Season 1 Broadcast Special: Los Angeles’ booming food scene is being shaped by a new generation of chefs. Visit almost any kitchen in Los Angeles and it is likely you will find a migrant chef combining ethnic cuisines with new flavors and techniques. And often within the food, is a story of their migration. “The politics of migration, the labor economy, all that drama plays out in the restaurants that we go to,” says journalist and author Rubén Martínez This is seen even at Los Angeles’ premiere restaurants like Providence (recently named the top restaurant in Los Angeles), where Chef Michael Cimarusti has created one of the most elegant and sought after dining experiences in Los Angeles. Behind his kitchen doors you’ll meet Guatemalan Kitchen Manager Jorge Dugal whose account of struggle and survival is not unlike his peers who left everything behind for a chance to find a better life in the United States. Eleven years ago, he managed to escape from the horrific gang violence and pressure that continues to plague his native Guatemala. Despite all this, he has been able to cling to the better memories he had in Central America and recreate his grandmother’s chirmol sauce from memory, which is now the backbone and inspiration for a spot prawn and chirmol dish on Cimarusti’s prestigious menu. Jorge Dugal is not alone. In “The Migrant Kitchen” we meet several such chefs whose unique stories of struggle and survival are intricately intertwined with the food they create and serve. Shortly after migrating to the United States, Yong Jun and his mother opened Jun Won, one of Koreatown’s most famed restaurants, frequented on any given night primarily by Korean immigrants along with a handful of food savvy Angelenos. When faced with scrupulous landlords and an unstable lease agreement, however, they struggle to keep their business afloat after twenty-two years. Similarly, street vendor Enrique Peralta, who found his place in Los Angeles’