Los Angeles restaurants | The Dish

[Music] I'm Michelle Miller from CBS Saturday morning welcome to the dish today we're headed to SoCal to experience some of tinl Town's most delicious eats we visit a Santa Monica spot serving up a combination of flavors from California and France pleasing to both the eyes and the taste buds plus we meet a chef who left gang life behind and serves up California Soul Food in the West Adams neighborhood of LA but first we meet theolo introducing the City of Angels to Pittsburgh style pies Jamie yucas visits the San Fernando Valley to sample Chef Ben oers anything goes [Music] creations's in Pittsburgh for a taste of the Steel City [Music] look no further than LA's San Fernando Valley here at an unassuming strip mall next to a kosher bakery in a Jewish neighborhood you'll find gorilla pies where Chef Ben ooser is combining a wild mix of flavors you'd never expect to find on a pizza it's a hybrid kimchi and sauerkraut oh that's good it's like a little salty a little crunchy a little spicy that's what oer calls CR and it goes on a pizza named the rabbi it's basically a Reuben sandwich on a pie with his take on Thousand Island as the base followed by swiss cheese purple cabbage Pastrami and even caraway seeds to make the crust smell and taste like seeded rye bread Jake osher is Ben's brother the Shop's co-owner and its unofficial Pizza taste tester the crazier it is like he knows the better for me and that's part of the Pittsburgh style right absolutely anything goes if you've not heard of Pittsburgh style pizza Ben thinks he may be the first to coin the term part of the secret that's our Standard Pizza cheese is half mozzarella half provolone that's a very Pittsburgh influence and if it all seems a bit unorthodox well read the sign on the door it's oser not Kosher Ben's inspiration comes from an extensive culinary past including a stint at a Michelin starred Indian restaurant and years at the highend sushi giant noou do you use what you learn from noou even in your pizza now absolutely Japanese food is all about finding the best quality ingredients and not messing with them too much and presenting them in a very beautiful way Ben's career came to a head in 2020 he was working as the executive chef at a hotel in Hollywood and lost his job during the pandemic so he began experimenting with new ideas in his apartment to the Delight of his brother who is living just a short stroll away we got cauliflower pork belly classic margarita it was pretty complicated and the pizzas didn't even fit in my oven I didn't mind well it sounds like a gorilla Pizza exactly that's gorilla like the Warfare but the pizzas didn't stay underground for long and we were playing around with names like that I'm like why don't we just do gorilla the animal so we had the name The Branding the foods amazing and we're like let's just try it selling homecooked pizza via social media gorilla pies quickly gained a reputation in the neighborhood and then someone called the health department so I kind of took that as an omen that it was like time to stop doing the popup and go legit my father just started doing research and found this listed on Facebook via a website called selling restaurants.com who knew that existed the space had previously been a kosher Pizzeria and though that's no longer the case Ben told us maintaining the spot's Jewish identity is a point of Pride tell me about that picture in front of you so yeah so uh to our best knowledge It Is 1920 Toledo Ohio and we think due to the apples on the table that it's rashash ah um and the baby that's my great aunt wow and I love this guy he's my favorite do you know who he is a relative an uncle we'll just call him the rabbi but this Rabbi isn't kosher no no he's still a Jew after meeting the namesake of gorilla Pi's signature Pizza we went into the kitchen to make it and just a few minutes later this is smelling amazing it was time to sit down for some slices with the oer brothers we tried the kitten Ben's take on a margarita pizza the green monster a pesto pie topped with fried shitake mushrooms and of course the rabbi do you already have two down don't Jud me this is my job okay for Ben ooser the gig is sentimental a former fine dining Chef getting back to the preferred comfort food of his childhood I'm inspired by pizza pizza is universal you know you hard pressed to find anybody on the planet that's like pizza no I don't want that now shitaka time up next we meet a renowned Chicago Chef bringing his flavor to the LA food scene this is the dish Chef Dave Baron went to college to play hockey but a fortuitous trip to Chicago with his father to sample some Regional Fair led him to switch from pucks to plates today he's a James Beard award-winning Chef running his dream French beastro in Santa Monica Jamie wax got a taste of some of Baron's Creations in the heart of downtown Santa Monica there's a jewel of a beastro pajoli