You're listening to Comedy Central. Hey, welcome to Beyond the Scenes. Now I've tried to explain what this podcast is. Do you know what this podcast is? This podcast is after you've had a great night in the club and then you go out on a sidewalk and there's a hot dog on a grill. It's not even a grill, it's someone who's created a grill type device, and its savory, and it's bacon wrapped and it's delicious. It was exactly
what you needed. You only left the house to go to the club, but you left with a bacon wrapped hot dog under questionable sanitary conditions. That's what this podcast is all about. And this week I've got food on my mind because we are talking about pizza and how it relates to the criminal justice system.
The clip, Oh, this is what people in Chicago called pizza. Where can I find a decent slice in the city?
So this stupid bull.
I couldn't find a single place that sold real pizza, just these deep dish dough dumpster This isn't pizza, this isn't even human food. After hours of only deep dish, I finally found a place that served delicious, normal pizza pie the Cook County Jail. This gourmet pizza. It's actually made by and sold to inmates as part of a training program called Recipe for Change.
You know, recidivism rates like seventy percent. It's expensive to incarcerate people. It's not expensive to give him a skill.
The man giving them that skill local restaurateur chef Bruno about it, who volunteers his time and expertise to teach inmates how to cook the best pizza in Chicago.
We are talking about food and a twenty seventeen piece that focused on an organization called the Recipe for Change Program, and it's a program that helps people that are incarcerated in Chicago's Cook County Jail to learn how to make the best pizza in town and take those skills back out into the world to do something amazing with their lives. To help us break this down a little later, is the CEO and creator of that program, the wonderful, wonderful
chef Bruno Abat. But now joining us it's Daily Show Segment director Sebastian Dinatal and Daily Show correspondent run A Chang Aye.
Hey, thanks for having us.
Now, Sebastian, because you are Italian. Should I start with you? I don't want to.
What's the workest way for me to do this? Well, usually it's just not the onscreen talent, but whatever.
Well, yeah, but you're not really the talent in this case. The piece is the talent.
I know that was really relevant to this whole thing, But go ahead.
Yeah, Ronnie. As an ally to our Marinera Americans, I think it is important that we asked them first what they feel comfortable with when we're talking about pizza.
Fine, sure, go ahead, yeah.
Thank you.
And and we're recording this very close to Christopher Columbus Day, so it's very important that we as a people finally have a voice. I'm giving a voice to the voiceless, really, so thank you for having me on and understanding the play of Italians that we face every day.
What is the gist of this piece running for the people who haven't seen it?
Cook County Jail in Chicago had a program where they taught incarcerated people there how to make pizza while they were incarcerated, to kind of make use of at time, so they have the skill sets when they leave. That's the top level cliff notes of what we knew of the story going in coming out of it, I mean, you know, I learned a lot more. I'll let you get to it, but that's the kind of almost the the most basic way I could describe what's going on here.
And I know in the piece, sebastians whose decision was it to have Runnie destroy all of these beautiful Deep Dish pizzas in the spirit of him going to the jail.
And that was my decision and all entirely my decision. I'm a proud New Yorker and a proud lover of food and pizza and Italian. We were tasked to do a piece about Chicago, specifically because we were doing a series we were doing a week of shows in Chicago. When this piece came around, I kind of wanted to start it off as like a Ronnie foodie kind of piece, to make people think it was about like, oh, Chicago Deep Dish Daily Show is going to really rip into
Chicago Deep Dish. But we and like every other New York based.
Show has done that a million times.
So after the first minute, we realize it's not just a piece shooting on Chicago Deep Dish pizza, which it is, but it has another layer to it, which is the rehabilitation aspect that I really wanted to explore. But yeah, we had way more takes and different shots of destroying pizzas that sadly we had to cut for time. But I was I took so much pleasure in Ronnie punting those pizzas throwing.
Them in the river.
Yeah, in the archives. You gotta have to check the archives.
I mean.
I was also mentioned this was Sebastian's actual Fusts piece out in the field. This got out of the office, managed to get on the field with us.
