[MUSIC]
Cooking with tweezers,
holy shit.
We're like three
star Michelin now.
>> You know what
we had to do?
We had to do a dinner
at Pujol in Mexico to
get close to three
star Michelin.
We made it to the top,
man.
Frying eggplant
is the top.
[MUSIC]
>> This is Being Frank
amigos from Mexico City.
>> I love Mexico.
I love the people there.
I love the food.
>> What's it taste like?
>> Tastes like
a cricket man.
>> Tastes like
a fucking cricket.
>> Very good man.
>> What's happening
in Mexico right now,
I don't know how in tune
the rest of the world is
on what's going on, but
it's top emerging
cuisine in the world.
Wow.
This is the morgue
over here.
>> Skinning a goat, man.
Dude, these guys
are bad asses.
>> That guy is
good with a knife.
Holy shit.
Rigor mortis has set in.
They've been
industrious for
the rest of the world for
so much and
certainly for us.
You know, we've always
had Mexican cooks.
And they, they've been
the backbone of what you
know, what we do.
But now they're being the
backbone for themselves.
More really, really,
really smart Mexican
kids that went to CIA or
went here or
they went to Harvard MDA.
>> Daijing at Noma.
Daijing at Amas.
Daijing at Arpej.
>> Yeah, really,
really smart people that
are now, instead of
working for you, they're
down working in Mexico.
And they're making
Mexico an amazing place.
So, Mexico's, it's an
emerging in a great way.
>> I am Enrique-san and
I host Mesamerica
in Mexico City.
We've always try to
bring people that have
changed the industry
in certain way.
Either by the way
they cook or
they're, they're concept
to get inspired.
>> How about we say this.
How about we choose
our next guests.
>> No, they're speakers.
They're speakers.
That's what they are.
>> Okay.
[INAUDIBLE].
>> Yeah.
First time down to
Mexico City was 2012,
for Mesamerica.
We were presenters.
We spoke about rez, and
the contribution to
the international
chef's community.
>> All these great chefs,
and us,
the meatball guys.
>> Good afternoon
everybody, and
thank Mesamerica and
Rico Vera for having us.
And you know, you get to
hang out with
your friends.
You know,
the other chefs.
>> Come on.
We're still funny man.
>> [LAUGH].
>> Fantastic.
>> Mario Batali
was down there and
got to spend some quality
time with him and his-
>> [COUGH]
>> Entourage.
Danny was down there
with the baby.
>> And Vinny and John.
>> Dude, what the fuck
is this shit?
Is this fucking
American's Hidden
Camera Show?
>> It is man.
>> Fuck.
This is so
fucked up Frank.
>> You know these guys,
right?
>> The idea is simply to
bring people to Mexico so
that they can
eat the food.
That's why the most
of the chefs that
go there have a free
agenda so they can go and
have some tacos,
go, party.
Get to know the city
a little bit.
>> Name is Casey.
>> No.
>> Somebody
made a reservation.
>> No.
>> Anybody want to speak
some Spanish, man?
Why do we always
gotta like do the,
do the reverse thing?
>> All right, I'll do it.
You know?
>> Most people had a very
simple idea of what
Mexican food was and now
they realized it's a very
diverse and there's
a lot of possibilities.
And specifically in
Mexico City I think a lot
of people go because
that's where you can find
a lot of the cuisines
from the other regions.
>> We are here
at Bar El Sella.
We run it as
a Spanish Tavern.
Basically it's Spanish
food mixed with
Mexican food.
>> I know the degree
of last night.
Cuz I didn't hear from
anybody this morning.
Part of Being Frank is
you make a reservation
for 4 and 14 show up.
Hey.
>> We had a great,
lunch with Vinny, Jon.
>> Vinny and
Jon are the chef and
proprietors of Animal.
>> Little light on
the salt in this country.
You know what I'm saying?
Everything's
under-seasoned here.
Which in, in a way is,
is nice, because.
You could take
it somewhere.
I don't know what
the fuck it is,
but, it looks
pretty interesting.
They use wheat for
tortillas.
>> Flour.
