Roy explores the power of cooking to rehabilitate those on the margins of society and the organizations taking a chance on those who need it most. He spends time with Father Greg Boyle of Homeboy and Homegirl Industries, the pioneer of socially minded food enterprises focused on transitioning former gang members from lives on the street to lives in kitchens. Roy also visits Mar Diego, a food entrepreneur who has opened Dough Girl, a pizza shop in the San Fernando Valley employing local kids struggling with drug use and homelessness. Additionally, the episode features L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti shedding light into workforce models with a purpose.
Roy meets the individuals bringing healthy and affordable food options into South L.A. communities that lack access to fresh food. Roy also visits with vegan grocer Olympia Auset, whose startup Süprmarkt delivers healthy and affordable food to the doorsteps of her community. Finally, Roy visits Earle’s Hot Dogs, a vegetarian hot dog cart that has grown over its 30-year history into a multi-location brick and mortar shop, now a staple of a community hungry for healthier options.
Roy explores future culinary landscapes looking forward to a world affected by climate change. He spends an evening with chefs Henry Fischer and Anna Rose Hopkins from Hank and Bean who make a surprising plant-forward dinner featuring non-traditional protein sources like crickets and jellyfish. Roy also visits with Ethan Brown of Beyond Meat, a company pioneering the plant-based replacements for our favorite burgers and sausages, and Vegan Hooligans, a pop-up restaurant in eastside LA’s Eagle Rock making classic American diner food out of entirely plant-based ingredients.
Roy visits Chris Yang’s Pop Cultivate to explore the emergence of a new culinary landscape since the advent of legalized recreational marijuana. He then tackles the gentrification of cannabis culture by visiting Med Men, the leader in upscale legal weed retailers in Los Angeles. An interview with Virgil Grant, a formerly incarcerated weed dealer now seeking to run a legal distribution business, sheds light on efforts to build cannabis equity for those hit hardest by the War on Drugs. The episode also features interviews with actor/activist Cheech Marin and Shep Gordon.
Roy discovers how two non-profit innovators are tackling the problem of food waste. Roy visits LA Kitchen is aggregating wasted food, using it to cook fresh meals for those in need. Roy also visits Bracken's Kitchen who partners with Chefs to End Hunger to reuse leftover food. Roy also visits with Richard Garcia at Alma Backyard Farms in Compton where kids are learning how food is grown.
Roy takes a head-on look at efforts to heal the social and economic wounds of Watts, acknowledging one of the oldest communities in Los Angeles as a mirror into ourselves and our future. Led by activist Aqeela Sherrills, Roy visits with Sherrills' mother as she prepares free food for the community, digs into the soul of what makes Watts Coffee House a cornerstone in the neighborhood and examines the missed opportunities of the Jordan Downs Housing Project redevelopment. Sharing the "real" story of his own restaurant Locol and where it stands within the community of Watts, Roy reflects as he connects with the very people navigating the most pressing issues facing our food systems.
Roy breaks bread with Chef Wolfgang Puck, journalist Patricia Escárcega and restaurateurs who are working to address the worker exploitation, high food prices and unsustainable financial models that have long defined the restaurant industry.
Roy explores seed sovereignty with Kristyn Leach, a farmer in Davis, California, harvests vegetables with kids in Compton and sits down for a heart to heart with the legendary chef and activist Alice Waters to discuss the food war that has been raging for decades ensuring we protect the right to grow, eat and exchange crops.
After learning more about the buried history of the Chavez Ravine neighborhoods where Dodger Stadium now stands, Roy is inspired to meet the people actively preserving Latinx cuisine in L.A. He explores Kernel of Truth, a tortillería in Boyle Heights and seeks out some of the city’s top taco makers who are using food and flavor as a form of resistance.
Roy’s Chinatown restaurant Chego opened in 2013, which soon became the poster child for gentrification in the area. Roy explores what he would have done differently as he retraces his steps through some of the neighborhood’s beloved establishments like Hop Woo and Phoenix Bakery. He also meets newcomers to the neighborhood Pearl River Deli and Endorffeine.
Roy breaks bread in Leimert Park with legendary artist and activist Chuck D, explores local businesses like Simply Wholesome and Harun Coffee with artist Six Sev, and meets with elders to find out how a neighborhood so rich in food, art, music and culture can counteract the forces of gentrification in the community.
Roy explores Tijuana’s incredible variety of nightlife, street food, restaurants and cultural diversity along one of the most misunderstood stretches of the U.S./Mexico border. Often painted as a place of violence and poverty, Roy’s experience is totally different as he visits alongside Mexican punk rock band Tijuana No! and Chef Joe Figueroa.
