All language subtitles for Eaters Guide to the World S01E05 HULU-ION10[eztv.re]

MAYA RUDOLPH:
This is a love story...

about the bond
between Angelenos and their cars.

Your car has seen you cry, scream,

spill piping‐hot coffee
all over the front of your pants.

It's a safe haven,

amidst all this traffic.

[horns honking]

Which is just fine because in this city,

some of the best meals
are made to be eaten on the road.

♪ "Chain Reaction" by Cobra Man playing ♪

♪

‐ Oh!

♪ serene music playing ♪

MAYA:
People put their cars through a lot in LA.

So they got to treat 'em right, you know.

They got to keep those whips clean.

♪

This place looks like a car wash, right?

That's because it is.

At least until the clock strikes 6:00.

♪ techno music playing ♪

Look at this.

This is a party.

You got kids dancing, blasting music.

This is a total scene.

But the star of
this "American Graffiti" fever dream

is the spicy fried chicken.

When the sun goes down,

this Northridge Car Wash
in the Valley is transformed.

♪

Serving made‐to‐order
Nashville hot chicken,

smothered in pickles,

creamy coleslaw,

and saucity sauce‐sauce.

MAN: Like, I told my mom, I was like,
I'm gonna go get chicken from a car wash.

And she's like, "Yeah, you do you, honey.
Just don't die."

ANTHONY: Mikayla?
MIKAYLA: Yeah.

ANTHONY: Here you go.
MIKAYLA: Oh, thank you.

ANTHONY: No worries.

MIKE:
When we started this,

we didn't expect
that many people to come out.

I wanted to cry, but I didn't.
So I looked cool.

MAYA:
It's okay to cry, Mike.

Before opening their own place,

Mike and his friends
had to drive hours on the 405

to get their hands
on Nashville hot chicken,

which has picked up some serious steam
in LA these last few years.

Finally, they tapped
into that LA ambition,

made their own recipe,

and marketed their spot on Instagram.

Damn, you guys are making me hungry.

[woman laughs]

‐ We've been waiting three months.

‐ We've been, like, stalking the Instagram
just, like, looking at the pictures.

‐ What makes us stand out
is definitely our recipe.

But when you throw in
a few hundred people outside,

you have Lamborghinis pulling up,

it's just‐‐ it's just the vibe.

GEORGE: We have a lot of people here
that are just as passionate about cars,

as much as they are food.

So when you get love and support like this
on a nightly basis,

it's pretty easy
to go through a bunch of chicken.

I mean, we sell, you know,
more than my actual body weight.

MAYA:
As the head of the kitchen,

George is in charge
of getting that bird cooking right.

GEORGE: This is the love sauce.
This is what we dip the tenders in.

This is what gives it its love.

MAYA:
So what's in there, George?

‐ It's our secret. [laughs]

MAYA:
Love is the message.

Love is the draw.

Every order of chicken tenders
is marinated,

seasoned, breaded, and fried.

Then generously dipped
in that "ooh, it's a secret" sauce,

before romancing
a toasted sweet Hawaiian roll.

Season,

fry,

love,

serve.

♪

MAN: Mmm.

MAN: Oh!

MAYA: But you have to be careful
with what you order.

Hawaiian hot chicken
has five spice levels,

and they are not messing around.
[evil laughter]

GEORGE: Level one and two is,
you know, your traditional chili powders.

But once you get
into the three, four, and the fives,

that's when you start messing
around with ghost pepper,

habanero, Carolina Reaper,
not for the faint of heart.

‐ I think it's torture.

‐ You have to sign.
You have to sign a waiver.

‐ I did try the level five once,
probably worst idea of my life.

‐ Oh! Get!

MAYA: Level five, Kilauea,
is named after the volcano.

So, that says enough.

[man moaning]

‐ I was in pain when it went in,

I was in pain during the process,
and I was in pain when it came out.

So... [chuckles] possibly the whole day.

♪ "I Feel Good (Upbeat)" by SATV Music ♪

MAYA: Hawaiian hot chicken
is a celebration of this sprawling city,

bringing all kinds of people together,

from drivers of exotics

and just regular dailies,

to do two of LA's favorite things,

eat food

and flex.

♪

[engine revving]

MAN: Jesus Christ.

[laughs]

♪ serene music playing ♪

MAYA: In this city, you gotta
fortify yourself for the morning commute.

