Original subtitles

Here I am in sunny Panama, and we are going to a

little region up in that mountaintop.

I got my trusty Jeep.

I'm going to start on this stick shift that I just

learned how to use.

Aha, yes.

Every...

everything is fine.

Where we're going is a restaurant, but ultimately,

it's a family home.

They have a gorgeous farm.

They have beautiful produce and great ingredients.

It's going to be pretty awesome, and I'm like beyond excited.

Oh, nope.

Well, if we didn't stall one time, we wouldn't be

in a stick shift with Kristen Kish.

Okay, give me one second.

Oh, that was smooth.

Oh, that was like a

hot knife through butter.

Throughout my career,

I've worked in all kinds of kitchens.

And every challenge I've faced has made me a better chef.

So now, I'm headed out on a journey.

I'm literally in the middle of nowhere.

To places like this, this and this.

Wow.

Look at that.

To restaurants so remote that their chefs face more

challenges in a day...

See what it takes to get a good product?

Then most chefs face in a lifetime.

Oh, my God.

And yet, they turn these obstacles into

once-in-a-lifetime meals.

I got a fish!

Oh, yeah. Looking good.

Now, they're welcoming me into their kitchens.

Cheers.

Welcome.

Oh, yum. Wow. Wow.

It's a chance to up my game.

I'm just blown away.

That's good. I know.

While having the kind of adventure that can only be

had at the very end of the world.

I've got it.

Today, I'm on my way to the highest mountain in Panama

where I'm meeting the owner of Hacienda Mamecillo,

a restaurant perched on the fertile slopes of the

Panamanian cloud forest in the district of Boquete.

The owner of the restaurant asked me to meet him at the

end of this road, so he could guide me up the last leg

of this journey.

You going all the way to the farm?

I think I did.

Hi. Hi. How are you?

Welcome. Welcome to Panama.

Oh my God, my seatbelt just popped off I'm so excited.

We're getting out.

I've been there. It's safe.

Hi! Hi. How are you?

Good! Where are we?

We're, we are, good question.

Well, we're in Boquete.

This is like the highlands of Panama.

And we're heading to Hacienda Mamecillo.

That's up there?

That's actually up there. So, there.

We're going up. We're going up.

Okay. But not driving.

So, the best way is hiking.

Actually, we need to pick some flowers

that we need for the service.

You're going to test my legs right now.

Yes, let's see, let's see.

Okay.

I apologize in advance for anything that happens.

That's okay.

We're ready.

Rolando tells me there's a rutted dirt road that reaches

his restaurant.

But given my skills with a stick shift,

I'm more than happy to take the scenic route.

This is gorgeous.

Seeing how breathtaking it is here, I can understand why

Rolando chose this area to build his dream restaurant.

What I find fascinating about Rolando is that he's a city boy.

He grew up in Panama City and worked as an airline pilot,

but his heart was always in the cloud forest.

So, one day he made a major life change.

Without any experience or support, he and his wife

bought a remote farm with a plan to live off the land.

The challenges ahead would push them to their limits and

show them what they were truly capable of achieving.

You know, uh, I am horribly out of breath right now,

which confirms the fact that I'm horribly out of shape.

Is it raining?

No, that's mist.

That's a lot of the microweather.

It's all coming from the Caribbean.

That's kind of nice.

This region definitely is unique for growing produce...

...because that mist, it keeps everything lush.

We're also really close to a volcano which

produces very fertile soil.

So that soil, along with the mist, means this region is

basically like the greatest outdoor grocery store on earth.

This one, we call it the electric flower.

We use that flower when we're gonna serve the dessert.

And it helps them to clean their palate a bit.

Oh, yum. Wow. Wow!

In the forest, you feel it now? It's coming.

It's like that Szechuan kind of vibe happening.

Yes. Yes.

This is like a wild berry.

So, you try it, it's almost like sugar cotton, you know?

The texture, it grow wild.

You will never see it like in a plantation.

Oh.

You start mixing all that berries.

Oh, my God.

That's a really good jam.

Can we find more of those ones?

Okay. We have to go there.

Where are those?

Well, we should hurry up.

We need to reach the farm.

So welcome to Hacienda Mamecillo.

Who made this?

Me.

That's incredible.

Oh, it's beautiful.

Welcome.

Hacienda Mamecillo only caters to one adventurous

group each day.

Oh my God.

The diners hike up to the restaurant, tour the farm and

then indulge in a sit-down meal for a set price.

