[funky music playing]
[Meghan] Ooh!
Pretty.
California.
♪ You never gonna find it... ♪
So I'm really excited because José is coming.
He is a very dear friend, an incredible chef,
and he just makes everything fun.
We both really love the spirit of feeding a lot of people in a big group.
And so he's going to come over and we are going to create a feast
to thank and celebrate the crew for all their hard work this season.
The crew is like the beating heart of a production.
You can't do it without them.
And a lot of the people on our crew aren't from this neck of the woods,
so I wanted to share some local delicacies,
like the incredible local seafood and wine we have here.
And there is this delicious wine by a small producer called Jonata,
and the winery is about an hour north of my house.
So, going to check it out and find some beautiful bottles,
and then we will come back and get cooking with José.
We love it. We're gonna have a lot of fun.
[soul music playing]
- [Meghan chuckling] Hey, there. Surprise. - [Matt laughing] Surprise.
[Meghan] I told you I was gonna come back. I just didn't say for what.
- Nice to see you. - You too.
- Thanks for coming. - Thanks for having us.
I'm cooking up a bit of a feast, and I would love to grab some wine for it.
- Awesome. - Let's do it.
- Cool. Let's take a look. - Thank you.
♪ Like a sound you hear That lingers in your ear ♪
♪ But you can't forget... ♪
[Meghan] This is not a bad place to work.
Within each of these rows,
you feel like you're finding these moments of discovery and beauty.
But then, when you zoom out, it's just spectacular.
[Matt] There it is. Santa Rita Hills.
This is Pinot Noir, is what we're looking at here.
- Pinot Noir up in those hills up there. - [Meghan] That's so great.
- And you pick all this by hand? - Yeah, our crew picks it all by hand.
Slowly and-- and with love.
- I've never had a wine grape off the vine. - I'll get you a whole cluster.
[Meghan] Oh God, it's so cool!
♪ The sun comes up every morning ♪
♪ And if you listen... ♪
- [Matt] Good flavor. - Wow.
The skins aren't really too rough.
Pinot Noir thrives where it's just cool, mellow temperature.
[Meghan] And that's what's so great about this area.
I grow a lot of fruits, and the same sort of thing,
where it's really like chill and overcast throughout the morning.
And that burst of sunshine where it's sugar and acid, all getting trapped.
Next day, you bite into it. People are like, "Bursting with flavor."
- Yeah. - Yeah, that's nature doing that.
It's nature doing that, 100%.
It's this beautiful thing, for as complex as wine is,
it's actually this gorgeously organic, very simple process of just farming
and then fermenting.
The farming process is just waiting for Mother Nature to ripen the fruit.
♪ ...I'm told ♪
♪ To California soul ♪
- ♪ California... ♪ - [Matt] Punch through.
- [Meghan] I'm getting my workout. - [laughs] Exactly.
- [Meghan] We're earning that wine. - Absolutely.
♪ You wanna pat your feet And you've got to move... ♪
- This is my happy place. - [chuckles] It's beautiful.
Well, don't threaten me with a good time.
[laughs]
This is a 2023 Sangiovese.
[Meghan] Look at the color.
[Matt] As long as people drink it and enjoy it.
I always say, as long as you know whether you like a wine or don't,
you know more than anybody else.
[Meghan] Oh, I love that.
♪ Because they added that lovin' feeling ♪
[Meghan] This is going to be so good for the meal we're having.
♪ To California soul ♪
♪ California soul ♪
[music builds and ends]
José's on his way. Love José Andrés.
Big personality.
Big, amazing, big-time chef.
Big, big, big heart.
So we're going to make a feast. Let's make some espresso.
Make a café con leche.
And some pastries that I think he'll really love.
I'm so excited to see José.
We've worked together for several years now
because our foundation works with World Central Kitchen a lot,
which is José's foundation that really shows up in areas of crisis
and makes sure that people are fed and cared for.
And he is constantly off the grid, going to where he's needed the most.
So it's a treat when José's able to stop by for a visit.
[jazz music playing]
I think he's going to love these. Oh my gosh.
These pastries are from one of my favorite little places in the valley.
And it's as though a croissant met a churro
and filled itself with a custard or a chocolate.
What's not to love?
♪ Whenever stormy weather... ♪
Mm, yum. Oh, so good!