You've got to get a breakfast burrito,

the pride of Los Angeles
and a primo car food.

Unlike eating an acai bowl while driving,

which requires both hands
and is dangerous for everybody,

a breakfast burrito
is a much safer driving food.

Oh, that's cute. You little burrito.

[cooing]
Mwah.

There's a place in the city,
actually a bunch of places,

where you can get
a cheese‐wrap breakfast burrito

to start your morning right.

You just have to know
where Matt parked his car.

MATT:
When I first got started,

I was working
at a breakfast burrito restaurant.

I had about two grand saved up, I think ,

and I said, "Well... screw it, I'm done."

MAYA:
Matt here is a genuine hustler

and the owner of Lowkey Burritos,

a pop‐up food joint
he runs out of his minivan.

MATT:
After my second kid,

I was kinda wondering, like,
"I need to do something with my life."

I wanted to do a pop‐up ,
and I quit my job.

I told myself, I'm going
to give it about six months

and it kind of all happened,
just snowballed from there.

‐ That'll be it for you? $11 please.

‐ Oh, there it is.

MAYA:
When the breakfast rush hits,

Lowkey Burritos can get low‐key hectic.

MATT: Quickly, quickly, like
faster than you've ever done it before.

MAYA:
Matt handles it with grace.

‐ Thank you so much, guys. I appreciate
you guys all hanging tight with me.

MAYA: He can't help it that everyone
wants a bite of this perfect burrito,

stuffed with charred onions and peppers,

egg, crispy taters,

all snuggled under a blanket
of molten cheese.

Imagine the crackling texture
of an egg roll,

but the taste of a melted pepper jack.

MAN:
There we go, baby.

What is life without this?

[crunch]

MAYA:
On a good day, Matt flips, folds, seals,

and serves 70 breakfast burritos
in just a few hours' time.

‐ We started getting, like, tourists,
people from neighboring cities.

GIRL: It's really good.
‐ It's really good, really crunchy.

‐ I just saw the commotion,
so I pulled up.

‐ This is bomb.

His creativity when it comes to the food,
it's something else.

You see him cooking, he looks happy.

It gives it a better taste.

I'm telling you,
you guys got to try this, bro.

MAYA:
Oh, man, save me a bite of that.

Best part of starting early

is that Matt can be home by lunch
to hang with his family.

MATT:
We only have this time.

So it's really important
to do what you want to do

and I wanted to make sure that I had time
to spend with my kids and my family.

Some people just like to jump all in it,
and go get a big fat loan or something,

but... that's not the way
that I want to do it.

It's not easy, but it's not supposed
to be easy, I guess.

I know I keep saying it,
but thank you guys so much.

I really appreciate you coming by.

‐ Uh‐oh.

That's some bullshit.
My cheese crust fell.

MAYA:
Oh, I hate it when that happens.

♪ upbeat music playing ♪

Now, LA isn't all cheesy burritos
and hot chicken.

It's a city that's constantly
changing and growing.

Sometimes at the expense
of its communities and cultures.

But George's, a 50‐something‐year‐old
Boyle Heights establishment,

is working hard to keep
its neighborhood happy.

‐ That's good.

‐ ♪ Oh yeah, baby ♪

‐ Every morning we make our patties fresh.

We start with a couple hundred pounds
of meat and then we roll them out.

MAYA:
After many changes of ownership,

this former drive‐through
has fallen into the right hands.

‐ I really wanted to kinda bring this back

to what I remember it being
in my younger years.

‐ ♪ Yeah ♪

ARMANDO: Just this place
that people can come back to

and remind themselves of those places
that you'd go to as a kid.

MAYA:
This is not George.

Meet Armando, an East LA native.

Couple of years ago,
he and his buddy Robert bought George's.

ROBERT: A lot of friends I went
to high school with come in here.

I had one guy come in here the other day.

He's like, "You're working
at a burger stand?"

I was like, "Yeah,
I'm working at a burger stand."

MAYA: Robert's being humble.
He owns the burger stand.

He also oversees
the pastrami program here.

ROBERT: When I get into something,
I fully submerge myself into it.

Like, I was into RC airplanes
for a weird second

and got, like, really deep into that,
into fish tanks.

MAYA: Hold up.
Did he say he was into fish tanks?

‐ There's burger stands like this
all over LA.