which translates as not pretty is clearly ironically named and where the setting and the cuisine perfectly capture both California and France greton the restaurant is the creation and Showplace of Chef Dave Baron who gave us an impressive demo of his approach to pleasing the eyes and the taste buds one of the greatest smells in all the food World caramelized fennel is paired with a luxurious Lobster Vel piled with root vegetables edible flowers and fresh local herbs before a filet of halibut is rested on top perfectly cooked halibut on top of everything else absolutely delicious the work of a master but Baron didn't expect to be a chef he's having to college try to play hockey at the time your father was teaching hotel and restaurant management at Syracuse correct and he took you on a changing trip but there was a a summer when I was in college and he used to go to the restaurant show in Chicago every year and um one year I didn't have any do that summer he's like hey you want to come to the show with me and I thought sure I'll go I was like 20 I had nothing better to do um and then after that we ate a few restaurants in Chicago and I was like this is really cool I'm into this not feeling he could afford culinary school he went straight to work at a restaurant in Michigan then he set his sites back to where his love for food began I had 3 months of experience I don't know what I was doing you know I was was applying everywhere in Chicago thinking I can work anywhere I worked at this one restaurant and the Chicago magazine has their like top 20 list every year back then and I just looked at the list I was like I'm going to apply to all these he ended up working at some of the Wendy City's most influential restaurants including MK true and at the globally revered alenia with Chef Grant aets what's the most important thing you learn from Grant aets you can always do more than you think you can you basically you're setting your own limits I mean I watched a guy like dying of cancer and still coming to the kitchen you know so you kind of sit back and say well guess if he can do that then I can come in and be a little tired and still work AET survived his fight with cancer and the two went on to partner in another restaurant next then next was presented to me with the opportunity to figure out what my style of food was because there was no style of food there it was tasting menu and it had to change three times a year seeking a change of environment Baron headed out west to Los Angeles but at first the chef out of Chicago felt like a fish out of water the first few visits I was just like why am I here the city is terrible and then the more I started spending time here the more I realized you get back what you invest out of LA and you can have a great dining City but it's only supported with great diners and as I started looking around here I started seeing people really being engaged in dining and that's a really magical point in a city Baron became a part of that magical point with his beloved La popup dialogue which led him to the opportunity to open his dream beastro that better restaurant now turns out some of the most Innovative takes on French cuisine around like their beet salad it's roasted beets and carrots there's a goat cheese spuma under there foam that is not at all a typical beet salad nooki with Bas scallops English peas pea tendrils and pea blossome this looks like a California Farmers Market in a bowl right here right that is a really special dish and something pajo Lee is best known for they're duck dishes first up duck rouette duck slowly roasted and preserved in its own drippings then transformed into a decadent spreadable appetizer the sweetness and smokiness as well with the crunch of the bread is just really nice the jam kind of saves it next is the duck press so the duck press whole roast duck for two finished with a cherry vinegarette it's a whole lot of parts of the duck I mean the idea is we're not wasy things that's the point of the dish that is such a depth of flavor and a one-of-a-kind cheesecake that has special meaning to the chef and his staff during the pandemic we had to sell I believe it was like 250 a month in order to keep the entire staff on health insurance amaz I mean this is literally this desert represents keeping your staff supported yeah I can see how this kept your your staff in health insurance so any way we could uh we sold enough of them apparently are you out and for Dave Baron the goal isn't to keep expanding but to expand possibilities for new culinary talents I don't want an array of restaurants with my name on the door uh it's not realistic I'm not at 30 restaurants I think the dream for us is that you know we've we're developing the infrastructure here I would love to harvest talent What's this that's that's the challenge to restaurants cooks are Cooks you know you didn't start cooking to work on spreadsheets and that's