Los Angeles: Part 1

They let in 20 million people. That brings in good people, bad people, and really bad people. But how do you explain ICE killing Americans? I don't know if we want to go there. They have gone into people's church. Actually, my dad's church. Can you really? A basic lifestyle is just not affordable anymore.

Defund the police. Open all the borders. He's an absolute liar. I got to stop you right there. Remember the day when most people were from L.A.? Agents, managers, actors. L.A. is definitely an industry town. You can create your own business. This is the place to be. Very ambitious, very unique, very different from where I actually come from. The biggest misconception is that it's a sun-drenched paradise. What is the saying? It's all fruits and nuts or whatever. A lot of people come out here thinking that everyone's going to be fake.

That everybody is rich and famous. But I found that people are quite... And it's a great place to live. The inspiration for tonight's menu is Los Angeles itself. We're pulling inspiration from historical Los Angeles dishes, as well as the day-to-day food experiences that we have here in Los Angeles. We have a ton of cultures coming together, and that's what kind of makes up the cuisine, and that's what makes it so special to eat in LA. Moving to Los Angeles, one of the most exciting parts for me was being able to get exceptional produce.

We get such a diversity. The varietal is more than I've ever seen. The farmer's markets are my... Playground. David Rotman, Los Angeles, California. Nobody's from Los Angeles. Yeah, I know. It's hard to believe. There's a lot of ways it's changed. Today, it's become a little bit more divided. People that are continually voting for one party and getting the same results that are actually hurting the city. I was raised Catholic. Judeo-Christian values are instilled in me. I am registered Republican. Common sense, logic, meritocracy, those kind of things.

My name is Mallory Eisenstein. I'm originally from St. Louis, Missouri. I'm a jewelry designer. I made this and this. I've lived in Los Angeles since OJ tried to run from the police. The city's changed. It's gotten a lot more crowded. It feels hotter, too, actually. My political affiliation is Democrat.

Dominic Rastam, originally from London. I moved to LA 20 years ago, exactly. When I got here, you go out on a Friday night in Hollywood, and it felt chaotic, fun, and now the fewer times I go out in Hollywood, it just feels a little bit like a ghost town. I was a Democrat. I'm now an Independent. I have no expectations. I'm at a point in my life where I say yes to everything, so I'm looking for a good meal and some good conversation.

My name is Taylor Marie Contarino, and I'm from Southern New Jersey. I moved out to LA about four and a half years ago to pursue my education at USC. I'm definitely a full-on Gen Z. I would say I'm super hardworking, very ambitious, and my dream is to work for myself. I just had a conversation with my grandma when I was on the way here, because she was like, Taylor, when are you going to get a real job? I feel like I do have a real job.

I think it's interesting also to be someone who considers themselves to be Catholic and also still be a liberal. My name is Solomon, and I'm from Washington, D.C. I'm a TikTok producer. I help brands go live on TikTok to help sell their products. I'm a millennial. I'm 32, but I get mistaken for a Gen Z because I look pretty young. My political affiliation is that I am independent, but I definitely lean more Democratic. I do have some conservative views. My parents are pastors, so I think that's just ingrained in me.

I think a lot of people are going to have their opinions, but I don't think anyone's too much of a snowflake to be offended. The first course today will be a summer corn and tomato galette. The vegetables were sourced from my local farmer's market. We'll have a nice herbed goat's cheese underneath, some local squash blossoms, and a beautiful herb oil to finish it all off. This dish is inspired by late summer California produce and the farmer's market culture in L.A. Gorgeous.

Gorgeous. Wow. I'm excited. Thank you. I look so delighted. Who's first? Ladies first. Oh, thank you. What do you guys think of the whole Spencer Pratt of it all? I like Spencer Pratt. Really? Well, I worked with him. He is a really nice guy. He is a good family man. He believes in God. I think a lot of the time in the media, if you don't meet the person, you have, like, one perception of them, but actually, they are just human beings like all of us, you know, flawed.

But what did you think made him qualified to run one of the biggest cities in the world? I mean, what do you think qualifies someone to run a city? I think they would have needed to have a job, like...