The main focal point
is the pastramis and the burgers,

but the outside of the menu
kinda varies around the community.

And I think our menu
represents Boyle Heights really well.

The history of George's had a lot
to do with that car culture of LA.

And a lot of people from the neighborhood

have been coming here
since they were kids in high school.

[laughs]

MAYA: An establishment like George's
attracts all kinds of customers

at all hours of the day.

♪ rock music playing ♪

‐ The clientèle is really representative
of Boyle Heights.

It's just a mixture of different cultures.

[growling]

‐ You know, I've seen a lot
of stores come and go, man,

but George's is still here. It's crazy.

[speaking Spanish]

Cheeseburger, double egg, con pastrami.

‐ All right, brother.

‐ We like to slice it to order
so it's really fresh

and then we dunk it into
a beef broth au jus that we make here.

Give it a little flavor, heat it up.

MAYA:
Los Angeles is obsessed with pastrami

and Boyle Heights has been
the center of the love affair

ever since the turn of the last century,

when thousands of Westward‐bound Jews
arrived in the neighborhood

bearing those fine shaved slivers of beef.

ROBERT:
That's pastrami on pastrami action.

♪ upbeat music playing ♪

‐ What's that, Mr. Hamburger?
You want me to eat you?

Dude, this is off the chain, bro.

MAN:
Yeah, man.

‐ We got it on now.
‐ Mm‐hmm.

‐ Did we forget our drinks?

Damn.

[all laughing]

MAYA: Some Angelenos
use their cars as dining rooms,

while others turn them
into mobile offices.

[phone ringing]
MAN ON PHONE: Hello.

AIESHA:
Did you hear back from the architect

about adding the additional unit
on top of the garage?

MAN ON PHONE: Yeah, it looks like
we can use two‐tandem parking.

‐ Awesome. Okay, sweet.
I'll talk to you soon. Bye.

There's a house in El Sereno
that we looked at yesterday.

I've never been to a busier
open house in my life.

It pretty much looked like a rock concert.

[laughing]

MAYA: Aiesha
is a real estate agent and remodeler

and knows LA neighborhoods inside and out.

‐ Angelina Heights,

it's one of the oldest neighborhoods
in Los Angeles.

It's just a plethora of different styles.
Victorian to Art Deco.

MAYA:
The business is in her blood.

She comes from a line of women
who were property owners in Guyana.

AIESHA:
Original finishes.

MAYA: When Aiesha isn't showing
handsome houses

and helping people make LA their home,

you can find her on the road.

AIESHA: I
'm in the car all the time.

I might get supplies,
walk properties, talk to lawyers,

and you just never know
where you're going to be.

Being able to eat on the go
is just a big part of my life.

What I'm always looking for

is a place I can grab something
and then take it back to my car

and do work and make sure
my blood sugar doesn't plummet.

♪

My go‐tos are Triple Beam Pizza,
the falafel sandwich from Dune.

It's hard to find good vegan options,

but luckily
there's this new flatbread place

in Glendale that was vegan
and really car‐friendly.

MAYA:
Welcome to Zhengyalov Hatz.

They sell only one thing,

a supple football‐shaped flatbread

with 15 kinds of minced greens and herbs.

JANA VALLIANOS:
It's a perfect vegetarian and vegan food.

We didn't realize it will get so popular
in all different nationalities.

MAYA: They're a specialty
of an Eastern European region

called Republic of Artsakh,
right on the Armenia‐Azerbaijan border.

But you can also hit up Glendale.

JANA: Zhengyalov Hatz,
its herbs are 12 different types,

beetroot leaves, cilantro, dill,
and actually a few more,

but we don't like to tell everyone,
sorry.

MAYA:
So many secret recipes in this town.

‐ It's family secret. We have to keep it.

It's a good takeout food. It's healthy.

People come like, "Could I get one?
I'm driving. I need to go someplace."

AIESHA:
Really, that looks good.

MAYA:
It's sort of like a hand‐held salad.

‐ Mm!

It's like super flavorful,
a little bit of tang, easy to handle.

This will definitely be a new spot
to add on my route.

MAYA: If you want to move closer
to this place, I know an agent.

♪ Aiesha ♪

Whether you're eating in the cab
or buying a burrito from a trunk,

automobiles play an integral role
in getting folks what they need.

