The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Pizza and Rehabilitation in Chicago’s Cook County Jail | Beyond the Scenes

Episode Date: October 8, 2023

How is pizza helping to rehabilitate people in jail? Daily Show correspondent Ronny Chieng, segment director Sebastian DiNatale, and Chef Bruno Abate join host Roy Wood Jr. to discuss Recipe for Change, a pizza-making program for people in Chicago’s Cook County Jail. The group also delves into America’s mass incarceration crisis, and debates why deep dish pizza is trash. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hey everybody, John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, the weekly show. It's going to be coming out every Thursday. So exciting. You'll be saying to yourself, TGID. Thank God it's Thursday. We're going to be talking about all the things that hopefully obsess you in the same way that they obsess me. The election. Economics. Earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. And I know that I listed that fourth, but in importance it's probably second. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday?

I mean, talk about innovative. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast. You're listening to Comedy Central. 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 the sidewalk. Now, I've tried to explain 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 the the the the the the the the the the. It's the. It's the. It's the. It's th. It's th. It's th. It's th. It's not even the th. It's th. It's the 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 it's 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. Let's roll the clip. Oh this is what people in Chicago call pizza like I find a decent slice in the city instead of this stupid bullshit?

I couldn't find a single place that sold real pizza, just these deep dish dough dumpsters. 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 is actually made by and sold to inmates as part of a training program called Recipe for Change.

You know, recidivism rates like 70%. It's expensive to incarcerate people. It's not expensive to give them a skill. The man giving them that skill? Local restaurateur Chef Bruno Abate, who volunteers his time and expertise to teach inmates how to cook the best pizza in Chicago. That's right. We are talking about food in a 2017 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 Abate but now joining us is Daily Show segment director Sebastian Dina Tal and Daily Show correspondent Runnage Hang. Hi hey, thanks for having us. Now Sebastian because you are Italian should I start with you I don't want to, what's the what's the workest way for me to do thisanks for having us. Now, Sebastian, because you are Italian, should I start with you? I don't want to, what's the weakest way for me to do this?

Well, you usually should stop the on-screen talent, but whatever. Well, yeah, but you're not really the talent in this case. The piece is the talent. Yeah, I know that was really relevant to this whole Americans, I think it is important that we ask them first what they feel comfortable with when we're talking about pizza. Fine, sure. Go ahead. Yeah. Thank you. 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 a time so they have the skill sets when they leave. That's the top-level Cliff notes of what we 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, you know, the most basic way I could describe what was going on here. And I know in the piece, Sebastian's, whose decision was it to have Ronnie destroy all of these beautiful deep dish pizzas in the spirit of him going to the jail and talking to me. 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 week the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. th. Who th. Who th. Who the. Who the. Who's thi. Who's the. Who's th. Who's th. Who's th. Who's th. Who's decision. Who's th. Who's decision. Who's th. Who's th. Who's th. Who's th. Who's th. Who's th. Who's th. Who's th. Who's th. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. th. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the. the. the. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the.. 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 gonna really rip into Chicago Deep Dish Dish. But we and like every other New York-based show has done that a million times. So after the first minute, we realized 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 the the the the takes to to takes to to to to to to to the to to to the to to to the to to to the to to to to the to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the. We thi. We that. We that. We that. We that. We that. We that. We that. We that. We that. We that. We that. We that. We that. We that. We that. We that. We that. We that. We that. We th. We th. We th. We th. We, th. We, th. We, th. We th. We th. We th. We th. We have, th. We have th. We have th. We have th. We have th. We have the. We have the. the. the. the. the. the. to, the. We have the. We have the. We have the. We have the. We have to it which is the the rehabilitation aspect that I really wanted to explore but yeah we had way more takes and different shots of destroying pizzas that sadly I we had to cut for time but I was I I took so much pleasure in Ronnie punting those pizzas throwing them in the river yeah archive in the archives you got to check the archives I mean I was you also mentioned this was Sebastian's actual first piecethem in the river. Yeah. In the archives. You got to check the archives. I mean, I also mentioned this was Sebastian's actual fuss piece out in the field. This kind of got out of the office and managed to get out in 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 the 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 talk to a jail? And they were were th, I th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, thus, thus, thi, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, thu, the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the, the, the, to, te, te, te, tean, tea, tea, tea, tea, tea, te.e. te, te, the, 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 to, 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 a 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.