If you don't have time to do a big plate, you can still have a pretty presentation.
♪ Blue sky, sunny day ♪
♪ No matter what they say... ♪
Mm-hmm.
You can warm some milk, but I love to froth it as well.
♪ Follow the rainbow ♪
Put a little cinnamon sugar on top.
How sweet is that?
Now we get José.
[in singsong] ♪ I hear you ♪
Oh my gosh.
- [yells] - Hello!
- Ooh! - Look at you.
I'm so happy to see you.
- So happy to see you. - Oh my-- [giggles] What do you have?
Okay, I-- I don't like to bring little pieces of cheese.
No, evidently.
So I'm bringing you a whole cheese.
- [Meghan giggles] - And this one has a very amazing story.
- Okay... - And this, this is to play sports.
- Yeah, it's perfect for Archie. [gasps] - Jamón ibérico.
- [Meghan] I'm so set. - I had to bring you ibérico.
This is going to be amazing.
[José] Look at this. Ready to go.
And this cheese... This is my mom, Marisa.
She used to love blue cheese.
She's not with us any longer, but one day I thought,
"I'm gonna make a cheese which is blue in her honor."
- I love it. - Best gift I could give my mom.
- Yes! - You're going to try it today.
I can't wait to try it. I have coffee for us here.
What did you sprinkle on the coffee?
- I thought I'd make it look pretty, so... - It looks super pretty.
- [Meghan] It's just cinnamon sugar. - I have to Instagram it.
- Okay. - Look at this thing.
- [jazz music playing] - [camera shutter clicks]
[José] Look at that!
- [Meghan] Mm! - I love it.
And I heard you like pastries stuffed with a vanilla custard.
These are incredible. I got them from a local bakery.
This is almost-- In Spain, we have things like that.
Where it almost feels like a churro met a croissant, and then...
Yeah.
...got married, in this good--
- Jammin'. - How's your family?
- How are the girls? - Family is doing great.
I have them all over the world.
- Oh gosh. - [José] You know, I don't like to grow up.
'Cause as I'm growing up, my children are no longer with me.
- I'm not handling this very well. - It's okay.
I have to prepare myself.
The kids are only three and five, and I'm already like, "No, no, don't cry."
- Already three and five? Oh God. - Do you believe it?
I just had Lily when you came to the house.
Ugh, we had so much fun.
You know, I'm just glad that in everything that you stay safe.
I'm always like, "José, you show up
where everyone needs love and support and food, and I'm like, 'Please be safe.'"
- That's why we have moments like this. - Yeah.
Moments like this is what charge all of us to just keep going.
- Mm! - We need these moments.
- Celebrate. - Friends, family.
Yes, I love that.
Okay, so with that in mind, we'll cook for the crew.
I love it.
[Meghan] We'll make a big feast with the best local seafood and wine.
[José] Amazing.
And because I feel like staff meal, team meal,
I think it's one of the best parts about restaurant culture.
- Family meal. - Yeah, and one of the best meals.
Better than anything on the menu sometimes.
- Often. - Yeah, 'cause it's cooked with such heart.
- In the spirit of community as well, so... - Let's do it. Plenty of cheese.
- [Meghan] Yeah. And plenty of ham. - It's plenty of ham.
- So crew, how are you doing? - [giggles]
- So, who likes cheese? - [Meghan laughs]
- [José] You like ham and cheese. - Oh, yeah.
- [José] Okay, so give me a knife. - [Meghan] Look at that.
And this machine...
- [Meghan] Oh, for the ham. - [José] We're going to go this way.
- Oh, yeah, this is for the ham. - Oh my gosh.
- [José] Yeah, help me. - [Meghan] Yeah.
This is like the space station, you know, but for ham.
Yeah.
And now the ham is going to be perfectly... steady.
[Meghan] Secure.
- And ham... - [Meghan] For carving.
- Ham is ready. - [Meghan laughs]
Oh, yeah.
Everybody should have one of those at home.
You think so?
So you're going to cut the ham with whatever knife you have,
but you want this kind of blade that is very... See?
- [Meghan] So it moves. - Moves, elegant.
Like the waves with the ham.
And then you put music.
♪ Na, na, na, na, na ♪
It's like a violin.
- [Meghan] I like it, I like it. - Here.
- Thank you. I'll just stay here with the... - Let me cut a little piece.
