- [21:36]
Jose Andres
I'm telling you.
- [21:37]
Anne Burrell
How did you not get kicked off?
- [21:38]
Host (possibly Jon Stewart or Trevor Noah)
But it looked, it looked delicious. And I was, I was upset that you got kicked off on that one.
- [21:43]
Anne Burrell
Well, I have to say, I have been upset for months that I got kicked off. And it's just so hard when people come up to me on the street and they're like, come on, you better be the next Iron Chef. And I'm like, in my heart, it's like breaking. And I'm like, I'm not. And they're like, if you don't win, I'm gonna be. And I'm like, I didn't, you know, But.
- [22:02]
Host (possibly Jon Stewart or Trevor Noah)
But that show is incredible, what they do. They're like, okay, chefs, climb a building on the outside.
- [22:08]
Anne Burrell
Climb a building on the outside. And here is a pop stick and a piece of dental floss and a stick of gum and make something delicious in 10 seconds, right? Yes.
- [22:16]
Host (possibly Jon Stewart or Trevor Noah)
And then they got the English guy who's like, your crudo was well formulated, but it's yellow. And that's my worst favorite color.
- [22:25]
Anne Burrell
Like, your crudo is a little raw. I'm like, but that's what it is, darling.
- [22:30]
David Chang
Is it?
- [22:30]
Host (possibly Jon Stewart or Trevor Noah)
Because I remember no crudeau.
- [22:32]
Anne Burrell
That's what it means raw.
- [22:33]
Host (possibly Jon Stewart or Trevor Noah)
Can I tell you what the Food Channel has done to me? And this is a terrible thing done to my children. It has instilled in them the idea that if I prepare a meal for them that they don't like, I can be sent away. And that is a terrible. Because I will make, like. I'll make scrambled eggs in the morning, and my son will be like, chef, I like the consistency, but I'm afraid you've been chopped. You know, I'm afraid you've been chopped.
- [23:00]
Anne Burrell
Right. No more. It was like, when I was growing up in my house, it's like, if you don't like it, wow, I'm gonna set the timer, eat it, and if you still don't like it, well, that's it.
- [23:08]
Host (possibly Jon Stewart or Trevor Noah)
Done.
- [23:08]
Anne Burrell
Done.
- [23:09]
Host (possibly Jon Stewart or Trevor Noah)
Are chefs a competitive lot? I've been surprised at just how upset and deeply the chefs are feeling.
- [23:17]
Anne Burrell
This competition, I have to say, this was incredibly hard. I mean, I have been in competitions. You know, I've been on Iron Chef. I've been Mario Batali's sous chef for years, and I was on Chopped, and I got Chopped. But this. I'm like, are we sensing a trend here?
- [23:36]
Host (possibly Jon Stewart or Trevor Noah)
Stop. Trudeau was magnificent.
- [23:39]
Kwamwe Onwuachi
Yeah.
- [23:40]
Anne Burrell
Like, right. I had to do some retail therapy after I got sent home last week. But no, this one, I mean, Alex Guarnaschelli and I are really good friends.
- [23:48]
Host (possibly Jon Stewart or Trevor Noah)
She is also tremendous with the things she did with the.
- [23:52]
Anne Burrell
Yes. And so she and I have been texting back and forth for months, being like. And then. And then. And what do you think about that? And then watching it and doing the live tweeting, and it's been very difficult. It's very personal. It really is. It is truly extremely hard. And I'm almost.
- [24:10]
Host (possibly Jon Stewart or Trevor Noah)
It's terrible it knocked you out. But what is. What's impressive to me is what's going through your head when they say to you, like, okay, here's your ingredients. You got huitlacoche, which is, like, this crazy black mold on corn. Sucrettes, and sucrette's my favorite. You know, a lamb's anus. And then they're like. But then.
- [24:28]
Anne Burrell
So that is my favorite. I'd feel so lucky if I got that one.
- [24:31]
Host (possibly Jon Stewart or Trevor Noah)
But what is going through your head? How do you break that down?
- [24:36]
Anne Burrell
It's amazing. Like, every time I'm in one of these, at the minute competitions, I'm like, okay. My brain works so fast, and it's almost like an outer body experience. And I'm like, oh, yes, of course I'm gonna Whip this up and you just go and do it. And I'm like, the next thing I know, I'm running around, I'm getting pots and pans, I'm cooking something and I'm like, what am I making? And I get to the end and I'm like, how did I even think about that?
- [24:57]
Host (possibly Jon Stewart or Trevor Noah)
Are you categorizing it? Do you say to yourself, like, sucrettes, that's a candy in the form of a lozenge.
