All language subtitles for Evolving.Vegan.S01E05.720p.WEB.H264-SPAMnEGGS

(Musical flourish)

(Country rock music plays)

Mena: Now if I told you a vegan
show was heading to Texas,

you'd probably say
I was totally nuts.

Well, here it goes.

The Lone Star State:
famed for cowboys,

ranchers and barbecue.

But deep in the heart
of Texas is a vegan oasis.

Austin, it's always
bucked the standard,

and now it's growing.

Austin's burgeoning tech scene
is bringing all walks of life

to the southern city.

With major growth,
the food scene follows,

creating a demand
for plant-based fare.

Austin's still
heavy on the meats,

but now there's
a host of gastropubs,

pizza joints
and casual burger stops

serving southern comfort food
with a vegan twist.

And, oh, yeah, plant-based
barbecue maestros

firing smoky vegan brisket
and delectable crawfish boils.

If there's any doubt plant-based
eating is growing, just think.

If Texas has killer vegan food,
you know the world is changing.

♪

I'm Mena Massoud.

I'm travelling
across North America

and eating my way through
some of the coolest cities

to show you
how beautiful meals,

talented chefs
and restauranteurs

are making plant-based living
delicious and attainable.

So join me as I show you
how the world is evolving vegan.

♪ I been chicken baking ♪

♪ All day long ♪

Oh, yeah, fried chicken, beer,
and buttermilk biscuits:

mainstays of
the Texas gastropubs.

The Beer Plant
and its beer rail

is no different,
except its Southern dishes

are all plant-based.

Executive chef and longtime
vegan Emily Rayburn

is a musician and chef who has
worked in all kinds of kitchens.

But cooking
an all plant-based menu

at The Beer Plant
is her dream come to life.

Alright, Emily,
so we are making biscuits.

Butter biscuits.

Butter biscuits.
As Southern as it gets.

- Yeah.
- Okay.

Pretty Southern.

Traditional biscuits,
you got buttermilk, butter,

all kinds of just--

Butter.
Yeah.

(Laughter)

So we're going
to eliminate all that

and we're going
to make it vegan.

Let's do it.
You want an apron?

Is it going to get messy?

It's going to get messy.

Here we go.

Alright.

They are good ones.

Wow.

So we're going
to take all-purpose flour,

and then you're going
to have salt, baking soda,

baking powder.

So, usually,
you would use a whisk.

I actually choose not to.

Why is that?

I like to feel things
with my hands.

- So do I.
- Okay, great.

- Let's go for it.
- Yeah.

Okay, and then tell me
about this incredible butter.

So you take vegan margarine.

You have to freeze it,
and then you cheese grate it,

and it makes these
really cool little shreds.

Mena: I don't think I've ever
cheese-grated butter,

but now I know.

Alright, so this is
all going in?

Yeah, all of it.

Mena:
Oh, yeah.

Now the fun part.

You literally just
take the flour,

and you're going to dust it
over your butter.

And you don't want to,
like, do it too much.

You want it to be pea-sized.

You still want it to be cold
because that's the secret.

It's cold butter
when you put it in the oven.

Wow.

And then we're going
to take our buttermilk.

It is just lemon juice
and nondairy milk.

Sorry, what?

You want to
have a dance party?

Because we will.

Are you proposing something?

Do you dance?

All right, sorry.
What was that again?

- One more time.

- Buttermilk.
- Lemon juice.

Nondairy milk.

Vegan buttermilk?

Vegan buttermilk.

- Alright.
- Now the fun part.

You are going to mix it.

Oh, yeah, get in there.

You want it slightly sticky.

Looks pretty good.

Biscuit maker.

Very nice.

And we're going
to take the dough.

Mena:
Boom!

And you'll just get it
in the perfect little square.

And then what I'll do
is I'll pat it down.

I'm going to get you going,
and then it's all you.

- Okay.
- This is really good dough.

- Is it?
- Wow. Yeah.

Thank you.

Emily: This is like
the best part of it.

Like, you want to feel it.

Okay.

Oh, I'm feeling it.

- I-- Same.
- Oh, I'm feeling it.

I'm feeling it.

And then we're gonna
take this.

We are going to flour.

Okay, technique. Okay.

I think that's the best work
I've ever seen.

Cut it right down the middle,
like, right here.

Okay.

And then we're going
to flip it over like I had it.

- Emily: You, like, pat it down.
- Mena: Oh, okay.

Just like a nice, like,
little like... ooh.

Like a little ooh?
Ooh.

- Okay.
- (Laughter)

Ooh.

We're making biscuits.

Alright, we're gonna flour it
just a little bit on the top.

- Okay.
- Perfect.

♪

(Coughs)

Let's make really big biscuits.

We are in Texas.

The bigger... the better!

♪

Now I'm just taking over.

I'm only here
to keep you company.

(Laughter)

♪

I saw the smoke coming off you
on that one.

(Laughter)

I'm getting ready
to dance later tonight.

We're gonna go howdy towdy,
rowdy mowdy,

right here,
after we eat dem biscuits!

(Laughter)

I'm stealing that.

I am stealing that.

Guess what time it is?

It's baking time.

We're going to pop it
right in.

And how long are those
going to cook for?

10 to 12 minutes,
that's it.

- That's it?
- And it's biscuit time.

I think we have
done a fantastic job.

What are we going to pair up
with those beautiful biscuits

that are cooking in
the oven that I know we nailed?