["Nocturne in E Flat Major" by Chopin plays]
- Take a look, you see? - [Meghan] Mm-hmm.
This fat, you keep it because you can use it for scrambled eggs.
- Ooh. - You can use it for a chowder.
You can... you can do whatever.
The pieces are going to have to be thin.
["Nocturne in E Flat Major" continues]
It's whispering.
All the acorns that this ham ate.
[inhales]
All the forest that this pig was living in.
- [softly] Cheers. - [inhales]
Okay.
We got the first course ready.
[jazzy music playing]
[Meghan] What part of Spain are you from?
- I grew up in Barcelona. In Catalonia. - That's what it was.
But I was born in Asturias.
- [Meghan] In Asturias. - Tiny, green.
- You know I used to live in Spain. - I know.
I spent more time in Argentina, funny enough.
It's why I get embarrassed in front of you 'cause I have such an Argentinian accent.
- Okay. Speak Spanish to me. - With a lisp.
Di, "Hola, José. ¿Cómo estás?"
Hola, José. ¿Cómo estás?
- ¿Todo bien? Ah, mirá vos. - [in English] Yeah.
But then you spend this time in Spain, and I end up with that, plus a lisp.
From being impressed, you're like...
Hola, ¿de dónde sos y cuándo llegaste?
Gracias, gracias.
- [in English] I don't know. It's so funny. - [chuckles]
You have a great accent.
Gracias.
[in English] How much cheese this is!
It's a lot of cheese.
But it's a lot of crew.
Okay. I got one here.
[jazz music playing]
And it's thick. [gasps]
Look at this.
So gorgeous.
[sniffs] Mmm...
And listen. Because you got this amazing fried cloud of goodness...
- Yes. - Take a look at this.
Because life is about never wasting a moment.
Oh.
Hold on a second.
- [gasps] - Right?
- Oh my God. That one is filled with cream! - I told you, I told you.
Hold on a second. I'm going to put a little bit.
[Meghan] Mmm!
And, my lady,
this is...
A bite of the heavens.
...an amazing bite with the blue cheese.
- I'm gonna be less sophisticated. - Okay.
Mmm.
Mm-hmm.
[José] You told me we're feeding the staff. We're feeding the staff.
She's eating. I'm eating. Why you are not eating?
[Meghan] He's getting involved.
- [José] It's amazing. - [Meghan] It's so good.
You know, Meghan, the best way of cooking is by association.
You get this pastry, and you get this blue cheese.
- You are associating them. Boom. - Mm-hmm.
You got a great dish. You don't have to overcomplicate it.
It works.
Not only does it work, it's beautiful.
Okay. So for our party, what are you going to do with the cheese?
- Do you have, uh, piquillo peppers? - Yes.
We'll do piquillo peppers.
[Meghan] So blue cheese served with piquillo peppers.
We got the second course.
[Meghan] Let's add that to our menu. I also have wine for the party,
so we can do a little tasting while we cook.
A lot of options happening here.
All these wines?
A winery just about 45 minutes north of here.
- [José] Santa Ynez Valley. - Yep.
[Meghan] Very, very good.
They just take such care, which I know you love.
And it's local, so let's celebrate where we are.
And to do that, we've got seafood in the fridge we can use.
Okay.
Oh!
I know. There's so much.
[José] Sea urchin!
- What a fascinating creature-- - They're fascinating. Take a look.
[Meghan] I know.
And what else do we have? Uh, I see oysters.
[Meghan] Yes.
[José] Okay.
[upbeat music playing]
We got the lobster.
Look at them. These are unbelievable.
And a squid. Today we're doing a real vegetarian menu.
[Meghan laughs]
- [Michael] Is this for real? - Exactly.
[José] I love this squid.
This is the type of squid we need to be seeing all across America.
[Meghan] What should we make with all this? Like, the oysters...
The oysters, we'll do some raw. We have to.
But we have the grill in the back?
- Mm-hmm. Let's grill some oysters. - We'll grill some.
[Meghan] Great. And we prep some uni, the edible part of the sea urchin.
Yeah. Then, the paella.
You know, we use paellas in emergencies.
Traditional paella in Spain is great.
It's a big pot that you can feed the world.
Simple.
[Meghan] So, seafood paella with our bounty here.
- Take a look. The quality of this seafood. - [Meghan] Amazing.
