DANNY BOWIEN: I'll be the first
to admit that I had no
idea what I was getting myself
into when I started this.
I mean, I'm Korean, and I'm
making Chinese food.
Where's that big platter at?
I never cooked Chinese food
until last year, so it's
pretty crazy.
They raised the fucking price
of the two for Tuesday.
It's $1.29 now, which
is fucking bullshit.
My name's Danny Bowien,
and I'm the cook.
Not the only cook, but a cook
at Mission Chinese Food.
A cook's life is really hard.
I mean, you basically do it
because you're passionate
about something, not because
you want to make money.
And so I was really tired of
working at these restaurants
and making for people
I couldn't connect
to in a lot of ways.
And none of my friends could
come eat at the restaurant
that I worked at, because they
either didn't want to or they
couldn't afford it.
I wanted to be able to make
food for people that I
could relate to.
The owners of the restaurant
owned this
restaurant for 10 years.
It's never been busy, and they
were fine with that, because
they owned the building.
They just had this as kind
of like a hang out.
We're kind of renting the
space off from them.
And then with Mission Chinese
Food, we were like, well,
let's just do this together,
and we'll find a
way to make it work.
Who bought milk?
Whose gallon of milk is this?
-Nobody bought milk.
DANNY BOWIEN: Why
did anybody-- no
Asians can drink milk!
-It's good milk.
It's good milk.
DANNY BOWIEN: So we're
at the Commonwealth.
We're picking up Yin, one of my
really good friends, and on
our days off, we would always
eat Chinese food together.
High five.
Pound the beer.
-High five.
Pound the beer.
Let's go.
DANNY BOWIEN: The Commonwealth
is kind of the sister
restaurant of Mission
Chinese Food.
It's a young man's game,
beer pounding.
All right.
We've gotta go.
Before I actually started
working in a Chinese
restaurant, all my cook friends,
we would all just go
out and eat Chinese food
on our day off.
Because when you make fancy food
all the time, you don't
feel like eating fancy
food on your day off.
It's cool.
Now all my friends work at fancy
restaurants, and I work
at a shitty Chinese
restaurant.
So we're going to Bar
Agricole right now.
One of my best friends
in the world, Brandon
Jew, is a chef there.
To be honest, he's the
reason that I started
making Chinese food.
But he's Chinese.
I think his dream still is
to make Chinese food.
Dude, so spice is over--
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
IAN MUNTZERT: Oh, what
the fuck you got?
Oh, tiny pastries.
BRANDON JEW: Yeah, try this.
DANNY BOWIEN: Why are
you eating this?
We're about to go eat fucking
spicy Chinese food.
You're crazy!
Dude, it's so good.
BRANDON JEW: Hey, have you had
the coppa di testa here yet?
DANNY BOWIEN: No.
BRANDON JEW: I have
some, yeah.
You want some?
DANNY BOWIEN: Shut
the fuck up.
We have to hurry, though.
That place closes soon.
He makes awesome charcuterie.
BRANDON JEW: Here's the
snout right here.
DANNY BOWIEN: Nice!
IAN MUNTZERT: That's
gnarly as fuck.
DANNY BOWIEN: So this
is like the--
BRANDON JEW: Ears, you put the
tenderloin in there and the
cheeks, and that's the tongue.
DANNY BOWIEN: That's what
I eat late at night.
Before I go home, I eat this.
BRANDON JEW: We call
it rotolo di testa.
It means a roll of head.
It's melting, so we've
gotta eat it now.
DANNY BOWIEN: Yeah,
eat it fast.
Let's crush this, and
then we should go.
What's your favorite
thing in SPiCES?
IAN MUNTZERT: The
fucking pork.
DANNY BOWIEN: Really?
IAN MUNTZERT: Oh, fuck.
And they send you like the whole
motherfucking shoulder.
DANNY BOWIEN: Don't
really haul balls.
I was joking.
It's called SPiCES Szechuan
Trenz, with a Z.
IAN MUNTZERT: It's kind of made
up to look like a really
shitty Taiwanese nightclub.
DANNY BOWIEN: I think the good
thing about going to eat
Chinese food is that the more
people you have, the better,
because you can order
more stuff.
All right, what are
you gonna get?
IAN MUNTZERT: I'm gonna get the
pork shoulder and garlic
sauce, and the dry braised
eel strips.
DANNY BOWIEN: You wanna get
the spicy beef tendon?
You guys are so quiet,
so that's a no.
BRANDON JEW: Yeah.
DANNY BOWIEN: What's your
favorite thing here?
DANNY BOWIEN: I'll get that.
These guys are wusses.
BRANDON JEW: No, I
don't want that.
DANNY BOWIEN: You're crazy!
It's so good.
It's very crispy.
Right?
DANNY BOWIEN: Oh, never mind.
I like the crispy ones.
IAN MUNTZERT: The cumin lamb's
fucking retarded good.
BRANDON JEW: I like their
[INAUDIBLE] better.
DANNY BOWIEN: So this
thing is ridiculous.
When have you had this before?
BRANDON JEW: Every time
that I've been here--
DANNY BOWIEN: That's crazy.
BRANDON JEW: --since
the first time.
DANNY BOWIEN: I don't wanna mess
with it, it's so awesome.
BRANDON JEW: Look at
this [INAUDIBLE].
DANNY BOWIEN: It's crazy, man.
It's so nuts.
BRANDON JEW: I'm at a loss
for words right now.
DANNY BOWIEN: This thing
is no joke, my friend.
This is no joke.
Oh, this is a blood thing.
BRANDON JEW: Yeah.
DANNY BOWIEN: Your favorite.