Yeah, how Sebastian, How difficult was it working with the Cook County Jail to speak with people on the inside that were going through this program, Like, what's that process? Because I've never done that on this show.
Yeah, I guess one of the advantages of it being a first piece, which I really wasn't sure what any protocols for any of it was. So I would just you know, ask a segment producer or my boss or a coordinator like, hey, have we done this before?
Can we do this? Can we talk to a jail?
And they were like, we can reach out And normally in the past it's been kind of tougher to get inside of jails and film there. But I think when we pitched this to the Cook County Jail and the Sheriff Tom Dart in his office, we really wanted to focus and make it a point to say, like, this is we really want to highlight this program. It's such an incredible program, and we want to feature these people that are part of the program as well as the owner.
This is something we want to really highlight that we think is really good for criminal justice reform. And that was and they were like, great, Sure, as long as you don't, like, you know, make any jokes about like escaping prison or anything.
That was the That was the kind of yeah, that's the only.
Stipulation that they had up top was like, yeah, just keep it to the program.
And imagine what we the first the very first thing we did was.
Charity.
Yeah, I filming a schedule we escape from prison.
Yeah.
In October twenty seventeen, Ronnie Chang smuggled thin Crust pizza out of Cook County Jail. Oh Ronnick loved pizza, but he also hated Chicago beet dish. He had to find a way to get thin Cruss pizza to the people of Chicago. All it takes to get pizza out is cheese, dough and time. That and a big ass poster. Ronnie Chang he crawled through a river Marinetta and came out smelling like basin.
But you know you got to give you yeah, and never find they afterwards where they were like, yeah, we wish you hadn't done that, But the piece is great, so thanks.
Yeah, but can we talk a bit about that little segment, because I mean it was too seconds in the whole field piece, but it took like hours of filming, and it was me crawling in the fall, cold in Chicago, in in tomato sauce out of a tube in the middle of a field.
And that was house.
Yeah.
I was crawling out this tube covered in tomato sauce into cold field and roll. You know, in the field. It's not like there's you know, there's not like a hot room waiting for you. You're just after you crawl out of a tube in tomato sauce when just outside you're just outside, wet in tomato sauce.
For about an hour.
And Maya Ericson, who works at the show now, she that was one of her first kind of pa jows a production assistant jobs and she went to go buy me some sweatpants from the.
Local All Star. Yeah.
Yeah.
By the way, the sweatpants that she bought me was amazing, Like I still use it till today, four years later. I used it for flying. It's one of the best no brand sweatpants I've ever seen. So shout out Maya forgave me that.
Former Daily Show correspondent Jessica Williams, you know, she told me, Ronnie when we first started in twenty fifteen, she like pulls me to the side. There's a lot I could tell you about this job, but the only thing you need to know is that sometimes you're going to be changing clothes in strange places. You're going to have to learn how to do that. Often, if you're changing clothes
in strange places, it's probably a good piece. So then with everything that's going on with this piece running and you're crawling around, which also, by the way, I didn't know that that was part of the piece, because like when we're picking all of these Chicago pieces, you know, some of us are pitching stuff and we see other Chicago stories that are on the board. There's probably like eight or nine stories that we know we're only going
to get to four or five. And I saw Deep Dish and I was like, hmm, I think I want Deep Dish. Like, now, you know what, let me do the game territory things. And I'm gonna be honest, I'm kind of glad I did the gang territory thing because I remained dry.
Well, hey, you know what again that Sebastian said, the context of these were Daily Show was live in Chicago, and so the mandate was we wanted to do a week of field pieces in Chicago, and so that's the context around this piece, so that that kind of motivated the research and the pitching behind this piece. But to be honest, I mean, this piece was great, even if you know, I mean, I'm glad we got an excuse to find this story because of our focus on Chicago
for that week. But this was a great story regardless. And I don't want to jump the gun here. I'm trying to answer your questions. Guy, I got so much to say about this field piece, but I personally learned a lot doing it, you know, beyond just the comedy elements. And also I'm not from America, so when there was this like Deep Dish Chicago rivalry. I was like, you know what, I don't even care. I'll say whatever you
want me to say. It's not my fight. I was just apparently people, Hey, Deep Dish, Okay, I'll play that game.