I'll give you one guess.

- Fried chicken.
- Fried chicken.

- Right.
- Let's do it.

But--

- It's not chicken.
- It's not chicken.

Because we're vegan.

So what is it?

We're going to be doing
lion's mane mushroom.

There's a lot of hype
around lion's mane mushroom.

So we're going to take it.

I press the water
out of mine.

So you're going to take it,
do a nice press.

Let's do it together.

Oh, yeah, and I totally see
the water coming out of it now.

Oh, yeah.

So we're getting
that water out

because I'm guessing
we're going to deep-fry it.

But first, we are going to
drop it in some buttermilk.

Mena:
Gonna dredge it.

Emily: One good time,
a good dredge.

The buttermilk that
we used in the biscuits.

- The buttermilk.
- Same thing.

Homemade buttermilk.

And then we're going
to coat it on both sides.

Wow.

That's going to be great.

Now we're going to fry it.

Deep-fry it.
My favourite part.

♪

(Oil sizzling)

Oh, baby.

♪

All right, so we're going
to get our biscuits.

Mena: Wow.
Look at that.

Texas size.

That is the biggest biscuit
I've ever seen.

Like I said,
everything is bigger.

I want this one.

Emily:
It's good.

Alright, let's plate.

- Emily: Right there.
- Mena: Wow.

And then sausage
pepper gravy.

Did you say sausage gravy?

Plant-based sausage.

Wow.
We're in Texas alright!

We're going to do another one,

because you know what?
It is Texas.

Oh, man.

♪

And then we're going
to top it with some chives.

Oh, get out of here.

I can't wait
to dig into this.

♪

Time to settle in
for a Texas-size bite.

Just look at this hunker.

Oh, yeah,
that gravy on there.

That chicken has
got a nice crisp.

♪

Mmm.

Now, that's a definition
of comfort food right there.

Southerners know how
to do it.

And the fluffy biscuit...

Oh, man.

♪

Seriously,
it's cooked to perfection,

and it was so simple
to make,

or at least
you made it seem simple.

Wow.

Buttermilk biscuit gravy
fried chicken,

like, why is that a staple
here at Beer Plant?

When you think about Texas,
the last thing you think about

is vegan.

Yeah.

And I think that it was just
really cool to bring something

like this into the restaurant.

Because most of our clientele,
they are not vegan.

Why is there such a desire
for plant-based restaurants

by non-vegans?

I think that once people are
starting to eat vegan food

and, like, realizing,
my stomach's not hurting.

I feel great
after eating it.

I can go to the gym
and do like,

everything I wanted to
accomplish in my day,

versus, whew...

I gotta take
a five-hour nap.

If this wasn't vegan
and I ate this whole plate,

I would, like,
be in a coma.

I also feel like, by creating
something that a meat eater

would eat,
why not try it?

Do you think Austin,
as it grows,

is going to just
move towards this idea

of more vegan
plant-based?

By the looks of it,
it wouldn't shock me,

in about five years,

if over 50%
of Austin's plant based.

Wow, and you can just always
come here.

The whole menu's vegan.

The whole menu.

The whole thing.

Even the bar.

Including these biscuits!
Look at that.

Look at that beautiful
vegan biscuit.

♪

Don't make me want
that biscuit!

You want it.
I know you do.

Mmm!

(Light upbeat music)

♪

Mena: One serious Southern
feeding and I'm already stuffed.

Time to walk off those
buttermilk biscuits

and find an Austenite
to show me around town.

- Hi.
- Hey, Erin.

- How's it going?
- How you doing?

- Good.
- Mena.

- Welcome to Austin.
- Thank you very much.

Who better than Erin Russell,

a culinary journalist and editor
of Austin's Eater magazine?

She's a born-and-raised
Texas girl who's completely

in tune with Austin's
food and culture scene.

(Upbeat instrumental music)

Where are we headed?

We're going to go see some of
our famous street art and murals

around town.
There's a lot of them.

Alright. Murals, a great way
to get to know a city.

What do I need to know about
the food scene in Austin?

Austin's a super casual city.

Even at the nicest restaurants,
you can wear shorts

and it's fine.

We have all sorts of different influences.

We have Southern food.
We have Tex-Mex.

We have a lot of new people
coming into town,

so it's always
a really exciting scene.

This is the
Greetings From Austin mural.

It shows some of our really cool
Austin landmarks,

like Barton Springs,
Texas Capitol, Congress Bridge,

and UT.

♪

Spread love the Austin way.

What does that mean?
What's the Austin way?

We have a lot of people
moving here

from different places.

And we like to be friendly
people, so...

This is very nice. Very cool.
Onto the next.

Yeah.

♪

For this mural,
we have a lot of Austin things

packed into one space.

We have the bats that come out
under Congress Street Bridge.

You should definitely go see
them. They're kind of a trip.

- Here?
- Yeah.

- In Austin?
- Oh, very much.

Lots and lots of bats.
(Chuckles)

You have the live music capital
of the worlds,

which is the
unofficial Austin slogan.

And you have
"Don't mess with Texas,"

which is our anti-littering
campaign.

Anti-littering?

Yeah.

I thought don't mess with
Texas was like, you know,

the Texan attitude,
like don't mess with us.

I mean, that too.

Wow.

Well, all I saw was the pita
and capital,

so, uh, I'm getting hungry.