My wife, Gabriella.

Hi, how are you? Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you.

You arrived!

Thank you. This is outstanding, gorgeous.

First impressions on the restaurant would be,

it's not a restaurant, it's his home.

And I always say, when people come to my restaurant,

they're coming to my home,

but this is quite a literal translation.

So, it's not a restaurant; it is much better.

I need some help from you.

Is that okay?

Yes! Yeah. Yeah.

In the middle we put the whipping cream.

Okay, great.

Will you help me with some flowers?

Oh, you found a lot. That's good.

Ready? Okay, let's go.

I'll start on this end.

Here you have a lemon cake with a mix of berry jam

and whipping cream.

What you want to bite first...

...is going to be that yellow flower in the middle.

Try it, yeah.

It, it's good, yeah.

Yeah.

Oh, wow.

It start tingling your mouth. Okay.

So, this is a, this a natural anesthesia.

Okay.

Now take a deep breath.

It feels really cold, right?

Okay, now begin with the dessert.

We start inviting friends to come hanging out.

And some of my friends that was actually chef, they came

and they was like, wow, this is the perfect scenery for

sitting and having a meal.

And then I told Gabriella

that we should open a restaurant here.

I was like, no.

You know, because we were not ready.

We hadn't finished the house;

we didn't have a floor in the kitchen.

We had no cooking experience or serving experience at all.

Of course, Rolando he was like, "Ah but let's, we start it

and then we see where it takes us." You know?

It's like no planning behind it, where I'm,

I'm the opposite.

I'm a bit more adventurous.

I'm diving first, you know?

I'm, then I see what is going on.

How is it with the, the two of you

in the kitchen together?

I follow what he's doing until get too bossy.

You know?

So, technically, she's the boss?

She is the boss. Yeah, yeah.

It's blowing my mind a little bit that they

just decided to do this.

He's not a trained chef; they haven't really worked

in restaurants before.

When I think back to my own career I had, I don't know,

15 plus years of experience in restaurants before I decided

to open a restaurant.

And even so, I hesitated.

And so, to be Rolando where he goes with the flow.

That's fascinating to me.

So here at Hacienda Mamecillo...

...we like to cook...

...with the stuff that we have at the farm.

Tomorrow, we have, uh, um, a lunch and we're going to

prepare a smoked chicken with some watercress and then a

glaze of naranjilla.

For the next lunch service, Rolando is planning a

menu of smoked chicken on a bed of wild watercress.

The chicken will be glazed with a jam made of a citrus

fruit called naranjilla.

Common in Panamanian cooking, the naranjilla fruit has a

unique flavor profile, described as a cross between

a lime and a rhubarb.

Are you ready for a challenge?

To pick a couple of these ingredients and...

No, no, I'm ready.

You have killed a chicken?

I'm, I'm going to do... no.

That's the first challenge.

Oh, my God.

Let's go pick the chicken.

I've been close to my food for a very long time,

but never quite this close.

Down here we have our chickens.

No, we don't give any hormones, any antibiotics.

Isabella. Leonard.

Let's call my assistants.

Hi. Salud.

What's your name? Isabella.

Isabella, nice to meet you.

And you are?

Leonard.

Leonard, nice to meet you.

You have hold a chicken before?

Um, I haven't, but let's do it.

Not alive, or alive? Yeah?

Oh.

Ahhh!

I'm going to let go of that.

Too much flapping? You have to...

Okay, I'm going to try again.

I'm going to go on the wings.

The wings. Ah ha ha.

This is yours. Champion.

I did it.

Have your moment. Have your moment.

Anyone that's eating meat should experience...

Yeah.

Or get to know where the meat actually is

coming from.

100%.

Hanging a chicken upside down ensures that it's

drowsy beforehand,

while the actual slaughter takes only a few seconds.

That's how I test my knives too, on the fingernail.

Yeah. Yeah.

I do that all the time.

If it drags and kind of takes off a little layer.

It's important to get it sharp, you know,

to get it over and done with fast, you know.

We're ready.

Great.

Oh.

There goes the blood.

That was actually, that was swift.

That was actually quite fast.

Yeah.

Faster than what I thought.

Well done.

So now we need to get the remaining ingredients for

Rolando's dish.

First up is watercress.

You, you want to step in between rocks.

Got it.

Just to get like a good step, you know.

In addition to running this remote

restaurant, Rolando leads adventure tours.

We're almost there.