>> Yeah,
flour tortillas for this.
>> The thing with
Mexico is that we,
we Mexicans live for
eating.
So, when you wake up
your thinking what
I'm gonna have for
breakfast and
when you finish
breakfast you're like,
what's for lunch?
Fonda Margarita is now
the chef place to be.
Everybody loves
that place.
>> You walk in, it's just
like, you sit at a table,
you squeeze in with
a bunch of people.
>> We're from New York.
My name is Frank,
his name is Frank,
and we're chefs.
And we're guests
of Enrique Olvera.
And we're cooking
at Pujol.
>> They have a mariachi
guy playing over
there and singing.
And it's just so real.
>> And what,
what is it exactly?
>> Cicerone, man.
It's a pig skin.
>> I think they fry it,
and
then they stew it, man.
>> They make
these beautiful,
big ceramic pots.
>> You know, chicharrones
in these big clay pots.
And they just do
like three or
four things, and
do an omelette.
>> That guy in the
omelette station is in
the weeds man.
Here we go.
Hey.
>> Hey.
Hey.
>> Hey.
[LAUGH].
>> [FOREIGN].
There it is.
>> That's the way
it looks going in,
that's the way it
looks going out.
>> Looks like shit,
tastes like heaven, man.
>> Gonna follow up with
Mario about Jimmy Fallon.
And then I'll
follow up and
tell Josh that what
Johnny on the spot.
>> Telling you, we're not
ready to golf this year.
Okay we'll go
golfing this week.
>> We'll go
golfing this week.
>> You're gonna make
a fool out of yourself.
>> No I'm not.
>> Okay.
>> They're not
gonna ever want to
have you back
to do stuff.
Just letting you know.
Mario said it
about five times,
I'm serious
about golfing.
I want people who
can play with me.
That's why he said,
do you golf?
And he said it again,
do you really golf?
I don't even know how to
fucking hold a golf club,
man.
I don't even know how to
swing a golf club
really right, you know?
If we golf for a year.
>> Why are clumping me
in with you and golfing?
Why are you
clumping me in?
>> Okay.
You go.
>> I might be a prodigy.
>> Okay.
>> You might
be a prodigy.
>> No buddy,
you're not a prodigy.
That's it.
On to business, man.
>> [CROSSTALK].
>> [FOREIGN].
[MUSIC]
>> We're going to
the restaurant right now,
because we wanna
see what they have
already ordered, what
they need to still get.
>> [FOREIGN].
>> Here we are right
here, man.
This is where, actually,
the work begins.
Pujol!
>> Can we bring our in?
>> Please.
>> Should it go here, or
should it go upstairs?
>> Wherever you'd like.
>> Enrique started a
series called Boomerang.
He travels around
the world.
He meets a chef
that he likes and
then he brings them
back to Pujol.
And they cook dinner or
a couple of dinners.
You know, in our case.
>> In Pujol,
what we're trying to do
is to play with our food.
In Mexican culture,
playing with food
is not correct.
Not as a kid, no.
Not if you're
playing with your
food in a plate.
Or playing with
the recipes of
your grandmother.
And I never liked that.
So we like to play
with our food.
And I think in that sense
it's also the same with
with Frankie's.
>> Solomon's gold.
>> We all took carry
on luggage for
our personal
possessions and stuff.
And we checked in big
bags of tomatoes,
olive oil,
pecorino cheese.
>> Wax out.
Don't, that, you
don't want [INAUDIBLE]
at the bottom.
>> I got it.
I got it.
I got it.
>> Because those
core ingredients you
need for the menu.
To bring
the flavor across.
>> Holy shit,
look at that man.
We got inspected.
That's cool man.
>> Pasta,
we need to make.
He's got a plan on that.
>> Yeah, we're look,
we're looking for the,
the we have one, one,
one dough made already.
[CROSSTALK].
>> We wanna roll
one out as a picci.
>> Yeah.
>> Same dough.
>> Same dough.
>> Got it.
[SOUND].
We've figured out
a quick step,
which now we do at
the restaurant.
