Midmorning With Aundrea - March 11, 2020 (Part 2)

(Part 2 of 2) We take a visit to L.A.'s Thai Town!

You may know jet tila from his appearances on "iron chef, "chopped" a "cutthroa kitchen."

But in los angeles, he's famous for a different reason -- his family opened what's thought to be the first thai grocery store in the u-s.

Michelle miller visited "thai town with tila - to discuss how he's keeping his family's legacy alive.

Script: "this is also a goo landmark.

Right..., like, you know you're in the heart of thai town."

1.

You can't vist l- as thai town... without hitting a few of chef jet tila's favorite haunts "so we're gonn eat at ruen pair"/ "this is the firs stop of the thai town tour, all the time, i got you."

2.

Where his heritage is showcased through culture and cuisine... 15:56:35 // what i'll do is i'll basically, like, curate the perfect bite.

So a little cashew chicken, a little piece of cashew, a little rice, it gets all pushed into the-- to the spoon, then you clean off the bite to make sure you're eatin'.

And this is how you take a bite.

And that's how a thai person should eat.

Michelle miller: 15:57:01 how'd i do?

Jet tila: 15:57:01 very efficient.

3.

Tila put thai town on the map when he brought a guy most people recognized as "knowing" his w around the international food scene& jet tila: 15:59:39 // i told these businesses in-- in s-- '06, i was like, "i' bringin' this guy named anthony bourdain in// and you might get busy."

// we ble these places out.

4.

That interview with the late anthony bourdain added to tila's already growing reputation.

Of tv shows chopped or beat bobby flay 5.

Which ignited on cable tv.

Iron chef 6.

But to understand tila you have to go back to his chinese and thai immigrant roots.

"//your family la the groundwork for thai food in america.

It's kind of a big responsibility.

// in 1966, my mom and my father immigrated to los angeles separately.

They met a few years later, because it was just-- it was a little outpost.

It was-- all the thai people that were coming and going were based in east hollywood, right here in silver lake."

7.

They opened a grocery store in 1972 that fed a growing immigrant community.

Nats walk and talk in front of the store: jet tila: 14:18:54 reminds me of the struggle that my parents endured// it's not a sad story.

But it's time to put it to bed so my mom can kind of enjoy the rest of her life.

8.

His family closed down that location 3 months ago.

But it remains the treasured example of success that built a company and 7 restaurants.

11:21:53 i-- i have a lot of memories of the store.

But-- they were-- they're all fun memories until, you know, i got into my teenage years.

And i was just angry at that point, 'cause i had no social life// and then once i had-- once i had a drivers license, i-- du-- dude, i drove away as fast as i could for a few years.

// dropped outta school.

Just, you know what i mean, was workin' odd jobs, went back to my family you know and beg them to work and took over as manager of the grocery store.

And while there i had a group of you know non- thais you know that we're always wanting to like just come back from thailand they wanted to cook dish is always asking how do i make pad thai how do i make curry how do i make this and they were like why don't you just do a cooking class and i was like.

Ding ding ding?

9.

It didnt take long for those cooking classes to turn into front page news&in the los angeles times.

11:27:40 and that was it.

From that moment, the next few days, i got hundreds and hundreds of phone calls.

// and-- that made me realize that there is-- a need for someone to communicate, not just write recipes.

But i did these fun little interactive cooking classes, which basically i still do on food network today.

So-- so that was it.

That was the moment that i was like, "i can do thi for the rest of my life."

10.

He would eventually open his own restaurant in las vegas..

And land a guest spot on iron chef america.

And i was asked to battle masaharu morimoto toughest iron chef// i was scared to death walked in the kitchen stadium met morimoto you know it was one of those battles we are like no one knew me so they expect me just to get pummeled it would make really good tv get some ratings.

11.

It would bring him full circle ... and give him a platform to share his roots nats - food network lesson ááácook in his kitchenáááá //so is it possible to-- cook pad thai, like, non- sweetened pad thai-- yeah// if you control the flavors, you could make it any way you want.

12.

These days, it's all about control..

But i figured we'd do a chinese dish, because that's my real roots, you know what i mean?

Coming from china.

We're gonna do-- a dish called dan dan noodles.// 13.

Control on the job ... and in his own kitchen..

I gotta think about makin' noodles for dinner, you know what i'm sayin'--// you're not gonna cook again?

I need to be efficient here.

I need to be efficient here.

All right-- 14.

And theres something else about chef tila .... oh my god, this is so good.

It's good, right?

And it's fast.

15.

Something in his dna that just won't stop him from sharing what he's learned along the way.

Hi, i'm michelle i'm alvin 16.

&something that's helped to revitalize this old neighborhood of his... // so do you see the faces changing-- you know what i mean?

Yeah, yeah.

The-- basically a younger generation's taken over the older generation.

So.

And also i see a lot-- a lotta non- thais.// 17.

It's a one-of-a- kind food experience where you learn about thai culture what's good?

One of our best sellers actually is the pang jee ...which is, like, a-- a-- i wanna say a macaroon.

But i hate saying that.

Even though it's a coconut cookie."

Gooey.

A little bit-- yeah, gooey on the inside.

A little bit of crisp on the outside.

18.

It doesn't get much sweeter than this michelle miller: 16:22:26 if you like bana and conut, this is it.

Alvin: 16:22:51 well, that's why you gotta come here.

Michelle miller: 16:24:33 oh, my gosh, can i get a scoop of that green tea ice cream?

Saying good-bye.

Steve hartman pays tribute to a man and his special friendship with a little girl who just wanted a hug.

That's next.

One of steve hartman's favorite stories recently took a bittersweet turn, when dan peterson died at 86.

This "on the road is a tribute-- to a man who overcame his personal grief thanks to a little girl who gave him a reason to smile again.

Dan peterson was late for his own memorial service - 4 years late.

According to his brother, jesse, dan was ready to die back in 2016.

Nat jesse at pulpit "and some littl girl, who was 4 years old, said, 'hi, old person.'" that little giver- of-life was norah wood.

Norah met dan during his darkest days.

As we first reported in november of 20- 16.

Dan's wife had just died - he was severely depressed - and out grocery shopping for himself here in augusta, georgia - when norah spotted him.

As you can see on the security footage -- she just randomly reached out to this total stranger.

And then had the audacity to demand a hug.

Bite dan "i said, ' hug?!'

I said, 'absolutely!'" norah got her hug and then asked her mom, tara, to take a picture of her with her new friend.

Bite tara "and hi little lip quivered and he was teared up and it was just sweet."

Bite dan "and i said 'you don't know.

This is the first time for quite a while that i've been this happy."

After we first told this story, we thought for sure the love would fade - but norah and dan saw each other at least once a week.

He was there for her kindergarten graduation and she was there to stroll his garden.

And of course there were countless hugs along the way.

Bite tara "it wa the first thing she did when we walked in.

It was the last thing she did when we left."

This was norah's final visit, with her sister marigold, the day before dan died.

Nat service/music no story i've ever told has resonated as deeply as this one.

Over the years, dan got thousands of letters from around the world and now the condolences are pouring in for norah.

And you can't help but wonder why - with so much else going on in the world.

Bite tara "i think i was just humanity at it's best - to love and to be loved."

A prescription for happiness - that will get you through anything.

Steve hartman, on the road, in augusta, georgia.

We'll be right that and