Oh, Rolando, you did not warn me about this.

On a recent rappelling trip, he found the last remnants of

this season's wild river watercress.

We're getting close to the fun.

The only problem:

it's growing in clumps, halfway down a waterfall.

Oh, my God.

Absolutely. Are you ready?

You're going to have me go and get it?

Do you dare?

Yeah, it's the fun part.

This is wild.

Whoa!

Okay, so, now it's time to find the watercress.

Look for that green plant.

Keep going.

You're doing perfect.

Find your next step before you move.

Holy (bleep).

When the water start hitting your face,

don't look up, look down.

Keep going. Keep going.

Don't look up.

Yeah, keep going, keep going.

That's the slippery part.

Remember, open the legs and lean back a bit.

Do you see the first plant?

You have it right there.

Oh, my God.

Holy (bleep).

Careful with that left hand.

Oh,

I got it.

Oh, my God.

Holy (bleep).

You ready? Ready!

Okay.

Oh, I can see the ground.

Lean back a bit.

Go in the water, go in the water.

Woo hoo.

Nice.

Nice job, Kristen.

Listen, I don't carry purses, but if I have to carry

a purse of watercress I will, because it is peppery,

it's fresh and, honestly, I think it's probably the,

the closest thing I'll ever get to farm to my mouth.

This is so good.

Good morning.

A lot of stuff kind of comes up and I reflect a lot more

after a good night's sleep and

I have time to digest the day before.

And with Rolando and his restaurant where he's serving

his guests, everything is coming from his property;

so, he really has to be very flexible and creative.

My restaurant, however, is a place where I can dream up

any kind of idea of a dish and I can try it.

For Rolando, it's the products that come before the dish

and if you have an abundance of potatoes,

well then guess what?

Your menu is going to be 80% potatoes and you're going to

find creative ways to do it.

There is something to be said about stepping back

and allowing yourself permission

to not control the outcome so much.

So, um, yeah, so good morning.

We'll be serving lunch in just a few hours.

But Rolando tells me we need to source one final item first.

The chicken dish he loves is smoked with a very

specific type of wood.

And while mesquite wood is common to use for cooking

chicken in the States, the Nispero fruit tree fills the

role in this corner of Panama.

The trees grow in abundance and can be found nearby

at a friend's farm.

It's hard to get the wood,

but it will be worth it, believe me.

Believe me, it will.

The watercress, the wood.

You will see, that'll be the best plate.

And Juan, he has been definitely like...

...my teacher from farming, for sure.

And he have find that Nispero is one of the best woods to cook.

Juan!

How are you, Juan?

It has been amazing having him as a guide

for all this like farming process.

He's an older guy, that he has not been in school,

but he have a lot of life experience.

That's our tree.

Where is it? Oh, this one right here?

That dry one, yes, yes.

So, how would you describe the flavor and the

aroma of this wood?

They have like a soft, smoky flavor.

Okay.

So, it still allows the, the product to shine through

all the flavor?

Yes. Yes, exactly. Exactly.

Unlike some wood smoke that can hide the

delicate flavor of poultry, the beauty of the Nispero wood

is that it will enhance the flavor of Rolando's chicken

without overpowering it.

Alright.

Are we ready? She's a beaut.

Let's do it.

We won't need too much of this Nispero wood because Rolando's

outdoor smoker oven is really, really small,

so just a few branches should do the trick.

Do you need my muscles?

I think you do.

Nice, nice!

Can you ask him if I impressed him?

He's saying he don't want that you leave.

He wants to keep you.

How long have you two known each other?

Oh, maybe for like 12, 13 years now.

How did the two of you come to meet?

I start working in a farm close to this house, and...

I come from Panama City...

...so I had, like, no clue what I was doing.

And he has been teaching me a lot.

Juan see this crazy guy from the city trying to

like start growing a big farm and he really wanted to help us.

He was like, this is kind of like the way you have to

breed the chickens.

And this is the way to get that coffee to produce.

If Juan would have not been helping us at the beginning,

I may would have go back to Panama City.

When I met Juan, I was saying, you know, my family all live

in Panama City...

Yeah.

And I was here like figuring out what I'm doing.

And he has been like my, I call him, he's like my grandfather.

Yeah.

He will get sentimental.

Yeah. Si.

Pretty hard to describe the, the appreciation

I have for Juan.

See, you're, you're, you're going to make me cry.

Yeah, yeah, of course. Right, well it's like...