I'd love to take you to
one of the best new vegan

restaurants in Austin.

You're speaking
my language, Erin.

Yeah, let's go.

Let's do it.

Sunny's Backyard, a cheerful
southern restaurant

bringing everything people love
about pub food

to the plant-based community.

It's owned and operated
by wife and husband team

Charrissa and Merritt.

They're experts at creating
meat-centric vegan menus,

and after heading one of LA's
most prominent plant-based pubs,

they're running it back
in Austin.

Hey.

- Hey guys.
- Hey, y'all.

- Who's this little guy?
- This is Sunny.

Mena:
Hello.

Hi, welcome guys.

Very cool spot.

Thank you.

We've got kind of
a gastropub.

There's influences from all
different kinds of cultures.

Charrissa, you want to take
these guys inside,

have a seat, and I'll start
making some food?

Yeah, let's do it.

Alright, great,
let's do it.

Chef Merritt's a real Texas boy
through and through.

And it ain't easy running
a plant-based restaurant

in a state known
for its barbecue.

But, challenge accepted.

Alright, what do we got here,
Chef?

This is our hot chicken sandwich.

It's double battered,
double fried,

and then a house-made
Dijon aoli on top,

and a little vegan brioche bun.

Oh, very nice.

Yeah.

And what's the base
of the chicken here?

So the chicken is a little
bit of soy,

a little bit of
a pea protein isolate.

This is the best vegan chicken
that I've ever had.

Mena:
This one right here?

Merritt:
Yeah.

Oh, my gosh.

Yeah.
We got a cut it in half there.

Oh, my gosh,
look at that.

I got have a taste.

Oh, yeah,
I love the seasoning on that.

Yeah, thank you.

Mmm.

This is a home run, man.

(Chuckles)
Thank you, man.

(Sizzling)

♪

These are going to be our
bulgogi bao buns.

So we got little bao buns
on the bottom.

We got a citrus-glazed
spare rib on top of that,

sautéed
in our bulgogi sauce

that we make in-house.

There's one for each of us,
so I say we dig in.

Merritt: Yeah, sure.
Ladies first.

Thank you.

Like a gentleman, Mena.
Thank you, sir.

Of course. Look at that
beautiful, fluffy bao,

and these actually
look like ribs.

Cheers bao, cheers.

Cheers, yes.

Thank you, Chef.

Hey, my pleasure.

Mmm!

You get the crispy that you
would get normally from, like,

a fatty rib.
It's delicious.

- Thank you.
- I love the spicy too.

Yeah, it's got a little heat,
that's that chilly on top.

Spicy, sweet,
just perfect.

Oh, man, the fact that this is
plant-based is surreal.

I don't think anyone coming
in here and tasting this

would know that it's vegan.

No, there's been plenty of
people who have not.

And that's what you want, man.
That's what it's all about.

That's our goal,
yeah, 100%.

Well, we've got our
brussels sprouts salad,

tossed in a Ponzi reduction.

We've got some pickled
vegetables on

top and then a house made
gochujang aoli,

and some
chiffonade Thai basil.

Erin: I want to get
the actual vegetables.

Yeah, exactly.

This looks delicious and nice
and tender and soft with sauce

on top, a little bit of crisp
from the pickled cabbage.

This is fantastic,
and you nailed

the Southeast Asian flavours.

It's like Southeast Asia
meets Texas.

That's right.

Southeast Asia has some of
the most delicious food

in the world, period.

Do you think that's a thing
in Texas right now

because so many people are
just, like, flocking here?

They're moving from all
different states,

all different parts of the world
and they're coming to Texas.

That is true.

You know, it's becoming
a melting pot hub for culture.

When I started at Eater
four years ago,

we do a survey
at the end of every year

where we have food experts tell
us what they think is missing

from the Austin
food scene.

And every year, we would have
people saying, you know,

I want more international food.

And now we're starting to see
less of that.

Because there's been so much
that's opened here

that's different places.

When I was growing up,
it was just Tex-Mex

and chicken fried steaks.

It's so nice to have, like,
all the foods that

I've gotten to have
while I've been travelling.

Yeah.
Well, thanks a lot, man.

I am going to finish

my double-stack
vegan chicken burger.

Alright.

I can't believe you're not
going to take a nap after this.

♪

I'm going to have
another one.

(Laughter)

(Light upbeat music)

Mena: If Austin's culinary
scene is synonymous

with one thing, it's
the thousands of food trucks

splayed across the city.

And in East Austin, there is one
totally unique food collective

that's changing the game.

The all plant-based food truck
park anchored by Vegan Nom.

It's the brainchild
of the wildly imaginative

Chef Chris Rios.

♪

Chris...

Hey, what's up, Mena.

Hey, what's going on, man?

Nice to meet you.

Welcome to East Austin.

This is a cool space, man.

Chris: Yeah.

Mena: This like an all vegan
paradise right there.

Chris: Yeah.

It's an all vegan food park.

And these two are yours, right?

You've got Nom Burger
and Vegan Nom?

Chris: Yeah.

As soon as I became vegan, 10
years ago, I started Vegan Nom.

Mena: So, fair to say you were
one of the first, like,

vegan food trucks in Texas?

Oh, yeah, absolutely.
Probably the first.

I mean, when I started, like,
no one knew what vegan was.

They were like,
"What's vegan?"

I'm like, "Okay,
let me show you."

So you're doing what
you know. I love it.