Say this about Ronnie, And I don't compliment him almost ever. But of the correspondence, all of you guys are are very down, but Ronnie is always the most down to do literally whatever I ask of him, or any of us ask of him. And you know, if I had asked you or Costa or DESI, can you get into this tube filled the marinara sauce? You would eventually do it.
But why what is the joke?
Ye, there'd be a discussion and I think I'd just crawl through.
And then you add sauce in the computer.
Yeah, in graphics.
And I think what was so good about having Ronnie was he trusts all of us immensely with what our visions are.
And he also just doesn't.
Give a shit about like what people are like observing, because there were a lot of people giving us looks when we were like stomping on pizzas and throwing them against the walls and stuff.
But he was just like so down.
It just it helps so much with the process to have talent that is just on board from the get go, so you can be out in the field and you're not like you're saying Roy having these like conversations like all right, throw the pizza out, and then they're like, wait.
Wait, wait, why am I throwing the what? What is the motivate? Bla blah blah blah.
And Ronnie just has like a complete kind of blind trust, which is helpful to allow us to like get as many crazy kind of moments.
Honey, Ronnie Chanin is the goal standard in the building for how daring are you willing to go? How much? How far are you going to go to do something? And that's always It's the thing I kind of mumble to myself sometimes and it's some of the other correspondents too, but it's, well, should I do this? Yes, you have to do this. Never forget Ronnie Chang eight half a stick of butter on live television and swallowed it.
I mean, hey, I take off the you guys, that's right.
You didn't get that from me.
Hey man, I'm not in Chicago gang territory trying to do comedy. I'm just Roy Pizza as the city people who are used to seeing everything.
Top three wildest things on the air in my opinion in the history of The Daily Show. Top three wildest things Steve Carell eating a spoonful of Crisco, Ronnie Change eating half a stick of butter, and Costa and I when we went out to do the Florida algaepiece in the swamp. Yea and Costa was standing with no mask on next to a full green algapoom for the photo. Yeah, and it's a gorgeous photo. But bro, that is some toxic shit right there three feet from your nostrils.
What are you doing well? Hey? Daily Show? Top three? We made it.
Deftifying comedy acts.
After the break, we're gonna talk with the founder and President of Recipe for Change, Chef Bruno, aboute about why he does what he does, and what he thinks of Sebastian Lander of the Deep Dish. Joining us now is the gentleman that is the founder and the creator and the president and the CEO and the five star General
of Recipe for Change. I'm not sure if those are all his exact titles, but Chef Bruno abate did I pronounced that right, brother Abate, Yes, yes, right, perfect, yes, yes, you see that, Sebastian.
Yeah, one of the few. Want to say my last name. Everybody said I bought the baby. So before we start evertaking, I have a question that I never had to RUnni for the last four years when I saw you the last time. We'll pay for the sauce of the mazzarella that you have on your tube and new pants.
Oh we got donations for that.
Yeah, yeah, donation move from the people of Chicago who supported the piece.
Okay, that's why I saw that. I said, that's not my mozzarella. That mozzarella was coming from the deep dish pizza and it looks greasy and bad. And even the marinada the collar, the collar was not really red like the Italian tomato. It was like a.
Chef. We didn't want to use your glue.
We would never disrespect you, would Yeah, we didn't want to use your ingredients because in filming, you know, you go through a lot of them and you destroy them, and we didn't want to Yours are so sacred.
We didn't want to use yours. Those are ingredients.
Yeah, we're just some public school marinerative.
Probably some of it was blood. It wasn't even Mariana.
Yeah, only a chef would critique the food. The quality of the food used to crawl through. That is real chef, high standards. He's got high standards, man. I saw that when I was in his program. He's got very high stand uh Roy, I'll let you get into it. But yes, so let's talk a little bit about Recipe for change. Chef. What was the impetus for you starting that program? What did you see? What problem did you see in Chicago that you believe pizza could solve?
