>> A documentary airing on W T Tw is serving up Filipino cuisine as the main course.

>> From back to Philippines.

Too deeply care act like family.

Really reconnect with the culture.

This is unbelievable.

Heritage.

with that, I grew >> To discover food routes follows restaurants who are believes act as he returns to the Philippines to reunite with family and learn some new dishes along the way.

And joining us now is Billy DEC restaurants who are actor, former adviser to President Obama's Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

Just to name a few of the literal hats that you Welcome the is so good to be back.

So what made you want to document this journey?

And in this way?

Yeah, the documentary Well, originally I was just document it so that when I was going back to the islands of the Philippines to learn the rescues, my ancestors finding family and all these remote villages and mountains and beachside towns.

>> I wasn't consumed with the process of reading things down.

I just want to be president because the whole reason I sort of left out, I didn't learn the recipes that are never written down because I wasn't president was in America.

You know, trying to hustle and, you know, be everything that America tells you need to be to be successful.

But going back to the Philippines, you know, documenting it just going from food to family to life.

All these things start unwind and we got home.

We noticed that the footage was unlike anything we have our expected in an Oscar-winning producer friend Graham, Emmy-winning Filipina director who knew the culture as well.

Saw the footage Apple, the after Black Eyed Peas started putting music to it and they made this magic come about Philippine Filipino food is having a moment, More restaurants are opening in thinking about Boonies shout-out Qasem a has a James Beard Award.

2 Michelin stars >> what do you think is driving all of this interest?

Well, I think genre food is extremely exciting.

It's always evolving.

It's totally innovative.

>> Part of its unique characteristics is that it's been, you know, had influences from all around the world.

And it's so bright and beautiful and delicious and unique.

But at the same time, it's just been this genre food that hasn't really been explored.

And I think with the explosion of chef TV and food adventurers and all these content creators that have made their way around the world.

These beautiful 7,641 Islands of the Philippines, they started to really create intrigue and excitement.

Demand an attraction to this.

This type of food in this.

This really beautiful part of the world in the documentary.

You said that as a kid you experienced bullying bullying from other kids making fun of the Filipino food that you would bring Shannon School for lunch.

>> You were jealous as a kid of you know what other kids what made you know, and once you grew up fall back in love with Filipino food.

Yeah, I mean, no one wanted to trade with you know, they had like 100 sandwiches, smushed, you know, like old school.

And I had like these.

>> You know, fish and vinegar and things that people freak out about now in love.

You know, you grow up loving what your grandma.

My Lola raised me on in the house.

And once you hit middle school and high school, you begin to push way that because people making feel uncomfortable.

I think once I left for college and went on to be an adult and especially law school and when a way and lost by little I I really how to avoid something was wrong in missing.

And that's when we started play around with Sunday, which is 18 years old.

Now we had to be very careful with the introduction of Filipino food back in the day because nobody really was interested in it.

So as a Southeast, Asian elevated and it played with all these different countries around the region, including Filipino food.

So, yeah, let's talk about Filipino food just a little bit.

And what some of the, you know, the staples and flavors are you know, Filipinos who are familiar with that food.

Yeah.

The stuff they call home.

I like to say it's very much a foundation of Southeast Asian flavors and feels that you're used to.

But then you get to integrate some things, especially from Spain and China are the big ones for me.

But there's, you know, Japan, Malaysia, India, us, you name it.

There's so many different influences I think that there's a really wonderful mix of mommy, this burst of of real savory flavor that people aren't used to combine with these fresh bright citrus and fruits and vegetables to come from the Philippines.

But yeah, it's just a mix like another.

And again, it evolves.

And that is what's great about it.

So it always is something new.

There's a moment in a film where you make lumpia with with your low lower brand on because it sounds like that is applied to both grandmothers and granddaughters.

>> granddaughter, great What did that mean to you to be able to do that with her?

>> It was first of like for being transported, almost spirits, Lee to be with my little of light mist so much that she passed away.

This was her sister and the last remaining elder of that generation.

I really felt like an incredible connectivity with her.

I was really like flash backing on cooking or see Milo Cook, but also learning that there is a way in which she did it different from everyone that really unveiled a family story and a story about Filipinos and Pierce, perseverance and all these sort of things.

She had grown up in another home and I would have never known that.

Lets someone told me that.

But that's what these journeys due back in time.

When you really deep dive on what your ancestors did to come together and love and take care of other.

A nurse, shocking stories.

You also get, you know, very personal in the film you're sharing, you know, the tragedy of the deaths of your father, your brother, both of whom struggled with mental illness and of course, the deaths of your other Lola's.

>> Was making this film sort of therapeutic for you as well total.

Hey, I think coming up in Chicago, I had a lot of things that I was hiding because it seemed as if I would not be able to excel in this world right around.

If I didn't act like I had it together and then I was projecting sort a person that had control of their situation and I really you know, went out there with the same way in which I do cooking shows and segments said local national shows and it was me the character that I built with the strong walls.

But when I was engaging with these elders through story, something happened.

Something broke down.

And I think that's when you know, these Oscar Emmy, Grammy winning producer is like what's that?

We need to explore that and it was essentially me having to tell the truth about my real challenges and it was super therapeutic.

I feel so blessed to have this out So surprise.

We did film fest routes across the country in these theaters were filled with people that are completely diverse.

Nothing like me.

And they all were like reacting emotionally like laughing, crying, starving all the things and it's because it's a human story.

I think a lot of people go through, you know, whether it's mental illness, whether it's being poor being challenged in certain ways teams that kind of went through in and out of the story.

It just shows that we can persevere.

We can keep going, you know, really resonate with a lot of people.

So it made you feel good.

the release that you're talking about was their.

Yeah, there's a lot of definitely beautiful moments in the film.

There's another one later on.

I will tell people about they have to go and watch on the blood.

It does blood.

the looks Definitely made me hungry.

Billy Dec, congrats on the film.

Thank you so much for