Yeah, man, it's awesome, dude.

- You ready to do this?
- Yeah. Yeah.

- All right.
- I'm ready to eat!

Mena: Chris is firing up
two of his hottest tickets,

the outstanding trucker-style
Brunch Burger

with a side of steaming
queso-licious asada tots.

That looks good, my man!

Chris: You know what goes
really well with the burger?

Yeah...

Some shakes from
Milky Way Shakes.

I like the way you think.

All right, man,
let's get it going.

- Mena: Let's get it.
- Hey, what's up, Monica?

Mena:
Milky Way shakes make

the most refreshing
and visually stunning creations.

Monica Burgin is one
of the proud owners.

Chris: I know what
I'm gonna get,

and I highly recommend
The Violet.

The Violet?

Yeah. It's got blueberry,
it's got lavender,

house made meringues.

It's off the chain, dude.

Vegan meringue?

They're pretty good.

I'll try one of those.

Mena: Vegan meringue is
notoriously difficult

to pull off,
but Monica's created

a replica using
the water that's drained

from chickpeas,
also known as "aquafaba."

Pure, vivid creativity.

- There you are.
- Wow. Look at that!

Monica:
Well, y'all enjoy.

Amazing.

Thank you.

Thanks, Monica.

- Cheers.
- Cheers, man.

Cheers.

Mena: Before we sit down Chris
grabs one more thing:

two words that don't normally
go together: vegan brisket.

It's juicy, succulent,

and totally subverts what you
think of plant-based cooking.

Oh, my...

We're in Texas.

Let's celebrate with some Texas
brisket, Vegan Nom style.

You make that in-house?

Oh, yeah.

From scratch, man.

Wow!

This is a Texan meal
right here.

Dude...

It looks like
legit brisket.

Chris: Dude...

Mena: What do you
use to make it?

Chris: It's seitan. I infused
some mushrooms in there,

smoke it for about
three or four hours,

and, dude,
Texas brisket.

This is amazing.

Thanks, man.
Appreciate, dude.

Crazy.

And even kind of looks like that
marbling that you would get.

Oh, yeah.

You know, nice and juicy.

What's on top?

Coarse black pepper on there.

And I actually put that on
last so it doesn't burn.

It's like a finishing
technique that I do.

I still can't get
over this, man.

You're doing Texas barbecue,
vegan style, right!

I'm a eat it
all at once kind of guy.

I'm the same way.
I like to just go at it.

I want to get a bite
with everything in here.

Heck, yeah.

♪

(Chris laughs)

Man! This is killer!

Dude, we're like,

It's the ultimate breakfast
sandwich for vegans

or for anyone for that matter.

Genuinely on my top burgers
that I've ever tried for sure.

- Oh heck yeah.
- For sure man.

I mean, loaded,
and it's so Texas, right?

Chris: Yeah. Dude,
I'm happy you love it.

I'd finish it off
with some maple syrup,

while it's on the grill and
hit it with some chipotle sauce

and our Nom Sauce, and it all
just comes together,

creates this awesome blend.

That's ridiculous, man.

And you're right. The maple
syrup kind of works beautifully

with the brioche bun because
brioche tends to absorb that

flavour, almost kind of like
a French toast.

Yeah.

It's amazing, man.

And then we've got
the asada tots here, right?

Yup.

♪

That's killer, man.

This is like the best
Texan meal I could ask for.

I'm gonna do a little
bit of this, too.

Oh, heck yeah.
That's it.

Dig in, man. Enjoy.

Dude.

Mm. Mm!

Heck yeah, dude.

So our asada tots,

we've got our
vegan ground beef,

and we've got
our house made sauces,

got our crema and our queso.

Our queso is made in-house,
by the way,

nut-free, soy free,
legume-based.

Is this what, like, Texas
means to you right here?

Barbecue is my first love,

so this is the reason
why I created it,

because I always have been
passionate about barbecue.

When you first opened up
this place here in East Austin,

this neighbourhood wasn't
like this at all, right?

Oh, no.
Absolutely not.

Growing up in this neighbourhood,

seen a lot of change is.

It started in the 2000s,
and it just kept growing

and growing and growing.

Just like the city,
it just exploded.

All right, let's
give this a try, man.

You hyped this up so...

Oh, dude.

Got some lavender blueberry
vegan meringue shake in here.

Oh, yeah.

This is delicious, man.

♪

Wow!

It's like blueberry but
with a hint of floral notes.

Yeah.

That's crazy!

This is really,
really tasty,

and the meringues
are really awesome.

It's my favourite part.

You can literally pick up
the meringues like that.

Dude, they just
dissolve in your mouth.

Oh, yeah, and everything's made
from scratch, dude.

That's awesome, too.

Mena: You typically can't find
meringues vegan because they use

a lot of egg whites to
make meringue, right? So...

Chris: Yeah.

This is Delicious.

And it's beautiful.
It's like perfect.

Well, dude, I want to thank you
for inviting me here,

showing me how to do barbecue
vegan style.

This changed my life,
this brisket.

Dude, I appreciate it, man.

I'm happy that you're here.

Get a chance to see
our beautiful city.

Stop by anytime, brother.

Let's do a brisket cheers.

Let's do it, man.

Slap cheers.

All right, there we go.

Alright.

- Mm!
- Mm!

Dude.

(Slow tempo rock)

Mena: In Texas,
after the grillin's done,

you gotta honky-tonk,
or so they tell me.