Well, I you know, uh listen, I never see any problem why I'm an immigrant. I came in this country to do what all the immigrants do work. I tried to make a better future for for the family and uh and be a respectable uh cerizen. So, I don't ever know idea uh that you know this will happen to me about the jail and uh and uh so, like I say many times, and it was really a call from God and uh so it just happened one night.
And hold this happened to me. And I never been in prison in jail, I don't have a history with my family have a prison on jail. So it really was truly a call. And I start right down what could I do to change the prison system in America? After I saw this documentary a treetury in the morning. There America, there's beautiful country incarcerated, you know, two thousand and seven hundred and kids, you know, under fourteen with a life in prison with no perole at the time.
Think about it, there was you know, americancarcerated kids at ten years old, eleven years old, twelve years old. I don't know, if you guys have a kids and think about it, just a stop for a second. If you have a kid and think about a kid at ten eleven years old? Be life in prison? Are you say? In the America? What the fuck?
Yeah? I think that's universal across all languages right there.
But you know, everything makes sense after a while, and I, you know, I was all this miracle happened and I was in uh in junior prison after two weeks to start teaching those kids. Try to make you know, some food, and they don't understand me when I was talking while you see, my accent is very strong, my English is not that good, and I don't understand them or why they speak really you know, the American.
English plusience.
But there was some connection. There was some connection when I was taking the spoon and say hey, taste, try and they were making faces. So there I start funding the connection between the food and them. And and so every time I was going there, it was it was a pot of the eyes. I discovered that, you know, they were making me bad. Every time I was going out to the teaching the class, I feel bad and bad, I feel with more energy, Oh my god. And that's what I gave me the power to continue and to
think more, what can I do more? What can I do more? And that's you know. Now I am in the Cook County jail and Ronnie saw everybody saw on TV our beauty for our teaching is and what we do.
Yeah, I think what's really amazing about your program, Chef, is that you know, on the one hand, of course, it's teaching job skills that are translatable once you get to the outside, because we talk about America's prison system being a place for punishment instead of a real place for rehabilitation to learn skills. But what you also instilling is like this level of dignity, something to create, something to have a sense of pridey and something that you
can pour yourself into. And I think that's what makes everything that you're doing, just top to bottom so amazing.
You know a lot of people think I do this program why for the job. People don't understand the job is not the solution. The solution is to restore what's brokenside of these people, the nity, the self esteem, the old believe in themselves. So this is all the little pieces that we need to connect with them. It's not about the job. But by provide a job, I mean I used to have the restaurant in downtown and everybody was coming out and I tried myself and my own
skin come to work. Soon you get out and they were coming to work, they were like, you know, a panic attack. They having panic attack, They having problem, they don't know what do and you know, soon they get some money, they go back or to do the same the same lifestyle. So the program is based on give you back to make you believe you can do it, in make you believe that you know, you are a human like anyone and we make mistakes, but you know we can forget the mistake and start a new life
anytime we want. And so that's what the problem is about, you know, making them believe they can do it, and make them understand. I mean, you know, hey, if you sell drugs, how much the money you make fifteen thousand a year, twenty thousand a year. If you go to work, you're got to make more money and you're not risking to be in prison for five, six, seven years. So that's what I said to them, I say, how much the money did you make selling drugs last year? Twenty thousand?
Then you're not a good business man.
Some bad drugs.
Respectfully, it makes sense, right, Yeah, that's what's so cool about Chef is that he's I found him equal pots, inspirational, aspirational and practical. So the way he approached the program was all of those things.
You know.
It wasn't just that's all be better people. It's like, you can make more money if you're a better of us.
It's like, this makes perfect sense. Goods, good will sells better than cocaine. Chef. Another question, well, let me this. Let me ask Sebastian and Running a question first, and it's going to tie to something I have for you, Chef, Sebastian Running, was there anything in the piece that did not make it in that you had to edit out like ah, because when you somebody like Chef doing all this great stuff, you also still have to balance that with jokes.