Managing people. I like that he was talking about stuff that people in Los Angeles care about. Yeah, because he experienced it. He lost his house. The argument against him was that he hasn't run government before, but all through history we've had people. That's what civil service is. He spoke about things that matter, but he also spoke from the heart. His house burned down, his mom's house burned down, and he saw the incompetence.

He's got the receipts of the incompetence, and that fueled him to run for the city he loves to change things. And for some reason, the machine against him, you know, demonized him in a lot of different ways. The question you did bring up, which I think is fair, would he have been a good mayor? And that's what people should focus on, I think. Well, they did, and he lost.

Well, so we're bringing up another topic. So, I think the election actually proved just how flawed elections are. In the city, he was ahead by 8%, ended up losing by 3% after the polls closed. Nithya Raman, she got three and a half times more votes.

After the polls closed, and she couldn't get 20 likes on Twitter. So, something's wrong. Now, this is just me specifically. You think they don't count the votes right, or what do you think? They may or may not count the votes right. Why does it take so long? We can go on and on. I know I'm only minutes away from being called an election denier. I just want to have the... No, no offense to you. I'm just saying, these are touchy subjects.

I just want to have the conversation. When David started questioning the election integrity, I thought that was a little crazy. I'm not categorically saying 100% there was fraud, but why can't I have the question? And the rebuttal was, well, Spencer Pratt is bad and doesn't have experience. Just a little more substance would have been good, and we could have had an honest debate. I think people perceived him as spoiled, rich, and entitled, so they thought he was unrelatable. Instead of hearing what he was actually saying, a lot of people are afraid to have a different opinion than their neighbors or their family members.

But did it bother you at all that, like, he was filming a reality show as he was running, and, like, it was going to be, you know, for his benefit only? I think because he lives a different lifestyle, for him, he was just seeing it, how can I put food on the table for my family and also help out others? But does that qualify him to be the mayor? I don't think it disqualifies him. I think what qualifies you is if enough people vote for you.

I totally see where you're coming from, but I also think that what I learned in U.S. history is that there are a lot of political figures that we've seen throughout history that have come from different backgrounds, not just politics. I also think that I would prefer somebody that I can relate with more. I'm not saying it has to be a reality TV influencer. I'm not saying it has to be someone who's a content creator or has their own podcast and millions of followers.

But I am saying that I would love to see somebody in office that, when I look at them, I feel represented, and I feel like they hear what's going on. But do you think there was fraud in the election?

I'm not sure if there was fraud in the election, but what I will say is that I do think there's unfortunately corruption in the government. I do consider myself a liberal, but do I believe that one city should be ran by one party? No, I do think that there should be a balance. I think there should be representation of multiple perspectives in any government organization. I think Mallory was against Spencer Pratt because she was against Trump, and I think when she sees Spencer Pratt, she sees Trump.

What do you guys think of Gavin Newsom? Love him. Yeah, not a fan. Shocker. Didn't see that coming. Well, his track record, if he was an employee of whatever he was supposed to run, oh, the state of California, he would have been fired a long time ago. He came in with a $20 billion surplus, and now we're in a huge deficit. The bullet train. China laid 30,000 miles of bullet train since the time we got ours voted in. We don't have a single mile laid.

He continues to say things, and then they're not true. He said no money was going to illegals for medical, and now we know it's true. Why'd you lie to us? Wait, if you're saying he's a liar... He's an absolute liar. Well, so is the president we have now, so I think Gavin Newsom's perfect. Okay, great.

From your opinion, what do you think people like about Gavin Newsom? That he's handsome? He's a good orator, and he's handsome. And I think that is, politics is superficial, right? I think that is, that's a big part of it. If you cast a president on a TV show, you'd be casting Gavin Newsom.

Which is sad. He actually looks like, is it Tony Goldwyn on that? Like, that is Gavin Newsom. Which is kind of sad, because you said it. It's superficial, right? Yes. Back to what we were kind of saying earlier, I think that's the problem. We're too stuck on what something looks like versus what it actually is. It's opted. Yeah, the optics of it, because America is so diverse. I think he represents a certain sector of it, but I don't think he may be looking out for, like, universally how we can come to a conclusion that everyone finds beneficial.