To make sure we get
the full Lone Star deal,

Chef Emily from Beer Plant
is taking

me and my girl,
Emily Shah,

to The White Horse to gun beers
and dance, Texas-style!

We're meeting manager and
musician Busty Morris to figure

out what exactly is honky-tonk?

Welcome to The White Horse.

Yeah, yeah.
We're excited.

This is the place to be for
some honky tonkin' I heard.

This is the spot
in Austin for sure.

So happy to have y'all.

What is honky-tonk?
What is that?

Honky-tonk is a loose term but
it's best described as a dark

crappy bar that
plays country music.

We're at the right
place, I guess!

You're there.
You're there.

It was dive bars where the
cowboys would go hang out

and then they also played music

and it was kind of a
big thing in the '40s and '50s

and we're just trying to keep
that tradition going

of an easy place for people

to come drink
and see some music and dance.

Is honky-tonk a type of dance?

It's not.

We do the Texas two-step
exclusively at the White Horse.

We don't do any line dancing.

Okay.

It's a great way
to meet new people.

White Horse is
the place to do it.

Alright, well, let's get the
drinking part going.

Got any like infused bourbon?

(Music fades)

We don't have anything
crazy like that.

We do a beer and a whiskey shot
combo called the Texas Two-Step.

I'll have that!

Some of those?

Yeah, three of those?
What do you think?

- That sounds great.
- Yeah.

Have you ever had this, Emily?

I have not.

The Two-Step.

But I'm excited.

Well, great.
First for all of us.

We give you a cheap beer,
and some cheap whiskey...

Mena: Oh, man.

And that gives you the courage
to ask someone to

dance out there.

All right.

Okay.

This is what we drink so you're
getting assimilated real quick.

Is this a Texas shot?

I notice everything's
bigger in Texas.

But this is for scale.

That's a White Horse
shot for sure.

Alright, well, cheers.

Cheers.

(Glasses clinking)

Ah!

Not bad by the way.

Nailed it.

A little bit of sweetness.

Yeah, yeah.

I'll fix my face in two seconds.

Now we have to wait two hours

for the dancing
to start or what?

Beth has showed up early.

Who's Beth?

She's our two-step instructor.

Oh, okay.

And she is the epitome
of the Texas two-step.

Okay.

Mena: Beth: dance instructor,
tenth-generation Texan,

and teaches free
two-step lessons to prove it.

Whoa-ho!

That's right! Whoa-ho!
Hi. Welcome.

So, y'all are ready
to do the Texas two-step?

I guess so. We've got a two-step
drink combo here.

That's the first part
of dancing at a honky-tonk.

- Cheers.
- All right, chin-chin to me.

Here we go.

Mena:
I'll be honest,

I'm terrified of trying
the two-step.

So, we've got the world-famous
honky-tonk dance floor.

Mena: As a kid
who grew up in Markham,

I am not built for this.

Beth: We're gonna learn
those basic steps first.

So, I'm gonna have y'all
stand in a line right here,

and I'll stand
right in front of you.

And we go left, together,
left, then right.

Left, together,
left, then right.

That's really it.
Um, thanks for coming.

I hope you have
a great time in Texas.

- That's it?
- It's a wrap. We're done.

Oh, that's right,
this isn't a line dance.

This is a partner dance.

Chris, this is Emily.
Emily, this is Chris.

- Chris is great.
- Thank you.

- Beth: He's a nice guy too.
- Golly. "Nice." Come on.

Emily,
you're gonna stand right here,

and then, Chris, I'm gonna
have you stand right here.

And Emily, you're gonna
stand right there.

- Love it.
- Wonderful. (Clap) Uh.

(Country music plays)
Perfect. Are y'all ready?

We're all gonna go together,
and we go this way,

this way, that way.

- This way.
- I love your teaching method.

- Isn't it nice?
- It's great.

- Beth: Perfect.
- Okay, great.

You're gonna give
a little push on her side.

- There it is.
- Emily: Okay.

Ta-da.

This way, this way,
and then turn.

And then when do I throw up?

(Laughter)

So, one more thing to add in.

Back in your frame. Wonderful.

So, gentlemen, I'm gonna take
your left hand to your left ear,

and you're just
gonna lean a little.

Uh-huh, just a little bit.

Oh, see how you
shifted your feet?

- Ah, yes.
- Beautiful.

Let's-- Ooh.
Oh, well, that's exciting.

Nice, Chris.
What do you think?

- That's great!
- Is that good?

He put his body into it.
You didn't tell me that.

Okay, let's see. Oh.

Oh! Whoo-hoo!

(Applause)

So, if y'all want to practise
going in a circle,

we have other friends
that can dance with y'all.

Yeah, bring 'em on!

Let's try it.

That looks super.

Let's have some more
people come on up!

Come on, dancers, let's--
Come. Let's join 'em.

Wonderful.

♪ You make me feel
like I've never felt before ♪

Mena:
Well, there it is.

After a couple of turns
on the dance floor,

I get the hang of it.

Even get a couple of twirls in
without dropping my girl

or blowing a wheel.

And you know what? It's fun.
Quintessentially Texan.

And hey, if this show's about
people evolving, there it is.

Beth:
Oh, there it goes!

(Cheering and applause)

Mena: Thanks very much.
Thank you very much. Thank you.