Yeah, we were pretty lean in terms of what we shot with Chef himself, not only the conversational part of it. I mean there was oh my god, Yeah, we cut a ton of the chef roasting deep dish with Ronnie. They're like they're standing at like a table, and yet Chef was like for like a half an hour to forty five minutes, just like insult after insult on deep dish pizza. That like, it was funnier than I could have ever written, any of our writers could have written.
Just slamming it.
Chef, what do you think about this deep dish pizza?
It's it's gotta beach. People should not eat this. It's like a brick. Look at this.
Look.
I mean, I don't know where do you buy this?
I don't want to know, but this is shade.
That was the hardest stuff to cut because he was like literally figuratively ripping into it and then literally ripping the pizza apart. And yeah, that was the best stuff. That was the hardest to cut because he like, and he threw in the trash and all that whole See, I didn't I usually am very very controlling in particular about what I want to capture on camera, but almost that entire scene where Ronnie's like, well, describe what's wrong with deep dish pizza.
Bruno just went off.
I didn't give him any direction and he threw it in the trash can. I didn't even know that was coming, so we had to follow that. But that whole thing was so beautiful. It was very coming from a very authentic place as well.
Yes, yes, you know, yeah that and he.
Hates wasting food man, so for him to, yeah, for him to throw away a deep Dish, it was he doesn't even consider this human food.
Yeah.
I tried to keep as much of him talking about the program because that's what the piece was about, as best I could. And so, yeah, we didn't cut almost any of the program stuff, any of the stuff with the participants.
Yeah.
The other stuff that we just cut with mostly just joke stuff, more pizza stuff, some Ronnie interactions.
So Sebastian Ronnie, what I really wish could have been in a piece, And there's only so much time. I was just always curious. When people are doing good things in the community without a doubt, there's always some asshole or some group of people who don't support it or try to find something wrong with it. Chef, what are some of the resistance that you found to your program over the years. Who are your hater? Chef? That's what
I'm trying to ask you, very bluntly. Who doesn't like deep dish in the jail?
Oh? My god, nobody likes the deep dish shit, right, you know, they call it the deep shit.
Chef.
Roy's asking you, who is opposing your program.
Or are you? Are you well? Do you feel supported by your community in this program or do you have people that are giving you resistance?
I think we are. You know, we we know, we know there's a sum separation and everything. A lot of people they don't care, you know, a lot of people there's a why we have the situation in America. A lot of people say, you know, these people should be in jail forever. There's a criminal you know so, and but we do. We are fortune that we have more
people they think deferenter. They think that we should rehabilitated the people that should support our program, you know, and I have to say that I never personally, you know, hear anyone say to me, actually I don't like the program, or you should not do it, or something like that. You know, I was budgemental to that point. We uh.
I was trying to in the beginning look for people opposed to like as the as the first time piece. For me, the the formula is always to find a really cool thing or a good thing and then find someone opposed to it make fun of that person. But for this piece, I was I couldn't find anyone other than some like really fringe like people belong in jail forever and can't be rehabilitated kind of nut jobs that I wasn't interested in interviewing.
But across the.
Board, and I think the Sheriff Tom Dart was a huge proponent of this, and he had a ton of Chef Bruno correct me if I'm wrong, But I feel like there were a couple of programs like yours Recipe for change, like gardening program there there was a good amount of rehabilitation programs going on that seemed to be like overwhelmingly supported by most people in the community, which is why for me it was this piece was such a slam dunk.
It was like we can really highlight some good.
Yeah, we found a rare thing in America that I think everyone can get behind. Especially on paper, it's already a good idea, but when you go and see what
they're actually doing, you gain another level of respect. Which is what happened to me of what was going on, of the mutual respect happening in the in the kitchen, what they were actually doing, the skills do a learning, you know, even the even even the financial reasons, like chef would tell me, like he just bring his own ingredients in, so he would it would have cost to
stay any money, you know, in some examples. I don't put you on the spot, Chef, But what I'm saying is that it was all around like a like a good thing for everybody. Well the red things in America where it seems like everybody run from this.
