Somebody Feed Phil (2018) s02e01 Episode Script
Venice
1
[instrumental music playing]
[pigeon cooing]
A happy, hungry man ♪
Is traveling all across the sea
And the land ♪
He's trying to understand ♪
The art of pasta, pork
Chicken and lamb ♪
He will drive to you
He will fly to you ♪
He will sing for you
And dance for you ♪
He will laugh with you
And he'll cry for you ♪
There's just one thing
He asks in return ♪
Somebody feed, somebody feed ♪
Won't somebody, somebody feed Phil ♪
Somebody feed him now ♪
[Phil] My favorite quote
from baseball legend Yogi Berra
is "Nobody goes there anymore,
it's too crowded."
That's what smart sophisticated world
travelers would probably say about Venice.
Why go? There's so many tourists.
It's overrun.
Why would you go
to such a touristy place?
'Cause it looks like this.
You know who we can thank for this city,
Attila the Hun.
Mainland refugees fleeing his invasion
hid out on islands in the local lagoon.
They decided to stay
and created this dazzling place.
Venice is like a movie
that's been art directed.
Every single place you look
is another stunning visual.
And I'm pretty sure
I'm not the first person to notice this.
Some places are touristy for a reason!
Because people like it!
Sorry for the yelling.
I'm starting my trip with one
of the most Venetian things you can do.
A cicchetti crawl.
What are cicchetti you ask?
Little bites of food on bread, like tapas.
My guide is my good friend
Laura Sousounis.
She's American, but she decided
to pack up and move to Venice.
Can you blame her?
So the first place, look at this place.
It's called Schiavi.
And it's run by the beautiful Alessandra.
She's been making the cicchetti here
from her own recipes for 60 years.
- [in Italian] Want a plate?
- [Laura in Italian] Yes.
[in English] Alessandra asks
what you want.
Everything.
[Alessandra speaking Italian]
[Laura] Do you want some wine?
These were meant, like tapas,
to go with wine.
So you have a little wine
in the middle of the day.
Doo.
-[Phil] What should be first?
-[Alessandra] Primo il baccalà.
[Laura] It's just olive oil and cod. Mm.
[Phil] It's so fresh and delicious.
What's this?
This looks like a piece of fish.
-What's left for me, Phil?
-Nothing.
[Laura chuckles]
Mm.
-Yeah.
-Genius.
[Phil] I developed a good system though.
If you're gonna taste them all, right,
you just pop them and leave the bread.
Mm. Mm.
I wanted what was on top of the bread,
so I was just
[making popping sounds]
-This is the big ticket.
-Here we go. This is it.
[Phil] Hear this:
Tuna with cacao.
Yes, cocoa powder on tuna
sounds disgusting, no?
No!
-Isn't that nice? Tuna, cacao.
-Wow!
Who would have thunk it?
-Wow!
-[Laura speaks Italian]
-Wow!
-[Laura chuckles]
-Grazie.
-Wonderful.
[Phil] Our next stop requires a boat trip.
-Your chariot. Look.
-Thank you, Phil.
[Phil] And because of all the wine
I've had, maybe some Dramamine.
-[Phil] Doh. Uh.
-[Laura chuckles]
Never ever get tired of this. Ever.
-And you live here!
-I live here.
[Laura] I think Venice is meant
to be seen from the water looking up.
Look, here's the Rialto Bridge.
Hey!
-There's the bus. Hello, bus.
-That's the bus!
[Laura] This is our transport.
What I love about this place
is you can't speed.
You can go only as fast
as your feet take you or that boat
-which isn't fair. [laughs]
-The bus is the fastest thing?
[Phil] Here we go.
So--
I thought we'd take
a little break between eating
and then go try on a few masks.
[Phil] Masks have been
a thing in Venice for centuries,
worn during the city's famous Carnevale
or anytime someone, usually a noble,
was looking for a little anonymity.
[Laura] Sergio's shop is here.
He and his brother and his son
and his family make masks.
[Phil] Yeah.
This mask is
the most traditional Venetian mask.
Amadeus.
[Laura] So?
Where's my opera?
Did you finish my opera yet?
Don't eat, don't sleep,
just finish the opera.
-[Laura] Phil?
-Yes.
[Laura] Ready to go eat?
You need to finish my opera.
[Laura laughs]
Next up, All'Arco!
Another great cicchetti place.
This is like gourmet
with artisanal ingredients,
beautifully sourced meats and cheeses.
-This is Mateo.
-Mateo.
-This is Phil!
-My pleasure.
Francesco's son.
-These are the owners.
-[Phil] Nice!
[Laura] You never know what he'll concoct.
Always different.
-And he's a genius at this.
-I love geniuses.
-Broke genius.
-[Phil laughs]
And I met
the biggest celebrity in Venice
-[Phil] Nani the Wonder Dog.
-[Laura] He's famous.
Everyone knows Nani.
[man] Nani!
-[Phil] The camera loves Nani.
-[Laura] Nani.
And Nani will start barking if you're not
petting and scratching his neck enough.
I should try that.
He goes-- There he goes. And he'll-- See?
Everyone knows him.
He's a true Venetian dog.
[Matteo] Is a mix. We have codfish,
speck is smoked ham or salami.
This is the salmon.
Which one do I want?
I think I'm gonna have a bite of this.
Perfect.
[Phil] Where's my friend Eugenio?
-Eugenio works on the crew.
-Buongiorno.
-You said this is your favorite place?
-Yes.
Take this chair. Sit next to Laura.
You have to know Laura
because Laura lives very close by.
-We're friends now.
-Now you can be friends.
[Phil] As if these cicchetti
weren't enough,
out come these beautiful sandwiches,
tramezzini.
I'm grabbing grilled cheese with salami
and eggplant before anyone notices.
Wow, do I love these. Wow, are they great.
[Matteo] Good?
Thank you.
[chuckles]
[Phil] Wow.
It's lovely here.
You run into the fishermen.
All the shopkeepers.
-Run into judges with the courthouse.
-Let me be honest with you.
I don't care if I didn't run into anybody,
as long as I ran into this sandwich.
[Laura] I got one for you.
[Phil] This is
the perfect Venice afternoon, isn't it?
Let's go apartment hunting. [chuckles]
How many bathrooms you got up there?
[Phil] But before I make
those nice people an offer,
one more stop for some
of the city's oldest kind of street food.
-[Laura] Calamari and shrimps.
-[Phil] Yeah.
There you go.
So we're having
the classic working man's lunch here.
I don't feel I've earned it.
-Not terrible.
-Not terrible. Not terrible at all.
[Phil] It's a good place to end.
-Hopefully not everything.
-Yeah, everything.
-Actually, it wouldn't be bad.
-No, if you were gonna pick a
-You'd just walk right--
-What would your last view be?
-It would be Venice. It would be Venice.
-Not terrible.
[Phil] But don't worry about me.
I'm not ending it all yet.
I haven't had dessert.
Off one of the tiny alleys,
there's a lady.
She's got a little-- It's a like a closet.
It's called Boutique del Gelato.
-[Alessandra] Buongiorno.
-Buongiorno.
Buongiorno a lei.
-I'm Phil. How are you?
-[chuckles]
I'm fine, thanks. And you?
Tell me your name.
Alessandra.
[Phil] This lady,
she's there all day, all night.
She makes the gelato.
She sells the gelato.
She's not giving you a taste,
so don't ask.
I need some of your chocolate.
[Alessandra] Yeah.
I want to try your stracciatella,
and then what's the best fruit? The--
[Alessandra] Do you want
the blackberry or the passion fruit?
[Phil] Let's try blackberry.
Blackberry.
Blackberry.
Stracciatella.
[Phil] Yeah, I like it.
-[Alessandra] And the chocolate.
That sounds perfect, doesn't it?
That sounds like the perfect combination.
Okay, here we go.
-I'm tasting your chocolate first.
-[Alessandra] Taste it.
Yeah. Taste the first.
Do you like it?
I really like it. You know why I like it?
It's very light.
[Alessandra] Taste the passion fruit.
Passion fruit! I get a taste?
You're giving a taste?
Yeah.
-What if people see this?
-Because you are-- Just for this.
[chuckles]
-[Phil] I know you--
-Are you happy to meet me?
[Phil] I'm in love.
I'm in love.
I don't go home to my wife now.
[Alessandra laughs]
She can't make ice cream.
You know, I tell people
who make things like this
that you're in the happiness business.
All you do is make people happy.
These guys have to help.
I can't do it alone.
-Look, James is game.
-Mm. Mm.
This makes me really happy.
I was eating my ice cream and I met
these two kids who recognized me!
And they were adorable. So this is them.
What country are you from?
Philippines.
-I love you. Here, you enjoy it.
-Oh my God! Thank you so much!
This is the highlight. Thank you.
See, I told you, this is the highlight.
-Sweet.
-Thank you!
-So nice to meet you.
-Thanks! Bye.
-I love meeting you.
-Thank you so much.
I was so flattered. They were so cute.
And the next day, a man comes up to me
and he says, "Oh, oh, may I ask you?"
I said "Yes." He said,
"Do you know where is a toilet?"
But at least I'll always have Alessandra.
[Alessandra chuckles]
-Grazie mille. Ciao, ciao.
-Ciao.
See you.
-The hands that make the gelato.
-You are a really man.
-[Phil] I am!
-[Alessandra laughs]
[Phil] I'm gonna tell my wife,
"I'm a really man."
[Phil] When I was here
a couple of years ago
friends of mine turned me onto Da Arturo,
which is for some reason
legendary with Hollywood types,
like Barbra Streisand and Tom Hanks.
They love it here.
-[Phil] Ciao.
-[man] Ciao. Buongiorno.
-How are you? Welcome back.
-Ciao. Ernesto.
-How is everything?
-Good to see you.
There's one thing that I wanted to go back
and just show you how they make it
because it's
the best of that thing I ever had.
I dream about the pork chop.
-I had it first two years ago.
-Yeah.
And the way you did it
was unlike any other.
I wanted to show everybody
this very special dish.
And did you invent it?
I open in 1968.
And no like to make fish, but just meat.
-There's no fish in this restaurant.
-No, fish, just meat.
The people, they say me very crazy,
because in Venice,
a small restaurant and no fish.
-"Who's the crazy one now?," you say.
-Yeah.
[Phil] They wouldn't just let me have
that one thing that I love.
They wanted me to love these other things.
Well they won.
You taste. It's my favorite.
-Which one?
-Eggplant in vinegar, onion,
-pine nuts and grapes.
-I'm gonna like that.
[man] For me, it's the best.
More than pork chop.
This is, for me, number one.
I love this one.
It's invented 44 years ago.
[Phil] There we go.
And this with onions.
It's marinated for one week. That's mari--
Come on.
Mm.
Stop it. No eat too much then,
-Basta--
-It's after. Eat first.
-I want more.
-[man] You can sit and eat.
No, I don't want to move.
[Phil] At least I got
a front row in the kitchen
for the making of the best pork chop
the world has ever seen.
[Phil] An egg and then flour.
[cook] Flour, eggs, and bread.
I'm so excited.
Now, it's going. Look at it.
Ernesto doesn't let you wait very long
before feeding you something else.
Mushroom? Potatoes?
Onion and sour cream.
Onion and putted the sour cream.
Oh, my God. I like this very much.