(Acoustic country music)

♪

Mena: Bistro Vonish
is known throughout Austin

for its elevated Vegan takes
on traditional Czech dishes.

Chef Craig
is recreating the foods

his Czech grandma made him
as a child,

which have become
Texan staples.

Craig:
Thanks for coming by.

Mena:
What are Kolaches, man?

Everybody's talking
about Kolaches in Austin.

Is this even Southern?

What's going on here?
What is this?

Kolache is
a traditional Czech pastry

characterized by
its semisweet dough.

The end of the 19th century,
a lot of, essentially, Europeans

immigrated
to this part of the country

and brought
their foods with them.

So, my grandma would have said
that this is a Kolache--

or Kolach, singular,
Kolache, plural.

It's gonna be the same dough
that goes into our savoury ones,

and it's the savoury ones
that have become

what somebody's gonna expect

if you're in this part
of the world

and you say Kolaches.

Ours are vegan.

Today, I brought you
a garbanzo scramble

with spinach,
mushroom, and tomato

inside the kolach dough pocket.

A little paprika
and nutritional yeast

with a little Dijonnaise
for dipping.

All right, I'm excited to take
a bite of all of it here

with the--
what did you call it?

Dijon mayo?

(Laughs) Dijonnaise.

Dijonnaise.
That makes more sense.

Mm. I love the dough.

It's really, really soft,

with that nice little seasoning
on the top here.

Works beautifully with that
stuffing of the mushrooms

and the chickpeas and spinach.

Just really, like,
comforting, right?

Like comfort food, almost,
you know? Really good.

We have a really strong
emphasis on scratch-made.

It's worth stressing
over the details

'cause we want every little bite
to be just perfect.

Yeah, you can
just pick this apart

and eat it
with the Dijonnaise.

- Is that-- Did I get it right?
- Nailed it.

(Speaks with mouth full)

Mena:
And this one is, um...

Strawberry, a little vegan
cream cheese in the filling.

Powdered sugar on top.

If you cut it in half,
you can see--

I was just making sure it wasn't
a doughnut, but it isn't.

- It's kind of but not.
- Kind of like a Danish.

Mena: A Danish, yes,
that's what it's like!

I haven't had
a Danish in forever!

All right, let's try it.

(Lively traditional music)

Mm.

I would get this for breakfast
with, like, a coffee.

My grandma had to have these
on hand at all hours.

Even into her 90s, she'd wake up
early, get the dough rising.

Got to make sure there's
kolaches out for everybody.

We get to have
those connections

as we enjoy these new vegan
versions here at this bar.

Well, thank you, man.
I appreciate it.

I've been hearing about kolaches
and really appreciate you

educating me about these and
a little bit about Czech food.

Thank you so much
for coming by.

It's always fun to get to talk
about the things we love to do.

♪

Mena: Rolling around Austin,
taking in the sights,

I start dreaming of my
favourite food: pizza.

Luckily, I'm not far
from Big Nonna's.

General manager
Sean Connolly,

a self-confessed
pizza process nerd,

has promised to teach me
how to make this

show stopping
meat lover's pizza.

But mostly, I can't wait to try
my hand at tossing some dough.

Sean, thanks for having us
here at big Nonna's.

Thanks for being here.

So, you guys make almost
all your ingredients in-house?

Yes, everything we can make
in-house we do in-house.

All of our toppings
and ingredients

are kind of labours of love.

Which is why I'm here, Sean.
I'm here because you do that.

(Laughing) All right,
let's make a 'za, man!

What are we making?

Yeah, we're gonna make a couple
of Meat Out pizzas today.

The first step to a good pizza
is always the dough, right?

The foundation of a pizza
is gonna be a good dough.

I've never actually made
a fresh pizza.

It's not too hard.

I think you'll get
the hang of it no problem.

Mena:
Okay, let's go.

So, the first thing we're
gonna do is grab a dough.

Got one for you here.

Okay.
Let's get that out of here.

We're just gonna take our dough,
and we're just gonna plop it

right down
onto that workspace.

It should slide right out.

You can just toss that thing.
Get out of here.

We don't need it.
Get rid of it.

Exactly.

All right, and then we're just
gonna dust it up some more.

You're a GM who gets
his hands dirty.

I think it's important to be
hands on in every aspect.

So do I.

All right, and then once
we've got a good dust on it,

we're gonna start
pressing it out.

So, I'm just gonna place some
pressure down here evenly.

Yeah, looking good. Okay.

All right, once you got it
pressed out, give it a flip.

Drop it right back down.

Okay.

And then we'll press it out just
a little bit more at this point.

Wow, you take it
for granted, pizza.

It just shows up
to your doorstep,

and it's delicious and simple,
but it's a lot of work, man.

Yeah, and now we're
gonna dock it.

So, that means I'm just gonna
tap it with my fingertips here.

- Mena: We're gonna dock it.
- It's called docking.

Yeah, we're gonna work out
the air bubbles.

You might hear
a little pop or two.

Once we've got
that worked out...

Yes, sir.

...we're gonna give it
one more flip, the same way.

A quick flip.

Give it another docking
pass on this side.

Not as thoroughly this time.

You can be a little quick
and casual here.

Okay.

Sean: And we're ready
to start tossing it out.

Oh, we're tossing these?

Yeah.

We're not going to
toss them in the air.

Oh.

( Distorted) We're not going to
toss them in the air .

So what I do is
we're going to flip it up

onto one of our hands.