[José] The quality is amazing.
Okay. Try a splash of this red.
- The red is great. - [Meghan] It's a nice one.
We have a lot to cook. We have a lot to taste.
- [José] This is a good beginning. - Salud.
- I'm excited. - Me too.
- Love seafood. But more important... - Your excited face.
- So good to be here. - So good to be here with you.
It's gonna be fun. This is nice.
- [José] It's super nice. - Okay. It's uni time.
I got these sea urchins from the harbor. Went and talked to Stephanie.
- God, Stephanie. Isn't she the greatest? - And she's so cool.
The business she has, of always sustainable.
- Mm-hmm. - Never overfishing. Amazing.
♪ You know it's true ♪
♪ Oh, I can't fake it ♪
♪ Don't wanna be a lost and lonely fool ♪
- Hi. - Hi.
- Stephanie? I'm Meghan. - How're you?
- Nice to meet you. - And you.
Thanks for doing this. I'm so excited.
I'm excited as well to show you what we do.
Let's see.
- I'd love to see what you have. - [Stephanie] We store 'em in this bag.
- Oh my God, they're enormous. - [Stephanie laughs]
That is wild.
[mechanism whirring]
- You're having a party, right? - Having a party.
You want a bit of a 101 on how to open them?
Uh, yes, please.
How cool. How long have you been doing this?
- Almost 20 years. - [both laughing]
That's awesome.
So, um, it sits on the rock, on the rocky reef, just like this.
- Yeah. - I'll get another one.
[Stephanie] And then this is its mouth. It's called the Aristotle's lantern.
- [Meghan] Really? - Yeah.
It's interesting. Aristotle has a book called The History of Animals.
He described it as like the horn lanterns. That's the source of light at the time.
- That's so cool. - And so it's kept its name.
But you want to open it up. There's a tool, an urchin opener.
- It's fresh. - [Meghan] Ooh! It's moving.
[Stephanie] You want to open up the mouth side.
And basically, you just kind of put your tool...
[crunching pop]
Get a pretty good bite in there.
[Meghan] Whoa!
It's still gonna move because it's nerves and it's fresh.
It doesn't feel anything, because it doesn't have a central cortex.
That's your Aristotle's lantern.
Oh my gosh. Wait, it doesn't feel anything?
It doesn't feel pain. It doesn't have the physiology in order to feel pain.
[Meghan] Okay.
We have it open. And you've got, basically, I call it the guts.
You can eat the guts if you want to.
Um, it's more aesthetically pleasing to take the guts out.
I like to use tweezers. You can use your fingers too.
Sometimes you've got like, a bit of remnant left and maybe some sand.
I like to take some salt water and I'll spray it, rinse it out.
[soul music playing]
- [Meghan] Then you scoop it out. - [Stephanie] Yep.
[Stephanie chuckles]
- That is so good. - Yeah, it is good.
Anyone want to try? Do you want some, Bianca?
[Meghan] Isn't that so good?
- It's my dream. - [Meghan] Right?
I'm super biased, but Santa Barbara urchins are the best.
It's something I call like the meroir.
The nutrients, the temperature of the water, what they're eating.
It's that perfect...
- Match. - Yeah.
- You've been doing this for 20 years? - [Stephanie] Almost 20 years.
What does it entail? Every day you go out. They're not crawling into this net.
- I wish. - [both laugh]
- They just jump in the boat. [laughs] - Can you imagine?
Um, so I go down, I get in a wetsuit.
I have a rake, so I don't have to do it with my hands.
- I do pick them one by one with a rake. - [Meghan] That's incredible.
You understand why it's more expensive too.
- The rigor and effort of it. - The level of labor.
Wow. Okay, so for the party, I'm thinking like, 25 of them.
- We got you. - Awesome.
[upbeat music playing]
Even people on the fence about it, they're still impressed.
For sure. I'm going to get such great street cred.
- I agree! - Or what do you call it? Sea cred.
- Okay. - I'm putting you to work.
Yeah. I'm so grateful. [chuckling] Thank you so much.
This is awesome. Cool.
Just a girl with her jacket and her sea urchin.
[music ends]
Did you invite Stephanie?
- Yes! Of course! - She's coming for sure? Amazing.
- So let's start prepping this amazing uni. - Okay.
- This is what she did. - [crunch]
Oh my God, you are determined.
Look at you.
