Served crispy and sizzling in grease. When it comes to preparations, few could be as delightful and decadent as a good, old-fashioned deep fry. We dip the Mind of a Chef basket in hot oil on this episode, serving up everything from oyster poboys to pig’s head, from alligator filets to sardine spines.

Our relationship with destruction is not a simple one. It can release endorphins and relax our minds. It can amp us up and make us even more aggressive. It can even help us regulate our emotional reactions. Can violently breaking things calm us down? Or does it simply anger us more? Find out as Michael Stevens takes a look into our urge to destroy.

Trading in the animal world for the vegetable one, the garden is a place where ingredients for some of Ludo’s favorite dishes are cultured, grown and harvested. Today’s chef reveres his gardener as much as his butcher.
In this episode, Ludo explores the vegetables, gardens, and memories he uses to cook some of his dishes. We also explore how terroir is as much a place as a taste.

When it comes to illusions, optical illusions get all the attention. But the whole body you have can be fooled and can fool the brain. What is touch? Is it real, or is it just in our heads? Michael Stevens decides to find out.

Perhaps there is no architectural feature more distinctly Angeleno than a strip mall. The city is full of them with their busy facades and bright neon signage. Their wonderfully eclectic, multi-purpose tenants give shape and home to the multitudes of ethnic communities that make up LA’s diverse population.
Trois Mec and Petit Trois can be found side-by-side in a Hollywood strip mall, nestled between a dry cleaners and a Yum Yum donut. Ludo’s restaurants and the dishes he creates for them embody the cultural mash-up and high/low flair that is the strip mall philosophy.

The Romanovs retreat into a bubble of luxury while the czar's forces brutally suppress protests by a starving populace. Rasputin's influence grows, never mind the rumors and scandals. Many people believe Prime minister Peter Stolypin is the last hope of the Romanov Dynasty as reformer-in-chief. He is horrified by the rise of Rasputin. The fight between Stolypin and Rasputin is a battle for influence over Nicholas II. But Stolypin is shot in the Kiev Opera in 1911.