[chuckles]
-[man] Now is the season for mushroom.
-[Ernesto] Basta, basta!
-Phil, now is the season--
-Ernesto!
[chuckles]
You're the only Italian
who takes food away!
Then they make pork chop.
It's too much for you.
-No, it won't be. I surprise you.
-No eat everything.
So he's pouring off some oil now.
To me, the genius of this
is what's about to happen.
The final touch.
[man] White vinegar, simple white vinegar.
It's magical!
This is the magic part.
It's just white vinegar.
That's all it is--
What gives it this like incredible tang.
I wish you could taste this.
[man] You can take it home tomorrow.
More better tomorrow.
-Really?
-Room temperature. Very, very good.
Really? I put in my suitcase.
Yeah, you can-- Yeah, really.
That's for one person?
-Sì.
-Look at that.
Oh, my God.
-Here I go.
-[man] Take it.
-Hee hee!
-[man] It's yours.
[giggles]
Look, lookie, lookie.
[Phil] This is like a fantasy.
[man] Buon appetito.
I'm gonna take a center cut.
How about that?
We'll see if it's still good.
I'll tell you.
Okay. No like. Ciao, ciao.
Take it away. Come back!
[Ernesto laughs]
This is so fantastic.
It just has this incredible kick to it
because of the vinegar.
[man] Phil, today, I don't work.
I eat with you.
-How about you? You want to sit down?
-[man] He's on diet.
No like. I never eat here.
I go to the other restaurant in Venice
You like fish.
-[man] No, he
-Sure, sure.
Does Barbra Streisand
pick up the bone like this?
[chuckles]
Barbra Streisand very, very special lady.
Leonardo DiCaprio, he's a very special.
-Tom Hanks, very nice.
-Wonderful.
-[Phil] Not impressed.
-The man--
You know who I'm impressed with?
[Ernesto] For me?
All those people you mentioned,
they can't do what you do.
-Sì, sì.
-You are right. [chuckles]
-You're the bigger star.
-No, but--
The artist is me.
-That's right.
-Yes. I say!
[Phil laughs]
The people important is me,
not the others.
The others? No.
[Phil] It's not just the food.
It's where you're sitting,
it's the history,
and then, of course, the guys.
You know, the people.
That's Da Arturo. I recommend it to you.
[Phil] The gondola is a touristy thing.
Now, I'm not meaning to disparage it,
but you feel the need to do it
because you got to get
that selfie in the gondola.
They were the main transportation here
for centuries until motors came along.
But now, only used for tourists.
Yes, I get it.
You want to have
the experience of the gondola.
Yes, we rode in a gondola. Okay.
I did not give these people
the respect they deserve.
-Anna! Hi!
-[Anna] Hello.
-Nice to meet you.
-[Phil chuckles]]
-I'm Phil.
-Ciao.
Ciao, Phil.
This your first time in the boat?
-First time in any boat. Yes.
-In any boat. Oh, God.
No, first time in this kind of boat.
This is a Venetian, typical Venetian boat.
Flat bottom.
-Yes. Me too.
-And we try today in two positions.
-In front.
-Yes.
And on the back like a gondolier,
standing on the top.
-Really? Stand like there?
-Yes! Here.
Give me your hand.
[Phil] Whoa.
-You're not kidding, it's a boat! Okay.
-[Anna] Oh, no. This way.
-[Phil] This way. Sure!
-[Anna] Yes.
Come. [laughs]
-Flat.
-[Phil] Here?
-Yes. This is perfect. Okay, relax.
-Perfect.
-[Phil] Really?
-No stuck fish. Really relax.
[Anna] Okay, you are a dancer now.
Okay, I touch you. Sorry.
Turn your wrists now.
Lift your hands and dance with me.
Come on. Push.
Yes, it is. And touch here.
Turn, lift, push with your palms.
Yes. Perfect.
[Phil] I just figured out rowing,
regular rowing
like a row boat.
This is the complete opposite. You push.
It doesn't even make sense what I'm doing.
This is my enemy. [laughs]
-[Anna] Ciao!
-Ciao! We're coming after you!
[Anna laughs]
[Anna] Are you ready?
-I'm ready.
-[Anna] Okay.
Go, push, push.
Good job.
Hey! You are fantastic.
I am fantastic!
-[Anna] Good job!
-[Phil] Hello, Venice!
[Anna] Good job.
Yoo-hoo!
-[Phil] Hey!
-[Anna] Yoo-hoo!
[Phil] Whoo!
This is a nice way to see a town actually,
but you can't look around too much,
you gotta pay attention.
-Now we cry together "ohi, ohi," okay?
-[Phil] Yes. Ohi, ohi?
-Okay.
-[Anna] One, two, three, go!
[both] Ohi, ohi!
You are speaking
the language of my family.
-Really? [chuckles]
-Yeah.
[Phil] Okay, so I
barely got the hang of that.
Then we go out into open water.
[horn blares]
[Anna] This is your first adventure.
-[Phil] Yes, it's a big adventure for me.
-[Anna laughs]
And what's out there? Waves!
The wake of other bigger boats.
[siren blares]
[Phil] Sure that's not for me?
[Anna] Yes! Row, row! Come on! Push, push!
I'm beyond shvitzing. It's now chaloshing.
Chaloshing means
roasting in one's own juices.
That's what I'm doing.
-[Anna] Good job. Push! Push!
-Why does my back hurts so much?
Yoo-hoo! Bravo, Philip!
[Phil] Bravo, Philip.
Can we just row right to the hospital?
-[Anna] It's a dance!
-[Phil] What?
This is the world's worst dance.
Bravo, Philip! Yoo-hoo!
We crossed the channel! Yes! [chuckles]
When I just think I have the hang of this,
and I'm near death, she says
[Anna] Okay, we try to row on the back.
"It's a little harder,
but I think you're ready."
No, Anna, I'm not ready.
Standing on the top, no seat.
I know.
-Give me your phone and money, please.
-Here we go.
[laughs]
-Just in case.
-You're serious.
-Mm. Yes.
-I knew this was a scam.
Oh, goodbye, everybody.
No, no problem. Wow!
Wow, you're very easily impressed.
[Anna] I go to help you in front.
Like this.
Hey! Hey!
[Phil] I can't put it all together
with the oar lock and the stroke
and the go up and twist your hand
and now push.
[Anna] And stand.
You are a noble gondolier now, not slave!
Why not just throw me overboard
and get this over with?
Just have sharks come and just finish.
Before I sink us both, Anna saves herself
and sends me back to the front.
[Phil] All right.
-[Anna] All right, come on.
-[Phil] We're ending soon,
or I'm gonna live
on that island with a volleyball.
Push.
Push. [chuckles]
[Anna] Bravo, Philip!
[Anna chuckles]
[sighs]
Molto bravo.
[Anna] Very hard.
[Phil] This was
one of the hardest things I've ever done.
I don't have the intellectual capacity,
I don't have the stamina for this.
Now when I see a gondolier
Respect.
By the way
I got a blister.
That's right.
That's right. Blister.
[Phil] Know what's nice?
A boat with a motor.
Plus, I'm here with my new friend,
Luca Marchiori,
who is a great food writer,
and he's an historian.
Even though his family moved to London,
he was born in Italy to a father with
Venetian roots that go back to the 1700s.
So, he's Venice through and through,
and he's a great guide to the city.
You know, when it's raining in Venice,
the tide rises and so the boat
gets closer to the bridge.
So you make adjustments.
Let me ask you. How long have you
had this flooding problem?
[chuckles]
Hmm.
[Phil] Our head still on our body,
we're off
to Luca's favorite coffee roastery,
Torrefazione Cannaregio,
for something warm.
-Oh, that's nice.
-Mm-hmm.
[Luca] I mean,
Italy is associated with coffee,
and there's
a really strong coffee culture here.
But not a lot of people know
it actually started here in Venice,
because the coffee bean was brought
from Istanbul in about the 1570s
and then it spread to the rest of Italy,
so the Venetians are very proud
it started here in Venice.
I think the rest of the world
is trying to catch up now
-to Italian coffee.
-I think so, too.
[Phil] Here's what I need to know.
How long before people realized, "Hey
This is magical, people will come and pay
money to be tourists in our place"?
By the 13th, 14th century,
Venice was famous--
as famous for being a beautiful city
as it was for being
the center of European commerce.
-Okay, so 700 years of tourism.
-[Luca] Exactly.
-Because the city was so rich
-[Phil] Yeah.
and such
a successful trading post,
people started
spending money on buildings.
There were laws to say Venetian people
couldn't spend money on rich clothes.
And so they spent money on paintings,
buildings, the churches.
So Venice quickly became
this beautiful art city.
I love the history
because it's the most fascinating.
So now, I want to ask you,
I've read about how Venice is sinking
and it's being destroyed by the very
tourists who want to come and see it.
And I see with my own eyes,
the cruise ships coming in.
-[Phil] It's another kind of invasion.
-[Luca] Yeah.
The routes that the cruise ships take
to come in and out of the lagoon,
they're going far too close
to the buildings--
-I felt it.
-Ground shaking.
-Four in the morning I felt a vibration.
-Yeah.
And I look,
and a city is coming into your city.
And tell me if this is correct.
It's not like you're getting the business,
the hotel is getting the business.
They sleep and eat on the boat.
Exactly. Yes.
-It's hit-and-run tourism.
-[Luca] Hit-and-run tourism, yeah.
[Phil] Later that afternoon, I'm off
to a local place that doesn't benefit
from that kind of hit-and-run tourism.
A couple years ago, I was turned on to
what I think
is the best restaurant in Venice.
Al Covo's just a short walk
from the Piazza San Marco,
and you'd never know you're near it.
-[woman] You're here!
-[man] Buongiorno!
-Buongiorno!
-Lots of hellos!
Ciao, Phil.
[Phil] And I just love the family
that runs it. Here's Cesare from Venice
and his wife Diane,
who is originally from Austin, Texas,
their son Lorenzo
and his girlfriend, Tiziana.
They're squeezing me in
for a family lunch.
-We hope you're hungry.
-I'm a little.
[Diane laughs]
[waiter] Your first course.
It's a mix of boiled baby shrimps
and boiled mantis shrimps.
Thank you. What a treat.
[Phil] Oh. Wow.
[Phil] Wow, that's good.
This kind of fish, the local fish,
is getting more difficult to get.
-It is? Why?
-Yeah.
Overfishing.
Damn. Venice is almost over everything.
[Lorenzo] Yeah.
-[Phil] Right?
-[Cesare] Yeah.
Tourism is a resource,
not the tourism that we have now.
They take a selfie, go away.
Phil, it's a paradox,
but the city doesn't make money.
[Tiziana] I think
that Venice looks so incredible
that you don't think you're
inside a real city in which people live.
It's true. Because in some ways,
it feels like a Disneyland experience.
Yeah.
I mean many times I'm asked,
"Do people actually live in Venice?"
Or "What time does Venice close?"
I kid you not.
-It really happened.
-That's hilarious.
Cheers.
-Oh.
-Phil, here we are.
Ah.
[Phil] This is spider crab.
With pasta.
This smells amazing.
The restaurants have gotten
so much better, I think, in Venice,
thanks to people like you.
There's a few now that are as good
as anywhere in Italy, I think.
Although, they open, um
hundreds of small things,
they look like--
They're not so good.