Everyone in the Cook County gam wants to be a part of this great program.
I learned how to be a met a leader.
I learned how to work with a lot of other people.
I basically I've learned how to eat better.
Chef, what is it about deep dish pizza that gets you so upset.
Don't start.
It made me upset. Why it's a good idea. It's a good idea. The pizza is a good idea. The pizza the way they want to do it. You know, in Italia we call a focasa. So it means, you know, uh uh, the two dough while you have one on the bottom, one on top, and then you kind of feeling that in the middle. The problem means, you know, when you're using you know, a pound of cheese and then a pound of saucy, and the quality is also
so it's so bad. And that's what you know. When you come to Chicago, you see a lot of you know, a lot of people over wa eat why they eat that pizza? So I'm against why there is a way to make something light, call it deep dish pizza. But you can do light. You can do with the mozzarella debuffal. You can do some with the Summersano tomato. If you use all the bad ingredients and you put it like, you know, two pounds of a stuff inside, it's become like a brick. Like I say in the show, it's
a breek it's not a pizza. And that's one's life. It's like you know, you're eating a break because in your stomach and bob. So that's what I don't like about it is phenomenal, you know. I wish I could make one for you right now and see a light welcome you know, if you want to, if you want to stop. It's like you know about quantity and not the quality, and that's what it makes me crazy.
Chef. I appreciate your sentiment for good ingredients, but you are talking to a man that eats McDonald's, Rby's and Subway. But thank you. Nonetheless, I have a question about the evolution of your program. Now. I know that your program has evolved since you last talked with Ronnie, could you talk to us a little bit about the food truck program and what you're doing for women and also the golf.
Well not only not only that, I mean, you know, the good thing is that Ronnie said before and he touch a good point is you know I don't ask no money to stay to go vernment nothing. This is all private money. I own a restaurant, I know millions of people and that's what I do every day. Please donate a dollar and that's how we we got the money and sense the show the Daily show. We have
a beautiful kitchen a woman. We create a woman division, so now we allly we teach also the women and we we have like almost seven thousand square feet of kitchen. After that too, before COVID, we raise the money to buy a truck and now we have those beautiful toty feet uh truck that we bought it and uh and now we are in the process to building a kitchen inside. The goal of the truck is to this time a little difference. I want to see if I can break
these rules. I'm not sure. I would be my dream to utilize the people that have minimum crime so they can go out of the gel and the money go on the truck work and when after the finish their work, they go back.
To the gel work release.
It's a kind of rehabilitation. You know. Now I'm really in. I'm going to work. Then I come back, you know, in the same place, but just to sleep. So from there, if we have a profit, okay, the part of the profit will go in an account for the people. For those people they work, so when they go out, they're going to have some money.
It makes sense, what I say, Yes, sir.
That's great and that's different than what it used to be because when we started there, that was a big conceit of the piece was that you could only sell and give the pizza to incarcerated people, right like you couldn't sell it outside of the prison or the jail.
So that's that's awesome. That's awesome.
And all the profits to consider that, you know, we have a we don't when I say profit, we don't have a billion, like you know, we have a very little a few thousand dollars. But you know, forty percent we give you back to the Cook County. It goes into programs to other to help other programs while other problems.
They're in jail, they don't have money. So you know the person who comes to read the Bible all other stuff, so we we help them with their money to we founded more program in Co County jail with the money we make promm.
So let me get this right, chef, you self fund the program to help people learn how to make pizza, but you're really giving them life skills. Then you set up a food truck that they can go and apply the pizza skills on. And then the money made from the food truck, you splitting with the county so that they can make other programs better. Oh my god, you might make me hate Deep Dish. I might hate Deep Dish pizza for a week on your behalf, just to honor you, chef.
Not to mention making great food as well if you actually try, the food is amazing. The food is actually amazing. It adds to the culinary landscape of Chicago.