He said there's a lot of Juans.

But no one like him.

This is amazing, thank you.

Hacienda Mamecillo wouldn't even exist without Juan,

which I mean, that's, that's a lot.

That's a big thing to think about.

No one is able to succeed, to grow, by themselves.

We all, we all need a lot of people in our lives

to do that.

Now that we've sourced everything we need,

it's time to start preparing the meal.

I am here to help however I can help you but give me the

lay of the land cause we are still in your home kitchen.

Yes, and we have some...

...difficulties.

Some little things not working properly.

Yeah, I do notice this gaping hole.

There's nothing there.

We lost the oven.

Oven got broken.

It's been gone for two months.

There's no oven?

This ought to be interesting.

That's a new design.

That's where we hide...

...when something go wrong.

Right. Right.

We send it to repair, and it never make it back.

So, Rolando hand-built his entire house,

not to mention the tables in the dining area, the chairs

and even the plates.

But one thing he can't build or fix on his own are the

kitchen appliances.

When those break, it can be months until they can get

someone to fix it.

But if Rolando has taught me anything, it's how to find

solutions to any challenge.

We just say, you know, forget about the oven.

We have the little one there.

How old is this thing?

That was like before me, you know,

so that would be...

Maybe 30?

Oh, my God. Okay so this is our oven.

We can use the fire and also, we have these burners.

Okay, I recognize that because my grandmother

had one like that.

That's one of your relics.

Okay, and then this looks also very old.

The bread machine. Yes.

This is the pastry team.

Okay.

Yes, we are in your home kitchen, and we are

missing some things, but this is, sometimes

all you really need to create great food.

That's the nice challenges...

Yeah. Of the home kitchen.

Who needs an oven anyway?

No one needs an oven!

There you go.

The challenges that they have, it's, it's a lot.

I mean his pastry department is a bread maker from 1920.

So, um, kudos to them for being able to pull it off

night after night but I'm, I'm excited to see kind of

how they operate with the challenges that they do have.

Guests is going to arrive pretty soon, and we,

we really don't have a lot of time.

For this lunch, Rolando and Gabriella will be

serving the smoked chicken and the watercress that we sourced.

But they'll also be complimenting it with

an appetizer and a dessert.

The first dish that we will serve is going to be

bruschetta of coffee bread with goat cheese.

So, I will make a French press, and then we will use

that liquid to prepare the bread.

That's our coffee bread.

Do you use the butt end, or are we going to get...

Yeah, perfect.

Yeah. Like a canapé.

Like a what? Um, like a...

Like a little hors d'oeuvre.

Okay.

I don't understand that one, either, but yeah.

It's okay. Canapé.

If you want to make it really sound fancy and then

you can, uh, charge 20 more dollars on it.

Canapé. Okay.

The main dish is going to be chicken,

that we going to smoke.

We will let it smoke like 20 minutes.

Oh, so you just chuck it all in.

I just put it in there.

I move the fire to one side and then we will use these bricks.

Do you want me to start anything for any of the

other courses?

We should get the watercress and start mixing it.

Yeah.

That'll be just a bit of olive oil and salt, pepper.

The dessert is, uh, ice cream.

It's a homemade ice cream.

It will have a berry jam on the ice cream.

Can I taste it?

Yeah, of course.

Oh yeah.

That's great.

That's delicious.

So, I think we're set. We're good.

I feel good. Nice.

That was, that was great.

Oh, I think guests has arrived.

So, let me, let me get them.

Why am I nervous?

It's like opening a restaurant at day one, where you're like,

there's people.

Hi, everyone.

Hi. How are you?

Let me fill your glass up.

This is the Bruschetta Mamecillo.

It is coffee bread with goat cheese on top, a bit of honey,

a mint, and then a tiny bit of spicy paprika, and then the

skin of the lime.

The lime on top.

Coffee bread is amazing.

And the spicy paprika is so good.

It's like the final touch.

We will sit the chicken on top so it could be...

You want to put the chicken on top?

Like a tiny bed.

It got quiet now.

What you have, it's farm chicken.

So, it's a happy chicken that has been

living a really good life.

He used to be.

I think this is actually, this is the best day

of that chicken, is when we prepare it and serve it.

Oh, my God. So...

We smoke it first.

You have watercress that

Kris help us to get it from the waterfall.

I rappelled down a waterfall picking that

watercress, as you eat it.

To get it on the plate.

So, it's wild.