And just kind of lift it up
and then start to turn it.

Once it gets going,

gravity's going to do
most of the work for us here.

Okay.

I feel like I'm moving
my whole body here.

Yeah.

Mena: To toss or not to toss,
that is the question.

Because I want to toss.

I need to toss!

Once it starts looking
about the right size--

So this is the hardest part

is figuring out when it's
going to be the right size.

A good catch.

Yes!
My first pizza toss!

All right.

Yeah, baby.

Sorry, I disobeyed
your commands,

Sean, but I got for it,
you know.

I had to just follow my gut.

I respect it.

Gotta follow your intuition.

Exactly.

And once it's looking
ready to go,

we're just going
to gently drape it down

onto our peel here.

♪

All right, now we're
ready to sauce it up.

Mena: Very nice.

Sean: And we're just going to
scoop it down the middle

and spread it out to the edge.

♪

How's that looking?

Looking pretty good.
We've got a good start here.

Cheese time?

Not quite yet.

So one of the things
about our beetaroni--

Did you say "beetaroni"?

Yeah, man,
you got it, beetaroni.

You make your
pepperoni from beets?

Correct.

Mena: Very interesting.

Sean: It's our
signature topping.

♪

It's almost candied but it
tastes like pepperoni.

It's about a 12-hour process
to make one batch of these,

from beets to beetaroni.

It's a bit time consuming
but it's worth it.

I'll tell you, man, that's a
lot better than I thought.

Because I'm not a huge
fan of beets.

Neither am I.

Mena: Right.

And I was convinced by this.

So these are
a little delicate.

It's going to go down
underneath the cheese.

That's to help it
from getting too crispy.

I'm going to grab
a handful of those,

and we're going
to lay 'em down.

Mena: Oh, yeah, wowsa!
I can't wait to eat this.

Sean: And then we're
going to cheese it.

We're going to cheese it?

Sean: Yeah.

So this is our house-made
vegan mozzarella.

You make your own cheese?

Yes, yes, we do.

Of course you do.

Sean: Yeah.

It is primarily based in
pumpkin seeds, coconut oil

and cultured
organic soy milk.

Wow.

Along with some spices,
of course.

You've gotta have flavour.

We wanted to do something just
with sustainability in mind.

Cashews, while delicious,
are a very thirsty nut.

Cashews are a thirsty nut.

We're just going to take
one of these sticks here.

Mena: Okay.

Sean: And we're going
to lightly grate it.

Mena: It's got a good
texture to it.

I can tell it will
melt very quickly.

Yeah, it's nice and melty.

All right, the next thing is
going to be the smoky tempeh.

We marinade our tempeh to give a
smoky sweet and salty flavour

to hit those same kind
of notes of flavour

as bacon would but with
a completely

different texture and style.

And then the last but certainly
not least...

Seitan sausage.

...the homemade seitan sausage!

Seitan is a wheat
gluten meat substitute.

Sean: Yeah.

It's one of the oldest meat
substitutes there is.

It's a very similar
flavour profile

as traditional Italian sausage.

Mena: And you also
make it in-house?

Yeah, everything here.

This is going
to be delicious. Baby!

Now it's ready to
go in the oven.

So I like to say
low and slow.

Low and slow!

Keep a low angle
and then we're gonna start

to kind of shimmy
it back and forth slowly.

♪

(Upbeat instrumental music)

Mena: Wowza!

And just like that, Sean
drops the meat-out 'za.

Seriously, these dough wheels
are mouth-watering triumphs.

Ah, look at that.
Ah, man.

Sean: Dig in.

Mena: Cheers.

♪

Mm!

It definitely tastes
like a meat-full pizza.

Got the sausage on there.

The tempeh doesn't
taste like tempeh anymore.

No, it really
is different.

Yeah, and that beetaroni
that you make: ah, man.

It's got that perfect
texture effect of pepperoni now.

Mm-hmm.

Ah.

(Crunching)

The beet is
the perfect complement

to this pizza specifically,

because I feel like
if it was made out of seitan

or something, it might
have been too much.

Hmm-mm.

The beet adds a little
bit of freshness as well.

Yeah, it gives a little
earthiness, a little grounded

to everything, you know.

The cheese is a amazing.

It's creamy, a little
bit of saltiness.

It's as good
as any vegan cheese I've had.

In fact, that you guys
are making it

out of pumpkin seeds,
absolutely incredible.

You've been living
in Texas for a while?

Mm-hmm.

When I told people I was coming
to Texas, they were like,

"Texas, vegan, what
are you talking about?"

And if I was to tell someone I
was going to have a meat pizza

in Texas, obviously they
would think

of something very different...

Yeah.

...than a vegan meat pizza.

Do you think this could have
been possible,

like, 10 years ago
here in Texas?

Austin's always been
a little bit

different and always
had a bigger

and more varied vegan scene
than a lot of other towns

in Texas,
but I don't know.

Veganism has just grown so much
and Austin has grown so much

that there's just a fresh demand

that maybe wouldn't have been
here before.

Yeah, you nailed it,
absolutely nailed it.

I'm angry I don't live here

because I would get
this often, for sure.

I'm glad you enjoy it.

Mm-hmm.

And I gotta say your
crust looks great.

For a first timer,
you're a natural.

Thank you.

(Upbeat instrumental music)

♪

Mena: Any serious visit to

Mena: Any serious visit
to Texas is punctuated

by the traditional
crawfish boil.