The goal is to have in the end, you know, some money that I can put on the side that when you go out, you have something to start and you don't have to go back on the street and sell drugs to pay your rent or to eat. Now you're gonna have some money. We're gonna teach you, We're gonna find a job for you. We're gonna see how you cannot go back, you know, in the same system.
Indeed, so last question for your chef, and we'll get you out of here. What can people that aren't as connected as you or as famous as you, or their restaurant is smaller and they're not and they don't have the same financial capabilities as you. What can people who aren't celebrity chefs do to get involved in their communities? We need more chef Brunos.
Well, I know, listen, I've been I'm really I'm not. I'm not rich. I'm still uggling every day here. I work fifty hours a day.
Have you thought about selling drugs?
I don't have a lot of money, believe me. I just know. My goal is always got up in the money. I pray, I say, God, give me the energy to do something good every day, and that's what I want to do. And then I'm worried about my employee, my employee of a family. And so every chef can do something. Just connect with with your sister, connect with gel where you are, go offer yourself and say no what I'm coming Once a week, I'm bringing mind reading. Can I
teach them people? That's what I've done. I used to do one hundred miles away every Monday to go in the prison of Saint Charles, bring my own food and stay there right now, and you know, and teach those guys. Finally, we have a problem to fund people to work. And you're gonna find a lot of good people in the system. They need a chance. So go there and teach them. You're gonna found a lot of people they want to work. So this is gonna help us also in the restaurant business.
Now that we have a big problem, we can pand the dishwasher. We're gonna pound a chef. We're gonna fand anybody now even to make it the ugly dish pizza. You know. So I think that's what the chef should do, just to be involved with your community. That's how you started everything. It's like a movement. Then we can stop all the chef the chef movement in America, go and teach people in prison, in jail. It makes sense. So no,
sounds great. I like the chef movement. We should we should get these worlds.
Doc I just I just copied it and I already got t shirts for sale. So thanks thanks for the idea. Though it's called recipe for change program. He is Chef Bruno Abatte brother. Thank you so much for joining us. We got one more break. We're gonna speak with one of your graduates. Actually, but thank you, chef for extending to us a little bit of your time. I will leave you now to the rest of your day where you can slander deep dish pizza on the internet. Thank you for going beyondest with me, Chef.
Thank you, Thank you guys. Really, I really appreciate it that you know you remember us, and I hope this will be a big guy, Ronnie, I love you.
I love your chef. I'll see you soon. I'm coming to Chicago. I'm doing a show that I'll come and see you. I'll come by a restaurant.
Yeah, please come over. Okay, come to the rest I want to see you.
Okay, we'll do.
Thank you, guys, Thank you, God bless you. The Chef movement.
Ronnie is still here with me, segment director Sebastian di natal is still here with me and joining us now. This brother is a graduate of the Recipe of Change program. It was also featured in the original segment with Ronnie Dione Gillespie. Welcome to Beyond the Scenes.
Oh, thank you, thank you, happy.
To be here.
Good to hear from you.
Man, Thank you. Nice you again.
Man.
Now, I'm gonna be honest. You know, as one of Ronnie's many black friends, you know, anytime and gets added to the rotation, I'm like, you know, who is this running? You know what is this person all about? Got to make sure folks on the square, Din talk to us a little bit. What was your experience like dealing with the Recipe for Change program.
It was a life changing experience for me. I was going through a really tough time in my life. It was a dark time, pullly because I was in custody and I was stilling with a lot of self guilt for letting like a lot of family of friends, down, the co workers, down the community. So I was like carrying that burden on my back. So when I got the opportunity to try and rescu people change, it was almost an escape from that dark place and it became something able to provide us some hope and a hopeless
moment for me at that time of my life. So Skeep of Change really changed my life.
Let's talk. We didn't get a chance to really get into it with Chef Bruno, but you know, there's when we talk about incarceration and the idea that it's supposed to be a relative process where when you come out a business should be ready to hire you on the assumption that you learned some skills and that you were better than when you went in. Walk me through that process of just trying to find a job once you got back out on the outside.
