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Life & Times Transcript
11/24/05 Val Zavala>> Tonight on Life and Times -- It may look like Napa Valley, but this winery is right here in Los Angeles County. Don MacAdam>> The proof is in the pudding when you taste the wines. You make up your mind. That's why we invite. We don't sell wholesale. We invite everybody to see us and taste the wines and make up their own minds. Val>> And then, amazing, crazy food. His description, not ours. Meet Los Angeles's raw food guru. Can we call him a chef if he doesn't cook? It's all straight ahead on tonight's Life and Times. Life and Times is made possible through the generous support of the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of medicine, health, science and education. And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg. Val>> Welcome to this Fourth of July edition of Life and Times. It's a weekend of family, fun and food and, later in the program, we'll take you to one of Los Angeles's oldest restaurants. You'll meet a raw food revolutionary. But first, a look at the wine industry. Are small wineries making a comeback in Los Angeles County? Philip Bruce takes us to Agua Dulce Winery. Philip Bruce>> If you didn't know better, you'd swear this is Napa. The same grapes, the same rolling terrain and the same general feeling that you're in a special place. Quite a feat considering that this whole vineyard was an overgrown pasture just a couple of years ago. Even more surprising, since it's on the edge of the Santa Clarita Valley just forty-five minutes northeast of downtown Los Angeles. They call it Agua Dulce, named after a local canyon famous for its sweet water. But for owner, Don MacAdam, it's been more like a sweet dream. You know, people don't think about grapes being in this part of California, but you point out that it's not really a new thing. Don MacAdam>> No, it's not a new thing. The grape industry in the 1800's in Los Angeles was some of the largest wineries in the world and produced some of the finest wines. Philip Bruce>> In the business, they call it a boutique winery, ninety acres of grapes and a sprawling Colonial-style farmhouse where MacAdam lives with his wife and their young children. If you buy a bottle of Agua Dulce wine, you'll see the house on the label. But the vineyard isn't just a rich man's hobby. Don MacAdam was a home builder and land developer who spent a lifetime proving that he knows how to turn a profit. Now he intends to do it again by tapping into the roots of this valley, a place that once was one of the top wine-producing regions of the world. Don MacAdam>> Once you do the research, you start getting more relaxed about the idea and you realize that one of the largest wine-consuming areas in the United States was Los Angeles County. So we have the people who consume the wine, so why not bring it closer to them where it used to be in the 1800's? Philip Bruce>> Prohibition was a death knell for the wine business in Los Angeles County. Then came the Great Depression and a war or two and, after all of that, grapes pretty much fell off the local radar. But the Agua Dulce Vineyards are proving that what's old can be new again as long as there is enough money and talent to pull it off. The talent part comes from veteran winemaker, Jim Yerkes, schooled in France and trained in the fields of Napa and Sonoma. Jim Yerkes>> This machine over here is a crusher. What we're going to do is crush these grapes and that just barely breaks the skin so the juice will flow out. Then we ferment these on the skins. Although the skins are black, the juice is basically white. Philip Bruce>> Yerkes spent years working for some of the big California wine labels you find in retail stores, but that was when he was in the quantity business. These days he's all about quality. Squeezing no grape before its time and making only as much wine as the crop allows without compromising his standards. And make no mistake, he can be a pretty tough critic. Jim Yerkes>> We have a really good crew that takes excellent care of the vineyards. We handpick each grape. We handle things in small quantities. We don't use any big conveyors. Everything is moved by shovel, by hand and we put everything into a barrel. A barrel holds sixty gallons, so we make everything basically by hand. Philip Bruce>> You can only buy the final product at the vineyard or by mail if you happen to be a member of Agua Dulce's wine club. Memberships are the backbone of this new business and, by belonging, those wine lovers get some extra perks like regular visits to the fields and even having a row named after them, all part of the plan to make Agua Dulce not