I mean, the thing I worry about him is that he's pandering to everyone who hates Trump, and that's not going to be enough. You're absolutely right that he's doing that, by the way. Yeah, you can't. It needs more than that. We need to bring everyone together. I agree. It can't just be about that. You are so right about that. Our next course is an L.A. fruit cart-inspired melon carpaccio. We have fresh market melons, jicama, and it's dressed with a chamoy and tajin dressing.

When I first moved to Los Angeles, one of the things that I noticed are these men and women selling fresh fruit by the side of the road. It's the most refreshing thing to eat on a hot... Summer day in L.A. Wow. That is so cool. I love tahini. And very colorful. This is cool. This is so cool. Very pretty. Thank you. Do you guys like tahini? I love tahini. Put it on your mescalitas. I've never had a dish like this. My taste buds are jumping.

So, what do y'all believe is the primary reason for homelessness in L.A.? A nice, simple question. Very nuanced. Mental health, affordability, lack of community, but I think because we're looking out for the individual of me, that means someone else has to suffer. I agree with you. Do you think other states or cities are bringing their homeless people to L.A. and, like, dropping them off here? No, it's true. We have the most, I mean, for a lot of reasons, which you can get into, but the weather definitely plays into it, and they drop them off.

I mean, I'd rather be homeless in California than in New York. The way I see the homeless problem is... Is enforcement and treatment. Give them free needles. Let them poop in front of the stores. Doesn't matter. You can steal $999 to feed your habit. You can live in tent encampments. You've got to have accountability that they get them off of drugs, and you can shrink this problem. It's that thing of, like, give a man a fish, you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish, you feed him for life.

Exactly. And I think you give people vocational training, you need mental health, address those rather than just, like, how can we get them off the streets as quickly as possible, because the quickest way to do that is you're putting them back on the streets. I've heard people try to make homelessness illegal.

Then you've got prisons that are overflown, and you're going to... I don't think prisons... ...are ever overflowing. They're always creating new ones. Where are we going to put the people? Rounding up homeless people and putting them in jail is not a solution. I'm not even telling you that I have the right answer for anything, but I do not think that the solution is to villainize homeless people or to make it illegal. Well, the drug problem is just a huge issue, but I do think we'd be better off serving the homeless population that's in that group.

By making strict treatment rules. The only issue is that treatment is, unfortunately, another really profitable industry, because it all goes back to insurance, too, which it kind of just turns into this vicious cycle, and it keeps going because someone out there is making money off of it. I thought you were liberal. You're speaking like a conservative.

I'm liberal. I'm liberal. You know what I think also the issue is? How much does homelessness actually affect you? Like, me personally? It doesn't go through my head. I'm not affected by it. So, while it's visible, it's only visible momentarily, it's not really directly affecting people at a level where their actual will-be policy for change... But it also seems like if you ask people individually, you know, would you like to fix homelessness, that everyone would say yes. But it's hard to, like, where do you start?

Maybe we need more ways that individuals can help. What I'm just saying is, it's not something where, like, Having no electricity, like, you would be like, okay, I have to get a job and change that. So, I'm saying homelessness isn't affecting us deep enough. I want to push back on that a little bit, because there are businesses that have been here for 100 years plus that are closing down because of the feces and the drug use, and it hurts the city continually going down that spiral.

It shouldn't be a crime to be poor. It is really difficult to survive in a city like... We can't just say to everybody, oh, this is illegal now, so you're all going to jail. By the way, that's what Spencer Pratt wanted to do.

Oh. No, he wanted accountability for drug users. No, he was going to put... Drug users in treatment. Homeless people in jail. No, see, those kind of narratives are just not true. I'm telling you, I saw him saying it. It's not a crime to be homeless, but it is a crime to do drugs in the street. It is a crime to defecate in the street. The other question is, and this isn't like the AI boogeyman conversation, but like, jobs are going away.

What are we going to do when those people can't make money? I think, unfortunately, that's why people are going to start pushing more and more for universal income. I think wealth will kind of become obsolete unless you're already at the top. Then, though, you will have everyone able to at least put food in their mouth and have a roof over their head, so pros and cons. So you feel like this entire issue stems from capitalism?