They actually don't have the kitchen
and they don't have the chef.
-It's all pre-cooked.
-Oh.
-It's pre-cooked cuisines.
-How does a tourist know?
-If they see a kitchen.
-[Diane] A jacket, a chef hat.
A jacket, some fires, some oven.
-These places don't--
-You'd never think to ask.
Exactly. But that's the way it is.
Look how beautiful this is!
What am I eating here?
-This is a beautiful--
-[Cesare] This is Adriatic sole.
-[Phil] My goodness.
-[Cesare] Sole de la Gentile.
-Gentle sole.
-[Phil] Gentle soul, that's you!
So what do the young folks think
we should do about Venice?
What do you think would help
return it to what you want it to be?
You got to make Venice livable
for the people, I mean
-Young people go away--
-They have to get a job somewhere else.
This is the tragedy. It's a tragedy.
When you lose Venetians, you lose culture.
You lose everything.
Then there'll be nothing
for the tourist to come and see.
[Lorenzo] Exactly.
-When I walk at night, the light, color
-[Diane] The sunset.
the shops, the age of the buildings,
it's a painting everywhere you look.
There's this one sweet moment
when you walk back home late at night.
Maybe it's the party,
maybe it's the, you know, the wine,
but there's a sweet moment
when you think you own this
and you feel you're really part of it.
To preserving your pleasure!
Let's preserve pleasure.
Let's preserve pleasure,
for heaven's sake! [chuckles]
Not so bad. Not so bad.
[Phil] You can't beat Venice,
but you shouldn't leave Italy
without visiting
some of the smaller cities nearby.
Just do a little research on your phone
and find out about the towns,
because even if they have
one or two little attractions,
they're far less crowded
and it's still Italy. Right?
And you know what I say. Italy wins.
Just a couple hours drive from Venice
and you're in the exquisite,
ancient city of Modena.
I met a new friend who taught me all
I need to know about this amazing place.
Caterina Schenetti is a food expert.
She gives food tours.
Today she's showing me around
the oldest market, the Mercado Albinelli.
This is
this darling, little beautiful market.
Look at the treats!
And it's also
one of the best places to get
Parmigiano.
-[Phil] My favorite.
-[Caterina] You can't miss it.
[Phil] And it's from this area?
Yeah. Also, if you go a little bit
up north, a little bit up south,
-that's not parmigiano. No way.
-No good.
-And it's restricted by the government.
-Yes. Yes.
-You guys have great rules.
-[chuckles]
[Caterina] First,
we are trying the fresco.
[Phil] Fresco parmigiano is aged one year.
That's the youngest you can get.
From this moment, we can start to call
the cheese parmigiano reggiano.
Grazie.
Nice.
Venti quattro mesi?
[Phil]
Next, here's the two-year-old cheese.
Look, so you start to see the crystals.
[Phil] You see it?
Basically, more it's aged,
more you can feel this crystal.
Is there an older one?
-A very special one, six years old.
-What?
[Phil] It's gonna kill me.
[Caterina chuckles]
[Phil] Grazie.
Oh.
We have lost it.
-[man speaks Italian]
-[Caterina laughs]
[Phil] Well, it's very old.
I have to be delicate.
-Like with me, you should be delicate.
-Yes.
-Cheers.
-Cheers.
Oh.
You taste
completely different flavors now.
It's almost sweet.
Yeah, and you can see also
the color was changing a lot.
The consistency is different.
That's really good.
[Richard] I ate it off the floor. [laughs]
[Phil] Why when we get parmigiano reggiano
is it somewhat dry and crumbly
in the United States?
I want you to go to Italy
and get a vacuum-sealed thing
of parmigiano reggiano.
Put it in your suitcase,
because you're gonna find that it
tastes much different from the source.
It's phenomenal.
-[Phil] Bellissima!
-Grazie. Grazie.
[Phil] Caterina knows a lot
about a lot of things,
but she specializes in balsamic vinegar.
You've seen the label,
balsamic vinegar of Modena.
Yes! We're in Modena!
-[Caterina] Andiamo!
-[Phil] Andiamo!
[Phil] Off to taste vinegar.
And on the way
[Caterina] See the cathedral.
The first stone was put on in 1099.
-Amazing.
-You can imagine.
Our cathedral,
it is also called The Stone Book.
[Phil] So you tell
the story with pictures.
[Caterina] Yes.
So you see this one here?
This is when I taught my brother
to play baseball.
[laughs]
Well, I don't know if that one was the
-He got very angry. This is what he does.
-proper interpretation.
[Phil] It's a good likeness.
[Caterina] So let's cross here to see the
traditional balsamic vinegar of Modena.
[Phil] Here we go.
[Phil] This is where you get
the official balsamic vinegar.
Even the shape of the bottle is regulated.
Right? It has to be this shape.
It has to have this number on it.
It has to have this label on it.
You know, it's pretty official.
The bottle was designed
by Giugiaro, car designer.
This is what you want to look for.
If it's traditional
Has to be this shape.
Has to be this shape.
[Phil] Not all regulation
is terrible. Right?
This is to ensure quality.
This is aged at least 12 years.
-You should smell first and then taste.
-[Phil] Wow.
I'm telling you,
they put a drop on this spoon
and an explosion
of sweet and pungent and sour,
but so intense, so concentrated.
And then I have the 25-year,
and that's like a whole other level.
You shouldn't even call it vinegar.
You should call it ha-hoo ba-dow dee-dow.
I bought both. Had to buy both.
Oh.
[Phil] They then come
from the ice cream place,
the beautiful gelato store next door.
And they come with a flavor
called fiore de latte, right?
Flower of milk.
Isn't that a nice name for something?
-I'm so happy!
-We should have
-the cherry wood vinegar on top.
-[Phil gasps] Wait a minute.
[Phil] And they drizzle
a little of this balsamic vinegar.
You already know this is gonna be good.
This is-- Okay.
This is automatically
one of the world's great desserts.
You have this every day. You have a face--
You the have the face of,
"Yeah, we have it every day."
[all chuckle]
[Phil] It's such a perfect combo.
And yet, as much as I love that,
I think what I'm gonna do now,
if you come over to my house,
whatever we eat, I'm gonna finish the meal
with a drop of this
because you're not gonna eat anything
that has more flavor than one drop
of this, like they call it, liquid gold.
Get the good stuff. It's worth it.
[Phil] Catarina has
one more stop in mind
and even though it's midday, I've been
promised the perfect Modena breakfast.
We meet her friend Andrea
at a place called Bar Tiffany.
And we have breakfast at Tiffany's.
-Buongiorno!
-Buongiorno!
-Un gnocco fritto.
-[Caterina] Grazie!
È viva. So you take your cappuccino,
and you dip into the gnocco fritto.
So this is
a Modena donuts and coffee, right?
-[Caterina chuckles]
-[Andrea] Yeah, basically.
It's a kind of lightly fried,
puffy, hot pillow of dough
called a gnocco fritto.
Mm.
[Phil] Wow. It's very light.
[Caterina] Yeah. Super light.
[Phil] Mostly air.
Mm.
How can I live without gnocco fritto?
[chuckles]
-[Andrea] Do you know how it's made?
-No!
[Andrea] The gnocco fritto.
It's zero zero flour
with some pig lard because in Modena
-Strutto.
-it's everywhere.
-Strutto.
-Strutto.
-That's the fat of the pig?
-[Andrea and Caterina] Yes.
Makes everything a little better,
doesn't it?
-[Caterina and Andrea] Yes.
-And then they fry it in strutto.
-In strutto.
-[Phil] More.
-[Andrea] What else?
[Caterina] Strutto.
Maybe I should just put strutto
all over me and I will be better, too.
[Andrea] You can find this one
just in the area of Modena.
Like many other Italian products,
if you move from a few kilometers
from one town to the other,
maybe they change the name,
they change the recipe.
And that's what happened for this one.
I like that the products of the area
come to define the area.
-Yeah, this is true.
-Right?
Okay.
I'm gonna call Antonio to fry another one.
[Phil] And we move from breakfast
straight into lunch.
-This is a small gnocchi with mortadella.
-[Phil] Nice.
-With salami.
-Nice.
-And with raw prosciutto.
-Nicest.
-Prego.
-Grazie.
[Phil] Oh, it's warm.
That's what you want.
Yes, this is a ham sandwich now.
The fat starts to melt
because it's hot and a little crispy,
and that's a very good thing.
[Caterina chuckles]
Mm.
[Phil] Wow.
It's like a ham on a croissant,
but Italian style.
-[Andrea] And fried.
-[Caterina] And fried and hot.
Yeah so better is what you're saying.
[laughs]
[Phil] Now I can't lie to you.
The main reason
you've even heard of Modena
is because there's a guy there
named Massimo Bottura.
His Osteria Francescana has been voted
the number one restaurant in the world,
and I get to spend the day with Massimo.
I show up at his apartment.
First one I meet is Luna.
Look at this puppy. Look at the puppy.
And then I meet his wife, Lara,
who's American.
-[Lara] Come on in.
-And they invite me in for coffee.
-Massimo! Phil!
-Hi, Phil!
Oh, the amaretti! Ciao.
I heard you like these.
-I love the amaretti.
-Oh, good.
[Massimo] You see?
You see how soft the inside are?
-Yes, I do.
-And then this part is like-- Try.
-You want some coffee?
-Yes.
-Can't talk without coffee in the morning.
-Me too.
[Phil] Besides running
the best restaurant,
he and Lara created Food For Soul,
an international group committed
to revolutionizing the soup kitchen.
He's trying to create a community,
and it's not just once on Thanksgiving,
once on Christmas.
It's every week.
And the people they serve
start making human connections.
If you serve a hundred people well,
you greet them by name
-Yes.
-your volunteers know who they are,
you're serving them
a delicious and healthy meal,
sometimes that's better
than serving a thousand people
a sandwich thrown at them, because there's
actual possibility for change.
-You make a family!
-[Massimo] Absolutely!
Family.
We build the dignity of the people.
That's why I want artists,
designers, architects
to rebuild the beautiful space.
Come with me!
[Phil] I think Massimo doesn't wanna
just tell me about the soup kitchen.
You driving the Maserati with me?
-Are we doing that now?
-Ever driven with an Italian chef?
-No.
-In a fast car?
-No.
-Be warned.
But he wasn't driving very fast.
So, you were just teasing me
that you drive fast? You don't drive fast.
That was a stupid thing to say.
Oh, oh.
-[Phil] Thank God we're here.
-[both chuckle]
[Phil] This beautiful space
serves Modena's most needy.
It's not some soup kitchen
where you grab some sustenance
and back to wherever you're going.
You feel somewhere special.
These are the darkness, the north.
They want blood. Look at them.
It's like Game of Thrones, you know?
It's like [growls]
And why art has to be
just for rich people? No!
Art has to be for everyone.
That's why Food For Soul is helping
artists to do these kind of projects.
You know?
Let's go!
[Phil] In the back of my mind,
I must admit
I was like, "Are we gonna eat?
Are we gonna get to go to the restaurant?"
-We stop for espresso.
-[Phil] Nope.
-Like big shot.
-Big shot.
[Massimo] This way.
[Phil] Maybe the next stop
is his restaurant?
And then we're here!
Ciao.
-And I get to meet some of the crew.
-Hi.
And now I'm hungry.