Well, actually, for myself, I've been fortunate. I found that one almost immediately upon my release, and it's partly due to the resources that was provided to them there, Rescue for Change, because of certifications I received for a food sanitation restaurant management. So I found the company that was wanting to give.
Me a chance and invest in me.
It's a pretty good company, you know, especially the center of the fact that I was just released like a little over three months ago, so benefits for one k it's a union job, and this is just a stubbing stone. This is not my career. This is a stubbing stone to what's mess for me. So for myself, it's been a pretty smooth transition, but it's usually not like that for many others. So that's why programs like RESC people change.
So yeah, because I'm listening to where you are right now, Dian, and it sounds like you're in transit as we speak. Are you headed to work?
Yeah?
Hey, I appreciate you guys for being with me. Man, this commute on public transportation is really rough. That so I apologize to you guys.
Oh no, man, you and man on the go, We appreciate you making a little time for us while you sit there on the train. So let me ask you real quick. Jeff Bruno said, the job skills are important, but not as as important as being able to offer a positive space for people to work while they're locked up. Could you speak a little bit about that part of the program for you.
Yeah, I unequivocally agree with Chef Bruno, because, like I was saying, like, don't I think the most difficult part about me transitioning back to the workplace in society it is my ability to perform or do my job. It's been like the communication aspect, the soft skills, the things that people don't usually talk about because as you guys will may well know, like nowhere is your inn against
the tested. Then at the workplace where you're trying to do stuff and your supervisor comes to be like, hey, stop right now and do this, and you just sit there like okay. So those soft skills that I learned, the recipeople change. It has really been valuable tools that I've been able to implement into the DNA of the core of being who I'm trying to become as a man, Like the compassion, the integrity, just the willingness to just do the right thing at all times and not take
anything personal. I learned a lot of those things at Recipe for Change. Like I say, Chef Bruno is changing their lives along with the rest of the staff that works one of mom Chef Abril christianas his son Adriano. Like it's a wonderful, amazing program.
Man.
Because of that program, I've been able to be a part of a platform such as The Daily Show like man, this is such a humbling experience for me. Man, So I'm really grateful to be a part of this.
Man, So we'll get you out of here. On the last question, Dionne, do you stand with Deep Dish Pizza?
I did, but I was corrected by Jef Bruno. So the thing Cruss Pizza is the best less less get more. So I'm not going to go against the break.
And I will say before we let Dion go, I have to mention, Uh, dion has one I think my favorite line from the whole piece, which is where you're going with the pizza guy.
This pizza is genuinely awesome.
You must have people running up around the block to buy this.
Actually it's only for inmates, guys.
We go rescue Chicago from that boot.
Deep Pizza ohka, I know the piece is great, but this is not how you deal with conflict.
All right, I'll be right back.
Hey, where are you going with the pisa line?
We me and the editor of that piece, Mark will still yell at each other. Will if we leave or if we, like, you know, taking lunch somewhere else, We'll just yell where you going with the pizza?
It's a it's a great line. So thank you Dion for incredible delivery.
No problem, man, Thank you guys.
Well, Dion, brother, will let you get back to your commute. Man, Thank you for making a little bit of time to go beyond the scenes with this brother.
Thank you, Thank you you guys. You guys, be peace and be blessed.
Man. Thank you, yes, sir, great, all right, bye bye, all right man, Well, Ronnie Sebastian, we did it. We went beyond the scenes on your piece.
You look.
Like you're you know why, because I thought that someone would stand with me in defending Deep Dish pizza and here I stand alone.
You're all alone, the man.
Why do you even why are you on the side of Deep Dish?
Because I'm a say with that stuff, I like pie and this is closer to Pie support the.
Cubs for some reason.
You're from Alabama, like.
Pie the casserole.
If anything, Ronnie, I will smash your face. Whatever it is, it is delicious and it's better than that. Let me stop because I don't want New York City on my ass. Thank you so much for going beyond the scenes. I'm gonna get both of you the fuck out of here and then slander, then cruss once you're off the air.
Thanks for having us.
Roy Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever, get it, get out of here. Love you see in the building.
A here, guys in the building.
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