- [25:02]
Anne Burrell
It's got a little bit of a. Right, it's in the form of a lozenge, but if I melt it down and make a cinnamon syrup out of it, it's got a little bit of an, you know, mental age. And so absolutely, you know, you have to have a really good idea of food and how it goes. And it's like, how can I use that in a, you know, a way that if I put it, like, maybe en papillote. And then you open it up and you get that aroma that kind of is always.
- [25:25]
Host (possibly Jon Stewart or Trevor Noah)
Do you ever have the feeling like you just want to be like, oh, here's what I prepared for you. Lamb anus with the thing and a Sucrettes right at the end. Here, take that.
- [25:34]
Anne Burrell
That's the way I felt the day I got sent home.
- [25:37]
Host (possibly Jon Stewart or Trevor Noah)
Well, listen, brother, I enjoy watch. It's a great show. And these are some fine recipes. Cook like a rock star. It's on the bookshelves now. And next year. I think you'll be.
- [25:46]
Anne Burrell
Next year. Next year, I don't know. I'm working on Worst Cooks. A new season of Worst cooks against Bobby Flay this year.
- [25:52]
Evan
So it's going down.
- [25:53]
Anne Burrell
They're putting me up in the big girl leagues. I'm going for a 3, 0 record. We'll see how that goes.
- [25:57]
Host (possibly Jon Stewart or Trevor Noah)
Rock solid and Burrell, everybody.
- [26:03]
Evan
My guest tonight is a James Beard award winning executive chef at Kith and Kin in Washington, dc. His new memoir is called Notes from a Young Black Chef. Please welcome Kwamwe Onwuachi. Welcome to the show.
- [26:28]
Kwamwe Onwuachi
It's great to be here. How you doing?
- [26:29]
Evan
I'm fantastic, man. But congratulations on an amazing. Thank you and a really, really fascinating story.
- [26:35]
Kwamwe Onwuachi
Thank you.
- [26:35]
Evan
I mean, you've done everything. In your teens, you were in a gang. In your 20s, you sold drugs. Then you graduated from the Culinary Institute of America. You competed on Top Chef. You opened your first restaurant, it tanked. So now you run a successful hotel awards. I don't give away the hotel awards. No, but that's the thing. It's less about Just what happens and more about how it happens. That's what makes your story so fascinating. When you look back at the book.
- [26:57]
Kwamwe Onwuachi
Absolutely.
- [26:57]
Evan
And you look at the life you've lived, does it feel real? Cause you're only 29.
- [27:01]
Kwamwe Onwuachi
Uh, it's a journey. You know, I would say like every part of my life has been either extremely difficult or extremely rewarding. And it's a journey so like, you don't really notice it until you put it down on paper.
- [27:13]
Evan
Right.
- [27:14]
Kwamwe Onwuachi
You know, and you read it through and you, you see it through.
- [27:17]
Evan
What was interesting is how you tell the story of growing up in a world where, you know, you, you were lucky enough to go to a private school, but you lived in a place that was basically hood adjacent.
- [27:26]
Kwamwe Onwuachi
Yeah.
- [27:26]
Evan
And you, you got caught up in gang culture. You got, you got mixed up with the wrong. How did you like see your life when you turned, when you were in a gang? Like, was that something you like pre prepared or was it something that just happened to you out of nowhere?
- [27:39]
Kwamwe Onwuachi
It just happened. Um, you know, I talk about it in the book, how I really got into it and I got into a fight and then after that fight I was, it was pretty much an initiation into the gang. Uh huh. Um, and you know, I don't think it's something that you plan. You know, sometimes we're a product of our own environment, which is unfortunate, but also we can get out of that mentality as well.
- [27:58]
Evan
Right.
- [27:58]
Kwamwe Onwuachi
You know, and for me, it was the moment that Barack Obama walked across stage and he became President of the United States. And I didn't think that I would see a black president in my lifetime. I voted for him and everything, but you know, 55 years ago, we couldn't even eat at the same restaurants as, you know, white people everywhere. And to see that, it was, it showed me that I can do anything I put my mind to.
- [28:20]
Evan
That's really a beautiful part of the book is where you're telling the story about how you're selling drugs, you're living in this house where, you know, people are high, you're also high. And then you see Barack Obama walk out there and he's now President of the United States, and you're like, oh, I gotta get my shit together. Yeah, that's, that's, that's a powerful moment. How do you even begin that journey? Like what, you know, you see Barack Obama. Yes. But I mean it, it, it wasn't easy.
- [28:45]
Kwamwe Onwuachi
No. So for me it was. Removing myself from that environment was the first thing. So I was selling Drugs. I moved to Louisiana. My mother moved there after I graduated high school.
