Breaking Bread: This Sacramento TV show puts D.C.’s food scene on the map

There is a wealth of food TV shows Throughout California’s long culinary history. In the 1960s, Julia Child from California appeared on the screen French chef. Then there it was Great chefs In the 1980s and 1990s, it was a featured platform for legends including Martin Yan and Masataka Kobayashi. Netflix took the lead in a big way in 2015 Chef’s tablehighlighting Dominic Crane from San Francisco, and David Chang Next thing you eat It spotlighted the Bay Area when it debuted in 2021 on Hulu. Now, in the year 2023, there’s a new player looking to join those hallowed halls.

break bread A three-part documentary series from Sacramento-based production company Moonracer Films that airs Thursday, September 7 on KCRA, after the NFL kickoff at approximately 9 p.m. The show features Sacramento’s chefs, chefs, farmers, and food workers over the course of three segments. 30-minute episodes. It was only a matter of time until a culinary region like Sacramento got Netflix-level storytelling, says Ryan Royster, co-founder of The Last Supper Society and former Moonracer employee. “It’s one of the most important food-producing regions in our country,” says Roester. “It’s the breadbasket of California.”

Anya McEnroy and the Moonracer movies

Anya McEnroy and the Moonracer movies

One episode will bounce back from a distinctly separate backstory—Maybe Last Supper Society chef Byron Hughes mediates black and brown food—to a roundtable conversation with other colleagues in Sacramento. Billy Ngo from top sushi restaurant Kru was featured, as was Ginger Elizabeth Hahn from Ginger Elizabeth Chocolate, and even Alice Waters from Berkeley’s Chez Panisse appeared to pay tribute to Sacramento’s food scene. Featured talents discuss their working relationships, sourcing techniques, the state of mental health in the restaurant industry, and the challenges they have faced during their careers.

The show’s beginnings date back to 2018. That’s when Moonracer launched, and in no time, the team decided they wanted to do a passionate project that went beyond the commercials that paid the bills. break bread Moonracer director and chief production officer Cameron Tyler says he wasn’t even halfway through pitching the show to potential collaborators when Mike Testa, CEO of Visit Sacramento, raved. The three-person company, including director of photography Viktor Mihalchuk and cinematographer Greg Gearhart, began shooting in summer 2020 with the help of a few hired gunmen. Visit Sacramento, the city’s tour operator, serves as co-producer, and after it airs on KCRA, the show will be available for broadcast on Hearst Media’s Very Local.

Anya McEnroy and the Moonracer movies

Anya McEnroy and the Moonracer movies

Anya McEnroy and the Moonracer movies

The team wanted the show’s energy to play into familiar relationships, such as Hughes’ work for Canon’s Brad Secci until his recent firing – a storyline explored in the episode, though spoiler alert, the two are now friends. The show’s director hopes break bread It shines when the subjects of the show show how well they relate to Sacramento, which is rare for a city of this size in his opinion. Plus, there is a veritable abundance of food producers to highlight in Sacramento. “It’s a very special city with outstanding chefs and farmers,” Tyler says. “They’re all competing with each other, but they’re all pushing Sacramento forward.”

Thanks to the tight-knit nature of Sacramento’s food world, all featured chefs are at least colleagues and often close friends, says Royster. Yes, the Michelin Guide and the James Beard Foundation have made their visits to D.C., with the latter nominating Benchoyaki’s Craig Takehara for Best Chef in 2023. But he feels the show allows for a much deeper look into the lives of Californians who often don’t. Don’t get their shine. “Sacramento was San Francisco’s little brother,” Royster says. Now don’t try to be the next San Francisco or Portland. Now it’s just this: This is what we do, and we have the best ingredients in the world.

break bread Debuted on September 7 right after the NFL kick-off KCRAat around 9 p.m., the second episode airs on Sunday, September 10, and the final episode, on September 17.