I'm stoked, I'm excited.
IAN MUNTZERT: Go ahead and put
it right in front of me.
DANNY BOWIEN: No, if it's
your favorite, I'm
excited to try it.
I'm excited.
BRANDON JEW: Good.
DANNY BOWIEN: I'll
eat a blood.
The intestine's good.
I love this place, because I
came here the first time, and
I'd never had food like
this before, ever.
Like, ever, ever, ever.
I'd never had Szechuan
food before.
I mean, I grew up in Oklahoman,
and I ate, like, a
lot of sweet and sour chicken,
and fried rice, and lo mein.
But this is what really opened
my eyes to making
stuff that's different.
Every time I come here, I find
out about something else that
I've never had before.
Like, this thing
is ridiculous.
I've never had this before.
I have no chef telling
me what to do.
I know how to do whatever
cooking I know, and then you
come here, and you taste and
taste and taste, and you're
like, how did they do that?
And then you just try to
make it as good as--
Just as good as, and if it's
better, then it's better.
But just as good as.
BRANDON JEW: The thing about
Danny is, it's crazy, because
he can take--
you just need to taste
something, and he can start
recreating it.
And then he'll start dorking
out about it.
He'll be like, hey, come
over and try this shit.
I got this idea from this
so-and-so place.
And then, all of a sudden,
you're eating it, and it
tastes even better than
the original version.
DANNY BOWIEN: No.
BRANDON JEW: It does.
DANNY BOWIEN: That's arguable.
BRANDON JEW: My frustration with
Chinese food was that no
one was making it better.
Like, David Chang was making
Korean food better in New
York, and Charles Phan was doing
that with Vietnamese
food out here.
But no one was taking the torch
for Chinese food, and as
a Chinese American, that was my
whole frustration was like,
no one's taking the torch.
I don't know.
I'm just stoked that someone
is doing Chinese food.
DANNY BOWIEN: We're getting
all bromance over here.
IAN MUNTZERT: I think the reason
that your cooking is
something more unique and more
interesting is that you take
this role of beginner's
mindset to it.
You know that you don't know
what you're doing.
DANNY BOWIEN: I have no idea.
IAN MUNTZERT: And you're just
trying to make something good.
Whereas, like, everybody here
is so steeped in tradition
that they're just going to make
it the way they've been
told to do, and they're going
to care in varying degrees.
BRANDON JEW: Yeah, you're
not playing that role.
DANNY BOWIEN: We're going back
to the restaurant right now,
and we're going to make
a late night snack.
IAN MUNTZERT: Because
we're all starving.
DANNY BOWIEN: I could
eat more.
-How's your dins?
-[INAUDIBLE]
DANNY BOWIEN: Oh my God, dude.
It's starting to get kind of
nuts, just so you know.
The real question is gonna
be, whose hand gets
fucking bitten off?
IAN MUNTZERT: Hold on, why are
we not throwing these things
into fucking boiling water?
We need boiling water.
Why the fuck are we cutting
these things up alive?
DANNY BOWIEN: Because it's
salt and pepper crab.
Ian, shut up.
I'm so drunk.
You're not drunk.
It's not fair.
-I've been drinking
waiting for you.
DANNY BOWIEN: All right,
sorry, sorry, sorry.
I think people are
gonna be stoked.
IAN MUNTZERT: All right, let me
clean one of these fuckers,
because I've never
done this alive.
Oh, dude, I got the
livest crab here.
It does not want to die.
It does not want to-- oh!
Oh.
BRANDON JEW: Flip him over
and give him a nap.
IAN MUNTZERT: Fuck him, I'm
not giving him a nap!
DANNY BOWIEN: You're just
going for the gold!
IAN MUNTZERT: Oh, it's a lot
harder when it's raw, man.
DANNY BOWIEN: Pull the
gills, pop the back.
I don't know what I did.
IAN MUNTZERT: Yeah,
yeah, yeah.
From here, I got it.
The little fucker.
I got it, I got it, I got it.
DANNY BOWIEN: Don't
cut your hand off.
This is where you
cut your hand.
IAN MUNTZERT: I'm not cutting
my fucking hand off.
DANNY BOWIEN: This is where
drunken cooking goes wrong.
IAN MUNTZERT: Oh, no,
I'm familiar with--
oh, really?
Oh, no!
BRANDON JEW: Stop him!
DANNY BOWIEN: Ian, stop.
You're eating that one.
IAN MUNTZERT: Fine,
I'll eat this one.
We're throwing it in
a fucking wok.
-Face before tail.
IAN MUNTZERT: After I ripped
its dick off, it
fucking cut me, dude.
DANNY BOWIEN: I don't even
remember cooking anything last
night, but we cooked a
bunch of crazy food.
Let's chop these crabs,
then, huh?
What is with all these
Slim Jims over here?
I feel like we're just doing
what we want to do.
When you're able to just have
100% creative freedom, and do
what you want to do, that
comes across and you can
connect to people.
IAN MUNTZERT: Fuck yes.
BRANDON JEW: Danny Bowein.
DANNY BOWIEN: Wait, you
have to wait for this.
This is the salt and pepper
dungeness crab
with mapo tofu sauce.
Eew!
Shut your mouth.
We'll see where it
goes, you know?
I don't think I'm going to be
making Chinese food when I'm
45 or anything like that.
We'll see.
The dream was, like, oh, I
just want to work at a
restaurant where I cook what I
want to eat on my day off, and
that was was what this was.
And it still is, but now
I kind of want salads.
Greg, pound a beer.
Tonight?
I feel like it turned
out awesome.
All right, guys, thanks
for coming.
Good night.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