Instead of taking
the picci and
rolling it our by hand,
and then cutting them and
rolling them out.
You roll it through
the cutting machine.
It portions them
out perfectly.
[MUSIC].
>> We brought
Brian Jacobs,
our general manager.
And long time friend
at Frankies 457 in
in Brooklyn.
And we brought
Ryan Bartlow who's our
executive chef or
chef de cuisine at
Frankies 570 in
the West Village.
>> You wanted to,
you wanna see, you wanna,
you wanna see what a,
you wanna see what
a sous chef does?
>> Oh, more salt.
>> The real chef stands
here and cooks though.
That, that's
the difference.
[SOUND] Right?
>> We don't like to set
any rules or standards.
We just say like it's,
it's your restaurant.
It's not Pujol's
that night.
So feel free to
do whatever
the hell you want.
>> Hi.
>> Hi.
>> We've got Mescal for
you.
>> Here you got Mescal,
you know, when you.
Don't eat breakfast
just have Mescal.
>> [LAUGH]
>> Cheers
>> Cheers,
happy to be in Mexico,
with, with all of you.
>> When Frank and
I come down here,
we control every aspect
of the experience.
We do the lights,
we do the music,
we do the food, you know,
we do all
the extremities.
>> We're probably
going to be play the
Grateful Dead throughout
the entire night.
This is one of our
favorite bands.
Grateful Dead.
>> Grateful Dead.
>> Yeah,
the Grateful Dead.
Yeah, it's an American
rock and roll band.
Okay?
In case anybody asks.
Pujol is a San Pellegrino
top 50 restaurant.
It's the number one
restaurant in Mexico,
so it's imagine.
Like going into and
saying to Eric.
All right,
Eric, you know,
we're gonna, you know,
change your lighting,
we're gonna change
your music.
And that's
the night we're
gonna do that, right?
And imagine Eric
[INAUDIBLE] saying, yeah,
shit, we're gonna
do that, you know?
[MUSIC]
The first thing I,
I saw was the invitation.
So there was
an invitation with
the smoking apple and
a pyramid.
And, and I figure it's
cool because done like
the big apple like New
York, Mexico, perfect.
>> We came up with the
theme of the Aztecs and
Benito Molina, his
mustache on the apple.
>> Benito Molina is
the son of the devil.
>> [LAUGH].
He, he was raised in hell
and somehow he got out.
And now he's here, and he
reincarnated in a chef.
So.
[LAUGH] That,
that's that's the
unofficial story there.
The, the official story
is, he's an amazing cook.
Thank you for
coming, man.
>> Oh, thank you for
having me.
>> Pleasure to have you.
>> Pleasure.
He has a handlebar
mustache, and
he says things almost in
an affected Mexican way.
Like, oh, I'm going
to do this thing.
>> Miss America
last year.
I was, I was their host.
I picked them up
at the airport and
instant connection.
I gave them beers,
Clamato, and manzana.
It was like, all right.
[LAUGH].
You think he's kidding
but he really talks like
that because he's had
that moustache and
that personality came out
of the womb like that.
He's, that's,
he's a character.
>> Whoo.
Making eggplant parmesan.
>> Eggplant parmesan.
Except we don't use
parmesan cheese.
We should
actually call it
eggplant pecorino because
we use pecorino cheese.
>> I think the technique
is parmesan.
>> No, the technique is
>> Yeah, what is,
what is the technique?
>> Yo, the technique
is not parmesan.
>> Layers and layers and
layers of cheese.
>> It's parmesan cheese.
>> Just so you know for
the record, any time
you do these gigs.
There we say they're
gonna give you
ten prep cooks and
they gotta,
you my kitchen will
be devoted to you.
Chu Ching.
[LAUGH] Just pop
it in the fridge.
>> His lunch crew is
this tight set of
green beret guys
who never stay.
They work the line and
then they disappear.
And then upstairs he
has all his prep dogs.
So we got the leftover
of the prep dogs that
were feeling sorry for
us to help us.
>> They were good guys.
Everybody was super
helpful they did
the best they could.
But ultimately,
the majority-
>> Hm.