- Not right down the middle, unfortunately. - But you did good.
But I opened it. This is called Aristotle's lantern, she said.
Oh my God, you took a class in marine biology...
I just talked to Stephanie.
...with Stephanie.
It's amazing! That's how I like to do it.
I go in and then I put the scissors flat, right in the edge.
You know, if this is the planet Earth,
right to the edge of the horizon is where you start cutting around.
- I like this visual. - Right. So...
And you have a beautiful presentation.
[José] Now take a look. And you knock.
"Hey, sea urchin, do you let me get in your world?"
The sea urchin's telling me, "Yes, José, because I like Meghan and I like you."
And then the Aristotle's...
- [Meghan] Lantern. - Lantern.
Here you have...
- Well, that's very elegant. - A sea urchin, perfectly cut.
Give me two tiny spoons.
Yeah. And that's the gonads.
The gonads, the reproductive part of the sea urchin.
They need to reproduce so we can keep eating them.
It is sort of the part of the storytelling that I find could be edited out.
Okay, so they don't reproduce.
They are just sweet, like candy.
[playful music]
One over here, one over there. A little bit of lime.
And then, I mean, I like them natural...
[Meghan] Why lime, not lemon?
The lemon didn't say anything to me and the lime...
- Did. - Winked an eye at me.
Said, "Hey, José, pick me up." I follow because she was talking to me.
Okay, great. I like it. Some zest.
And then, hold on, hold on.
Yeah.
Oh! Oh, I wasn't expecting that.
- On toast or just pure, like this? - Pure.
This is beautiful.
- Okay, should we try it? - Pure. Oh, yeah.
Whoa.
And this is cooking. Again, association.
That's an exceptional, exceptional bite of food.
- Purest... - [José] We got the dish. Pure.
[Meghan] Let's get the rest of these going.
My God, you're doing so well.
- [Meghan] Mm... - Thank you.
[in singsong] ♪ You're welcome! ♪
Look at the hands. The sea urchin, the color of it attaches to your skin.
Interesting. It looks almost like iodine. The inkiness of it.
[José] Some salt? Alright, alright. Uh-uh-uh.
Now we do this and it's perfectly clean.
- Keep going, lady. You're doing good. - Thank you.
- You're hired. - I'm hired?
- Yeah. - Which restaurant?
Which of your multitude of places can I get a job at?
- "Meghan and José Uni Place." - [Meghan laughs]
José and Meg. El Úni-co.
[cheerful music playing]
Alright, let's finish these off.
[José] All right, all right. Oh, look at this.
- Okay. Some of the lime on top. - Mm-hmm.
- Not too much, but the right quantity. - A whisper.
♪ A whisper ♪
Some oil, as we said.
And then, here.
You do this. It's all yours.
Ah! Zest!
I love it.
Extra salt. Okay.
[Meghan] Beautiful.
Another dish down. On to the next!
[upbeat music playing]
[music ends]
So, starting our prep for the paella,
but I wanted a little nibble as we do that.
What are you doing a nibble of?
[Meghan] I have some toasted bread and anchovies from the fridge.
Look at that. Can we do this together?
- Yes... - So you want to do the boquerones.
You know the difference between boquerones and anchovies?
- No. - It's the same fish.
A boquerón is when it's put in vinegar.
An anchovy is when the same fish is put into salt.
Oh! I had no idea.
That's all the difference. Same fish, two different preparations.
[Meghan] Got it.
[José] I think this tomato's perfect for this.
Oh, yeah.
This is called, "Tapa time."
- Tapa, tapa time. - It's tapa time.
[rumba music playing]
Oh! Love tapas.
They just feel so innocent. It's such a tiny little bite.
Mm-hmm... I like that.
Oh. I'm putting a lot of anchovy. I just like the boquerones.
[Meghan] A lot of people don't like anchovies.
- You know why? - Why?
They've never eaten a good anchovy.
Could be. It gets a bad rap.
But it's a humble and incredible ingredient.
This is it.
- Tapa time. - [laughs] Tapa time.
- Hello, lady. It's so good. - So good. Mm-mm-mm!
Okay, I think we have to add this to our menu.
Now we make the stock for our paella.
[José] Look. We have two pots here.
One with the water already boiling, and this one, we'll put oil.
[Meghan] This pan, you started earlier. It's been simmering down.