Of course. Personally, what the best solution would be, I'm willing to pay more in taxes to help them out, depending on how you view society, but I think it is a human right for everyone to have at least a chance at surviving.

They've thrown a billion dollars a year at this problem, and it's getting worse, so they're not doing it correctly. You see somebody on the street, they didn't just, like, fall out the sky. There was a whole process, whether it was they lost a job, they didn't have a support network. It's probably starting, like, a lot sooner and figuring out what the larger systematic problem is. My issue is that I think we're being duped a little. I think the drug addiction and the enablement and the non-enforcement has actually increased.

The homeless population, the problem has just gotten out of hand, and not just because these people fell on hard luck. Many did, but not all. What Solomon was saying, we can't, like, turn away anymore. You have to, we're all part of a community.

We got to look out for each other. I don't think we can leave it up to the government. It doesn't seem like they've been able to do anything. I agree with that. Next up is our salad dish, and it's a Hollywood Cobb salad. We have a herb vinaigrette, beautiful tomatoes, as well as some jammy eggs. The Cobb salad was famously created at Hollywood's Brown Derby restaurant. Yeah, no, I'm so excited.

So, here we go. Was anyone's neighborhood affected by DEI or ICE? 100%. So, I was living in south-central L.A. because I went to USC, so 100%, yeah. What are your thoughts? Well, this is one where I feel like we might have a little bit of disagreement, and that's okay. Check, please.

That's okay. I'm not with ICE at all. I do not agree. Unfortunately, I'll fight with my family over it, and I definitely am here for the immigrants, and I stand with the immigrants. I disagree with it, too. Does anyone support ICE?

Surprise. We all looked at you. I mean, to me, you don't have a nation unless you have enforcement of your borders. Yes. Republicans and Democrats alike for 40... I'm going to stop you right there. Please do. Do you think that going into someone's church... And taking them? But they haven't gone into people's church, number one, and number two, that's not where I'm at in my argument. They have gone into people's church. Actually, my dad's church. They went into the church? Into the actual church.

Or waiting outside the church for them to walk out with their child. Or waiting outside a church is different than going into church, because that breaks the law. And then taking a parent away from their child? No. There's no... Okay, look, allegedly, there's horrible things that happen, but let me just say my point. It's not alleged when they have it on videotape. You haven't let me say what possibly the context of that visual. Democrats and Republicans for 40 years have screwed this up.

The last four years were ridiculous. They let in 20 million people unvetted. That brings in good people, bad people, and really bad people. They are going after the bad people. Immigrants that have track records of criminality are bad, and they're not to be here. And ICE would have an easier time of extracting them if you didn't have sanctuary cities. So they have to go into Abuela's apartment. To go get the bad guy, and that looks really bad optically. Especially when nine times out of ten, it's the wrong person.

Well, that sounds very emotional. I feel that you're drinking the Kool-Aid on this one. I think you're talking idealistic instead of realistic. You're telling us what the program was meant to do to find the bad guys, but unfortunately, because humans are flawed, there are going to be flaws within that system, so there are innocent people who are paying the price. This problem has gotten so out of hand, they have to go get the bad people, and the optics of going out and getting...

People is horrible, but I think it has to happen. But how do you explain ICE killing Americans that are, like, peacefully protesting? They're killing Americans? I don't know if we want to go there, but that is largely not what is happening. The enforcement of criminal illegal aliens, and I'm 100% for it. I feel like the way they're going about it is just... Like I said, very, very difficult to extract a criminal. You and I wouldn't want to do it. But the way that ICE is going about what they're doing is insane.

Look, I can't defend every ICE officer. They talk about the two Americans that shot. There are many victims of these crimes. Lake and Riley Act. There is a lot of crime happening with bad people that came across the border. Not everybody's bad. The bad behavior of an immigrant does not excuse the bad behavior. Of ICE. Well, yeah, murder and rape versus, oh, let me see your papers. They're false equivalency, so it's not... No, because you brought up the false equivalency. Okay, what was it?