- [28:53]
Evan
Right.
- [28:54]
Kwamwe Onwuachi
So I started doing the only thing I really knew how to do, which is working with food. And I just took it one day at a time. And I told myself every year I just wanted to be doing better than I was doing last year. It's not easy, and you just have to take it one day at a time. You know, when I got the helm of this huge restaurant, I'm gonna be quite honest, I had no idea what I was doing.
- [29:10]
Evan
Right.
- [29:11]
Kwamwe Onwuachi
No clue. Um, but it was the same thing. Okay. We're gonna work on one thing at a time, and we're gonna get better at this one dish at a time. Um, and every day we just try to do a little bit better than we did the day before.
- [29:21]
Evan
One of the most fascinating parts of the book is when you talk about raising money to achieve your dreams.
- [29:26]
Kwamwe Onwuachi
Yeah.
- [29:26]
Evan
And now you don't wanna sell drugs anymore, so you decide to go on the New York City subway.
- [29:31]
Kwamwe Onwuachi
Yeah.
- [29:31]
Evan
Right. Which is harder, selling drugs or selling candy on the subway? Cause no one pays attention on the train.
- [29:40]
Host (possibly Jon Stewart or Trevor Noah)
They.
- [29:40]
Kwamwe Onwuachi
They have their challenges. Both of them have their challenges.
- [29:43]
Evan
Yeah.
- [29:43]
Kwamwe Onwuachi
One is extremely more lucrative than the other, to be honest with you.
- [29:47]
Evan
I don't know which one.
- [29:48]
Kwamwe Onwuachi
To be honest, we're not gonna get into.
- [29:51]
Jose Andres
Why?
- [29:52]
Evan
Cause you made a lot of money selling candy.
- [29:53]
Kwamwe Onwuachi
I did. Yeah.
- [29:54]
Evan
You made $20,000 in a few months?
- [29:56]
Kwamwe Onwuachi
Mm, yeah.
- [29:57]
Evan
Yeah. Just from selling candy.
- [29:59]
Kwamwe Onwuachi
What's funny is I haven't really shared this story. I did a dinner, I did pop ups around the world, and I stopped in Miami, and one of the guys that used to sell drugs for me, he lived in Miami. So I was like, hey, I changed my life around. You gotta come to my dinner. And I talk about my story. So we're sitting there and I get up and I'm in front of the whole dining room, and I'm like, yeah, you know, I sold candy in order to save up for my catering company. And he never knew this part. Right. He was like, ha.
- [30:26]
David Chang
Candy.
- [30:26]
Kwamwe Onwuachi
Yeah, Right. Like in the middle of the dinner.
- [30:29]
Host (possibly Jon Stewart or Trevor Noah)
I'm like, no, stop, stop.
- [30:32]
Kwamwe Onwuachi
G. Stop it. Um, when.
- [30:36]
Evan
When you look at young, young people now who may look up to you, I mean, you know, it, it's, it's, it's no, it's no secret that there are many youths out there who are products of their environment who find the allure of selling drugs or getting into a gang, um, really difficult to resist. And you are living a life now which is legal. Successful and inspirational. When young men look at you or when they read your book, what would you hope that they take away from your story?
- [31:00]
Kwamwe Onwuachi
Um, that anything is possible. You know, if you really put your mind to it and you work and you put in the hours and you just outwork everyone else, you can be in, you can be successful in any field you're in, Right? I don't think this book is just for young chefs. I don't think it's for black chefs. I think it's just for anyone, right? Anyone to really see that if you really want something, like, if you really, really want it, you can achieve it. And that's what I want people to walk away from. Reading Notes from a Young Black Chef.
- [31:29]
Evan
Oh, man, it's a fascinating book. I hope everybody reads it. Great story to tell.
- [31:32]
Jose Andres
Thank you.
- [31:33]
Evan
Thank you so much for being on the show.
- [31:34]
Anthony Bourdain
Thank you.
- [31:34]
Evan
Notes from the Young Black Chef is available now. KWAME on Watch, everybody.
- [31:39]
Kwamwe Onwuachi
We'll be right back.
- [31:40]
Evan
Explore more shows from the Daily show podcast universe by searching the Daily Show. Wherever you get your podcast, watch the Daily show weeknights at 1110 Central on Comedy Central and stream full episodes anytime on Paramount.
- [31:53]
Jose Andres
Plus.
- [31:57]
David Chang
This has been a Comedy Central podcast.
- [32:01]
Kwamwe Onwuachi
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Evan
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Kwamwe Onwuachi
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