why a lot of good restaurants fail it's not cuz the food's not good it's cuz they don't know how to run the business and so if we can provide people the opportunity to do that and grow the brand that way that would be the best way to do it that would be Che still letting Cooks be cooks and your food thank you sir Keith Corbin first found success and camaraderie working in the kitchen while in prison now he combines fresh California produce with Southern Soul for a menu inspired by his grandmother's cooking but the former gang member hasn't forgotten where he's from going out of his way to hire and train staff from less affluent neighborhoods like where he grew up in Watts South Los Angeles Chef Corbin Rew walks those streets with a little Luciana Keith Corbin is one of the country's most acclaimed new chefs got you and the creative Forest behind Alta in West Adams Los Angeles here he cooks up California Soul Food a fresh modern take on the Staples of his childhood I don't care who is the creator if you're creating a a dish with the intent to nourish sustain and feed the soul of someone it's so full but his story starts in South Los Angeles I always say no matter how high my tree grow or where it bends and hovers over my roots are always in the same place walking along Grape Street the memories come rushing back including the near-death encounter that made him leave gang life for good what happens here so I was coming by and it was early in the morning like 8 the gentleman jumped got out of the car and literally shot the car up that I was in with my little brother and my 4-year-old nephew but thank God nobody was here as a grap Street hustle came to Define Corbin around the Jordan Downs projects he's still known as fresh right baby but among Hollywood and music industry Elite he's Chef you're fine with mac and cheese in the kitchen at Alta he invokes the Soul Food flavors his grandmother brought West during the Second Great Migration just cooking with love taking her time being patient feeding the community that's how we do it his gripping Memoir California Soul is filled with Tales of Brotherhood and of gang violins and of his Granny's Sweet Cakes I've never ate dinner growing up at my granny's where I didn't have a piece of cake at the end this is where I spent all my days I used to sit in and sell drugs out to get through school Corbin spent almost a decade in and out of prison I came home from prison the first time I seen my peers having things that they had that I felt that I deserve so I jumped back in the game and it was in prison where he excelled and built Community working in kitchens so when a restaurant opportunity came in I got a call from my mother boy you want to get over here they hiring acclaimed chefs Daniel Patterson and Roy Choy brought local to the food desert of watts to feed and Empower locals a concept to bring food from the philosophy ideology of a chef to underserved communities food deserts to bring up good quality food at affordable prices it eventually shut down but after spending years perfecting his skills Corbin eventually partnered with Patterson to open Alta prison cooking didn't prepare me for this cooking drugs didn't prepare me for this though it pays off on every single plate I have to start with the thing that takes me back home the red beans M it's good right that's that love see okay so what goes into this just garlic onion chili flake and smoked oil even his gumbo is a fresh reinvention and the Heart of his culinary point of view combining California produce with Southern Soul what where you want to go I'm going to go for the gumbo right here you have squash you have corn you have sweet peppers you have a little kale at ala he met his wife Renee what was it like for you to read California Soul oh that's a hard question when I read those pages I lived that story with him he says she saved him from his last great demon addiction it was also healing because you know to see how much we've overcome together looking back Corbin says his journey is not his alone he sees it as a blueprint for others I don't hire from colon blue I hire from the projects we have a high turnover rate yes and it takes a lot of time and patience to train these people that have never had a job before and it's like if we don't do it who will nobody the most important thing or the most powerful thing you could do is to do it over and over to say I'm here that's it not quitting on yeah despite the risks he keeps coming back sharing the stories and importantly the dishes I'm no expert but this is perfection after the break we meet a chef who's cooked up comfort food favorites on both [Music] coasts Daniel Holzman trained in high-end kites alongside celebrity chefs and dreamed of having his own one day but it turns out he's more interested in cra crafting accessible eats rather than Gourmet Feats his friends and family couldn't afford his current Venture is a New York