Saying if a couple American citizens get killed, it's not as bad as an immigrant who murdered someone. Well, I'm just saying the numbers. It makes no sense. They don't relate to each other. No, they do, because you said Americans were getting killed. There's been two, and there are literally hundreds of criminal aliens that are out there for murder, drug, rape. I don't know if those are real statistics. You're saying that there's a lot of bad behavior going on with immigrants. Maybe that's...

I didn't really say that. I just said there are a lot of bad illegal immigrants in the country because of the border policies of the last four years. But I think if we really got out the numbers, illegal immigrants doing crimes and stuff like that, compared to just average Americans that are doing it, is very small. All right, we'll look at those numbers together. The immigration argument, we're all leaning on compassion, and of course, that disarms me because... Of course I'm compassionate, but common sense was overridden by compassion and empathy, which is really suicidal empathy the way I see it.

I mean, I am an immigrant. A legal immigrant. Yes, and it was a long, arduous process. You know, I came here because you see it as a land of opportunity, and I came, and I loved it, and I stayed. You did it the right way, and I do believe that people should do it the right way, and I do believe that... Criminals should be weeded out, but I think more care needs to be taken into figuring out who those people exactly are.

When we're talking about ICE, I feel like killing two Americans is too, too many. The methods ICE has used this summer... We are crazy, barbaric, and unconstitutional. We are better than that. Just like when our grandparents and maybe their parents immigrated here, a lot of those values are values that even the, quote, illegal immigrants have. I can't really get upset with them for wanting to come to a place that offers more opportunity, because we were lucky enough to be born here.

I think pretty much, not everybody, but a great majority of the world would love to live in the States. Yeah, I get that. And I find it a privilege that I was born here. My mom was an immigrant. She had a green card for 30 years, only became a citizen recently. But the point I'm trying to say is, what would be the consequences of everybody using our resources, using our schooling, our medical? Would we run out of money? Would we be able to have a good quality of life?

I get where you're coming from. And it's not because, quote, I'm a racist, or I want to see the abuela kicked out. No. It's what happened in Europe. It's what's happened in Europe, and it's happening again. You have the proof that it's, like, a complete... I really... Do people still really want to come here that bad? Yes. I feel like we are... Rosie O'Donnell just came back. Only for, like, a week to host the Jimmy Kimmel show.

But Harry and Meghan are going back to England. No, no, it's not everyone. But I just feel like, right now... America, to me, seems like the Florida of the world. Do you think that if people do come legally, and they follow the rules, but they don't share...

The values of this society, should they be here? I think ideology is more important than coming legally. Legal changes all the time. So, you know, what's legal this year may be legal next year. But I think the mindset of, you know, the West, like, we all want prosperity, we all want to be able to raise a family safely, and I think that is what matters more so than a piece of paper. I think Europe has a problem because people were able to move there that didn't share those ideals.

And they are now sort of seeing the negatives of that. In terms of whether people can come over here illegally and not assimilate, I'm also against that, because we need to kind of keep our values and have a sovereign nation. I think what the root cause of it is, because what you're saying is we don't want bad people in this country, but no one would look at you and think you were an immigrant. I think that's the problem of who we are saying is the immigrant.

It's not just immigrants. What it looks like is an attack on the Hispanic. They're conflating illegal immigration with legal immigration, and they're completely different. It's not about the person. One of them, people come in illegally, and they know it's wrong, and the other one, people came and wait in line. As Lin-Manuel Miranda put it, in... Hamilton, immigrants. We get the job done. That's true. Yeah, but I don't think the question at all is, do you like immigrants or not? Nothing to do with culture or race or anything.

Oh, you don't want brown people coming in. I mean, no, it has nothing to do with it. I want the border secure, and we can decide who comes into our nation that can benefit us and them. All I'm saying is, in the last four years, it was so high, the numbers, and so many... Not-so-good people came in. We have to get them out. I really believe that.

COVID was the biggest lie ever. But you think everyone should be Christian? I would want everyone to be Christian, so yes. We've got diseases coming back that have been wiped out. If you go full socialist, you can end up in a violent place. Do you think women don't need men anymore?