So this is a lot of onion.
- Mm-hmm. - Garlic.
- [Meghan] Whole cloves. - We put some tomato.
- Bay leaf. - A bit of Spanish pimentón. Paprika.
- Yes. - [José] Giving flavor to the stock.
You see this?
You're gonna say, "I can debone the fish, and use the flesh." I want a good stock.
I'm putting the whole fish in.
Oh my gosh. Are you really? The whole thing in.
Oh, yeah. You don't need to use the most expensive fish ever,
but good fish stock is only going to happen with--
- With good fish. - I rest my case.
So lobster. Come over here, baby.
He called it "baby."
We go there.
You need to be very careful.
They call it the spiny lobster for a reason, because it's really spiny.
Now, this head, we're going to cut it in the middle.
[blade crunches through shell]
We put it right here. We do the other cut the other way.
[clears throat uncomfortably]
Right here, you have the lobster cut in half.
Well done.
Are you okay? Yeah.
I'm good. I can do it. If it's a fish, I can somehow get involved.
- I don't know when... I... - [lobster head splits with a crunch]
I mean, listen, at the end of the day...
It's the circle of life.
[José] It is the circle of life.
I'll cut the medallions like this in half. You see?
- You know who doesn't like lobster? - Who?
- My husband. - No way.
And you married him?
[laughs]
Okay, so we're going to set these aside for later.
We have heads everywhere.
In this pot with the oil, we're gonna be sautéing the lobster heads.
- [Meghan] Okay. - [sizzling]
Why do this? This will give extra flavor to the whole thing.
[Meghan] From the shells.
Again, the stock is the most important part of making a paella.
The foundation of anything is the most important part.
People are, "Why must I spend $2 extra for extra sauce?"
You know what goes into a sauce?
How much love and how many ingredients go into a sauce?
- [fan whirring] - There goes the fan.
- Hello, friend! - [laughs]
I love these machines that just come to life on their own.
[Meghan] Nothing you can do.
That's good. The onion, I think it's already done.
Let me go here.
I'll get this onion, tomato and everything,
and this will go in.
- Can you deglaze it? Or just leave it? - You could.
But also you can do this. Look.
- Oh, my. Of course. - Simplifying life.
Of course. That's so smart.
[upbeat music playing]
[José] Now the flavor I wanted is there.
Oh, my God. This is totally gonna be good.
- Keep going, baby. - Woo-hoo!
We'll get the ladle. All this foam, we're gonna take it out.
- [Meghan] Skimming it. Like making jam. - Same thing.
Now it's gonna simmer. We'll have it here 40 minutes.
It's going to be amazing.
[Meghan] The last thing left to prep for our paella is the squid.
[José] Yeah. The squid.
[Meghan] To prep, you're pulling out the tentacles,
then separating all that from the body.
[José] Yeah, correct. You know, I'm amazed by this squid.
- [Meghan] You're amazed... - Now look at what I did.
- [Meghan] Squid ink. - I just broke the ink sac.
I've never even asked, because I love squid ink pasta--
I've never thought about how the ink is getting into it.
Never thought about it.
[José] The squid ink sac is right there.
[Meghan] Wow.
And with this ink, you can do the most amazing sauce.
Never throw this away. This is gold. This is gold.
- Like the saffron of the sea. - The saffron of the sea.
The ink is so flavorful. Beautiful. You did such a good job.
- Look at it. - Thanks.
Nothing is going to waste. All of this, we'll use in the stock.
So, this we're going to cut like this, like triangles. Look at it.
- Yes. - See?
- These will go in the paella. - Yeah.
We've done a lot.
- The colors on my hands. - Squid ink.
- Squid ink. And uni. - Look how many colors.
So, we have our seafood stock cooking.
We have our squid that we are putting in triangles.
We have our lobster medallions.
We get all these goodies and then we'll go outside.
- [in Spanish] To the grill. - To the grill.
- Take me home. - Let's go.
- [José in English] Let's go see the grill. - All right.
[jazzy music playing]
[José] It's almost perfect.
Oh, wow. That's gorgeous.
So, are you ready for paella?
Yes. I've never made-- I've made paella. I've never made paella properly.
The dictionary says anything you cook in a paella pan is paella.
But for the people of Valencia...
- Very specific. - Oh, my God.
Will they be angry about this?