just a business, but a destination. Cathy MacAdam>> They're amazed when they drop down into the hill. Wow, this is Napa or this is Sonoma. I never knew you guys were here. We're very fortunate to be in a very fortunate area. Philip Bruce>> Neither Cathy MacAdam nor her husband Don knew a thing about running a winery or raising grapes, but they had a dream of turning some old farmland into something new. So they ran some tests on the soil and found out it was perfect for wine grapes. That's when Cathy took a few courses on how to launch into the wine business and the rest, as they say, is history. Cathy MacAdam>> We're pioneers, but we're not first pioneers. We've just sort of rejuvenated that aspect of it. But you can see in the photos that the process was the same. You pick them, you dump them, you crush them, you ferment them, you age them, and you bottle them. It was the same process. Instead of wooden buckets, we're now using Tupperware buckets (laughter). Philip Bruce>> It's one thing to dream about owning a winery. It's quite another to make one work. So far, this one is. But the MacAdams and their partner, Ray Watt, know they're only as good as what goes into the bottle. Don MacAdam>> Well, the proof is in the pudding. When you taste the wines, you'll make up your mind. We don't sell wholesale. We invite everybody that sees us to taste the wines and make up their own minds. Philip Bruce>> It may look like Napa, but does it taste like Napa? You can forgive Jim Yerkes if he's not the most objective source on that, but the verdict seems to be, so far, so good, and the winemaker says he's just getting started. You've got this background in France and you know the wine business in California. How does this area compare with France and with Napa and Sonoma? Jim Yerkes>> It doesn't compare with France. Our climate here is almost perfect. France has a less than perfect climate. You know, they have good years and bad years. Every year is pretty much a good year in California. How does this compare with the North Coast? It's different. We're drier. We don't have the humidity, so we don't have a lot of the mildew and fungus problems they have. Temperature-wise, we're very comparable. We have, on average, less hundred-degree days than, say, the Napa Valley. Sometimes it stays warmer a little bit longer, so we get good cooling, but we get winds in the afternoon here that cool the grapes off, so we get that evening cooling so that the grapes can maintain their acids. Philip Bruce>> It could be the beginning of something special for this valley and it's easy enough to imagine how wine grapes might once again cover the sprawling, largely empty terrain here. Cathy MacAdam>> People often say that it's going to turn into a mini Napa or something. Agua Dulce is a kind of unique area within Los Angeles County. You can't subdivide below two and a half acres, so it pretty much already has a dictated rural equestrian feel to it. It might, but it's very well defined as it is. We just happen to have one of the last large chunks of undeveloped property in the area. Philip Bruce>> For now, at least, Agua Dulce has the territory all to itself. Some of the grape now in the barrel will be premium wine in a year or so, but it's already pretty good, as we found out. Jim Yerkes>> This is our 2002 crop, so it's still a little bit young. It will be in the barrel for probably another year. It's aging nicely, gracefully. Cheers. [Film Clip] Philip Bruce>> Very good. So here's to the future. May it be just as delicious a year from now as it is today. Jim Yerkes>> This is what it's all about. Kcet.org is the place to look for the very latest on Life and Times. You'll find previews of upcoming stories, transcripts and audio of past episodes and links to some of our most interesting features. Just go to kcet.org and click on "Life and Times". Val>> Call it Philippe's, or Philippe's or Philippe's. Whatever you call it, it's a landmark restaurant in Los Angeles famous for its sawdust floors and French Dip sandwiches. Vicki Curry takes us to Philippe's as they're celebrating its ninety-fifth anniversary. Vicki Curry>> In a town as young as Los Angeles, anything over a few decades old is celebrated, even a sandwich. But this isn't just any sandwich. It's the famous French Dip sandwich you can only get at Philippe's. So, Richard, most people around town call this Philippe's, but that's not exactly the right name or the right pronunciation, is it? Richard Binder>> Well, the real pronunciation is Philippe if you were French, but it's developed in Los Angeles where we call it Philippe's even though my dad, who worked here forty years, called it Philippe's. We don't really