00:00I don't think you can judge your work if you don't judge it as a customer. I think
00:12you have to be on both ends. It's the only way to be your own judge, to go out and eat.
00:16We are at Verlaine restaurant. My name is Diego Hernandez. I'm the chef. The idea behind all the
00:27projects that I've done, including Verlaine, is to work with what the land gives us. I am Mexican.
00:34I grew up in Mexico in the state of Baja. I didn't grow up eating moles. I grew up eating sashimi.
00:40We're working with all the seafood from the Pacific Ocean and through the farms that are
00:46around from Ojai, Moorpark, and further north.
00:49So the first thing that I want to show you, it's a yellowtail tostada. I'm just going to slice it.
01:03Like, not that thin, just like a little sashimi, if you might want to say it like that.
01:10Building community with the chefs for me is important because we are at the time where
01:17everybody shares everything. Like, I think maybe before, chefs were very jealous with
01:22the recipes. Right now, I can pick a phone and, hey, how do you do this? Everybody is
01:26very open on that.
01:28Also, one of the most popular techniques is grilling. So this is the tostadas that we serve
01:34in Berlin. This sauce that I have here, it's called guacachile. So basically, it's chile
01:40agĂĽero. This is a variety of chile that we use. This is a puree made with avocado and ginger.
01:48And this right here is just hibiscus powder. This is very acidic. So instead of adding lemon
01:55juice to the fish, I'm just going to add this powder. As the project started, I tried to
02:01befriend the farmers. Human relationships are everything, you know. So you have to really
02:06care about what they do and show respect for what they do so they give you the best that
02:12they have. You know, they're not going to give you the best fish or the best vegetable if
02:17you don't have the sensibility to appreciate it.
02:25If you look for the most flavorful food that you can find, you end up finding that it's local,
02:31and it's organic, and it's sustainable. Everything is connected, you know. Flavor works the same
02:38way everywhere.
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