They'll be happy because we'll make a great one.
We got the lobsters. We got the squid.
- [Meghan] Oh my gosh. - We'll sauté the squid.
[sizzling]
[Meghan] Mm!
Yeah. Open it up.
They're gonna jump. They're very excited they're in the pan.
Are they? [chuckles]
So, oil. Very important.
What do you do when people say, "I'd like this and this, but no oil?"
I call 911. "911. These guys don't want oil."
Like coming to a Spanish restaurant, "I don't want oil and garlic."
I'm like, "Excuse me, who are you?"
- So, now we're going to add some saffron. - [Meghan] Mm!
- Yum. - [José] A little bit of saffron.
[Meghan] Whoa!
- This will give flavor to the paella. - You smell that already?
[José] Now we'll put pimentón, Spanish paprika.
So, this is the dried pepper. I'm adding tomato.
[Meghan] Mm!
Take everything to the middle, so the edges won't burn.
- You're doing great. - [Meghan] Thank you.
Because you got me a good glass of wine... So it doesn't burn on the edges.
Woo!
Now we're talking.
- Smell that. - Some people will add the rice here.
- Oh. - And they'll sauté the rice.
Okay. What do you do?
I think for people it's easier, I'm going to add the broth.
- When it's boiling, we'll add the rice. - Put the rice.
What I recommend for people that never cooked it before.
- Gonna back up. - This is the broth we made.
[music fades]
[Meghan] So cool.
[José] We're gonna be putting a lot of rice here.
The broth is gonna evaporate.
The rice will be like a sponge absorbing...
- All this flavor. - All the flavors of that stock we made.
[Meghan] And paella really is about the rice.
I think people assume, the most expensive ingredient is the star of the show.
But the star of the show is the rice. Everything else is supporting.
- Making sure the rice shines. - Supporting the flavor. Yeah.
[soul music playing]
[Meghan] Alright, so this came to a boil. Let me put our rice in.
All around.
Look at that. You've done this all your life.
We're gonna open a paella shop and an uni shop.
[Meghan laughs]
Now we won't be moving it much. The liquid will be reducing.
We have 15 minutes. What do we do?
- Grill oysters! - Bingo!
So, Morro Bay oysters from the Pacific.
Some of the best oysters you can find anywhere. We're gonna do this for us.
And when everybody is ready, we'll do more.
You'll get some butter, and you're gonna put a piece on the top.
- Okay. A little piece on each one? - [José] Yep.
[Meghan] Everything's better with butter.
- [José] Hold on a second. - More? Isn't that what you're thinking?
- Can you put butter? I mean... - [laughs]
- I was trying to be delicate about it. - Too delicate, I'd say.
- I think I'll bring them to the edges. - Okay.
- Ow, ow. - Oh my gosh.
The fire wants to dance with you.
What's happening? It wants to play with you.
"I want to be with Meghan." It's like... It's like, "Hello."
And now, black pepper.
- Some mace, not much. - [upbeat music plays]
And then, some of the pimentón. This technically is Spain meets America.
Oh!
And lady, no need to overcook them.
- At the moment they're bubbling... - This one...
- That's it. - We're pulling these.
Yes. Okay, like that.
- Woo! - Ow, ow, ow, ow.
- Stunning. - Go.
[José breathes in]
It cannot be more simple, right?
You have to try that.
- Oh, my gosh. That's an incredible oyster. - [Michael] And we--
[José] Okay, paella.
So now, I'm going to put the head upside down.
Okay.
[José] And the lobster will be cooked just right.
Because the warmth of the rice is gonna make it at the end perfect.
- Now, help me put on the edges... - Got it.
- The lobster. - Yes, should I put...
The medallions as well? They're all going in. Okay.
You know, I never cook in this type of quantity.
I think it's best to take the stress out of it.
If the hostess or chef feels stressed out, everyone feels it.
I'm not stressed out. Who said-- I'm not stressed out.
- No, I'm saying. It's calm... - I'm very calm and in control!
I'm about to overcook the rice. I'm not stressed!
I'm very relaxed.
[in Spanish] Calm.
[in English] Breathe in.
Look at this, man.
- [Meghan] Woo, this is hot! - Look at this.
Yeah. Now it's getting warm. I was cold.
[José] I'm going to turn it off. It's finished. Look at it.
- Beautiful. - Already done.
