Superstar Chef Roy Choi is back with season two of his award winning series Broken Bread. Premiering on Tuesday, January 25th, the second season will feature notable guests like Chef Wolfgang Puck, Restauratrice & Food Activist Alice Waters, Artist & Activist Chuck D. and more as Choi explores complex social justice issues through the lens of food – including gentrification, cultural erasure, and the corporate takeover of food and farming.
The series is a fascinating blend of a topic everyone enjoys, delicious food, with important discussions on social issues that we are all wrestling with today. It’s clear from the season two trailer that Choi and the series want to put the social issues front and center of every episode, with commentary about exploitation, propaganda and other relevant topics being highlighted.
On a personal level, as a Korean American, Choi is an icon in the community, and it’s inspiring to see him use his platform in a way that addresses important topics, and seeks to help unite diverse communities through food. I’m eager to see how Choi tackles these issues in the second season.
Season two of Broken Bread premieres January 25h on Tastemade+ and for PBS SoCal/KCET Passport members. It will then air again on Saturday, January 29th at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Link TV (DirecTV 375 and Dish Network 9410) and on Monday, January 31st at 7 p.m. PT on PBS SoCal.
Check out the trailer and additional details below!
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BROKEN BREAD WITH ROY CHOI,
THE AWARD-WINNING SERIES FROM TASTEMADE AND KCET,
RETURNS FOR SEASON TWO ON JANUARY 25
New Season Tackles How to ‘Feed the Future’
With Choi Exploring Complex Social Justice Issues
Through the Lens of Food, Including Gentrification, Cultural Erasure,
As well as the Corporate Takeover of Food and Farming
Los Angeles, Calif. – January 6, 2021 – Modern media company Tastemade and Southern California’s PBS station KCET announced today the premiere details for season two of the Emmy® and James Beard Award®-winning series BROKEN BREAD – hosted by restaurant entrepreneur and acclaimed chef Roy Choi. Co-produced by Tastemade and KCET, the new season explores the future of the restaurant industry, highlighting diverse, expert perspectives and features notable names including Chef Wolfgang Puck, Restauratrice & Food Activist Alice Waters, Artist & Activist Chuck D. and more. Season two premieres on Tues., Jan. 25 at 8 p.m. PT on Tastemade and KCET. All six episodes of the new season will also be available for streaming on Jan. 25 for Tastemade+ subscribers and PBS SoCal/KCET Passport members. The program will also air on Sat., Jan 29 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Link TV (DirecTV 375 and Dish Network 9410) and on Mon., Jan. 31 at 7 p.m. PT on PBS SoCal.
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 answer questions affecting marginalized communities, including:
- How are the new generation of Mexican-Americans using food as resistance to fight the forces of gentrification and erasure?
- What role does urban agriculture play 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.
BROKEN BREAD season two episodes are slated to air as follows (subject to change):
“The Future of Restaurants” premieres on Tastemade & KCET on Jan. 25th
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” premieres on Tastemade & KCET on Feb. 1st
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” premieres on Tastemade & KCET on Feb. 8th
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” premieres on Tastemade & KCET on Feb. 15th
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” premieres on Tastemade & KCET on Feb. 22nd
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” premieres on Tastemade & KCET on Mar. 1st
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 José Figueroa.
Choi is an executive producer along with Tastemade’s Emily Mraz, KCET’s Juan Devis, and Choi’s business partner, Natasha Phan. Avrielle Gallagher serves as supervising producer. The series is directed by Antonio Diaz.
Join the conversation on social media using #BrokenBread, @kcet and @tastemade.
Select programming will also be available to stream on PBS.org and the free PBS App. Members of PBS SoCal and KCET get extended access through PBS Passport.
ABOUT ROY CHOI
Roy Choi was born in Seoul, Korea and raised in Los Angeles, California. Roy is known as one of the architects of the modern food truck movement through Kogi BBQ by merging food and social media with community, and honoring the street food culture that laid the path before him. He is the host of the civic-minded, Emmy Award-winning series, Broken Bread, on Tastemade/KCET, which in 2020 won him a James Beard Award for “Outstanding Personality/Host” in a television series. On a global scale, Roy is co-host in the full-blown Netflix cooking series, The Chef Show, with Jon Favreau. He is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America.
In 2010, Food & Wine named him “Best New Chef.” In 2013, his cookbook/memoir, L.A. Son, was a New York Times Bestseller. In 2016, he was named one of the “TIME 100 Most Influential People,” and in 2017, LocoL received the first-ever Los Angeles Times “Restaurant of the Year” award.
Roy resides in Los Angeles where he is a voice and advocate for street food culture past, present, and future, and the co-owner, co-founder, and chef of Kogi BBQ, Chego!, Best Friend at Park MGM Las Vegas, and LocoL.
Instagram: @chefroychoi
Twitter: @chefroychoi
TASTEMADE
Tastemade is a modern media company that engages a global audience of more than 300 million monthly viewers on all major digital, mobile, and streaming television platforms, garnering 700 million minutes watched each month. We create award-winning video content and original programming in the categories of Food, Travel, and Home & Design that we share with an engaged, passionate, and global community. Tastemade has won a host of awards and accolades for its innovation and original programming, including two James Beard Awards and Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Companies” list. For more information, visit Tastemade at: www.tastemade.com.
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KCET
KCET is part of the donor-supported community institution, the Public Media Group of Southern California, which was formed by the merger of PBS SoCal and KCETLink Media Group. As one of Southern California’s two flagship PBS stations, KCET is on-air, online as well as in the community, and plays a vital role in the cultural enrichment of Southern California. KCET offers a wide range of award-winning local programming as well as the finest public television programs from around the world. Throughout its 55-year history, KCET has won hundreds of major awards for its local and regional news and public affairs programming, its national drama and documentary productions and its website, kcet.org. For additional information about KCET’s original productions, web-exclusive content, programming schedules and community events, please visit kcet.org. KCET Originals and PBS programming are available to stream on the FREE PBS App on iOS and Android devices, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Android TV, Samsung Smart TV, and Chromecast. KCET is also available to watch live on YouTube TV.
Ron is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of POC Culture. He is a big believer in the power and impact of pop culture and the importance of representation in media.
