Best of Brunch: What Chefs Cook at Home - Chicago

[upbeat music]

I am Amiel Stanek, contributing editor at Bon Appetit.

I'm visiting chefs across America

to see what they cook at home on a relaxed Sunday off

when they're not cooking professionally

and just wanna connect with friends and family.

What's for brunch?

Today I'm visiting chef Brian Jupiter, Chicago, Illinois.

I feel my food brings people together by telling my story.

Growing up in the south in New Orleans,

my grandmother was our chef

and it was always home cooked greatness.

When you eat my food now, you see the journey.

You see New Orleans coming up to Chicago

and really engulfing everything

that I've eaten along the way.

[Amiel knocking on door]

Hey! My man.

What's up man?

It's good to see you. What's happening, yo?

Good to see you as well.

Thanks for coming for brunch.

Can I help you out?

Come on in. Great.

Alright, so what are we making?

What can I do?

We're gonna start with this hibiscus tea.

[Amiel] Yeah.

And I'm using Gold Peak tea for this recipe.

All right.

So we're gonna make a syrup first, right?

And so we're gonna take some hibiscus flour,

some sugar, and some water.

Bring it up to a boil.

Are you a sweet tea person?

I love sweet tea. Yeah.

This brings me back to my childhood.

And makes me think of family, you know,

something that was in our refrigerator every day.

And you know, flavor breeds memories.

I feel like some of my first memories from being a kid

were food memories.

It's where you are, it's who you're with,

and it's that taste and that smell.

I grew up, from a very young age,

cooking with my grandmother.

Just learning really the basis of soul food.

You get to keep legacies alive.

Yeah.

Are there any dishes, like,

on the menu at your restaurants that are...

You can kind of trace directly back to your grandmother?

A lot of the stuff is her, right?

But we make it look a little fancy

and I might call it a little something different.

But that's my ma's food though.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Brian] Our syrup has really come together now

and we can strain it.

Oh wow.

Look at that color.

All right.

All right, so we're gonna start with our Gold Peak tea.

Sound of that ice. Oh yeah.

It's like magic almost.

[Amiel] Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Like streams in.

Some people call me a chef, some call me a magician.

Cheers.

Cheers.

It doesn't read too sweet,

'cause of the acidity from the hibiscus.

Yeah.

Put me on a beach.

Seriously.

Now we're gonna make the peach barbecue,

which I'm extremely excited to show you.

You know, a Sunday brunch feels like the thing

that's kind of like resetting.

You know? I agree.

Getting ready for the week. I agree.

[Amiel] Get to spend that quality time.

So we're gonna add some ketchup.

And how long is this all gonna cook for?

We're gonna go about a half an hour.

30, 40 minutes.

You just really wanna make sure

your onions are fully cooked, the garlic's fully cooked

so you get a nice, smooth texture.

You know, one of the fun things that I find

with my daughter is, you know,

I feel like I know her palate now.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah. You know?

It's almost like a victory when I nail it, you know?

And she's like, Thumbs up Dad, I really enjoy this.

And I'm like, yes, I got it.

[Amiel] Are there things that you and your daughter

really like to cook together?

She really enjoys the baking side of things.

She bakes a lot with her mother,

whereas I'm more of the savory.

Yeah, so we are gonna go ahead on

and add this to our blender.

Cool.

I'm gonna stand way back.

That looks really good.

You know, my daughter actually loves

brushing the sauces on the chicken

and things like that, so yeah.

[Amiel] You made it out like she's just a baker,

but she's like right there on the grill with you.

She's trying to take my job.

you know, at the end of the day, you know, so-

Better watch out.

Yeah, she might be able to have it.

Sauce is done.

You wanna grab the chicken?

And we'll start grilling?

Sure thing.

Alright.

We have our Brian chicken.

We'll let 'em go probably about seven minutes or so

on each side.

We'll check 'em and flip 'em,

you know, and then we'll go from there.

Great.

Adriana, come on over.

She smokey.

Smokey, smokey.

Does it look good?

Yes, it looks delicious.

Wow.

I heard you have a very special job with this chicken.

You're the brush queen.

Oh yeah.

Look at that technique.

[Brian] Yeah.

[Amiel] Full coverage.

Very meticulous.

You can put that one back,

and I'll come get you when it's ready.

All right.

Thanks Adriana. Thank you.

You know, chef, I gotta say like,

you're doing an okay job,

but I think your daughter's technique was a little bit...

A little bit more studied, a little bit more particular.

She tells me to take notes.

[Amiel] You ready to eat then?

[Brian] We are ready to eat.

[Amiel] All right, let's do it.

What's up, y'all?

Check this out.

That looks so good.

She did all the work, right?

She did all the work.

As always.

As always.

We gotta get down and dirty, right?

Yeah.

Guys, honestly, I feel just so honored to have been

invited over for brunch.

It's so inspiring to see you guys sitting down together,

to see you cooking with your daughter.

That's what family's all about.

Seizing memories that we make together through food

and cooking and taking care of each other.

What grade do you give that chicken?

Out of 10.

[Adriana] 10.

10 outta 10? 10 outta 10.

I'll take that. All right.

The ultimate golden moment is when that recipe

that works for you now puts a smile

on a family member's face.

[Amiel] Thank you for having me.

[Adriana] Cheers.

[Amiel] I can stick around,

as long as you guys wanna have me.

[all laughing]