BRANDON JEW: I basically
fried my hand.
JEREMY TOOKER: You might
as well pop it.
BRETT COOPER: This is
what happens when
you actually work.
JEREMY TOOKER: Oh my god.
BRETT COOPER: This is
what happens when
you actually work.
BRANDON JEW: It's an oil burn.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
BRETT COOPER: We have a really
amazing community
here in the Bay Area.
Our chefs are really open to
ideas from each other.
It's very nice to just call
your buddy, and walk him
through something you're
thinking about, and get
feedback on it.
BRANDON JEW: We're trying to
all just make each other.
We're all competitive.
But we're not competitive
with each other.
We're our own worst enemies.
That's pretty much
how it goes.
This is Brett Cooper,
from Outerlands.
BRETT COOPER: Brandon Jew,
chef Bar Agricole.
BRANDON JEW: I'm from
San Francisco.
The best I can do from my heart
is do food that is made
in San Francisco.
And that was part of our goal,
here, is to start to develop a
sense of San Franciscan food.
So all the seafood is
from the Pacific.
All the farms are
local, organic.
And we're just trying to have
those ingredients around us
inspire us.
BRETT COOPER: It was important
to me to find a positive
atmosphere, like Outerlands,
and have food that is using
local sustainable ingredients.
And we really want it to be
accessible to everybody that
walks in the door.
I saw so many times in fine
dining when I worked there, I
couldn't invite my friends just
to come eat and hang out.
It wasn't necessarily important
for me to get out of
fine dining, but just to find
that medium that I could
really get behind.
This is the asparagus salad
we just put on the menu.
Raw asparagus, cooked asparagus,
roasted maitake
mushrooms, some farmer's cheese
that we make here, and
spicy sesame seeds.
BRANDON JEW: That's
tasty, dude.
Outerlands, the name Outerlands,
is the perfect
name for it.
Because it's remote
from the city.
But it has a special place.
BRETT COOPER: Hey, just text me
the fish count at the end
of the night, all right.
Thanks.
All right guys, I'll
see you in a bit.
-Bye.
Good luck.
Good luck.
BRETT COOPER: Midnight
at Agricole.
BRANDON JEW: We get inspired
by such small things that
become gateways to a new
recipe or a new dish.
BRETT COOPER: It's always
a constant dialogue.
But also I think it's really
important for us to get out
and try other people's foods,
not only for inspiration, but
just to stay connected.
BRANDON JEW: Let's go.
BRETT COOPER: I love
the backseat.
BRANDON JEW: We're going
to Ippuku, in Berkeley.
It's a izakaya spot.
It's just super tasty.
BRETT COOPER: Raw chicken
and shit.
BRANDON JEW: Raw chicken
and shit.
BRETT COOPER: Our friend Dagan,
and then our buddy
Jeremy is meeting
us there also.
So they're both coming
with us.
DAGAN MINSTERO: This is a virgin
experience for us both.
Well recommended by Brett
and Brandon, for sure.
JEREMY TOOKER: Yeah.
BRETT COOPER: We shuffled over
to the East Bay, which wasn't
super easy.
But we made it, thanks to you
guys, to Ippuku, which was my
first time there.
I'm super excited that Brandon
told us about it.
Because that was awesome.
BRANDON JEW: This yakitori
is the shit.
I mean, look at that.
Because you can get breast,
thigh, skin, liver.
JEREMY TOOKER: Are we eating
minced chicken?
BRANDON JEW: Shoulder blade,
neck, thigh with leek, wing,
heart, gizzard.
That's just the chicken.
Chicken tartare with
egg yolk, sesame.
[INTERPOSING VOICES].
BRETT COOPER: There's
nothing like this.
I think we're similar in a lot
of ways because we both have a
lot of different experience with
food in San Francisco,
whether it's French, or Italian,
or Japanese, or
whatever it is.
If there's no information
passing between each other,
then how do you ever
learn anything new?
That's what it's really about.
If you don't talk about food,
then you're never going to be
able to create.
BRANDON JEW: Yeah.
BRETT COOPER: Really.
BRANDON JEW: I basically
fried my hand.
JEREMY TOOKER: You might
well pop it.
BRANDON JEW: I basically
deep-fried my hand.
BRETT COOPER: Makes
me want to eat.
JEREMY TOOKER: Let me dip
my carrot in that.
BRANDON JEW: There's
some juice here if
you guys want a little--
Look at that thing.
It's fucking nasty.
BRETT COOPER: I can't
even look at it.