-You're hungry. All right! [chuckles]
-I came to the right place.
Let's go have a sandwich.
Let's have a sandwich.
Let's go this way.
[laughs]
-Lambrusco.
-I love meeting you.
-Thank you.
-You're my favorite new person.
[chuckles]
Lambrusco and mortadella.
There it is! King of cheese!
-There it is. King of the cheese.
-And how old is this guy?
[Massimo] Two years, I think.
It doesn't taste like this at home.
Come on!
-Really. It's true.
-Don't say that.
It's a perfect mixture
between acidity, sapidity, bitterness,
-sweetness in one little chunk.
-It's true.
There is nothing wrong with that.
-Yeah.
-Right?
Do you want to explore the restaurant?
Nah!
No? Let's stay here?
-Okay, I like panino! Panino forever!
-I like it here. I like a sandwich.
Okay. We'll see
your little place you got there.
-Let's see that--
-Let's walk in.
[knocking]
[Phil] Hello.
-[Massimo] Hi, guys.
-[Phil] Hello! Oh!
-Hi, guys.
-Wow! I am underdressed!
[Massimo] Welcome.
[Phil] I'm not going
to the dining room.
He's taking me to the kitchen
where I get to watch the making of.
-[Phil] Oh.
-This is the kitchen.
[Phil] I'm just hoping
some food falls off somebody's plate.
[in Italian] Okay, guys. A table
with two people. Two super menu. Mazza!
[all] Mazza!
[Phil] First, Massimo wants
to show me his world famous dish,
"five ages of parmigiano reggiano
in different textures and temperatures."
Yes, that's the name.
He's transformed parmesan
into soufflé, foam, sauce,
frothy air, and a crunchy cracker.
-[Massimo] We choose an ingredient
-[Phil] Yes.
-and it's parmigiano reggiano.
-Yes.
And we decide
it's the way we want to express
the slowly aging process.
-Gonna taste that.
-[Phil] For me?
-[Massimo] his is yours.
-Yes.
Yes!
[Massimo] Come on.
That's good!
Mm!
Okay so, this is a sea salad. Okay?
-Oyster, squid, some ink of the squid.
-[Phil] Yes.
[Massimo] This is calamari.
This is seaweed.
This is a leaf, a crunchy leaf
[Phil] Yes.
that is made with mussels.
[Phil] This tiny mussel chip
takes a week to make.
I think I can eat it a little faster.
When this arrives on the plate
Yeah. Yeah. It's a salad.
-We don't know the story.
There are two very important words
in our flag of Modena.
It's avia pervia.
Latin word. "Make look simple
the very complicated thing."
Everything looks so simple.
I have to build a car.
We build Ferrari, Maserati.
I need vinegar to dress my salad.
We build balsamic vinegar.
It's always been like that.
That's the art.
[Massimo] It is.
-Please, enjoy!
-[Phil] Here I go.
-Thank you, Massimo!
-You're welcome.
[Phil] I'll taste it by itself.
Wow, that's just a concentration
of mussels is what it tastes like.
[Phil] I just felt so special.
These are working people.
I'm some bum who got into the kitchen
and is eating their profits.
[chuckles]
This is really happening,
I'm getting the whole menu.
Massimo told me no one's ever been allowed
to eat in the kitchen before.
[Massimo] The next course
is gonna blow your mind.
[Phil] Massimo is showing me
the traditional Italian fish dish
that he uses for inspiration.
-[Massimo] This is a sole en papillote.
-[Phil] Yes.
-Very, very old style. Okay?
-Yeah.
The same flavor you find here,
-lemon, capers, black olives, tomato
-[Phil] Yeah. Tomato.
you're gonna find in this plate.
-[Phil] That's crazy!
-[Massimo] Yeah. Then, what we did.
-This is seawater
-Wow.
dehydrated and trans-- [laughs]
And transformed into paper.
And this here is an edible paper.
But when you see this,
it looks like almost like garbage,
like the leftover from this dish.
And you eat it.
Massimo, I'm glad I came. [laughs]
I hope so. I hope so.
[Phil] If you have nice people outside
who traveled and waited years
to come and eat here, dressed up nicely,
came from all over the world,
if they knew that an animal was
in the kitchen eating their food,
what would they say?
They would say, "Enjoy! Enjoy!"
[Phil] I'm standing there
in the kitchen for two hours.
It's a young man's game,
I have to say, or a young woman's game.
And you know my back
isn't great to begin with.
And then Massimo gives me
some stretches to do.
So I'm going like this,
and I'm stretching all these muscles.
-This.
-[Massimo] Like this.
-Another very good for the back.
-Yeah.
You align this, 90 degrees, 90 degrees.
Higher and straight
and stay like that.
-That's hard!
-Very hard.
Very hard, but it's stretching so much.
-That's good.
-It's very good.
I just want to live near Massimo.
[Massimo] This is a pigeon.
[Phil] Pigeon. You didn't get these
from San Marco did you?
[Massimo chuckles]
We make the meatball with all
the interiors and the legs of the pigeon.
We dehydrate all the sauces.
And the sauces you see here,
-you see here.
-[Phil] Are there.
That's one
of the most beautiful, colorful dishes.
-[Massimo] And the grand finale.
-[Phil] Yes.
[Massimo] As we build a menu--
We build a menu as an opera.
You have an overture, you have the adagio,
you have the meno, then the minueto,
then the allegro, then the grand finale.
[opera music playing]
[Phil] Wow, I should have been Italian.
I curse my parents.
[laughs]
[Phil] What a special, special guy.
He cares about the beautiful things,
not just the food.
The food is beautiful,
the place is beautiful.
The art is beautiful, music is beautiful.
Massimo Bottura.
Beautiful.
Mm.
[skype ringing]
-Hey!
-Oh! Hi!
-[Helen] Hi. Hello.
-[Max] Hello.
Venice is-- must be
the most beautiful country in the world.
Beautiful city.
City.
It used to be a big empire.
Listen, listen, listen.
[man singing in Italian]
-[Max] Can't.
-[Helen] I do.
-What do you hear?
-Birds. Birds.
I have to ask, what kind of birds
you have around your house?
Well, it could be from the outside.
It's definitely from the outside.
It's a gondolier who's going by singing.
You mean, there's somebody
walking on the street singing?
Gondolier!
You know the streets are water. [laughs]
-[Max] Oh, you're right. I see. Okay.
-Because I'm in Venice.
Have you heard
about the street walker in Venice?
No.
She-- She drowned.
So that's the joke.
I'm glad that people got to hear it.
[Richard laughs]
Did you hear I took a gondola lesson?
It was excruciating. [laughs]
I really--
The tension just to stay balanced,
and the oar doesn't stay in the thing.
It keeps slipping out.
And I'm gonna fall into the water,
I'm thinking.
-I can't--
-Why not stopping?
Because I'm on television.
[Max laughs]
Tell me, how was Modena?
I understand the vinegar
is very good from there.
I bought some.
You just need a little bit,
and it's [makes explosion sound]
Beautiful. They even put on ice cream--
Little drops on the ice cream.
It makes it fantastic.
That-- That goes too far.
I'll put it on a salad.
[chuckles]
[phone ringing]
Oh, who's calling now?
It's your wife.
Oh.
Monica.
[Monica] Yes, hello!
Hi. Listen. I'm just talking to Philip.
[muffled speech]
What did you say?
Take you time! It's not like
we have a crew of 25 people here!
He-- I don't know what he's eating,
but he's eating while he's talking to us.
Little poison berries. [chuckles]
Because I can't anymore.
[muffled speech]
-Okay, so you're going back to L.A.
-[Monica] Yeah.
Right, I can go now.
They're gonna talk for an hour.
-Oh, you're going tonight?
-Yeah.
Oh, have a wonderful time.
[Phil] Last time I was in Italy,
I made some great new friends,
and tonight I'm having
a nice, quiet dinner with them.
[horn tooting]
[laughs]
Dario Cecchini, the world' best butcher.
Ciao.
And his wife, Kim.
Wow! All my favorite people.
Silvana Vivoli,
maybe my favorite person in the world
because she makes
the best gelato ever.
-Jim!
-Nice to meet you, Phil.
Dario and Kim brought a friend of theirs,
who happens to be one of the best bakers
in the world from New York!
Jim Lahey from Sullivan Street Bakery.
So now I have a friend in New York.
Never had a friend in New York
although I lived there half my life.
Nobody liked me.
You joined a nice party
of the best gelato maker in the world
and the best butcher in the world.
-Everything covered.
-Let me see your hands!
These are the best hands in the world!
These hands!
And by the way not terrible.
[Silvana laughs]
[Phil] You like it?
-Fabulous!
-[laughs]
[Dario] Fabuloso!
[Phil] Hello there.
Wow!
[Phil] You think I get excited
with food.
I'm nothing next to him.
He gets excited when the breadsticks come.
Giovanni!
[Phil laughs]
Giovanni!
-Giovanni!
-[Dario] Giovanni is the chef.
-Giovanni!
-Buonasera!
Buonasera!
No, I hug.
[both laughs]
Okay.
-How are you? Nice to meet you.
-Nice to meet you.
[Phil] A beautiful meat pie.
[Dario] Mamma mia.
Can somebody tell me what the pie is?
The meat pie.
-[Kim] There's mint. Maybe, there's lamb.
-[Phil] It's fantastic.
[Dario] Mm.
[laughs]
[Phil] I love food.
Me too.
Me too!
Otherwise, no show.
[laughs] That's true.
[all sing "Funiculì, Funiculà"]
[Phil] No more wine for you or for you.
[Phil] This is red chicory risotto.
Bigoli pasta with anchovy sauce.
Oh, my goodness! This is good. Huh?
[Kim] Wait till you taste this.
Oh! Oh!
[Phil] Phil-te fish!
I am very honored.
You know he looks like me a little.
If the nose was a little bigger,
it'd be perfect.
[Phil] This is really sea bass
in a beautiful salt crust.
Dover sole served with a chestnut soufflé.
[Phil] You hungry?
[Kim laughs]
[growls]
Hungry!
-Grazie! Giovanni. Giovanni!
-Grazie, everybody!
Buon appetito.
[speaking Italian]
[Phil] Look at the view.
At one point, my brother said
it looked like I was green screen.
There's no special effects here!
Venice is the special effect!
Thank you so much. What a great meal.
-Thanks so much!
-[Kim] Amazing!
[Phil] The food is incredible.
The views are not bad.
[chuckles]
But you know, I would have been happy
in the basement just to see their faces.
Somebody said, "You seem
to have friends all over the world."
And I'm like, "My God, that's right."
I have friends all over the world now.
Shouldn't we be friends
with people from all over the world?
That alone is a reason to go to visit
the friends that you make in these places.
But you got to start somewhere, so go! Go!
Go now! Stop watching this. Go.
