- Hello Marcus!

I don't know if you remember me.

We took a picture together at
the Birch Coffee in the Bronx.

- Oh great.

Thank you!

- I'm not stalking you.

I live here in Austin.

- [Marcus] (laughs) Good!

- Um my question
to you is that um,

are there any cuisines
that you don't know much

about yet that you
are curious about?

That you still want to explore?

- Abssolutely, so I went
to Japan as a 19 year old,

and I go back very often.

There's like 15 different
specific cuisines in Japan.

I adore them.

I don't know a lot about them.

It's really lost in translation.

For every trip I feel I
go, I understand less.

Right?

So it's really a magic chamber,

but for a chef,
it's amazing cause

you learn and learn and learn.

I'm just in the beginning
of understanding

and learning fully
Ethiopian food.

My wife is teaching me that.

It's not just how you chop.

Since food is connected
to a spiritual compass,

or can food can be tribal,

well guess what?

For an adopted kid, you
always search for that.

- How much time did you spend in

Ethiopia before
you were adopted?

- Only two years.

- So you have really
no real memories.

Did you not have a Japanese
restaurant in New York?

Ringo was the
restaurant that you,

while you were a
- Mm-hmm, yeah.

Chef at Ringo?
- Yeah, yeah.

But that was presumably more of

an Americanized version
of Japanese food?

- Yeah, even it was an
experience that absolutely.

It was really a dilute between
American and Japanese food

that I still think
is fascinating.

Yes ma'am?

- Um, hi.

My question is
about your recipe.

I think you figured
out the recipe

of the American melting pot.

And how you take all
the different cultures,

and you beautifully create
the American recipe.

So was that a journey that
you learned over time?

Or was it something
that you were born with?

- You know, I think
it's a blend of the two.

Obviously, being adopted,
having my parents are white,

my cousins are Korean, my other
cousins are French Canadian.

- You are the melting pot.

- My auntie's Jewish,

so just get to the dinner table,

there's a lot of
different approaches.

But, so that's
what's given to me,

but then the journey of
traveling through Americas,

and looking at that I
felt that the food scene,

which from a back of a
house view, is very diverse,

but the representatives
of it was not diverse.

There wasn't enough women,

and that for me is like
what are you talkin about?

All the great people have
taught me have been women.

There wasn't enough voices from

all types of people
of color, right?

Whether you were Vietnamese,

whether you were
Indian-American,

whether you were
African-American.

How come it's that
Johnathon knows noodles

and Indian food and soul food

and that's clearly not the case.

So I felt well, I
was always waiting,

well maybe there are gonna
be more voices of that,

but through internet
at least, it started,

and you got more voices,

so you have Chang you're
talking about one thing,

then you have other young chefs

connected about something else,

so we are getting to much,
much more diverse dialog,

and it is a much
better reflection

of the Americana
we live in today.

- [Brunette Audience
Member] Thank you.

- Steve, we have
time for one more?

They're telling you no.

Okay well I know you have...

- He's coming up.

- This'll be really quick.

I just watched Luke
Cage on Netflix.

Is it you being part
of the community

that ended up with
your restaurant

as really the only food
thing in the entire series?

Cause they go in restaurants,
but they never eat.

- Yeah, well they filmed
that for a long time,

and everyone really in Harlem,

people called my
restaurant the office

because everybody just
congregates there,

and that's ground zero,

and then they go out
from different things,

and you know it's a privilege
to have the place there,

but half a block away from me,

is a woman that's only been
in business for 55 years.

Her name is Mrs. Sylvia Woods.

Down the street from me is
another small, little restaurant

that's been open for
77 years, Lenox Lounge.

And I wouldn't be on that corner

if I wouldn't be tucked
in between those two guys.

- But it is the case that you
can't go to Harlem these days,

and have any cred without
going to Red Rooster.

Alright please give
Marcus Samuelsson...

- Thank you so
much for having me.

- Thank you all very much.

We'll see you again.