A short shake parody. Yeah, filming a sketch where we escaped from prison. Yeah. In October 2017, Ronnie Chang smuggled thin crust pizza out of Cook County Jail. Oh, Ronnie loved pizza, but he also hated Chicago deep dish. He had to find a way to get thin crust pizza to the people of Chicago. All it takes to get pizza out is cheese, dough, and thy time. That and a big-ass poster. Ronnie Chang, who crawled through a river marinaire and came out smelling like Basing. But you know, you gotta give and take. You win some, you lose some.

Yeah, they were fine. And afterwards, they were like, yeah, we wish you hadn't done that, but the piece is great, so thanks. Yeah, but also, can we talk a bit about that little segment? Because, I mean, it was two 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 in tomato sauce out of a tube in the middle of a field and that was also yeah I was crawling out this tube covered in tomato sauce into a cold field and Roy you know in the field it's not like a

hot room waiting for you you're just after you crawl out of a tube in tomato sauce where where in into in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in in the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the to c. to c. to c. the c. the c. the c. the cc. the cc. the cc. the cc. the c. the c. the c. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the c. the the the the the the c. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. th. ttto. tome. tome. tome. tome. tome. tome. tome. tome. tome. tome. tome. the the 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 wet just outside you're just outside wet in tomato sauce for about an hour and Maya Erickson who works at the show now she was that was one of her first kind of a PA jobs production assistant jobs and she went to go buy me some sweatpants from the local. She was an all-star. Yeah, she got it all. She got it all. Yeah. By the way, the sweatpants that she bought me was amazing. Like I still use it till today. I've used four years later. I used it for flying. It's one of the best no-brand sweat pants I've ever seen. So shout out, you know what she told me, Ronnie, when we first started in 2015, 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 and strange places. And you're going to have to learn how to do that often. If you're changing clothes, it's a good th and Very good. She's spot on. She was spot on for advice. Like, so then with everything that's going on with this piece, Ronnie, and you're crawling around it, 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 to the gang territory thing. I'm like, no, you know what, let me do the gang territory thing. And I'm going to be honest. I'm kind of I did thaged thired I did thired I did the gang territory thing because I remained dry. Oh, well, hey, you know, again, as 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 kind of motivated the research and the pitching behind this piece. But to be honest, I mean, I'm glad we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we the the the that we that we that we that we that we got that we got that we got that we got that we got that we got that we got that we got that we got that we got that we got that we got that we got that we got that we got that we got that the that that that that that that that that that that that that's, that, that, that's, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, the the the the the the the the the the the th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the. the the. the thean. the. thean. thean. thean. the. the. the. that's, again, that's, the behind this piece. But to be honest, I mean this piece was great even if, you know, I mean, I'm glad we got

a 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. But I personally learned a lot doing it, you know, beyond beyond, th, the, the, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, thi, I, I'm thi, I'm thi, I'm thi, I'm tho, I'm tho, I'm tho, I'm thi, I'm thi, I'm their, I'm their, I'm their, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm their, I'm their, I'm their, I'm their, I'm their, I'm their, I'm, I'm their, I'm, I'm, I'm, I's, I'm, I's, I'm their, I's, I'm their, I'm their, I'm their. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thooooooooo. toda. today, I'm glad. today, 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'll just, apparently people hate deep dish. Okay, I'll play that game.

I will say this about Ronnie. And I don't compliment him almost ever, but of the correspondence, all of you guys 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 if I had asked you or Costa or Desi, can you get into this tube filled with the marinara sauce? You would eventually do it. But... Why? What is the joke? Yeah, there'd be a discussion. And I think what's so nice about... Can I just crawl through and then you add sauce in the computer? Yeah, and 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's just like so down. It just it helps so much with the process to have a talent that is just on board from the get go so 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 now and then they're like wait wait wait what what is the motive blah blah blah and Ronnie just has like complete on kind of blind trust which is helpful to allow us to like get as many crazy kind of

moment as we can. Ronnie Chang is the goal standard in the building for how daring are you willing to go? How much are you willing to go to do something? And that's always, it's the thing I kind of mumbled to myself sometimes. And some of the other correspondence too. But it's like, well, should I do this? Yes, you have to do this. Never forget, Ronnie Chain, ate half a stick of butter on live television and swallowed it. I mean, hey, I take after you guys, so that's very, that's very-

No, you're done. You didn't get that from me. Hey, man, I'm not in Chicago gang territory trying to do comedy. I'm just throwing pizza as the city people, the city people, you, you, you, thatatatatatatatat, you, you, you, you, that, throwing 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 Correll eating a spoonful of Crisco. Ronnie Chang eating half a stick of butter. And Costa and I, when we went out to do the Florida algae piece in the swamp.