Somebody please, somebody please ♪
Somebody please, somebody please ♪
-Somebody please, somebody please ♪
-Somebody ♪
-Somebody please, somebody please ♪
-Somebody ♪
-Somebody please, somebody please ♪
-Somebody ♪
-Somebody please, somebody please ♪
-Somebody ♪
-Somebody please, somebody please ♪
-Somebody ♪
Somebody please, somebody please ♪
Somebody, somebody feed Phil ♪
^BOh, please somebody,^B
^BSomebody feed Phil ♪^B
Somebody feed him now ♪
[instrumental music playing]
[pigeon cooing]
A happy, hungry man ♪
Is traveling all across the sea
And the land ♪
He's trying to understand ♪
The art of pasta, pork
Chicken and lamb ♪
He will drive to you
He will fly to you ♪
He will sing for you
And dance for you ♪
He will laugh with you
And he'll cry for you ♪
There's just one thing
He asks in return ♪
Somebody feed, somebody feed ♪
Won't somebody, somebody feed Phil ♪
Somebody feed him now ♪
[Phil] My favorite quote
from baseball legend Yogi Berra
is "Nobody goes there anymore,
it's too crowded."
That's what smart sophisticated world
travelers would probably say about Venice.
Why go? There's so many tourists.
It's overrun.
Why would you go
to such a touristy place?
'Cause it looks like this.
You know who we can thank for this city,
Attila the Hun.
Mainland refugees fleeing his invasion
hid out on islands in the local lagoon.
They decided to stay
and created this dazzling place.
Venice is like a movie
that's been art directed.
Every single place you look
is another stunning visual.
And I'm pretty sure
I'm not the first person to notice this.
Some places are touristy for a reason!
Because people like it!
Sorry for the yelling.
I'm starting my trip with one
of the most Venetian things you can do.
A cicchetti crawl.
What are cicchetti you ask?
Little bites of food on bread, like tapas.
My guide is my good friend
Laura Sousounis.
She's American, but she decided
to pack up and move to Venice.
Can you blame her?
So the first place, look at this place.
It's called Schiavi.
And it's run by the beautiful Alessandra.
She's been making the cicchetti here
from her own recipes for 60 years.
- [in Italian] Want a plate?
- [Laura in Italian] Yes.
[in English] Alessandra asks
what you want.
Everything.
[Alessandra speaking Italian]
[Laura] Do you want some wine?
These were meant, like tapas,
to go with wine.
So you have a little wine
in the middle of the day.
Doo.
-[Phil] What should be first?
-[Alessandra] Primo il baccalà.
[Laura] It's just olive oil and cod. Mm.
[Phil] It's so fresh and delicious.
What's this?
This looks like a piece of fish.
-What's left for me, Phil?
-Nothing.
[Laura chuckles]
Mm.
-Yeah.
-Genius.
[Phil] I developed a good system though.
If you're gonna taste them all, right,
you just pop them and leave the bread.
Mm. Mm.
I wanted what was on top of the bread,
so I was just
[making popping sounds]
-This is the big ticket.
-Here we go. This is it.
[Phil] Hear this:
Tuna with cacao.
Yes, cocoa powder on tuna
sounds disgusting, no?
No!
-Isn't that nice? Tuna, cacao.
-Wow!
Who would have thunk it?
-Wow!
-[Laura speaks Italian]
-Wow!
-[Laura chuckles]
-Grazie.
-Wonderful.
[Phil] Our next stop requires a boat trip.
-Your chariot. Look.
-Thank you, Phil.
[Phil] And because of all the wine
I've had, maybe some Dramamine.
-[Phil] Doh. Uh.
-[Laura chuckles]
Never ever get tired of this. Ever.
-And you live here!
-I live here.
[Laura] I think Venice is meant
to be seen from the water looking up.
Look, here's the Rialto Bridge.
Hey!
-There's the bus. Hello, bus.
-That's the bus!
[Laura] This is our transport.
What I love about this place
is you can't speed.
You can go only as fast
as your feet take you or that boat
-which isn't fair. [laughs]
-The bus is the fastest thing?
[Phil] Here we go.
So--
I thought we'd take
a little break between eating
and then go try on a few masks.
[Phil] Masks have been
a thing in Venice for centuries,
worn during the city's famous Carnevale
or anytime someone, usually a noble,
was looking for a little anonymity.
[Laura] Sergio's shop is here.
He and his brother and his son
and his family make masks.
[Phil] Yeah.
This mask is
the most traditional Venetian mask.
Amadeus.
[Laura] So?
Where's my opera?
Did you finish my opera yet?
Don't eat, don't sleep,
just finish the opera.
-[Laura] Phil?
-Yes.
[Laura] Ready to go eat?
You need to finish my opera.
[Laura laughs]
Next up, All'Arco!
Another great cicchetti place.
This is like gourmet
with artisanal ingredients,
beautifully sourced meats and cheeses.
-This is Mateo.
-Mateo.
-This is Phil!
-My pleasure.
Francesco's son.
-These are the owners.
-[Phil] Nice!
[Laura] You never know what he'll concoct.
Always different.
-And he's a genius at this.
-I love geniuses.
-Broke genius.
-[Phil laughs]
And I met
the biggest celebrity in Venice
-[Phil] Nani the Wonder Dog.
-[Laura] He's famous.
Everyone knows Nani.
[man] Nani!
-[Phil] The camera loves Nani.
-[Laura] Nani.
And Nani will start barking if you're not
petting and scratching his neck enough.
I should try that.
He goes-- There he goes. And he'll-- See?
Everyone knows him.
He's a true Venetian dog.
[Matteo] Is a mix. We have codfish,
speck is smoked ham or salami.
This is the salmon.
Which one do I want?
I think I'm gonna have a bite of this.
Perfect.
[Phil] Where's my friend Eugenio?
-Eugenio works on the crew.
-Buongiorno.
-You said this is your favorite place?
-Yes.
Take this chair. Sit next to Laura.
You have to know Laura
because Laura lives very close by.
-We're friends now.
-Now you can be friends.
[Phil] As if these cicchetti
weren't enough,
out come these beautiful sandwiches,
tramezzini.
I'm grabbing grilled cheese with salami
and eggplant before anyone notices.
Wow, do I love these. Wow, are they great.
[Matteo] Good?
Thank you.
[chuckles]
[Phil] Wow.
It's lovely here.
You run into the fishermen.
All the shopkeepers.
-Run into judges with the courthouse.
-Let me be honest with you.
I don't care if I didn't run into anybody,
as long as I ran into this sandwich.
[Laura] I got one for you.
[Phil] This is
the perfect Venice afternoon, isn't it?
Let's go apartment hunting. [chuckles]
How many bathrooms you got up there?
[Phil] But before I make
those nice people an offer,
one more stop for some
of the city's oldest kind of street food.
-[Laura] Calamari and shrimps.
-[Phil] Yeah.
There you go.
So we're having
the classic working man's lunch here.
I don't feel I've earned it.
-Not terrible.
-Not terrible. Not terrible at all.
[Phil] It's a good place to end.
-Hopefully not everything.
-Yeah, everything.
-Actually, it wouldn't be bad.
-No, if you were gonna pick a
-You'd just walk right--
-What would your last view be?
-It would be Venice. It would be Venice.
-Not terrible.
[Phil] But don't worry about me.
I'm not ending it all yet.
I haven't had dessert.
Off one of the tiny alleys,
there's a lady.
She's got a little-- It's a like a closet.
It's called Boutique del Gelato.
-[Alessandra] Buongiorno.
-Buongiorno.
Buongiorno a lei.
-I'm Phil. How are you?
-[chuckles]
I'm fine, thanks. And you?
Tell me your name.
Alessandra.
[Phil] This lady,
she's there all day, all night.
She makes the gelato.
She sells the gelato.
She's not giving you a taste,
so don't ask.
I need some of your chocolate.
[Alessandra] Yeah.
I want to try your stracciatella,
and then what's the best fruit? The--
[Alessandra] Do you want
the blackberry or the passion fruit?
[Phil] Let's try blackberry.
Blackberry.
Blackberry.
Stracciatella.
[Phil] Yeah, I like it.
-[Alessandra] And the chocolate.
That sounds perfect, doesn't it?
That sounds like the perfect combination.
Okay, here we go.
-I'm tasting your chocolate first.
-[Alessandra] Taste it.
Yeah. Taste the first.
Do you like it?
I really like it. You know why I like it?
It's very light.
[Alessandra] Taste the passion fruit.
Passion fruit! I get a taste?
You're giving a taste?
Yeah.
-What if people see this?
-Because you are-- Just for this.
[chuckles]
-[Phil] I know you--
-Are you happy to meet me?
[Phil] I'm in love.
I'm in love.
I don't go home to my wife now.
[Alessandra laughs]
She can't make ice cream.
You know, I tell people
who make things like this
that you're in the happiness business.
All you do is make people happy.
These guys have to help.
I can't do it alone.
-Look, James is game.
-Mm. Mm.
This makes me really happy.
I was eating my ice cream and I met
these two kids who recognized me!
And they were adorable. So this is them.
What country are you from?
Philippines.
-I love you. Here, you enjoy it.
-Oh my God! Thank you so much!
This is the highlight. Thank you.
See, I told you, this is the highlight.
-Sweet.
-Thank you!
-So nice to meet you.
-Thanks! Bye.
-I love meeting you.
-Thank you so much.
I was so flattered. They were so cute.
And the next day, a man comes up to me
and he says, "Oh, oh, may I ask you?"
I said "Yes." He said,
"Do you know where is a toilet?"
But at least I'll always have Alessandra.
[Alessandra chuckles]
-Grazie mille. Ciao, ciao.
-Ciao.
See you.
-The hands that make the gelato.
-You are a really man.
-[Phil] I am!
-[Alessandra laughs]
[Phil] I'm gonna tell my wife,
"I'm a really man."
[Phil] When I was here
a couple of years ago
friends of mine turned me onto Da Arturo,
which is for some reason
legendary with Hollywood types,
like Barbra Streisand and Tom Hanks.
They love it here.
-[Phil] Ciao.
-[man] Ciao. Buongiorno.
-How are you? Welcome back.
-Ciao. Ernesto.
-How is everything?
-Good to see you.
There's one thing that I wanted to go back
and just show you how they make it
because it's
the best of that thing I ever had.
I dream about the pork chop.
-I had it first two years ago.
-Yeah.
And the way you did it
was unlike any other.
I wanted to show everybody
this very special dish.
And did you invent it?
I open in 1968.
And no like to make fish, but just meat.
-There's no fish in this restaurant.
-No, fish, just meat.
The people, they say me very crazy,
because in Venice,
a small restaurant and no fish.
-"Who's the crazy one now?," you say.
-Yeah.
[Phil] They wouldn't just let me have
that one thing that I love.
They wanted me to love these other things.
Well they won.
You taste. It's my favorite.
-Which one?
-Eggplant in vinegar, onion,
-pine nuts and grapes.
-I'm gonna like that.
[man] For me, it's the best.
More than pork chop.
This is, for me, number one.
I love this one.
It's invented 44 years ago.
[Phil] There we go.
And this with onions.
It's marinated for one week. That's mari--
Come on.
Mm.
Stop it. No eat too much then,
-Basta--
-It's after. Eat first.
-I want more.
-[man] You can sit and eat.
No, I don't want to move.
[Phil] At least I got
a front row in the kitchen
for the making of the best pork chop
the world has ever seen.
[Phil] An egg and then flour.
[cook] Flour, eggs, and bread.
I'm so excited.
Now, it's going. Look at it.
Ernesto doesn't let you wait very long
before feeding you something else.
Mushroom? Potatoes?
Onion and sour cream.
Onion and putted the sour cream.
Oh, my God. I like this very much.
[chuckles]
-[man] Now is the season for mushroom.
