Roy Choi Breaks Bread with Influential Californians to Discuss Future of the Restaurant Industry

Tastemade and Southern California’s PBS station KCET welcome back Broken Bread with restaurant entrepreneur and acclaimed chef Roy Choi. The second season will explore the future of the restaurant industry, highlighting diverse, expert perspectives including Chef Wolfgang Puck, restauratrice and food Activist Alice Waters, artist and activist Chuck D. and more. The first episode premieres January 25 on both Tastemade and KCET. All six episodes of the new season will also be available for streaming for Tastemade+ subscribers and PBS SoCal/KCET Passport members. 

Broken Bread follows Choi as he explores complex social justice issues through the lens of food— including gentrification, cultural erasure and the corporate takeover of food and farming—and celebrates the people who are making big changes to the current food landscape, what is eaten and where communities gather. He will meet inspiring individuals and organizations who challenge the status quo and use food as a platform for activism and a catalyst for change. As the connector, Choi teams up with those making a difference and thus, fuels his deep love for the food community and the players who fight to transform it for the better.  

Season two of the series focuses on the faces behind the changing food movement, including Puck and Waters, as well as journalist Patricia Escarcega and artist Six Sev. It will also highlight the AAPI experience, as well as what it is like to live on the Mexican side of the Mexican-American border. Choi will explore how new generation of Mexican-Americans use food as resistance to fight the forces of gentrification and erasure, and  the role does urban agriculture plays in the fight for black food sovereignty, land ownership and the climate.

Visit Brokenbread.tv to learn about the organizations and the issues featured in the new season through articles, resource guides and recipes. Viewers can take a deeper dive into the social justice issues explored in the series and ways in which they can become activated to advance change.

Season Breakdown: 

“The Future of Restaurants”

Roy breaks bread with Chef Wolfgang Puck, journalist Patricia Escárcega and restaurateurs who are working to address the worker exploitation, high food prices and unsustainable financial models that have long defined the restaurant industry.

“From Seed to Table” 

Roy explores seed sovereignty with Kristyn Leach, a farmer in Davis, California, harvests vegetables with kids in Compton and sits down for a heart to heart with the legendary restauratrice and food activist Alice Waters to discuss the food war that has been raging for decades ensuring we protect the right to grow, eat and exchange crops.

“Food as Resistance” 

After learning more about the buried history of the Chavez Ravine neighborhoods where Dodger Stadium now stands, Roy is inspired to meet the people actively preserving Latinx cuisine in L.A. He explores Kernel of Truth, a tortillería in Boyle Heights, and seeks out some of the city’s top taco makers who are using food and flavor as a form of resistance.

“Returning to Chinatown”

Roy’s Chinatown restaurant Chego opened in 2013, which soon became the poster child for gentrification in the area. Roy explores what he would have done differently as he retraces his steps through some of the neighborhood’s beloved establishments like Hop Woo and Phoenix Bakery. He also meets newcomers to the neighborhood, Pearl River Deli and Endorffeine.

“Owning the Block” 

Roy breaks bread in Leimert Park with legendary artist and activist Chuck D, explores local businesses like Simply Wholesome and Harun Coffee with artist Six Sev and meets with elders to find out how a neighborhood so rich in food, art, music and culture can counteract the forces of gentrification in the community.

“Tijuana” 

Roy explores Tijuana’s incredible variety of nightlife, street food, restaurants and cultural diversity along one of the most misunderstood stretches of the U.S./Mexico border. Often painted as a place of violence and poverty, Roy’s experience is totally different as he visits alongside Mexican punk rock band Tijuana No! and Chef Joe Figueroa.A free community outdoor screening event for the new season will be held at LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes, the hub of Latino culture and the only museum in L.A. dedicated to honoring and sharing the history and many contributions of Mexicans, Mexican-Americans and all Latinos in Southern California, on Saturday, January 22 from 4-8 p.m. At the event’s opening reception, Roy Choi will be joined by community organizations and individuals from the series where they will host an interactive exploration of the power of food. Guests will be treated to an outdoor “Block Party” highlighting music, food and community as well as the screening of the first two episodes of Broken Bread Season Two followed by a panel moderated by Choi himself and featuring a few of the heroes highlighted in the series. For more information about attending the event, visit www.brokenbread.tv for more details. Admittance is limited to Adults 21+ and proof of COVID vaccination is required (or a negative COVID-19 test taken within the last 72 hours).