And then you have a, a, a bit of micro greens on top, a

bougainvillea flower, uh, that is edible, and then a jalella

of naranjilla, so it's a naranjilla jam.

The idea is to mix all that flavors.

Mm.

It's almost like a sweet soy sauce kind of back.

So, how do you feel it's going?

I'm nervous.

I'm looking at people's faces and see like how they enjoy it.

Ah, okay.

It's a good bite.

I don't know. It's a weird, weird, delicious flavor.

So, now we can dig in on the dessert.

This is ice cream with berries.

You have a jam of berries on top.

You have some fresh mulberries and a strawberry flower.

It's good.

I love eating and this is amazing.

That was delicious.

Absolutely amazing.

Yeah. Yes.

You guys have created something very magical here.

It's, and look how happy they are. It's amazing.

Happy to have you here...

...to share this experience.

Thank you. Thank you.

Well done.

Thank you.

We have a special event coming.

Okay.

The most famous chef in Panama...

...he's coming with the family.

A few years ago, he was here, and he referred a lot of

people to the farm.

It's a like high-end clientele and we really would like to

impress him.

When we open Hacienda Mamecillo,

...we was not getting any clientele.

That was the hard part...

...that Gabriella told me we should stop offering the meals.

But then after we met him...

We got an, an amazing help from Charlie Collins

because then he start talking about us.

And that help us a lot.

And it's been a lot of word of mouth.

So, he's coming again.

It would be great to present him...

...what Hacienda Mamecillo has become now.

Charlie Collins truly has been instrumental in

this restaurant, making it a restaurant, even.

Cooking for someone that means so much to you and has given

so much to you is a challenge

because you want everything to be perfect.

And that's a lot of expectation and that's

a lot of pressure to have to deliver.

How many people is it?

It will be, maybe, 30 people.

30? 30 people.

So, still with just the three of us?

Yeah.

But it will be one of the big parties in Mamecillo.

Okay.

We are going to serve 30 people with no additional help

from a home kitchen with ingredients we can find

around the farm.

This is truly the Hacienda Mamacilla way,

and I just hope I've learned enough at this point

to help him pull it off.

As soon as the group is more than ten persons

the wakeup call is, like, at four...

...just to be able to have the lunch set.

So, can you help us make it faster and easygoing?

Rolando and Gabriella have asked me to help them

impress Chef Charlie Collins who's coming with the largest

party they've ever served.

But this won't be easy because we're working in a

home kitchen and not just a home kitchen.

A home kitchen without an oven.

So, the challenge really becomes how you actually and

technically can cook the food, what you can cook and then

that has to lead dreaming up this great menu.

I think we can make like a goat cheese flatbread that

we grill over the flames.

Cool. Sounds good.

Okay. So, we can do...

Sounds tasty and good.

And...

And that would be in the fire?

That'll be on the fire.

Yup, so it'll have those nice grill marks and

it's nice and charred.

Uh-Huh.

One of the greatest tools that they have and

probably one of the most unique and fun resources is

what was built for family fire ambiance time and keeping the

house warm can be used to cook food.

And make more bread for more people

in a more efficient manner.

Thinking about the main portion, I loved your chicken dish.

I thought it was really well-balanced, and it was like

quite tasty, but I can show you a way, perhaps,

to do it on a larger scale,

so you don't have to spend so much time

plating little individual pieces.

So, we can do a larger...

I'm sure Gabriella will appreciate it.

Yeah, one larger version of that chicken.

Yes, yes. That's good. That's good.

So, we should fill in something like

light and refreshing in this gap.

And cold?

Yeah.

Like a ceviche?

That will be cold.

And it's, it's actually really light flavor,

bit of like...

Yeah, definitely refreshing.

Like a habanero spicy?

That's refreshing. Yeah.

Oh, yeah. Okay.

I love Rolando's idea to make a ceviche.

It's a dish of raw fish that's marinated in citrus and

it will make a perfect second course.

One of the nice things of like this region,

and Panama especially, is that you can move really fast from

one ecosystem to another ecosystem.

And we have great fish in the Pacific Ocean.

So, if you are into, we can definitely do a trip down

there and try to catch some fresh fish.

Very excited.

The microclimates in this region are truly incredible.

In a short hour-long drive, Rolando takes us from the

cool, foggy cloud forest

to Panama's bright and sunny Pacific coast.

Okay, we're ready.

We're gonna go spearfishing,

trying to get some grouper.