care what you call it just as long as you keep coming. Vicki Curry>> Getting people to come to Philippe's doesn't seem to be a problem. From open to close, sixteen hours a day, there's always a crowd lined up at the counter. >> I've never been in here when it wasn't totally packed. Every time, every time. >> Great service, great people, lots of fun. Vicki Curry>> It's the atmosphere as much as the food that seems to attract customers and it's a formula that's served Philippe's well for ninety-five years. Richard Binder>> It was opened by Philippe Mathieu, Frenchman, in 1908, moved a couple of times around the city early on, finally settled at Aliso Street where the 101 Freeway is right now. Vicki Curry>> It began as a deli where customers could make their own sandwiches, but in 1918 Philippe invented the French Dip sandwich. The exact details of its creation are lost to history, but a few different stories have been passed down through the years. Richard Binder>> It was heard from one of the descendants of Philippe that a fireman had a piece of stale bread and he told them to put this in the au jus drippings and that was how the French Dip started. Vicki Curry>> Another had Philippe accidentally dropping a roll into a pan of the roasting juices. The customer, a policeman, said he'd take it anyway. He came back the next day with several friends and asked for more dipped sandwiches. Richard Binder>> He was either a policeman or a fireman. We don't know and it's way too long ago (laughter). Vicki Curry>> After nine years of serving up French Dip, Philippe Mathieu decided to sell the business. Richard Binder>> My grandfather and his two brothers bought it in 1927. They had horse stables across the street. Philippe wanted to go back to France, so they purchased it. We don't know how much, but we think about five thousand dollars. Vicki Curry>> Philippe's is still run today by the family of those three brothers, Harry, David and Frank Martin. Richard Binder>> Frank was the last one to survive. He had two daughters. My mom, Beverly, and her sister, Helen. So it went to those two descendants. My dad joined the business in 1950. He was actually a brewer. His name was Bill Binder. He was here until 1985. He's eighty-eight. He still comes in every morning for breakfast and kind of sees how we're doing. Vicki Curry>> And I assume you're planning on keeping it in the family for many years to come? Richard Binder>> Oh, sure, yeah. We have the next generation now coming in. My brother has one of his sons in here. Vicki Curry>> But the family business almost went by the wayside when the Hollywood Freeway came through Philippe's old location on Aliso Street. Richard Binder>> My family did not own the building or the land, so all they had was the business. Actually, they were going to close it down at that time, but a friend of my grandfather's, George Fosdeck, an architect engineer here in the city, found this piece of property for him. Vicki Curry>> Philippe, the Original, moved to its present location in 1951 at the intersection of Main, Alameda and Ord Streets. Everything is pretty much the same today as it was then, especially the famous French Dip sandwiches. Richard Binder>> It's on a lightly toasted French bread dipped in the au jus gravy, which is a combination of the beef, the lamb and the pork drippings. Then that's reduced down with a hearty stock and then it's further reduced down for another twenty-four hours until it's such a concentration of flavors that's really the secret to the sandwich. Vicki Curry>> Another unique feature at Philippe's is the service. Everything is prepared at a long counter by one of ten servers they call "carvers". Richard Binder>> They call them carvers because the lamb is actually still carved off the bone. In the old days, everything used to be carved by knife, but now of course, we slice it up. We have ten carvers. They all have the same thing in front of them. Vicki Curry>> So they take the order and make the sandwich right there? Richard Binder>> They get to interact with the customers too and I think a lot of the people like that. [Film Clip] Vicki Curry>> Many of the employees at Philippe's have worked there for decades, like Juanita Gonzalez who started in 1968. Juanita Gonzalez>> When I started working here, I don't speak not even one word in English. I learned from the customers. Vicki Curry>> And the customers are what Juanita loves most about the job. Juanita Gonzalez>> I have a customer who's come here for thirty-two years. Now I know what he wants. He just comes in through the door, I look at him, he goes like this, and I know what it is (laughter). He didn't change. They make a lot of friends