[Meghan in Spanish] Incredible.
[In English][ My young Jedi, you got it. You're ready.
[giggles] The crew is going to love it.
- Let's set the table and get things ready. - [José] Let's go.
♪ Now, there was a time ♪
♪ I'd wanna be your right hand man ♪
Brr, it's cold in here.
- Hey. - [Meghan] Gorgeous ham.
[José] ♪ The ham, the ham, the ham ♪
[Meghan] Phew!
Those are the peppers you suggested with the blue cheese. Gorgeous.
I'm gonna put oil there on the piquillo peppers.
- Nice. - Oh, yeah.
May I start lighting candles?
♪ You don't have to worry about me ♪
[José] This is looking great.
- [cork pops] - ♪ I can take my chances for free, yeah ♪
- [José] Meghan, you have to see this. - What is this?
- Porrón. - Porrón.
Traditional in Catalonia.
It's the perfect thing to build longer tables with the people.
You fill up. Usually this is sparkling wine.
In Catalonia it will be cava. Take a look at this.
[laughing]
Not what I was expecting.
- It's windy. - It's windy.
That's the way you drink it. And you keep passing this to everybody.
- Oh, my. - No, I won't make you do it.
You have to play with the wind.
Okay, where's the wind coming from?
[jazz music playing]
Oysters are in the house. Butter oyster.
[Meghan] Fantastic.
[José] Look at these plates. They are so beautiful.
[Meghan whispering] Amazing.
I think we're ready for the crew.
[upbeat music playing]
[Meghan] Come on, everybody!
- [José] Hello, hello, hello! - [Meghan laughs]
I'm so happy you're here. Thanks for coming.
[José] Let's go, people. Let's go, team. Everybody's invited.
What do you guys want to drink? Bubbles? ♪ Wine? ♪
- Thanks so much. - Of course.
♪ So come on, come on now Let the good times roll, ♪
[Meghan] Oh, look. Okay, you're doing it?
♪ Let the good times roll, baby ♪
Seasoned professional.
- [Meghan] You can do it. - [José] You have to. Come on.
- [Meghan] Bravo! - [José] Go, go, go.
Use gravity. Use gravity. Go higher. Higher.
- Very good. - That's so good.
Everyone just eat. Eat and jump in. There's so much food.
♪ Let's get cooking in here... ♪
- That was really good. - Mm-hm.
♪ Laughter and cheer ♪
[woman] You want to split this one with me, though?
Everyone's in on uni.
Cheers.
[Meghan] Who wants something? Here we go.
- Isn't it nice? - Creamy.
- Yeah. Oh, I love that. - Really good.
[soft clink on bottle]
So, you guys all know, for two seasons, it's been amazing.
Incredible crew.
I hope you guys know that I see how hard you're all working.
And, José, we talk about our love of family meal at a restaurant,
and how the team makes it together, eats it together, works together,
and that's what we've done, so, thank you guys.
We're so grateful. Cheers to all. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
And thank you, José. Woo-hoo!
♪ Don't let it be the last time ♪
♪ Don't let it be the last time... ♪
- Can you eat something now? - Oh. Okay. Can I get the camera?
- You're gonna take it? - He has to take a break. He has to eat.
His shoulder.
- Okay, I'm going to focus. I'm focusing. - [laughter]
[José] Why I'm not focusing? I'm focusing.
- Okay? - [Meghan] Oh my gosh.
- [José] Okay, people. - [Meghan laughs]
[José] Oh my God.
Every time you see a great TV show, these are the people that make it happen.
People like me, we put it out of focus.
Hey, Meghan! Hold on, let me put you in focus.
[Meghan] Okay.
- [José] Meghan is in the house! - [all cheering]
♪ Don't let it be the last time ♪
♪ That I see your face again ♪
♪ Don't let it be the last time ♪
♪ That I see your face again ♪
♪ Oh, yeah, yeah ♪
- ♪ Don't let it be ♪ - ♪ Don't let it be ♪
♪ Don't let it be ♪
- ♪ Don't let it be ♪ - ♪ Don't let it be ♪
♪ No, no, no ♪
♪ Don't let it be ♪
- ♪ Don't let it be ♪ - ♪ No, no, no, no ♪
- ♪ Don't let it be ♪ - ♪ Don't let it be ♪
♪ Yeah ♪
[music ends]