-[Ernesto] Basta, basta!
-Phil, now is the season--
-Ernesto!
[chuckles]
You're the only Italian
who takes food away!
Then they make pork chop.
It's too much for you.
-No, it won't be. I surprise you.
-No eat everything.
So he's pouring off some oil now.
To me, the genius of this
is what's about to happen.
The final touch.
[man] White vinegar, simple white vinegar.
It's magical!
This is the magic part.
It's just white vinegar.
That's all it is--
What gives it this like incredible tang.
I wish you could taste this.
[man] You can take it home tomorrow.
More better tomorrow.
-Really?
-Room temperature. Very, very good.
Really? I put in my suitcase.
Yeah, you can-- Yeah, really.
That's for one person?
-Sì.
-Look at that.
Oh, my God.
-Here I go.
-[man] Take it.
-Hee hee!
-[man] It's yours.
[giggles]
Look, lookie, lookie.
[Phil] This is like a fantasy.
[man] Buon appetito.
I'm gonna take a center cut.
How about that?
We'll see if it's still good.
I'll tell you.
Okay. No like. Ciao, ciao.
Take it away. Come back!
[Ernesto laughs]
This is so fantastic.
It just has this incredible kick to it
because of the vinegar.
[man] Phil, today, I don't work.
I eat with you.
-How about you? You want to sit down?
-[man] He's on diet.
No like. I never eat here.
I go to the other restaurant in Venice
You like fish.
-[man] No, he
-Sure, sure.
Does Barbra Streisand
pick up the bone like this?
[chuckles]
Barbra Streisand very, very special lady.
Leonardo DiCaprio, he's a very special.
-Tom Hanks, very nice.
-Wonderful.
-[Phil] Not impressed.
-The man--
You know who I'm impressed with?
[Ernesto] For me?
All those people you mentioned,
they can't do what you do.
-Sì, sì.
-You are right. [chuckles]
-You're the bigger star.
-No, but--
The artist is me.
-That's right.
-Yes. I say!
[Phil laughs]
The people important is me,
not the others.
The others? No.
[Phil] It's not just the food.
It's where you're sitting,
it's the history,
and then, of course, the guys.
You know, the people.
That's Da Arturo. I recommend it to you.
[Phil] The gondola is a touristy thing.
Now, I'm not meaning to disparage it,
but you feel the need to do it
because you got to get
that selfie in the gondola.
They were the main transportation here
for centuries until motors came along.
But now, only used for tourists.
Yes, I get it.
You want to have
the experience of the gondola.
Yes, we rode in a gondola. Okay.
I did not give these people
the respect they deserve.
-Anna! Hi!
-[Anna] Hello.
-Nice to meet you.
-[Phil chuckles]]
-I'm Phil.
-Ciao.
Ciao, Phil.
This your first time in the boat?
-First time in any boat. Yes.
-In any boat. Oh, God.
No, first time in this kind of boat.
This is a Venetian, typical Venetian boat.
Flat bottom.
-Yes. Me too.
-And we try today in two positions.
-In front.
-Yes.
And on the back like a gondolier,
standing on the top.
-Really? Stand like there?
-Yes! Here.
Give me your hand.
[Phil] Whoa.
-You're not kidding, it's a boat! Okay.
-[Anna] Oh, no. This way.
-[Phil] This way. Sure!
-[Anna] Yes.
Come. [laughs]
-Flat.
-[Phil] Here?
-Yes. This is perfect. Okay, relax.
-Perfect.
-[Phil] Really?
-No stuck fish. Really relax.
[Anna] Okay, you are a dancer now.
Okay, I touch you. Sorry.
Turn your wrists now.
Lift your hands and dance with me.
Come on. Push.
Yes, it is. And touch here.
Turn, lift, push with your palms.
Yes. Perfect.
[Phil] I just figured out rowing,
regular rowing
like a row boat.
This is the complete opposite. You push.
It doesn't even make sense what I'm doing.
This is my enemy. [laughs]
-[Anna] Ciao!
-Ciao! We're coming after you!
[Anna laughs]
[Anna] Are you ready?
-I'm ready.
-[Anna] Okay.
Go, push, push.
Good job.
Hey! You are fantastic.
I am fantastic!
-[Anna] Good job!
-[Phil] Hello, Venice!
[Anna] Good job.
Yoo-hoo!
-[Phil] Hey!
-[Anna] Yoo-hoo!
[Phil] Whoo!
This is a nice way to see a town actually,
but you can't look around too much,
you gotta pay attention.
-Now we cry together "ohi, ohi," okay?
-[Phil] Yes. Ohi, ohi?
-Okay.
-[Anna] One, two, three, go!
[both] Ohi, ohi!
You are speaking
the language of my family.
-Really? [chuckles]
-Yeah.
[Phil] Okay, so I
barely got the hang of that.
Then we go out into open water.
[horn blares]
[Anna] This is your first adventure.
-[Phil] Yes, it's a big adventure for me.
-[Anna laughs]
And what's out there? Waves!
The wake of other bigger boats.
[siren blares]
[Phil] Sure that's not for me?
[Anna] Yes! Row, row! Come on! Push, push!
I'm beyond shvitzing. It's now chaloshing.
Chaloshing means
roasting in one's own juices.
That's what I'm doing.
-[Anna] Good job. Push! Push!
-Why does my back hurts so much?
Yoo-hoo! Bravo, Philip!
[Phil] Bravo, Philip.
Can we just row right to the hospital?
-[Anna] It's a dance!
-[Phil] What?
This is the world's worst dance.
Bravo, Philip! Yoo-hoo!
We crossed the channel! Yes! [chuckles]
When I just think I have the hang of this,
and I'm near death, she says
[Anna] Okay, we try to row on the back.
"It's a little harder,
but I think you're ready."
No, Anna, I'm not ready.
Standing on the top, no seat.
I know.
-Give me your phone and money, please.
-Here we go.
[laughs]
-Just in case.
-You're serious.
-Mm. Yes.
-I knew this was a scam.
Oh, goodbye, everybody.
No, no problem. Wow!
Wow, you're very easily impressed.
[Anna] I go to help you in front.
Like this.
Hey! Hey!
[Phil] I can't put it all together
with the oar lock and the stroke
and the go up and twist your hand
and now push.
[Anna] And stand.
You are a noble gondolier now, not slave!
Why not just throw me overboard
and get this over with?
Just have sharks come and just finish.
Before I sink us both, Anna saves herself
and sends me back to the front.
[Phil] All right.
-[Anna] All right, come on.
-[Phil] We're ending soon,
or I'm gonna live
on that island with a volleyball.
Push.
Push. [chuckles]
[Anna] Bravo, Philip!
[Anna chuckles]
[sighs]
Molto bravo.
[Anna] Very hard.
[Phil] This was
one of the hardest things I've ever done.
I don't have the intellectual capacity,
I don't have the stamina for this.
Now when I see a gondolier
Respect.
By the way
I got a blister.
That's right.
That's right. Blister.
[Phil] Know what's nice?
A boat with a motor.
Plus, I'm here with my new friend,
Luca Marchiori,
who is a great food writer,
and he's an historian.
Even though his family moved to London,
he was born in Italy to a father with
Venetian roots that go back to the 1700s.
So, he's Venice through and through,
and he's a great guide to the city.
You know, when it's raining in Venice,
the tide rises and so the boat
gets closer to the bridge.
So you make adjustments.
Let me ask you. How long have you
had this flooding problem?
[chuckles]
Hmm.
[Phil] Our head still on our body,
we're off
to Luca's favorite coffee roastery,
Torrefazione Cannaregio,
for something warm.
-Oh, that's nice.
-Mm-hmm.
[Luca] I mean,
Italy is associated with coffee,
and there's
a really strong coffee culture here.
But not a lot of people know
it actually started here in Venice,
because the coffee bean was brought
from Istanbul in about the 1570s
and then it spread to the rest of Italy,
so the Venetians are very proud
it started here in Venice.
I think the rest of the world
is trying to catch up now
-to Italian coffee.
-I think so, too.
[Phil] Here's what I need to know.
How long before people realized, "Hey
This is magical, people will come and pay
money to be tourists in our place"?
By the 13th, 14th century,
Venice was famous--
as famous for being a beautiful city
as it was for being
the center of European commerce.
-Okay, so 700 years of tourism.
-[Luca] Exactly.
-Because the city was so rich
-[Phil] Yeah.
and such
a successful trading post,
people started
spending money on buildings.
There were laws to say Venetian people
couldn't spend money on rich clothes.
And so they spent money on paintings,
buildings, the churches.
So Venice quickly became
this beautiful art city.
I love the history
because it's the most fascinating.
So now, I want to ask you,
I've read about how Venice is sinking
and it's being destroyed by the very
tourists who want to come and see it.
And I see with my own eyes,
the cruise ships coming in.
-[Phil] It's another kind of invasion.
-[Luca] Yeah.
The routes that the cruise ships take
to come in and out of the lagoon,
they're going far too close
to the buildings--
-I felt it.
-Ground shaking.
-Four in the morning I felt a vibration.
-Yeah.
And I look,
and a city is coming into your city.
And tell me if this is correct.
It's not like you're getting the business,
the hotel is getting the business.
They sleep and eat on the boat.
Exactly. Yes.
-It's hit-and-run tourism.
-[Luca] Hit-and-run tourism, yeah.
[Phil] Later that afternoon, I'm off
to a local place that doesn't benefit
from that kind of hit-and-run tourism.
A couple years ago, I was turned on to
what I think
is the best restaurant in Venice.
Al Covo's just a short walk
from the Piazza San Marco,
and you'd never know you're near it.
-[woman] You're here!
-[man] Buongiorno!
-Buongiorno!
-Lots of hellos!
Ciao, Phil.
[Phil] And I just love the family
that runs it. Here's Cesare from Venice
and his wife Diane,
who is originally from Austin, Texas,
their son Lorenzo
and his girlfriend, Tiziana.
They're squeezing me in
for a family lunch.
-We hope you're hungry.
-I'm a little.
[Diane laughs]
[waiter] Your first course.
It's a mix of boiled baby shrimps
and boiled mantis shrimps.
Thank you. What a treat.
[Phil] Oh. Wow.
[Phil] Wow, that's good.
This kind of fish, the local fish,
is getting more difficult to get.
-It is? Why?
-Yeah.
Overfishing.
Damn. Venice is almost over everything.
[Lorenzo] Yeah.
-[Phil] Right?
-[Cesare] Yeah.
Tourism is a resource,
not the tourism that we have now.
They take a selfie, go away.
Phil, it's a paradox,
but the city doesn't make money.
[Tiziana] I think
that Venice looks so incredible
that you don't think you're
inside a real city in which people live.
It's true. Because in some ways,
it feels like a Disneyland experience.
Yeah.
I mean many times I'm asked,
"Do people actually live in Venice?"
Or "What time does Venice close?"
I kid you not.
-It really happened.
-That's hilarious.
Cheers.
-Oh.
-Phil, here we are.
Ah.
[Phil] This is spider crab.
With pasta.
This smells amazing.
The restaurants have gotten
so much better, I think, in Venice,
thanks to people like you.
There's a few now that are as good
as anywhere in Italy, I think.
Although, they open, um
hundreds of small things,
they look like--
They're not so good.
They actually don't have the kitchen
and they don't have the chef.