Oh yeah. And Costa was standing with no mask on next to a a a a the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the algae piece in the swamp. Oh yeah. And Costa was standing with no mask on next to a full green algae boom 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. Top 3, DeafDifying Comedy Acts.

After the break, we're going to talk with the founder and president of Recipe for Change. Chef Bruno Abate about why he does what he does, and what he thinks of Sebastian's slander of the deep dish. Hey everybody, John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, the weekly show. It's going to be coming out every Thursday. So exciting, you'll be saying to yourself, TGID, thank God it's Thursday we're going to be talking about. All the things that hopefully obsess you in the same way that they obsessed me. The election. Economics. Earnings calls. What are they talking about on these

earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. And I know that I listed that fourth, but in importance it's probably second. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday? I mean, talk about innovative. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast. 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 pronounce that right, Brother Abate?

Yes, yes, perfect. Yes, yes, you see that, Sebastian? Yeah. One of the few ones say my last name, everybody say, Abat, a bait, a peat, ah, come on. So before we started everything, I have a question that I never asked to run it for the last four years when I saw you the last time. Who paid for the sauce with the mozzarella that you have on the tube and new pants? Oh, uh, we got donations for that. Yeah. Donation from who? From the people of Chicago who supported the peace.

Oh, okay. That's why I saw that. I said, that's not my mozzarella. That mozarella was coming from the deep dish pizza and it looks greasy and bad. And even the marinara, the color, the color was not really red like the Italian tomato. It was like a more than Chicago. Chef Chef we didn't want to use your we would never disrespect you all. We wouldn't yeah we didn't want to use your ingredients. Yeah we didn't want to use your. We would never disrespect you all. Yeah we did some public school marinara. No problem. Some of it was blood. It wasn't even Mariana.

Yeah. Marinara. Only a chef would critique the food, the quality of the food used to crawl through. That is a real chef. Chef, it's high standards. He's got high standards. I saw that when I was in his program.

He's got very high standards. Roy, I I I I'll let I'll let I'll let I I I'll that I'll that I'll that I'll that I'll that I'll that I'll that I'll let you get into it, but... Yeah, 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, 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 try to make to make to make to make to make to make to make to make to make to make to make the to make the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the teauuuauauauauauauauauauauauaught.ea tea tea teauaua teauauauauaua tea t do what all the immigrants do, work, try to make a better future for the family, and be a respectable citizen. So I don't have no idea that this will

happen to me about the jail. And so, and like I say many times, and it was really a call from God. And so it just happened one night and all this happened to me, and I never been in prison in jail, I don't have history with my family about prison or jail. So I really was a truly a call and I start right down of what can I do to change the prison system in America after I saw this documentary, a treaty in the morning, that America, this

beautiful country incarcerated in 2,700 kids, you know, under 14, with a life in prison with no parole at their time. Think about it. There was, you know, America incarcerated kids are 10 years old, 11 years old, 12 years old. I don't know if you guys have kids and think about it, just stop for a second, if you have a kid and think about it, a kid at 10, 11 years old, be life in prison. Who are you saying in 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 juvenile prison after two weeks. To start teaching those kids out of make, you know, some food. And they don't understand me when I was talking why 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, uh, English plus slang. So, yeah.

But there was some connection. There was some connection when I was taking the spoon. And, and say, hey, taste, try. Try. Try. Try. And they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they were they were they were they were they were they were they were they were taking the spoon and say, hey, taste, try, and they were making faces. So there I started finding the connection between the food and them. And so every time I was going there, it was a, it was a, it was a paradise. I discovered that, you know, they were making me better. Every time I was going out after the teaching, the class,

I feel bad and bad. I feel with more energy, oh my gosh. And that's what I gave me the power to continue and to think 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 how beautiful our kitchen 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, is 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 pride in, 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 I do this program why for job people don't understand the job is not the solution the solution is to restore what's broken side of these people. The dignity, the self-esteem, the hope, believing themselves. So this is our all the little pieces that we need to connect with them. It's not about the job. If I provide a job, I mean, I used to have the rest in the restaurant in downtown. And everybody was coming out and I tried myself on my own skin.