Fortunately for
plant-based eaters,

there's now a nahfish boil.

It's the brainchild of Chef Ray,
an avid motorcyclist and vegan

who's tired of being excluded
from southern meat-heavy meals.

So he created the no-crawfish
nahfish boil

for the Austin community.

Good to meet you, man.

Nice to meet you, man.

So we're doing
a craw-fish boil?

Nahfish.

Nahfish boil.

Before I was plant based, I've
had the Cajun style crawfish

with potatoes, but I've never
had a vegan style nahfish.

Yeah.

What is it?
What is it, man?

Instead of the crawfish
tails, we use vegan shrimp.

What is the shrimp made of?

It's called konjac.

It's a root vegetable.

It's East Asian, like a yam.

And they make it
even look like a shrimp.

Yeah, and the best part about
the vegan shrimp

is you don't have to peel all
the shells off of it.

That's a good point, man,
and if this was a real shrimp,

right back here would
be its poop sack.

Ray: Yeah!

Did you know that?

You're probably having shrimp
with its poop sack on it.

So, with vegan shrimp,
there's no poop sack!

No poop sack.

Yeah, right?

No poop sack.

You heard it from Ray
here, no poop sack.

♪

Damn!

That tastes like shrimp to me.
Hey, you've got to try this.

Claudia, come here.

Tell me that doesn't
taste like shrimp.

Shrimpy.

See? Hmm!

There's so much
flavour going on.

Ray: The texture yeah.

And now it's soaking
up all that broth,

as soon as we get
it in there too.

Be careful.
Don't breath that in.

It's a lot of chilies and--

Ooh!

Ray: We have the potatoes
in there already.

Wanna taste it?

Ah, man.
Yeah, I'd love to taste it.

Let's get me a taste.

I want to see what's
going on in there.

It smells amazing!

♪

Oh, man!

Mm, that tastes delicious.

So you've got spice
in there,

all kinds of different
kinds of peppers?

Different hot sauces.
We added oils.

Is there some citrus in there?

I'm getting
a little bit of acidity.

Yeah, a little citrus
and a little seasonings too.

I'm pumped, man.

I can't wait to get all this
flavour in this corn, man.

I can put it in
right now actually.

Let's do it.
What are we waiting for?

Throw it on in there.

Don't splash it.

Let it roll, man,
let it roll.

There you go.

♪

Perfect.

So that's the corn.

I'm guessing that kind of takes
the second longest, right?

So we want to get that
in there?

Yeah, but it's not too long.

I mean, that water's
really hot now, so.

So mushrooms next, then the
shrimp and the sausage.

Yeah. Ready for the mushroom?

This will be a little
easier and a lot lighter.

♪

Oh, baby.

Oh, wow, that looks amazing.
Just floating on top like that.

Ray: Steam them up real quick.

Oh, yeah.

♪

Whew!
Look at that.

Mushroom and corn
swimming in heaven.

Do the honour.

Mena:
Wow. Look at that.

The boil itself
doesn't take too long

and when it's ready, it can
serve up to 100 Texans.

It's time.

It's time? It's time.

We're just going to put the
blackened shrimp

and the sausage in
the boil real quick.

Oh, baby!
The beautiful shrimp.

(Plopping)

Oh, man.
More shrimp?

Oh, yeah,
we're gonna add all of it.

All of it?

Ray: All of it.

Really done it with
the shrimp now.

Ray: I think we're full here.

Mena: Oh yeah.
Alright, look at that.

Ray: Flavour!

Mena: Oh my gosh, you've created
a slide right into the cooler.

Ray: Ready?

♪

Oh baby.

Ray: It's not a perfect design.

Look at that goodness.

Alright, so that's it.

This is ready for the
table now or what?

Ray: Ready to go.

♪

I think we need a swat team
with this-- protect it.

(Chuckles)

Mena: I'm Mena.

- Hi, Mena.
- Nice to meet you.

Oh, yes!
Oh, baby!

A nahfish boil is an event.

I mean, we're eating off the
table, and the local community

showed up in force to indulge.

Should we dig in?

Enjoy, everybody.

All: Thanks.

Mena: Thanks, Chef Ray.
Thank you, Chef.

♪

Mm.

Heck, yeah!

Yeah, I love it.

Mena: What do you think?

Very good.

I've never had a real one,

so I don't have anything to
compare it to.

Really good.
It's honestly on point.

Mena: Yeah.

I'm spending so much time

eating nahfish that I barely
notice the band.

♪ Never been ♪

♪ Go and spend your time
some other way ♪

So I stick around and catch some
live music,

something that's
synonymous with Austin.

♪ Loving you is lame,
loving you is lame ♪

♪

Mena: And the word "vegan"
may be next on that list,

because this city is
growing and changing.

From biscuit to brisket, the
chefs here are delivering,

when it comes to plant-based
southern comfort food.

I've danced, I've tossed,
and I've fallen in love

with this eclectic city.

My trip would not be complete
without one last stop

to Congress Bridge to watch
the bats take flight.

♪

Only in Austin.

(Bats chirping)

♪ There's a train
coming down the track ♪

♪ You got to move on,
never looking back ♪

♪ There's a train
coming down the track ♪

♪ Coming to carry me home ♪

♪ Hear the whistle blow ♪

♪ A hundred miles,
hundred miles ♪

(Music fades)

(Ticking)

(Musical swell)