BRANDON JEW: Look
at that thing.
I'd rather deal with this shit
and be here than deal with the
repercussions of not being here
for the amount of time
that this might take to heal.
Women have a hard time
understanding that you have
something of more importance
than them.
At this stage of my life,
that's where I'm at.
BRETT COOPER: It's not
even that it's
more importance, though.
Sometimes it is.
But it's that it takes
up more time.
BRANDON JEW: That's
what it is, time.
Time is equated.
BRETT COOPER: Because it takes
up more time, the time that
you have off you're
more tired.
BRANDON JEW: Black
sesame ice cream.
There's some mochi and some
red bean, and some sort of
caramel sauce.
BRETT COOPER: That's
fucking good.
BRANDON JEW: All right.
Let's go.
I like going there.
It's dark.
And it's away from
the scene here.
That's why I like going to
Oakland a lot of the times.
Because you can just be with
your buddies, and just not
have to worry about too much
other shit than the people
you're with, and having
a good time.
BRETT COOPER: That's probably
the reason why we went to Boot
and Shoe Service after Ippuku,
is because our buddy Charlie
is the owner there.
BRANDON JEW: We're going
to Boot and Shoe.
It's called Boot and
Shoe Service.
They just kept the same name
as the business was before.
But it's a pizza place
that Charlie--
he's the owner of Pizzaiolo.
It's his second thing.
It's super chill.
Charlie!
He's such a character.
BRETT COOPER: He's just such
a fun guy to be around.
BRANDON JEW: He's been in the
industry for a long time.
BRETT COOPER: Yeah, he's
got all the old school
connections, and then all the
new school connections.
And he just really pays
attention to what's going on.
He's always maybe a little
long winded sometimes.
But--
BRANDON JEW: Yeah.
He can talk.
He likes to talk.
BRETT COOPER: He's always got
really relevant things to say.
CHARLIE HALLOWELL: I feel like
we, in America, have a
fundamentally flawed food
system, which is why we have
so many obese people, and so
many people with diabetes.
And an FDA that's obsessed
with supporting terrible
agriculture, and a really small
minority of people who
are actually trying to support
a sustainable food system.
That's just a Margherita
with sausage.
BRETT COOPER: That's
all it is.
So are we going to go back to
Agricole and cook, or what?
BRANDON JEW: We gotta go back.
We gotta go back now.
BRETT COOPER: Brandon,
we have to party.
BRANDON JEW: Let's go.
BRETT COOPER: We
have to party.
BRANDON JEW: Let's go.
CHARLIE HALLOWELL: This
isn't New York.
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
BRANDON JEW: Look at that.
That's party.
That is--
JEREMY TOOKER: It's
not that party.
It'll be party in
like an hour.
BRANDON JEW: Arigato.
BRETT COOPER: And then there
was a long cab ride back to
Bar Agricole, where I think
someone lost their pants.
Oh man, now we've got to cook.
Now I'm nervous.
Hey, there's Bar Agricole.
I know that spot.
I know it.
We're going to grill some
prawns, suck some head, and--
wait, what?
God.
Let's do it.
BRANDON JEW: Yeah, let's go.
Let's get weird.
Let's go.
You only can cook with
your right hand.
I'm going to cook with
my left hand.
BRETT COOPER: So this is
Brandon's famous fermented
mustard greens.
And this shit is fucking
amazing.
Why aren't you using
your other hand?
I'm his right-hand man.
BRANDON JEW: Once it's all
wrapped off, we're going to
throw some spring onions
and green garlic.
And then we'll pull everything
out, and throw in the clams,
white wine, butter, and
then some of that
fermented mustard greens.
It's gonna be bomb.
It's gonna be good.
BRETT COOPER: There's so many
talented cooks here.
This year is going to be
huge for the city.
There's a lot of people
doing amazing things.
And I think there's going to
be a lot of under the radar
things happening in the next
couple years here that are
going to be huge,
in the long run.
BRANDON JEW: I'm just the
type of person to
obsess about something.
And then it becomes my life.
And then I'm like, oh shit, I
don't have any other life
anywhere else.
Like if we have to talk about
politics, I don't know what
the hell is going
on right now.
Maybe food politics.
I don't know shit about
anything else.
BRETT COOPER: It kind
of makes you
socially retarded, a little.
BRANDON JEW: Totally.
That's why we're all--
BRETT COOPER: That's why
we're all weirdos.
I would say let's cheers
to Agricole for
having us right now.
Thank you.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
BRANDON JEW: Cheers to
inappropriate contact.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