Come to work soon you get out. And they were coming and work. They were like, you know, panic attack. They have been problem. They didn't know what to. And, you know, and soon they get some money, they go back to do the same lifestyle. So the program is based on give you back to make you believe you can do it. Internal.

To make you believe that you are a human like head of anyone. And we make mistake about, 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 money you make. Fifteen thousand a year, 20,000 a year. If you go to work, you're going to make more money and you're not risking to be in prison for five, six, seven years. So that's what I say to that and I say, how much money did you make you selling drugs last year? 20,000. Then you're not a good business man.

There's some bad drugs. Well, you know now, you're going to pay. Respectfully. It makes sense, right. Right.. Right. Right. th. th, right, right, right, right, right, right, right, right, right. th. th, thi, that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's tho tho tho tho tho thi, thi, thi. thi. to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. the. the more the more the the the the the the more more thoooooooooooooo to to to to thi. th man. Some bad drugs. Well, he goes now, you're going to pay. It makes sense, right? Yeah, that's what's so cool about chef is that he's, I found him equal parts inspirational, inspirational, aspirational, and practical. So the way he approached the program was all of those things. It wasn't just, let's all be better people. It's like, can make more money if you're a better person.

It's like, this makes perfect sense. Goodwill sells better than cocaine. Definitely. Chef, another question. Well, let me, this, let me ask Sebastian and Ronnie a question first and it's going to tie to something I have for you, to sabash and Ronnie, was there anything in the piece that did not make it in that you had to edit out like, ah, ah, yeah. Because we had 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, uh, Bruno chef was like, for like a half an hour to 45 minutes, just like, insult 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 a it's garbage people should not eat this It's like a brick look at this look. I mean, I don't know where you buy this I don't want to know but this is shame.

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 they threw in the trash at all, that whole scene. 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, describe what's wrong with Deep Dish Pizza. Bruno just went off, I didn't give him any direction, and he threw in the trash can. I didn't even know that was coming so, we like couldn't have

to follow that. That whole that whole thing was so beautiful. It was very, coming from a very authentic place as well. Yes, you know, yeah. And he hates wasting food man. So for him to, yeah, for him to throw away a deep dish, it was like he doesn't even consider this human food. Yeah, I tried to keep as much didn't cut almost any of the program stuff any of the stuff with the participants yeah the other stuff that we just cut was 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 I'm 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 the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the participants the the the the participants the the participants the the participants the the participants the the the participants. th. th. the participants th. I th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the the the participants. the participants. the participants the participants the participants the participants the participants the participants the participants the participants the participants the participants the the the the the the the the participants the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. th. th. th. th. tho. to to thus. to thus. thus. thus. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. th. 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 you hater, chef? That's what I'm trying to ask you, very bluntly. Who doesn't like deep dish in the jail? Oh my gosh, nobody likes a deep

dish yet. Right now they call it a deep shit. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Chef, Roy is asking you who is opposing your program in jail? 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 is a some separation and everything. A lot of people they don't care you know a lot of people this is why we have the situation in America a lot of people say you know these people should be in jailed forever these are criminal you know so so and so and but th. this this th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th you you have you have you have you have you have you thi you have you have you you you you you you you you you have you have you have you have you have you have you have you have you have you have you have you have you have you have you have you you you th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi A lot of people say, you know, these people should be in jail forever. These are criminal, you know, so.