-It's all pre-cooked.
-Oh.
-It's pre-cooked cuisines.
-How does a tourist know?
-If they see a kitchen.
-[Diane] A jacket, a chef hat.
A jacket, some fires, some oven.
-These places don't--
-You'd never think to ask.
Exactly. But that's the way it is.
Look how beautiful this is!
What am I eating here?
-This is a beautiful--
-[Cesare] This is Adriatic sole.
-[Phil] My goodness.
-[Cesare] Sole de la Gentile.
-Gentle sole.
-[Phil] Gentle soul, that's you!
So what do the young folks think
we should do about Venice?
What do you think would help
return it to what you want it to be?
You got to make Venice livable
for the people, I mean
-Young people go away--
-They have to get a job somewhere else.
This is the tragedy. It's a tragedy.
When you lose Venetians, you lose culture.
You lose everything.
Then there'll be nothing
for the tourist to come and see.
[Lorenzo] Exactly.
-When I walk at night, the light, color
-[Diane] The sunset.
the shops, the age of the buildings,
it's a painting everywhere you look.
There's this one sweet moment
when you walk back home late at night.
Maybe it's the party,
maybe it's the, you know, the wine,
but there's a sweet moment
when you think you own this
and you feel you're really part of it.
To preserving your pleasure!
Let's preserve pleasure.
Let's preserve pleasure,
for heaven's sake! [chuckles]
Not so bad. Not so bad.
[Phil] You can't beat Venice,
but you shouldn't leave Italy
without visiting
some of the smaller cities nearby.
Just do a little research on your phone
and find out about the towns,
because even if they have
one or two little attractions,
they're far less crowded
and it's still Italy. Right?
And you know what I say. Italy wins.
Just a couple hours drive from Venice
and you're in the exquisite,
ancient city of Modena.
I met a new friend who taught me all
I need to know about this amazing place.
Caterina Schenetti is a food expert.
She gives food tours.
Today she's showing me around
the oldest market, the Mercado Albinelli.
This is
this darling, little beautiful market.
Look at the treats!
And it's also
one of the best places to get
Parmigiano.
-[Phil] My favorite.
-[Caterina] You can't miss it.
[Phil] And it's from this area?
Yeah. Also, if you go a little bit
up north, a little bit up south,
-that's not parmigiano. No way.
-No good.
-And it's restricted by the government.
-Yes. Yes.
-You guys have great rules.
-[chuckles]
[Caterina] First,
we are trying the fresco.
[Phil] Fresco parmigiano is aged one year.
That's the youngest you can get.
From this moment, we can start to call
the cheese parmigiano reggiano.
Grazie.
Nice.
Venti quattro mesi?
[Phil]
Next, here's the two-year-old cheese.
Look, so you start to see the crystals.
[Phil] You see it?
Basically, more it's aged,
more you can feel this crystal.
Is there an older one?
-A very special one, six years old.
-What?
[Phil] It's gonna kill me.
[Caterina chuckles]
[Phil] Grazie.
Oh.
We have lost it.
-[man speaks Italian]
-[Caterina laughs]
[Phil] Well, it's very old.
I have to be delicate.
-Like with me, you should be delicate.
-Yes.
-Cheers.
-Cheers.
Oh.
You taste
completely different flavors now.
It's almost sweet.
Yeah, and you can see also
the color was changing a lot.
The consistency is different.
That's really good.
[Richard] I ate it off the floor. [laughs]
[Phil] Why when we get parmigiano reggiano
is it somewhat dry and crumbly
in the United States?
I want you to go to Italy
and get a vacuum-sealed thing
of parmigiano reggiano.
Put it in your suitcase,
because you're gonna find that it
tastes much different from the source.
It's phenomenal.
-[Phil] Bellissima!
-Grazie. Grazie.
[Phil] Caterina knows a lot
about a lot of things,
but she specializes in balsamic vinegar.
You've seen the label,
balsamic vinegar of Modena.
Yes! We're in Modena!
-[Caterina] Andiamo!
-[Phil] Andiamo!
[Phil] Off to taste vinegar.
And on the way
[Caterina] See the cathedral.
The first stone was put on in 1099.
-Amazing.
-You can imagine.
Our cathedral,
it is also called The Stone Book.
[Phil] So you tell
the story with pictures.
[Caterina] Yes.
So you see this one here?
This is when I taught my brother
to play baseball.
[laughs]
Well, I don't know if that one was the
-He got very angry. This is what he does.
-proper interpretation.
[Phil] It's a good likeness.
[Caterina] So let's cross here to see the
traditional balsamic vinegar of Modena.
[Phil] Here we go.
[Phil] This is where you get
the official balsamic vinegar.
Even the shape of the bottle is regulated.
Right? It has to be this shape.
It has to have this number on it.
It has to have this label on it.
You know, it's pretty official.
The bottle was designed
by Giugiaro, car designer.
This is what you want to look for.
If it's traditional
Has to be this shape.
Has to be this shape.
[Phil] Not all regulation
is terrible. Right?
This is to ensure quality.
This is aged at least 12 years.
-You should smell first and then taste.
-[Phil] Wow.
I'm telling you,
they put a drop on this spoon
and an explosion
of sweet and pungent and sour,
but so intense, so concentrated.
And then I have the 25-year,
and that's like a whole other level.
You shouldn't even call it vinegar.
You should call it ha-hoo ba-dow dee-dow.
I bought both. Had to buy both.
Oh.
[Phil] They then come
from the ice cream place,
the beautiful gelato store next door.
And they come with a flavor
called fiore de latte, right?
Flower of milk.
Isn't that a nice name for something?
-I'm so happy!
-We should have
-the cherry wood vinegar on top.
-[Phil gasps] Wait a minute.
[Phil] And they drizzle
a little of this balsamic vinegar.
You already know this is gonna be good.
This is-- Okay.
This is automatically
one of the world's great desserts.
You have this every day. You have a face--
You the have the face of,
"Yeah, we have it every day."
[all chuckle]
[Phil] It's such a perfect combo.
And yet, as much as I love that,
I think what I'm gonna do now,
if you come over to my house,
whatever we eat, I'm gonna finish the meal
with a drop of this
because you're not gonna eat anything
that has more flavor than one drop
of this, like they call it, liquid gold.
Get the good stuff. It's worth it.
[Phil] Catarina has
one more stop in mind
and even though it's midday, I've been
promised the perfect Modena breakfast.
We meet her friend Andrea
at a place called Bar Tiffany.
And we have breakfast at Tiffany's.
-Buongiorno!
-Buongiorno!
-Un gnocco fritto.
-[Caterina] Grazie!
È viva. So you take your cappuccino,
and you dip into the gnocco fritto.
So this is
a Modena donuts and coffee, right?
-[Caterina chuckles]
-[Andrea] Yeah, basically.
It's a kind of lightly fried,
puffy, hot pillow of dough
called a gnocco fritto.
Mm.
[Phil] Wow. It's very light.
[Caterina] Yeah. Super light.
[Phil] Mostly air.
Mm.
How can I live without gnocco fritto?
[chuckles]
-[Andrea] Do you know how it's made?
-No!
[Andrea] The gnocco fritto.
It's zero zero flour
with some pig lard because in Modena
-Strutto.
-it's everywhere.
-Strutto.
-Strutto.
-That's the fat of the pig?
-[Andrea and Caterina] Yes.
Makes everything a little better,
doesn't it?
-[Caterina and Andrea] Yes.
-And then they fry it in strutto.
-In strutto.
-[Phil] More.
-[Andrea] What else?
[Caterina] Strutto.
Maybe I should just put strutto
all over me and I will be better, too.
[Andrea] You can find this one
just in the area of Modena.
Like many other Italian products,
if you move from a few kilometers
from one town to the other,
maybe they change the name,
they change the recipe.
And that's what happened for this one.
I like that the products of the area
come to define the area.
-Yeah, this is true.
-Right?
Okay.
I'm gonna call Antonio to fry another one.
[Phil] And we move from breakfast
straight into lunch.
-This is a small gnocchi with mortadella.
-[Phil] Nice.
-With salami.
-Nice.
-And with raw prosciutto.
-Nicest.
-Prego.
-Grazie.
[Phil] Oh, it's warm.
That's what you want.
Yes, this is a ham sandwich now.
The fat starts to melt
because it's hot and a little crispy,
and that's a very good thing.
[Caterina chuckles]
Mm.
[Phil] Wow.
It's like a ham on a croissant,
but Italian style.
-[Andrea] And fried.
-[Caterina] And fried and hot.
Yeah so better is what you're saying.
[laughs]
[Phil] Now I can't lie to you.
The main reason
you've even heard of Modena
is because there's a guy there
named Massimo Bottura.
His Osteria Francescana has been voted
the number one restaurant in the world,
and I get to spend the day with Massimo.
I show up at his apartment.
First one I meet is Luna.
Look at this puppy. Look at the puppy.
And then I meet his wife, Lara,
who's American.
-[Lara] Come on in.
-And they invite me in for coffee.
-Massimo! Phil!
-Hi, Phil!
Oh, the amaretti! Ciao.
I heard you like these.
-I love the amaretti.
-Oh, good.
[Massimo] You see?
You see how soft the inside are?
-Yes, I do.
-And then this part is like-- Try.
-You want some coffee?
-Yes.
-Can't talk without coffee in the morning.
-Me too.
[Phil] Besides running
the best restaurant,
he and Lara created Food For Soul,
an international group committed
to revolutionizing the soup kitchen.
He's trying to create a community,
and it's not just once on Thanksgiving,
once on Christmas.
It's every week.
And the people they serve
start making human connections.
If you serve a hundred people well,
you greet them by name
-Yes.
-your volunteers know who they are,
you're serving them
a delicious and healthy meal,
sometimes that's better
than serving a thousand people
a sandwich thrown at them, because there's
actual possibility for change.
-You make a family!
-[Massimo] Absolutely!
Family.
We build the dignity of the people.
That's why I want artists,
designers, architects
to rebuild the beautiful space.
Come with me!
[Phil] I think Massimo doesn't wanna
just tell me about the soup kitchen.
You driving the Maserati with me?
-Are we doing that now?
-Ever driven with an Italian chef?
-No.
-In a fast car?
-No.
-Be warned.
But he wasn't driving very fast.
So, you were just teasing me
that you drive fast? You don't drive fast.
That was a stupid thing to say.
Oh, oh.
-[Phil] Thank God we're here.
-[both chuckle]
[Phil] This beautiful space
serves Modena's most needy.
It's not some soup kitchen
where you grab some sustenance
and back to wherever you're going.
You feel somewhere special.
These are the darkness, the north.
They want blood. Look at them.
It's like Game of Thrones, you know?
It's like [growls]
And why art has to be
just for rich people? No!
Art has to be for everyone.
That's why Food For Soul is helping
artists to do these kind of projects.
You know?
Let's go!
[Phil] In the back of my mind,
I must admit
I was like, "Are we gonna eat?
Are we gonna get to go to the restaurant?"
-We stop for espresso.
-[Phil] Nope.
-Like big shot.
-Big shot.
[Massimo] This way.
[Phil] Maybe the next stop
is his restaurant?
And then we're here!
Ciao.
-And I get to meet some of the crew.
-Hi.
And now I'm hungry.