>> Of the work fell on
our shoulders, me,
Frank, and Ryan.
And we did it
>> I roasted the lamb,
caramelized the skin, and
now we're gonna
braise it.
With a little marinara,
a little white wine.
It's a lot of work, but
you know, you gotta just
be prepared to work.
How's the prep, how's the
prep. >> You say what you
do, you do what you say.
>> I didn't know you
knew how to cook.
>> So I basically got,
one layer from that,
what we just did.
You see how long this
is gonna take, man.
Can I get somebody to
help me out with this?
Look how much I got, man.
Need an amigo for that.
>> Hello.
>> Amigo power.
We call it amigo power.
>> Yeah, Amigo power.
>> Pancho is also
a character.
One of my sous chefs.
He's a fantastic guy
with a beautiful sense
of humor.
And because a lot of
the sous chefs are always
very tight, like on
a tight schedule and
they're always grumpy.
[MUSIC]
And
Pancho is not like that,
so
I think that they
pair together nicely.
>> [SOUND] All right,
you see what we're doing?
Rinse and repeat,
we'll see you tomorrow.
>> [MUSIC]
The next day.
[MUSIC]
You're gonna notice that
a lot of the dishes have
this tomato in it,
San Marzano tomato.
It's very,
very special tomato.
Hard to get
anywhere else.
And you'll see that that
tomato is in three or
four dishes.
You'll see that
the Pecorino cheese is in
three or four dishes.
You'll see that our
olive oil is in
almost every dish.
So your fat is your oil.
Your acid is your tomato,
and
your your umami or your
your MSG is your cheese.
And that's the essence
of our cuisine that we
cook in,
at Frankie's in Brooklyn.
And it's basically
a Southern Italian
flavor, flavor profile.
>> Now say it in Spanish.
>> Bueno.
[LAUGH] Mi gusto Mexico.
[APPLAUSE].
>> Pujol's a very fancy
restaurant and Frankie's
is a very casual,
family style restaurant.
We wanted to take our
food, Frankie's food, and
elevate it by
making the portions
a little bit smaller.
And just a little
bit of refinement.
>> Because, you know,
their regular
clientele are the,
are the most powerful,
wealthiest of Mexico.
[LAUGH].
>> I have the first
table of two.
>> First table
of two is down.
I think we're ready, man.
>> We are ready.
[MUSIC]
>> So this part of
Being Frank, take over
somebody's own restaurant
in another country.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, and
then you do the service
on a Friday night.
You notice a lot of the
dishes are just like one,
two steps, you know.
There's not a lot more
too it than that.
>> They say god is
in the details.
>> Yeah.
>> It's amazing
how simple,
good food can also
make people happy.
People were just
amazed at the flavors.
And that eggplant,
I still want to have it.
Probably the best
eggplant I've
had in my life.
You've tasted eggplant
plenty of times, but
you've never tasted
it like that.
We did the Corvina
Crudo Nobu style-ish.
We took pasta primavera
from the market of
a Mexican market and
made it Italian.
It was a real fusion of
Mexican and Italian.
Hate to use the word,
but it was.
>> It was delicious.
>> But it was amazing.
>> I was asking Enrique
and Bonito, goat or lamb?
And they're like
we love goat.
Mexicans love goat.
I'm like, okay,
so goat it is.
And then when
we get there,
the day of, that
we're doing the prep-
>> Got some amazing lamb.
>> We got lamb.
I was like, what happened
to the goat, man?
>> It didn't really
matter because we
were brazing it in
tomato sauce and
putting it over
delicious polenta.
>> Every time,
a chef comes like that,
now we took a little
bit of that to
the way that we
cook our goat.
Which was traditional
way before.
And now we, we're
broasting with tomatoes.
It, it's a win win for
everyone.
[INAUDIBLE] make
them again.
>> Are you drinking
out of the bottle?
[MUSIC]
delicious.
When Being Frank comes
to Mexico City and
we get behind the line we
start cooking with our
friends and our family.
It's easy to
get outta hand.
Especially with Benito
Molina, Frank Casanova,
Donnie Corvina.