But we do, we are fortunate that we have more people they think different, they think that we should rehabilitate it, the people that should support our program, you know. And I have to say that I, I never personally, you know, and I have to say that I never personally, you know, hear anyone say to me directly, I don't like the program or you should not do it or something like that. You know, I would bunch of minutes. 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 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 couldn't find anyone other than some 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 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, oh, 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 the their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their th.. th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. their. th. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. t. te. te. te. te. te. tea. te. te. te. te. to. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. t. t. t 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 they are learning you know even even the financial reasons like chef would tell me like he just bring his own ingredients in so he would it would it would cost the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the they they they they the they the they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they the the the the the the the the the the to to to to th to th th to the the the the the the the the the the the the they. the the the the they're they they the the even the financial reasons like chef would tell me like he just bring his own ingredients in so he would it would it would have cost the state 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 of the rare things in America where it seemed like everybody. Everyone in the cook county jail was to be a part of this great program. I learned how to be a the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th their the the the their their their their the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the they. they. they. they. they. they. they. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the Cook County Jail was to be a part of this great program. I learned how to be a better leader. I learned more how to work with a lot of other people. I basically have learned how to eat better. Chef, what is it about deep dish pizza that gets you so upset? Don't start doing it. It makes me upset why it's a good idea. It's a good idea.

That pizza the way they want to do it. You know, in Italia, we call a focashari piena. So it means, you know, the two dough, where you have one on the bottom, one on top, and then you kind of feel in a mirror. The problem is, you know, when you're using, you know, a pound of cheese. And the quality the quality the quality the quality the quality the quality the quality, the quality, the quality, the quality, the quality, the quality, the quality, the quality, the quality, the quality, the quality, the quality, the quality, the quality, the quality, the quality, it is, it is, it is, the quality is, it is, it is, it is, is, is, they. And, is, is, they. And, they. And, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is. And, is, is, is, is, is, is. And, is, is, is, is. And, is, is, is. And, is, is. And, is, is. And, is, is, is. And, is, is, is, is. And, is, is, is, is. And, is. know, a pound of cheese and then a pound of sausage. 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

overweight why they eat that pizza. So, I'm against why there is a way to make something light. Call it the dish pizza, but you can do light. You can do with the mozzarella ofula, the buffalo. You can do some with some Marzano tomato. But if you use all this bad ingredient. And you put like, you know, two pound of stuff inside. It's a, it becomes like a brick, like I say in the

show, it's a brick. It's not a pizza. And that's one slice, it's like, you know, you're eating a brick. It goes in your stomach and boom, right? So, that's what I don't like about it. The idea is phenomenal. You know, I wish I can make one for you right now and see a light will come. But you know, 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, Arby'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 thatthat. I mean, you know, the good things Ronnie said before and it touch a good point is, you know, I don't ask no money to state, government, 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, we, we got the the the the the the the the, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we got the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the of people, and that's what I do every day. Please, donate a dollar. And that's how we got the money. And since the show, the daily show, we have a beautiful kitchen, a woman, we create a woman

division. So now we only, we teach also the woman. And we have like almost 7,000 square feet of kitchen. After that, to before COVID, we raised the money to buy a truck. And now we have those beautiful 30 feet truck that we bought it. And now we are in a 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 it would be my dream. To utilize the people that have minimum crime so they can go out of the jail and the money, go on the truck, work and when after the finish their worker, they go back to the jail. Work release. It's a kind of rehabilitation. You know, now I'm breathing 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 awesome. That's awesome. Exactly. And all the profit, 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, 40% we give it back to the cococococococococococoe, to to to to to to they, to they, they, they, to they, they, they, they, to, to, they, they, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, they, they, to, to, to, to, to, the, the, they, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, they, they, they, they, they, they.e, you, you, you, you know, you're, you're, you know, you're, you're, you know, you're, you're, you know, they.e.e.e.e.e.e give it back to the Cook County it goes in programs to other for to help other problems why other programs they're in

jail they don't have money so you know the person who comes to read the Bible or other stuff so we we help them with the money to we found it more program in court with the money we make from we found it more program in Cook County Jail with the money we make from the pizza. 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 with the county with the county with the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the they they they they they they they they they they they they they they can they can they can they can they can they can't the their their their their thoomom. I their their 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. We got to get your ticket. 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. 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 in the same system. Indeed, so last question for you, 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 my, listen, I've been, I'm really, I'm not, I'm not reach. I'm struggling every day here. I work 15 hours a day. Have you thought about selling drugs? I don't have a lot of money, believe me. I just, they know, my goal is always get up in the money, I pray, I say, God, give me

the energy to do something good every day. And that's what I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I'm th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. I'm th. I'm th. th. th. th. thin, I'm th. I 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 your system, connect with gel where you are. Go offer yourself and say, you know what, I'm coming once a week, I'm bringing my ingredient, can I teach them people? That's what I done.