It's really, really tasty white meat.

Beautiful, beautiful fish.

That one lives just on the reef.

Okay. Woo.

Action starts!

Spear fishing sounds great in theory, but I've

never held a spear gun before.

And it seems much harder than just throwing a line into the

water, so this is far from a sure bet.

Three, two, one.

I'm going.

It's loaded with the safe.

So, I will give it to you.

Try to go to the rocks.

Close to the rocks...

...and then dive down.

I can't see anything.

There's a fish down there.

I'll try to get that one.

I saw a cucumber.

Sea cucumber.

I caught a fish.

I caught a giant tuna.

Just kidding, it's a goldfish.

So, plan B?

All right.

Not catching anything isn't really the end of the world.

It's just really figuring out how to pivot and make

something new since the fish won't be on the menu.

But let's be honest, that's not something you want to

troubleshoot this late in the game.

We didn't get any fish.

No.

So, that means there's no starter.

So, I have an idea to replace the fish.

It's this.

This doesn't look like the sea.

It's chayote.

We actually want that fruit.

You can pick it, yeah.

This isn't the first time Rolando has

thrown me a curve ball.

Can you sense my doubt?

It'll work. Trust me.

But honestly, I can't even begin to imagine what he

has planned for the ceviche.

It's not the traditional ingredient in a

ceviche but it's also white.

So, it looks like the fish.

Exactly.

Ceviche's typically made with raw seafood

marinated in citric acid like lime.

I see where Rolando's trying to go with this.

But I'm a little worried that replacing the fish with this

cucumber-like substitute will leave us with nothing more

than just a fancy vegetable salad.

So, right now it's got like a raw vegetable green flavor.

Like a, like a green zucchini.

You know, like a raw zucchini.

How long does it take for the acid to break down this?

Once it sit on the lime,

maybe for like a day.

Then you get an amazing texture and flavor.

But if it's like fresh fish, normally...

...you can make a ceviche, like in 30 minutes.

So, let's try. See what happens.

We have five hours.

Okay.

Chayote is quite common in Panamanian cooking,

where it's often added to soups and stews.

But serving it raw isn't really that typical.

Only time will tell whether the acid from the lime will

break down the chayote enough to mimic the texture of fish.

So, the flatbread, we're going to roll them out pretty thin

because the thinner you roll them out,

the faster they cook.

When, like when she throw it on the fire,

I was like "Oh this will melt and it will go like

through the grill".

Oh, it's bubbling.

Yeah. Beautiful.

But then actually, the result, really, really great.

See it cooking a little bit?

Oh yes...

That's fast.

That will be fast.

This flatbread isn't only just a great work around

for their lack of an oven...

Ready for another one?

Yes.

But it also cooks in less than 2 minutes, which is

a fantastic time saver.

Oh, nice. Ah, that's gorgeous.

I almost lost the whole thing.

Eh, the blender's a little tired.

That's big.

Oh, that is so beautiful.

And then have that already set at the table when

guests arrive, then it buys you so much time.

Yes, yes.

And then we can lay out the ceviche.

You know, it start raining, it's...

It's a dirt road.

And it can get really tricky, for sure.

Like it can get really, really tricky.

And sometimes, I need to go rescue people because

they get stuck.

Then they start kind of backing up and then they go

out of the edge.

I don't see anyone yet.

It's just dumping rain, which is now going to impact the

road and how the guests get here.

At my restaurant, the biggest challenge for the guests

coming is really traffic, not actually if a road is going to

be stable enough to get a car to my restaurant.

But then Rolando tells me they're not

actually coming in a car.

I order some military bus that they use

to go to the top of the volcano...

...to bring the people.

...because if not, they will be stuck.

But I think they will enjoy it.

It's part of the adventure.

Rolando seems to be just fine.

He's laughing about it saying, "Oh, it'll be fine."

We'll just put 30 people in a party bus.

We'll chuck them up this hill.

He seems to be going with the flow

in more ways than one here.

If he's not worried, I'm going to try not to be worried.

Oh, people coming...

Oh, now they're coming?

Down the hill. Uh-oh.

There was some gentlemen...

...helping the girls that was like...

...really high heels.

We may get some grumpy faces.

But I don't see no one falling.

So, I think that's good.

Are they walking? Are walking.

Ay-yay.

Oh (bleep) and they're like in like nice clothes.

Yes, this restaurant is remote and getting there

is half the adventure.