style pizza joint for SoCal clientele Jamie wax steps into holzman's kitchen now that's an ideal Patty shape and size I think that's an ideal Patty shape and size I I really do because we're going to have two of these remember yeah Chef Daniel Holzman finds inspiration everywhere even in a perfectly cooked cheeseburger we're just going to double double lift them off right on top of that bun bottom that's like a five minute bundle of joy my God that's good and though he's best known for unpretentious crowd-pleasing Cuisine he developed his skills in some of the most refined French kitchens in the world I mean you started out as a kid in high school in New York in the kitchen of Eric repair at leeran my best friend's father was the matri got me a job there I remember my first day Eric interviews me and he was just an absolutely extraordinary mentor and I learned so much about discipline in life uh love for food and respect for people qualities he took with him to The Culinary Institute of America and into the kitchen of another famous French chef Jean Louie paladan so my goal was to be on the cover of food magazine you know four star fancy chef and at some point I realized that the people that I love and hang out with and care about can't afford to eat this food and then I want to cook the you know food that speaks to me so you know there's no reason that a hot dog a meatball a slice of pizza shouldn't have the same level of quality as a fancy steak or a piece of fish at a fancy restaurant in 2010 a life-changing opportunity presented itself you were out west and you get a call how did The Meatball Shop start so my best friend Michael CH now he calls me up he says I want to open this restaurant I want you to be the chef and at the time I had not intended to move back to to New York at all The Meatball Shop was exactly that that moment when we said we're going to give up our goal of being fancy chefs our goal of being in magazines we're just going to try and give something back to the community and maybe open a restaurant that that speaks to us Holzman grew up in New York City his first love for cooking came from inside his home my mom was a fantastic cook and anything I was interested in she was cooking with me we were making pasta hanging off of the backs of chairs together and you know to drive and making pizzas and breads at home do you mind grabb me a rack of dough bud so it's no surprise that all these years later he's making pizza again this time in LA at his place Danny Boy's famous Original Pizza a venture inspired by him and his wife we were sitting on the couch and we were we we had had a few drinks the night before and we're thinking we need a what are we craving a slice of pizza and you know there's so much great pizza in Los Angeles but there wasn't a an example of what I the that that childhood memory of great New York style pizza that that satisfies your soul in a way that nothing else can right and so that's what we set out to do open a great New York style Pizzeria uh nothing more we sampled some of the dishes and lessons starting with his signature pork meatballs the amount of spice and cheese to meat to breading in this is always what I find so perfect about your meatballs they are the texture is just fantastic I feel like folks you know they they think meat's the most expensive meat's the best so I'm going to put a lot of meat in there and it's counterintuitive but the more bread the more filler kind of the better other dishes included spaghetti alio Olio excellent simple ingredient the brightness and the fresh flavor of of the finer olive oil you use as you say as the sauce basically it's garlic and it's excellent olive oil and cheese crispy roasted brussels sprouts brussels sprouts have very little sugar and so you can really cook them until they're until they're almost burnt and it brings out the sweetness whole salt roasted onions the sharpness you get in an onion comes from sulfur and when you cook the onion the sulfur dissipates and you left with the sweetness and for dessert classic chocolate chip cookies how's it going guys can I get for you and though he still has plenty of questions Daniel Holzman just might have found the answer to what brings him satisfaction in life right now I'm making pizza and it's making me happy it's I know it's a crazy thing to say but I go in there every day I stretch pies I put the sauce on there I watch the cheese melt I feed it to people makes them happy sounds very pure for more stories like these and live coverage of breaking news stream us right here on CBS news247 I'm Michelle Miller we'll see you next time for another helping of the dish

Channel: CBS News

Views: 6,324

Keywords: The Dish, full episode, CBS News, video, live news, streaming, CBS Mornings, CBS Saturday Morning, cooking, food, chef, cuisine

Id: 4fdQ7n1s39k

Length: 21min 23sec (1283 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 01 2024