>> Donnie Masterson
aka Donnie Corvina.
We worked together
in California for
a couple years.
He was my chef de
cuisine and he was like,
guys, I gotta give
something to do,
give me something to do.
I was like okay you're
gonna do the corvina.
Dude, what are you
doing man?
>> Just helping
out [INAUDIBLE].
>> Get your pasta,
I got it.
He's was a really solid
cook, but you know, he
folds the subject to the
same thing that happens
when you've been drinking
and then try to cook.
It's like, [CROSSTALK].
Are we out of polenta?
Is that it?
>> I don't know
what happened.
I walked away for
a second, and
then another person
walked away for a second.
And then, it just
got really sloppy.
[MUSIC]
How many more lambs
we got coming?
A shit ton?
Are you serious?
>> You ought to thicken
that sauce a little bit.
>> Nobody is ever gonna
care more about
your food than you.
You might think he cares
as much but, you know,
it's like it's
always the same.
>> How many pie?
>> [INAUDIBLE].
>> How many?
How many?
>> Wow.
[SOUND].
>> There's nobody at
the station,
that's the problem.
Start the station.
>> [FOREIGN].
[MUSIC]
{LAUGH].
>> That was it.
The first half
an hour was good,
when we got to
the crunch time,
like everybody fucking
lost their shit man.
>> Ay yi yi.
You guys are a little
bit sideways.
>> Enrique got
back there.
Yeah.
Pulled us out of a weeds,
man.
Where did you come from,
man?
[LAUGH].
When did you start
working here man?
>> At the end
of the night,
it was beautiful
feeling of community.
It was not like spring
break kind of a party.
It was more like,
about brotherhood.
[MUSIC].
>> First night of
Being Frank Mexico,
it was pretty amazing.
Then we cook the meal.
Watch the, hey watch
the soap going over
the food there!
Don't do it even more.
Wait til he gets the food
out of the way dude.
Anyway, I feel
like you know,
that's a good
example of it.
One step forward,
two steps back.
I think it was
pretty good.
I think that over all the
menu was well received.
The experience I think
was well, well received.
You know Friday nights,
you know, people just
want to hang out.
I think, there was
great camaraderie in
the kitchen, everybody
had a good time.
Frank and
I had a great time.
It was I think it was
a good summation of what,
we expect
Being Frank to be.
You know, we [APPLAUSE].
This, this this
inspires us, you know.
>> Yes.
>> Yay.
>> When you're
in hospitality,
anytime I have people who
want to have a good time,
they call you.
They call you,
and you call a fireman or
a cop or
a fuckin' doctor,
it's always a problem.
So wouldn't you wanna be
on the good side of that.
That's, that's the truth.
[MUSIC]
>> Hang on a second.
Oh it's Jimmy Fallon.
Jimmy.
What's up?
Yeah, I'm here
with Frank.
>> Are we going
golfing Monday?
>> We're gonna go
golfing Monday and
you want us on
the show Thursday?
No Friday,
bigger show Friday.
>> Who's on?
[NOISE].
>> Bruce Willis,
Tom Cruise, [NOISE] Sly,
Sly Stallone, Brad Pitt,
and Angelina Jolie.
All right we can make it.
Cool.
All right.
>> He's full of shit.
He's not talking
to Jimmy Fallon.
>> [LAUGH]
[MUSIC]
>> You know, if, if Bob
Dylan says, come down and
I want, I want you
to jam with me,
you're gonna show up.
If a Renee Rosepe says,
I want you to come
down on my symposium.
>> I can feel the mad
monster on my shoulders.
You're gonna show up.
>> Welcome to Copenhagen.
[CROSSTALK].
>> Skoll the fall.
>> You become
a professional consumer.
Like, look at today.
Amas, Rilay, Noma.
>> And,
that is like the spot.
It brings the whole
world together.
>> To have a place where
the cooks could meet and
could discuss new ideas.
And, and sorta understand
a bit where our industry
is today and
where it's going.
>> You caught me eating.
>> It's okay, man.
I'm talking.
You just relax.
[MUSIC]