But Charlie Collins is a very important chef.

And trekking through the mud for this meal isn't the best

way to create a first impression.

Hola, hola. Como estan?

After an arduous journey

through the rain and mud,

Chef Charlie Collins and his guests

have finally arrived.

But I worry the trip may have left a bad taste in his mouth

before the meal has even begun,

which would be a devastating blow for Rolando.

Hi, how are ya? Kristen.

Hi, Kristen, how are you?

Pleasure to meet you.

Very nice meeting you.

He cares about what Charlie thinks, cause Charlie

is a very important person in his life and

is a mentor of sorts to him.

And so, I definitely understand the weight of this

dinner and what it means to him.

I'm optimistic, but I'm also very nervous.

How do you feel?

I feel good. You're here!

Okay!

Today we wanted to provide you guys an experience

that be like a family experience.

We can start with the bread that we prepared with goat cheese.

And you have pickles, eggplants that we cook on the fire.

I think it's ready to dig in.

This is great.

It's delicious.

Okay, this one's spicy.

Oh, yeah, super.

I like the one that's spicy best.

This is really good.

Feel good? Yeah.

Great.

I think it's going good, people are happy.

That's great. Yeah.

Uh, the second course.

This is a vegan ceviche.

No fish, no nothing, but it have the same ingredients, okay.

You have some plantain chips.

You have cilantro.

So, enjoy it.

That's cucumber, no?

The ceviche was this thing that I was a little bit

weary of simply because the idea of ceviche is completely

manipulating the texture and the flavor of traditionally

fish or seafood.

Not a vegetable.

Chayote, no?

Raw chayote.

Yeah.

To serve a vegan ceviche, um, I think is

something very unusual.

Very delicious.

But I think they've been very, very creative.

And I, I, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The combination, it's really good.

It's perfect.

Yes, yes the best.

Now I love it.

It's very good.

I'm good.

Good? Aw okay, thank you.

Rolando would have never come up with this vegan ceviche if

we had caught the fish.

It's a good reminder that with a little ingenuity,

even the most common ingredients can be used

in new and interesting ways.

I think we should start doing the chickens, family style.

Right?

And then we'll find some big trays and then put them here.

Gorgeous.

Give that to Charlie.

While it's hot and crispy, huh?

All right.

This is our happy chicken.

We smoke it, then you have watercress.

Enjoy it, guys.

Oh, my God, it's so good.

It is delicious.

It's good huh? You're eating.

Oh, it's so good.

Strawberry mountain...

Sabayon. Sabayon.

This is a strawberry mountain sabayon.

Enjoy, guys.

It is delicious!

It's tasty.

I wasn't expecting it to be this good.

You good? You feel good?

Okay, you did great.

You had some years not being here.

What do you think about the evolution of Mamecillo?

It's, it's a whole different thing.

A lot of surprises.

Yeah. Good surprises.

And I thoroughly enjoyed it, but it's the same quality

and the same love that you cook with,

with a heart and passion.

Yes. Yes.

And that's the important part.

Here's to that, huh?

Cheers for that. Thank you.

It blows my mind to see how much Rolando and

Gabriella have accomplished.

What started as a dream has become a fully realized vision

that has Charlie taking notice.

First of all, I would like to thank all you guys

for to join us tonight.

Charlie, definitely thank you.

We had a special guest that help us to put together this

amazing menu tonight and it's Kristen Kish.

Definitely you have helped us a lot and

I really appreciate it.

It's been an incredible experience to be

with both of them and

understanding the sense of community.

And, and see, I'm going to get teary eyed.

I'm here to support you,

I do feel like family and...

Even though he made me go down a waterfall,

use a chainsaw.

I've done a lot of really cool things that I haven't ever

done in my entire life because of them.

So, yep.

More than welcome.

You know, Rolando and Gabriella have taken the

challenges of living in a remote location and

turned them into advantages.

Rolo, thank you.

No, a todos, a todos.

It's not about having every ingredient available.

It's having the freshest of what is available.

Great, great meal.

Nice. Glad you like it.

It's not about having the most modern kitchen.

It's about embracing the basics.

Really good job.

And it's not about making things 100% perfect every time.

It's about making things human.

Salud. Salud!

Ultimately, that's what the guests keep

coming back for.

And it's a lesson I'll remember long after I leave

this one-of-a-kind restaurant,

tucked away in the shadow of a volcano,

at the very end of the world.

Captioned by Cotter Media Group.