I used to do 100 miles away every Monday to go in a prison of St. Charles, bring my own food, and stay there and tea those guys. Finally Finally we have a problem to find people to work and you're going to find a lot of good people in the system they need a chance. Yeah. So go there and teach him. You're going to find a lot of people that want to work. So this is going to help us also in the restaurant business now that we have a big problem. We can find the dish washash. We can not find to find a to find people people people people people people people find people people find people people people people people people people people people people to find people people to find people people people. to find people people to find people people. to find people. to find people. to find people. to find people. to find people. to find people. to find people. to find people. to find people. to find people. to find people. to find people. to find people. to find to find people. to find people to find people to find people to find people to find people. to find people. to find people. to find people people. to find people. to find people. to find people. to find people. to find people. to find people. to find people. to find people. to find people. to find people. to find people. to find people. to find people. to find people. to find people. to find people. to find people. to find people. to find people. to find people. to find people. to find people. to find people. to find people. to find people. to find people. to find people. to find people. the restaurant business now that we have a big problem. We can find the dishwasher. We cannot find chef. We can not find anybody not even to make the ugly deep dish pizza. So I think that's what the chef should do, just to be involved with your community.

That's how you start everything. It's like a movement that we can start. All the chef, the chef movement in America, go and teach people in prison in jail. It makes sense or no? Sounds great. Sounds great. I like the.

The chef movement, we should get these words down. Yeah, I just I just copyrighted it and already got t-shirts for sale. So thanks. Thanks for the idea though. It's called recipe for change program. He is chef Bruno Abate. Brother thank you so much for joining us. We got one more break. We're going to 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 beyond the same. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you guys. I really appreciate that you know you remember us and I hope this will be a big help. Ronnie, I love I you you you to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to you I love you to to to to to you I love you. I love you to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the tie. the the the the the the the the the the to to to remember us and I hope this will be a big help. Rani, I love you.

I love you, chef. I'll see you soon, I'm coming to Chicago. I'm doing a show there, I'll come by a restaurant. Yeah, please, come over, okay? Come to the restaurant. Okay, we'll do. Thank you. Thank you. God bless you. Bye-bye. The chef movement. Great. Hey everybody, John Stewart here.

I am here to tell you about my new podcast, the weekly show. It's going to be coming out every Thursday. So exciting. You'll be saying to yourself, TGID, thank God it's Thursday. Thank God it's Thursday. We're going to be talking about. All the things that hopefully obsess you in the same way that they obsess me. The election. Economics. Earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. And I know that I listed that fourth, but in importance, it's probably second.

I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday? I mean, talk about innovative. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast. Ronnie is still here with me. Segment Director Sebastian D. 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. Dion Gillespie. Welcome to Be On The Scenes. Thank you. Thank you.

Happy to be here. Good to hear from you man. Thank you. Nice hearing, man. Now, I'm gonna be honest, you know, as one of Ronnie's many black friends, you know, any time a new one gets added to the rotation. I'm like, you know, who is this this this this this this this this this person this person this person person person person this person this person person person this to the rotation. I'm like, you know, who is this Ronnie? You know, what's this person all about? You got to make sure folks on the square. Now, Dion,

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 clearly because I was going through a really tough time in my life. It was a dark time, clearly, because I was in custody. And I was dealing with a lot of self-guilt for letting a lot of family and friends down, my co-workers down the community. So I was carrying that burden on my back. So when I got the opportunity to try and arrest people changed, it was almost an escape from that dark on my back. So when I got the opportunity to try and rest people change,

it was almost an escape from that dark place. And it became something they provided some hope in a hopeless moment for me at that time of my life. So rest people 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 rehabilitative 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've found the appointment almost immediately upon my release. And it's partly due to the resources that was provided to me at Recipe for Change because of certifications I received for food sanitation, restaurant management. So I found the company that was wanted 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 401k, it's a union job, and this is just a stuff stone. This is not my career. This is a stuff stone to what's next 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 rest people change. Yeah, because I'm listening to where their their to to their their to their to the for many others. So that's why programs like rest people change is so. Yeah, because I'm listening to where you are right now, Deion.