Delivery trucks, specifically,

if you can buy it,
delivery truck brought it there.

Giant truck rims, delivery.

Wholesale beans, delivery.

Your daily bread. It's delivery, baby.

This driver in particular
is delivering Bub and Grandma's bread

all throughout Los Angeles

to places like Konbi

where they depend
on their cloud‐like Japanese milk bread

for their egg salad sandwiches

and Pizzeria Mozza, co‐owned by carb icon
Nancy Silverton,

where Bub and Grandma's
three‐day fermented dough gets pizza‐fied.

And Bloom & Plume Coffee,
which serves avocado toast

complete with spiced chickpeas,
tomatoes, and radishes

on thick slices
of Bub's house country loaf.

MAURICE: I had been
to a couple of restaurants

and I was like, "Oh, my God,
this bread is so good. Where is it from?"

And every time, they were like,
"There's this bakery Bub and Grandma's."

And I was like, "Whoa,
I have to have Bub and Grandma's bread."

MAYA: Bub and Grandma's pizza dough
and 24 types of bread

are all gently nurtured
by their loving bakers.

Like little babies,

they're kneaded, fermented,
swaddled, sung to sleep.

There's nothing
as fundamentally satisfying

as fresh warm bread.

You could just curl up and give it
a little... give it a little cuddle.

♪ peaceful music playing ♪

ANDY: Bread is extremely difficult,
but a lot of it's just effort.

Effort is the key to any of this stuff.

You can figure out how to make anything
at the highest levels of quality

if you just work on it.

The East Coast/West Coast bread thing,

like people saying
that there's a hard and soft water issue,

it's all bullshit.

MAYA:
Andy runs Bub and Grandma's.

He started making that good, good dough

as a way to escape his life
as an advertisement and TV writer.

‐ I was progressively hating myself
more and more for about 10 years

and I just quit and committed
to baking bread every day for a year.

MAYA:
And that's how Bubs was born.

ANDY: It became much more crazy
than I anticipated

and it hasn't stopped since then.

[laughter]

MAYA:
And now that he's got half of LA

depending on him to deliver the goods,
he takes his hiring very seriously.

‐ We hire the people who want to be here.

Bobo, coming through. [laughs]
‐ Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

ANDY:
You know, we have this crew here

who's just been with us
for a really long time.

When you commit to doing this job,
you have to really love hustling

and it's hard to get everything done

and make sure the product
is consistent every day.

You know, we have a dozen drivers here
like Nate.

Nate's been with us for a while.
He's handling the pizza dough.

As soon as you remove
the pizza dough from the walk‐in,

we don't have any refrigerated vans
right now.

So it's imperative that the vans
get loaded quickly

or else it becomes, you know, a pancake.

‐ I've been doing this seven months,
but I do music.

Oh, I'm trapped. [chuckles]

So I guess I consider myself a singer,
kind of, first and I write songs.

MAYA: Nate delivers the fresh bread
lovingly made at Bub and Grandma's

to restaurants all over LA.

Nate might be the only person
who doesn't stress out over LA traffic.

NATE: I mean, the stereotype of LA,
it being like a nightmare to commute in

and the traffic, I mean, that's all true,
but when it's your job to be in the car,

it, like, somehow changes
your perception of being in it.

Like, it's not a bummer.
Like, I'm on the clock.
You know what I mean?

If I hit traffic, it's okay.
I'm being paid to be in the traffic.

♪

So my delivery route today
starts off with Mozza

which is kind of
the most complicated one.

You park in the alley
behind the restaurant.

Enter via back right of parking lot
for Pizzeria and Osteria.

So it's, like, two different spots.

Pizza dough goes in the cooler
and pastry kitchen.

Pizzeria bread goes to Pizzeria kitchen.

Hey, doggie.

The next spot we're going to,

the notes are, "Deliver via loading dock
on Gary Street."

That's my favorite kind.

MAYA: For Nate, driving gives him time
to sit with his thoughts,

soak up all that Los Angeles has to offer.

NATE: If somebody says, like,
"Oh, I hate LA," or something,

I'll be like, "What part?" You know?

Each neighborhood is so distinct.
When you drive around town,

you realize there's so many
different experiences happening.

And, like, all the different lives
you can have is pretty wild.

Hey, how's it going?

All right, thank you.

Thanks, man.
Take it easy. Have a good night.

I actually really love this job.