in here. You know, they sit down anyplace they want. It's fun. It's something different, right? Yeah, something different. >> It's the peoples' eatery here. You can just come by, the prices are great, you can just be yourself and eat with a sawdust floor and maybe watch a little TV. They'll have a basketball game on or something. So it just feels comfortable. It's just like stopping over at somebody's house. >> Well, I went to USC and, you know, this is a Los Angeles landmark. My grandparents took me here when I was a kid and now I take my friends when they come into town. >> I've been coming here off and on for about sixty years. I was very young when I started with my dad here and the other location which was a couple of blocks down the street. It's as great as it always was. The only thing that's changed is the prices and it's still a good bargain. We just enjoy coming down. It's a lot of fun. Vicki Curry>> It's that kind of customer that's made Philippe, the Original, a success for nearly a century. Richard Binder>> It's something that works. It's a formula that works. It's a very, very simple formula. We don't have a lot of things here. We don't offer a lot. The menu is very, very limited. We only buy the best quality and we try to sell it for a fair price, and we treat everybody real fairly here. Normally the place is passed down through generations by their fathers bringing their kids. You know, grandparents bringing their grandkids in. We really don't do any advertising, so it's all word of mouth. Vicki Curry>> Well, ninety-five years is a lot of word of mouth (laughter). Richard Binder>> I guess it is. Life and Times 4401 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, California 90027 You can also call our viewer comment line (323) 953-5555) or contact us the fast way by e-mail at kcet.org. Val>> This restaurant in Santa Monica has no oven, no stove, not even a toaster. It's run by a chef who believes in cooking only with raw food, so how do you make a cheeseburger with no grill? I went there to find out. Okay, Juliano, what are you going to make for us here? Juliano>> Today we're going to make a cheeseburger and French fries. It's raw and organic and vegan. It's the most amazing cheeseburger you'll ever have. There will be no chance of getting any type of, you know, food sickness or airborne diseases or any of that because our burgers are made out of mushrooms, almonds, walnuts and sunflower seeds. Our mayo is made out of macadamia nuts. Our mustard out of mustard seed and fig. Our catsup is fresh heirloom tomato catsup. So this is like the most perfect cheeseburger. After you eat it, you will want to go to yoga and you will get skinnier. This is really what happens when you eat truly natural, from nature to nurture the body, food. Val>> So you don't cook this hamburger at all? What do you do with it? Juliano>> Well, we do have -- here you go, I'll show you this. We do have a food dryer. It just dries food. This is not warm at all. Val>> A food dryer? It's dehydrated. Juliano>> Yes, it just dries. It like replicates the sun. It just does what the sun does. Like this bread, we could have made it in the dehydrator, but actually we bake our bread on a rock in Palm Springs for ten hours. Val>> No way. Juliano>> And we sprout it for three days. Yes, we do. Val>> This was on a rock in Palm Springs? Juliano>> A rock in Palm Springs. We just take seeds and spices and you mush them together and then we use a machine, but you can use a mortar and pestle. You press it onto a rock and you come back in ten hours. Val>> Now I have a question, though. Juliano>> Yes. Val>> Why can't you use a rock in Santa Monica? Juliano>> Well, because, you know, there's not enough sun. It's like Palm Springs is really hot and really dry. It's like the desert. On a really sunny day, though, you totally could, but it's not every day sunny. I mean, you've got to just kind of work with the weather. So we're just going to build the cheeseburger here. [Film Clip] Juliano>> When you eat it, you will actually never need a doctor or a dentist. As every living creature, plant, animal and insect, has never been to a doctor and a dentist, so is that right of yours if you eat raw food. You must follow the law of nature for raw food. Val>> How long have you been eating raw food? Juliano>> Sixteen years. I will never eat a bite of cooked food again. It is full of metal. It is poisonous. That food is designed to send you to the hospital and that is it. That is all that food is designed to do is to send you to a hospital to create industry. The only way I can get like fifty grand or a million bucks out of you is to sell you a house, a car and then after