-You're hungry. All right! [chuckles]
-I came to the right place.
Let's go have a sandwich.
Let's have a sandwich.
Let's go this way.
[laughs]
-Lambrusco.
-I love meeting you.
-Thank you.
-You're my favorite new person.
[chuckles]
Lambrusco and mortadella.
There it is! King of cheese!
-There it is. King of the cheese.
-And how old is this guy?
[Massimo] Two years, I think.
It doesn't taste like this at home.
Come on!
-Really. It's true.
-Don't say that.
It's a perfect mixture
between acidity, sapidity, bitterness,
-sweetness in one little chunk.
-It's true.
There is nothing wrong with that.
-Yeah.
-Right?
Do you want to explore the restaurant?
Nah!
No? Let's stay here?
-Okay, I like panino! Panino forever!
-I like it here. I like a sandwich.
Okay. We'll see
your little place you got there.
-Let's see that--
-Let's walk in.
[knocking]
[Phil] Hello.
-[Massimo] Hi, guys.
-[Phil] Hello! Oh!
-Hi, guys.
-Wow! I am underdressed!
[Massimo] Welcome.
[Phil] I'm not going
to the dining room.
He's taking me to the kitchen
where I get to watch the making of.
-[Phil] Oh.
-This is the kitchen.
[Phil] I'm just hoping
some food falls off somebody's plate.
[in Italian] Okay, guys. A table
with two people. Two super menu. Mazza!
[all] Mazza!
[Phil] First, Massimo wants
to show me his world famous dish,
"five ages of parmigiano reggiano
in different textures and temperatures."
Yes, that's the name.
He's transformed parmesan
into soufflé, foam, sauce,
frothy air, and a crunchy cracker.
-[Massimo] We choose an ingredient
-[Phil] Yes.
-and it's parmigiano reggiano.
-Yes.
And we decide
it's the way we want to express
the slowly aging process.
-Gonna taste that.
-[Phil] For me?
-[Massimo] his is yours.
-Yes.
Yes!
[Massimo] Come on.
That's good!
Mm!
Okay so, this is a sea salad. Okay?
-Oyster, squid, some ink of the squid.
-[Phil] Yes.
[Massimo] This is calamari.
This is seaweed.
This is a leaf, a crunchy leaf
[Phil] Yes.
that is made with mussels.
[Phil] This tiny mussel chip
takes a week to make.
I think I can eat it a little faster.
When this arrives on the plate
Yeah. Yeah. It's a salad.
-We don't know the story.
There are two very important words
in our flag of Modena.
It's avia pervia.
Latin word. "Make look simple
the very complicated thing."
Everything looks so simple.
I have to build a car.
We build Ferrari, Maserati.
I need vinegar to dress my salad.
We build balsamic vinegar.
It's always been like that.
That's the art.
[Massimo] It is.
-Please, enjoy!
-[Phil] Here I go.
-Thank you, Massimo!
-You're welcome.
[Phil] I'll taste it by itself.
Wow, that's just a concentration
of mussels is what it tastes like.
[Phil] I just felt so special.
These are working people.
I'm some bum who got into the kitchen
and is eating their profits.
[chuckles]
This is really happening,
I'm getting the whole menu.
Massimo told me no one's ever been allowed
to eat in the kitchen before.
[Massimo] The next course
is gonna blow your mind.
[Phil] Massimo is showing me
the traditional Italian fish dish
that he uses for inspiration.
-[Massimo] This is a sole en papillote.
-[Phil] Yes.
-Very, very old style. Okay?
-Yeah.
The same flavor you find here,
-lemon, capers, black olives, tomato
-[Phil] Yeah. Tomato.
you're gonna find in this plate.
-[Phil] That's crazy!
-[Massimo] Yeah. Then, what we did.
-This is seawater
-Wow.
dehydrated and trans-- [laughs]
And transformed into paper.
And this here is an edible paper.
But when you see this,
it looks like almost like garbage,
like the leftover from this dish.
And you eat it.
Massimo, I'm glad I came. [laughs]
I hope so. I hope so.
[Phil] If you have nice people outside
who traveled and waited years
to come and eat here, dressed up nicely,
came from all over the world,
if they knew that an animal was
in the kitchen eating their food,
what would they say?
They would say, "Enjoy! Enjoy!"
[Phil] I'm standing there
in the kitchen for two hours.
It's a young man's game,
I have to say, or a young woman's game.
And you know my back
isn't great to begin with.
And then Massimo gives me
some stretches to do.
So I'm going like this,
and I'm stretching all these muscles.
-This.
-[Massimo] Like this.
-Another very good for the back.
-Yeah.
You align this, 90 degrees, 90 degrees.
Higher and straight
and stay like that.
-That's hard!
-Very hard.
Very hard, but it's stretching so much.
-That's good.
-It's very good.
I just want to live near Massimo.
[Massimo] This is a pigeon.
[Phil] Pigeon. You didn't get these
from San Marco did you?
[Massimo chuckles]
We make the meatball with all
the interiors and the legs of the pigeon.
We dehydrate all the sauces.
And the sauces you see here,
-you see here.
-[Phil] Are there.
That's one
of the most beautiful, colorful dishes.
-[Massimo] And the grand finale.
-[Phil] Yes.
[Massimo] As we build a menu--
We build a menu as an opera.
You have an overture, you have the adagio,
you have the meno, then the minueto,
then the allegro, then the grand finale.
[opera music playing]
[Phil] Wow, I should have been Italian.
I curse my parents.
[laughs]
[Phil] What a special, special guy.
He cares about the beautiful things,
not just the food.
The food is beautiful,
the place is beautiful.
The art is beautiful, music is beautiful.
Massimo Bottura.
Beautiful.
Mm.
[skype ringing]
-Hey!
-Oh! Hi!
-[Helen] Hi. Hello.
-[Max] Hello.
Venice is-- must be
the most beautiful country in the world.
Beautiful city.
City.
It used to be a big empire.
Listen, listen, listen.
[man singing in Italian]
-[Max] Can't.
-[Helen] I do.
-What do you hear?
-Birds. Birds.
I have to ask, what kind of birds
you have around your house?
Well, it could be from the outside.
It's definitely from the outside.
It's a gondolier who's going by singing.
You mean, there's somebody
walking on the street singing?
Gondolier!
You know the streets are water. [laughs]
-[Max] Oh, you're right. I see. Okay.
-Because I'm in Venice.
Have you heard
about the street walker in Venice?
No.
She-- She drowned.
So that's the joke.
I'm glad that people got to hear it.
[Richard laughs]
Did you hear I took a gondola lesson?
It was excruciating. [laughs]
I really--
The tension just to stay balanced,
and the oar doesn't stay in the thing.
It keeps slipping out.
And I'm gonna fall into the water,
I'm thinking.
-I can't--
-Why not stopping?
Because I'm on television.
[Max laughs]
Tell me, how was Modena?
I understand the vinegar
is very good from there.
I bought some.
You just need a little bit,
and it's [makes explosion sound]
Beautiful. They even put on ice cream--
Little drops on the ice cream.
It makes it fantastic.
That-- That goes too far.
I'll put it on a salad.
[chuckles]
[phone ringing]
Oh, who's calling now?
It's your wife.
Oh.
Monica.
[Monica] Yes, hello!
Hi. Listen. I'm just talking to Philip.
[muffled speech]
What did you say?
Take you time! It's not like
we have a crew of 25 people here!
He-- I don't know what he's eating,
but he's eating while he's talking to us.
Little poison berries. [chuckles]
Because I can't anymore.
[muffled speech]
-Okay, so you're going back to L.A.
-[Monica] Yeah.
Right, I can go now.
They're gonna talk for an hour.
-Oh, you're going tonight?
-Yeah.
Oh, have a wonderful time.
[Phil] Last time I was in Italy,
I made some great new friends,
and tonight I'm having
a nice, quiet dinner with them.
[horn tooting]
[laughs]
Dario Cecchini, the world' best butcher.
Ciao.
And his wife, Kim.
Wow! All my favorite people.
Silvana Vivoli,
maybe my favorite person in the world
because she makes
the best gelato ever.
-Jim!
-Nice to meet you, Phil.
Dario and Kim brought a friend of theirs,
who happens to be one of the best bakers
in the world from New York!
Jim Lahey from Sullivan Street Bakery.
So now I have a friend in New York.
Never had a friend in New York
although I lived there half my life.
Nobody liked me.
You joined a nice party
of the best gelato maker in the world
and the best butcher in the world.
-Everything covered.
-Let me see your hands!
These are the best hands in the world!
These hands!
And by the way not terrible.
[Silvana laughs]
[Phil] You like it?
-Fabulous!
-[laughs]
[Dario] Fabuloso!
[Phil] Hello there.
Wow!
[Phil] You think I get excited
with food.
I'm nothing next to him.
He gets excited when the breadsticks come.
Giovanni!
[Phil laughs]
Giovanni!
-Giovanni!
-[Dario] Giovanni is the chef.
-Giovanni!
-Buonasera!
Buonasera!
No, I hug.
[both laughs]
Okay.
-How are you? Nice to meet you.
-Nice to meet you.
[Phil] A beautiful meat pie.
[Dario] Mamma mia.
Can somebody tell me what the pie is?
The meat pie.
-[Kim] There's mint. Maybe, there's lamb.
-[Phil] It's fantastic.
[Dario] Mm.
[laughs]
[Phil] I love food.
Me too.
Me too!
Otherwise, no show.
[laughs] That's true.
[all sing "Funiculì, Funiculà"]
[Phil] No more wine for you or for you.
[Phil] This is red chicory risotto.
Bigoli pasta with anchovy sauce.
Oh, my goodness! This is good. Huh?
[Kim] Wait till you taste this.
Oh! Oh!
[Phil] Phil-te fish!
I am very honored.
You know he looks like me a little.
If the nose was a little bigger,
it'd be perfect.
[Phil] This is really sea bass
in a beautiful salt crust.
Dover sole served with a chestnut soufflé.
[Phil] You hungry?
[Kim laughs]
[growls]
Hungry!
-Grazie! Giovanni. Giovanni!
-Grazie, everybody!
Buon appetito.
[speaking Italian]
[Phil] Look at the view.
At one point, my brother said
it looked like I was green screen.
There's no special effects here!
Venice is the special effect!
Thank you so much. What a great meal.
-Thanks so much!
-[Kim] Amazing!
[Phil] The food is incredible.
The views are not bad.
[chuckles]
But you know, I would have been happy
in the basement just to see their faces.
Somebody said, "You seem
to have friends all over the world."
And I'm like, "My God, that's right."
I have friends all over the world now.
Shouldn't we be friends
with people from all over the world?
That alone is a reason to go to visit
the friends that you make in these places.
But you got to start somewhere, so go! Go!
Go now! Stop watching this. Go.
Somebody please, somebody please ♪
Somebody please, somebody please ♪
-Somebody please, somebody please ♪
-Somebody ♪
-Somebody please, somebody please ♪
-Somebody ♪
-Somebody please, somebody please ♪
-Somebody ♪
-Somebody please, somebody please ♪
-Somebody ♪
-Somebody please, somebody please ♪
-Somebody ♪
Somebody please, somebody please ♪
Somebody, somebody feed Phil ♪
^BOh, please somebody,^B
^BSomebody feed Phil ♪^B
Somebody feed him now ♪