No exaggeration. It's like
one of my favorite jobs I've had.

[chuckling]

MAYA: There's nothing better
than the satisfaction of a job well done

and the ease of a no‐stress environment.

‐ Oh!
[clattering]

MAYA: Damn.

Oof, that's a spicy meatball.

‐ Oh, my God. Dude, what the [bleep].

This is like
a watch‐people‐die‐inside moment.

All right, I'll just do a count of, like,
what I lost and I'll let them know.

Shit. Like, it's fine.

Oh, shit.

♪ upbeat music playing ♪

MAYA:
Look, driving can become a drag.

Home to work, work to home.

Traffic both ways, five days a week.
Ugh, it's exhausting.

[car horns blaring]

But even though the car
can feel claustrophobic,

it's the key to unlocking the city
and finding your very own sanctuary.

In Downtown LA sits Hayato,
a thoughtful Kaiseki restaurant

serving some of the most exquisite
Japanese food in the city.

But with only seven seats,
reservations are very hard to come by.

The takeout lunch is just as hard to get.

BRANDON:
Traditional bento is train culture.

So we made it for takeout.

I always think about getting on the train

and all my attention being focused
on this box that I had brought with me.

You know, it makes me happy.

MAYA: After studying
molecular biology in college,

Chef Brandon's parents
really wanted him to become a doctor.

But Brandon realized that food
could be its own kind of medicine.

‐ Really close friend had a stroke
and I took him a bento in the hospital.

He became very emotional
when he was eating.

And I started thinking differently
about food that you can take to somebody.

MAYA: Some people
consider this bento a work of art.

JONNY:
I used to be an architect

and so...
I think there's something so powerful

about the way Hayato does the bento.

Everything's so precise and detailed.

In a sense, it's kind of like the most
luxurious takeout box you can have.

MAYA:
Well said, Jonny.

On top of being an architect,
MIT PhD candidate,

illustrator, and comedy writer,

Jonny has achieved
something truly incredible.

He managed to score
one of these bento boxes for lunch.

JONNY: The way I always get them
is by signing up for the alerts

and it'll tell you
if a reservation gets canceled.

If you're fast enough, you can jump on it

and be like,
"I'll be there in 15 minutes."

And then you just jump in the car
from wherever you are and try to make it.

BRANDON:
It's a two‐day process.

A lot of stuff has to be made
multiple days ahead.

Like, the vegetables have to be
soaked overnight in different stocks

and so cooking the vegetables,
it upsets me.

You know, when we cook carrots,

the top of the carrot and the bottom
of the carrot cooks at different speeds.

I mean, everything,
every one of these beans is different.

Everyone's going to say, "Oh,
this is perfect. Or this is undercooked."

But unless I cooked each one individually,

none of us
are going to be completely satisfied.

But when you're talking about
a certain level of precision,

I mean, that's the level we're looking for
in the bento box every day.

♪ tranquil music playing ♪

‐ Wow, look at this. That's beautiful.

Everything fits together so perfectly
and so thoughtful.

MAYA:
Like a carefully designed mosaic,

the 17 distinct items of the bento box
carry a diversity of flavors.

Citrusy, chrysanthemum greens.

‐ That's delicious.

MAYA:
Wild Mexican shrimp shin jo.

‐ Mmm. That's really good.

MAYA: Mmm, mmm. Look at that.
That's a tender sweet potato.

‐ Oh, wow. It's very decadent.
Yeah. That's great.

LA rewards driving around

and finding the places you love
for yourself here and just be present.

MAYA: In Los Angeles,
every turn, street, and stoplight

reveals a new possibility
for a place to eat.

This is a city where the best chicken
comes from the car wash,

a pastrami sandwich
can take you back to your childhood,

where dreams come true
on the side of the road.

And a single soft slice of bread
can help you see the world more clearly.

Your car is your freedom
to do things your way.

[car horn blaring]

NATE:
I mean, it can be a headache.

Like, I had a job once
where the commute was an hour,

but that commute, like, was soul‐sucking.

Like, the traffic was so frustrating

because you're either
running a little bit late for work,

or you just want to be home.

And then I was just,
like, clenched. You know?

People aren't themselves behind the wheel.
You know, you become somebody else.

You, like... You know...

That kind of, like, rage takes over
and you don't become human anymore.

You know, parking spot's nice.