that, medical procedures. That's all that's left. Val>> (Laughter) That's quite a conspiracy theory you've got there. Juliano>> It's not a theory. It's a hundred percent of the population winds up in the hospital and they go to the doctor a lot. They go to the dentist a lot. And they wind up sick and fat and bad teeth. No plant, animal or insect has ever been to a doctor or a dentist one time ever. Has ever brushed its teeth or gotten a checkup and, when they die, they die in perfect shape with perfect teeth. So there you go, there's the deal. I mean, they have no doctors. They're fine. We have millions of doctors. We're sick. Val>> Now what is the difference between raw and health foods? Juliano>> Well, our food is raw, but it does not taste healthy. I like my food to taste like junk food. I mean, you know, I'd rather get cancer than to be stuck eating broccoli for the rest of my life, okay? No, this food tastes like junk food. It's like the best, most decadent flavors and tastes that nature can offer. Health food is just like this thing created, again, by the medical industry, by the conspirators, to make you think, oh, brown rice forever? Ugh. We don't use rice. We're not into it. We're not into carrots. We're not into any of that -- Val>> -- no carbohydrates? Juliano>> No. We're not into carrots, not into starchy foods, carrots, bananas, corn, none of that stuff, potatoes, seedless fruits, all trippy, weird stuff, we don't use it. We use really good high-quality power food that, when you eat it, you will never need a doctor and a dentist. You will never need that whole aisle in the grocery store that's got aspirin, Tums, Rolaids, you know. None of that stuff. A little of this food, some flossing and you're set. You know, you're just like, two hundred years later, we'll like hang out and we'll have like some tea and do some yoga. You can make anything. If you want to come over here and check something out, look at this. These are mango noodles. Look at that. Mango noodles. Just mango on a mandolin and, boom, you have noodles. We can make a pasta out of that. Val>> What is this? It looks like chocolate. Juliano>> Oh, this is chocolate mousse and we use real cacao beans. You mix it with macadamia nut and we make chocolate. This is white seaweed crème. This is like the sweetest, best pudding you'll ever have and we can make this out of white seaweed actually. Val>> What is that? Juliano>> Candied Fuji apples. We make them ourselves. We slice Fugi apples thin, soak them in orange juice and then dehydrate them in the sun. It's fig and honey sauce. I mean, it's really amazing. We make all kinds of cheeses and creams out of everything you could imagine. There's no nut or seed we don't use except for peanuts. Val>> All right, how's our hamburger doing? Juliano>> Our hamburger is pretty much done. We'll put a little parsley on there. Val>> We don't have to worry about it having gotten cold while we were talking, right? Juliano>> Definitely not. All right, and boom. Look at that. The only cheeseburger in the world that is good for the rain forest. This is an amazing thing that we're fighting right back with. Val>> All right. The final taste test, in this case, both. Juliano>> I'll hold it for you. Val>> All right. I'm going to make a mess. Juliano>> That's okay. That's totally cool. Just bite hard. It's okay. Good job (laughter). You did a fine job there, little girl (laughter). Val>> That's right. You don't believe in napkins, you don't believe in napkins here. Juliano>> No, we have napkins, we have napkins. Val>> Oh, you do? Juliano>> Yeah, we do. Here you go. Val>> That is really good. Juliano>> That is new food. It tastes like nothing else. Sure, we call it a cheeseburger, but it doesn't really taste like a cheeseburger. You want the same old thing again and again? New, amazing, crazy food. Val>> Wishing you all a happy Fourth of July. I'm Val Zavala. For everyone at Life and Times, thanks for watching. We'll see you next time. Life and Times was made possible through the generous support of the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of medicine, health, science and education. And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg. Toni Guinyard>> Next time on Life and Times -- With the steady climb in home prices, the question isn't how much can you pay, but how much will you give up? >> We've been saving for a few years and we thought we were at a point where we could find a house that we liked in the neighborhood we liked and the price range, and there's no way we can put all three together. Toni Guinyard>> That's next time on Life and Times. Sponsored in part by:  | |
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