It sound like you're in transit as we speak. Are you headed to work? Yeah, hey, I appreciate you guys for being a little time for us. This, this commuter on public transportation is really roughed. So I'll apologize to you guys. the train. th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th. th. th. th. th. thu, thu, thu, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, than, than, than, than, than, than, than, than, than, than, than, than, than, than, than, than, than, than, than, to me, to me, to me, to me, to me, to me, to me, to me, thin, they.. I thin, they. I'm than, no, man, you a 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. Chef Bruno said the job skills are important,

but not 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, I think the most difficult part about me transitioning back to the workplace and society, it's 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 may well know, like, nowhere is your in a gangster test it than at the workplace where you're try to do something that you're 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 recipe for change, it has really been valuable tools that I've been able to implement into the DNA of the core, me and the core 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 the labs along with the rest of the staff that works winter mom, Chef Abreu, our nutritionist, his son, Adriano, like it's a wonderful major program and because of that program I've been able to be a part of a platform such 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, Dion.

Do you stand with deep dish pizza? I did, but I was directed by Chef Bruno, so the thing across pizza is the best. Less is more, so I'm not going to go against the brain. And I will say before we let Dion go, I have to mention. Dion has, I think, my favorite line from the whole piece, which is where are you going with the pizza? Guys, this pizza is genuinely awesome. You must have people lying up around the block to buy this. Actually, it's only for inmates.

Guys, we're going to rescue Chicago from that bull-dish pizza. Look, I know the piece is great, but this is not how you deal with conflict. All right, I'll be right back. Hey, where you going with the pizza? That line, me and the editor of that piece, Mark, will still yell at each other while if we leave or if we like, you know, taking lunch somewhere else, we'll just yell, will you go with the pizza? It's a great line. So thank you, Dion, thrown for your incredible delivery. No problem, thank you, bro-brottie. We we, th. We we we we we we we we we th. We we th. We we will, th. We will, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. to. to. to. to. to. to. thi. thi. thee. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. th. th, man. Thank you guys. Well, Dion, brother, we'll let you get back to your commute, man. Thank you for making a little bit of time to go beyond the scenes with us, brother.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Yes, sir. Bye-bye. Bye. All right, man. Well, Ronnie, Sebastian, we did it. We went beyond the scenes on your piece.

You look so excited by the way you tell the Frank this is like you're on a firing line? Because I thought that someone would stand with me in defending deep dish pizza and here I stand alone. You're all alone, my man. Why do you even, why are you on the side of deep dish? Because I'm a southerner. I like pie and this is closer to pie. I support the cubs for some reason you're from Alabama. Like pie. It's a casserole if anything. Ronnie I will smash your face. Like a dish. Whatever it is, it's delicious and it's better than

that, let me stop because I don't want New York City on my ass. Yeah, you better stop. Thank you so much for going beyond the scenes. I'm gonna get both of you the fuck out of here and then slander thin crusts once you're off the air. Thanks for having us Roy. Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever. Get out of here. you see in the building. Bye. See you guys. See in the building. Listen to the Daily Show Beyond Universe by searching the Daily Show, wherever you get your podcasts. Watch the Daily Show weeknights at 11, 10 Central on Comedy Central and stream full episodes anytime on Fairmount Plus.

This has been a Comedy Central podcast. Hey everybody, John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, The Weekly Show, it's going to be coming out every Thursday. So exciting, you'll be saying to yourself, TGID. Thank God it's Thursday we're going to be talking about all the things that hopefully obsess you in the same way that they obsess me. The election. Economics. Earnings calls. What are they talking about? What are they the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the weekly the the weekly the weekly the the weekly the weekly tho. the weekly tho. the weekly the weekly the weekly tho. the weekly. the weekly. the weekly show show show show. the weekly show show. the weekly show show. the weekly show. the weekly show. the weekly show. the weekly show. the weekly show. the weekly show. the weekly show. the weekly show. the weekly show. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the weekly week. We weekly the weekly show. Wea. Wea. We're the the the weekly show. Wea. We're the weekly show. We're weekly show. We're the weekly show. We're the the the the the the the the things that hopefully obsess you in the same way that they obsess me. The election. Economics. Earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches.

And I know that I listed that fourth, but in importance it's probably second. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday? I mean, talk about innovative. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast.