Signature Dish
Hot Out of the Oven
Season 3 Episode 4 | 28m 40sVideo has Closed Captions
Bread Furst in Van Ness; Saku Saku Flakerie in Tenleytown; Rockville’s Z&Z Manoushe Bakery.
Host Seth Tillman visits three standout bakeries and enjoys a variety of freshly baked treats, starting with the jambon buerre sandwich at Bread Furst in Van Ness, D.C. Next, he tries the kouign amann with red bean paste at Saku Saku Flakerie in Tenleytown, D.C., and the Lebanese Bride at Z&Z Manoushe Bakery in Rockville, MD.
Signature Dish is a local public television program presented by WETA
Signature Dish
Hot Out of the Oven
Season 3 Episode 4 | 28m 40sVideo has Closed Captions
Host Seth Tillman visits three standout bakeries and enjoys a variety of freshly baked treats, starting with the jambon buerre sandwich at Bread Furst in Van Ness, D.C. Next, he tries the kouign amann with red bean paste at Saku Saku Flakerie in Tenleytown, D.C., and the Lebanese Bride at Z&Z Manoushe Bakery in Rockville, MD.
How to Watch Signature Dish
Signature Dish is available to stream on pbs.org and the free PBS App, available on iPhone, Apple TV, Android TV, Android smartphones, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire Tablet, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, and Vizio.
ANNOUNCER: And now, "Signature Dish," a WETA original series.
SETH: Today on "Signature Dish," bakers take center stage.
We'll get a master class in artisanal bread baking from a DC legend.
Well, yours is already a lot prettier than mine.
MARK: Okay, we'll do it again.
SETH: Explore the world of fusion pastries.
YURI: We're going to put more sugar on top.
SETH: More sugar.
You say it's not going to be too sweet, I trust you.
YURI: It's not going to be too sweet.
SETH: And savor a flatbread that's been a favorite through the ages.
DANNY: We're making manoushe.
It's iconic in the Middle East.
All right.
Not bad.
SETH: It's just delicious.
I'm Seth Tillman, a WETA producer and DC native, and I love good food.
Good to see you.
That's why I'm traveling to restaurants across the DMV, at each stop looking for the one thing you just gotta try, that, "Signature Dish."
We're starting off in the Van Ness neighborhood to visit Bread Furst, founded by a towering figure in the DC culinary landscape.
MARK: I never expected to be a baker.
I expected to be in politics.
That was my great interest.
And when I got out of college, I came immediately to Washington, because it was the beginning of the Kennedy administration.
SETH: After landing a gig with famed TV news commentator, Howard K. Smith, Mark joined the Kennedy administration's anti-poverty crusade in Appalachia.
MARK: And that was a very exciting time.
I traveled the country learning about poverty, documenting poverty.
And then, the president was killed, and my life changed.
SETH: After two decades of social services jobs, Mark helped take over a copper tubing factory in Redding, Pennsylvania.
MARK: I would stand there and watch this tubing come off the finishing lines.
It was like jewelry.
And I learned that making something gave me a pleasure that I had never had before.
SETH: Just shy of his 50th birthday, Mark turned his attention to baking bread, first interning with famed California baker Nancy Silverton, before opening Marvelous Market on Connecticut Avenue in 1990.
The hugely influential bakery had constant lines out the door, and famously, a cap of two loaves of bread per customer.
MARK: We're talking about the late eighties and early nineties.
And Americans really were not eating traditional European bread.
And so, when Marvelous Market opened, people realized it was different from the bread that was available elsewhere in Washington.
SETH: Following his success with Marvelous Market, Mark ran the downtown sandwich shop, Breadline, for over a decade.
After some time out of the business, Mark cemented his legacy by opening Bread Furst in 2014 at the age of 75.
MARK: I do think I've made a contribution to the way people eat in Washington.
My getting interested in making bread started in the late eighties.
The late eighties was the beginning of a transformation in American food.
I didn't make the transformation, but there was a great deal of interest in learning about food, food from other cultures.
So I think I came along at the right time.
I've been aware, in my 35-year baking career, that what I am doing is making the bread of the ages, it's the bread of the Bible.
The most elementary food, the most basic food.
It is still, for me, a connection with that food of the ages.
SETH: Mark.
MARK: Hi.
SETH: Pleasure to meet you.
MARK: It's a pleasure to meet you too.
SETH: So what are you making in the Bread Furst kitchen today?
MARK: We're making a ham and cheese sandwich that we call the Jambon Beurre.
Of course, it starts with the baguette, which is our signature bread.
And you and I will shape it.
SETH: Oh, I get to be part of this operation?
MARK: Oh yes, you do.
We're going to put just a little bit of flour on the bench.
This was made from what we call a yeasted poolish.
You're going to turn it over like this and pull it out, so that it's more or less even, pat it down a little bit.
And then, we're going to turn a piece of the dough over, push it down, and then, we're going to turn the other side and push it down.
And then, we're going to do the same thing on the other side.
You can use your fingers or you can use the side of your hand.
We're folding the dough and evening the dough a lot, so that the baguette will be even and pretty.
SETH: Well, yours is already a lot prettier than mine.
MARK: Okay, well, we'll do it again.
So now, we're ready to fold the top onto the bottom.
Again, push it down, push it down like that.
So we'll do it one more time if you just take a little bit of flour and put it on your hands like that.
SETH: All right.
It's going to be on my hands and probably on my shirt by the time that we're all done.
MARK: Probably.
That's why we wear aprons.
Now, you turn it over and you bang it down, closing up the dough.
Now, we have the top.
Yours is not quite closed.
SETH: Quite sealed up yet.
MARK: We'll close it like that.
SETH: Thank you, sir.
MARK: And now, we'll roll it gently, adding a little bit of additional pressure as we reach the ends.
Then turn it over again.
And this time, you'll add a lot of pressure in order to make the ends come together in a tiny leg.
SETH: You want that little nub right on the end of the baguette?
MARK: Yes.
Okay, now that's good.
We'll do it again.
SETH: This is a shape that, to me, approximates a baguette.
MARK: It does.
And then, we put it on what we call the couche.
You want to do another one?
SETH: Let's do one more.
Why not?
MARK: Okay, pat it down.
(music plays over background inaudible chatter) So I'm going to pull this over like that, and I'm going to cover it, so that it doesn't dry.
And we're going to allow it to proof.
I'm going to take these to the loader, where Tricia, one of our crack baking staff, is scoring baguettes.
SETH: Hi, Tricia.
TRICIA: Hi.
MARK: When she bakes the bread, she will inject steam into the oven and the steam softens the surface of the baguettes.
It also defers the forming of a crust until the baguette is fully expanded.
SETH: And Tricia, what does this scoring do as well?
TRICIA: As the bread bakes, the scoring allows it to rise without causing any cracks.
Because if there is nowhere for the dough to move, then it's just going to rip.
SETH: All right, so how do these baguettes get into this incredible oven over here?
TRICIA: Well, I'm going to push this loader through, MARK: Knocks the window down.
TRICIA: As I pull back, the baguettes will fall onto the deck oven.
Then I'm going to close the door, hit these two buttons.
MARK: Steam.
Hear it?
(steam pressure releases) SETH: Ooh, I hear it and I feel it.
TRICIA: Yes.
All right, Seth, now, we're going to load the next 10, so that they bake evenly.
SETH: So Mark, what kind of a team have you trained up here?
MARK: A very good one.
It's been common in smaller bakeries and smaller food establishments for there to be a lot of turnover.
We don't really have a lot of turnover, which is wonderful.
SETH: And how many baguettes are you making in a typical week here?
MARK: On a bad day, we make maybe 600 baguettes.
On a busy day, we make essentially 800.
We don't make our baguettes in a machine.
We make them all by hand.
SETH: It's an artisan product.
You need artisans... MARK: It is an artisan product.
SETH: To do the work.
TRICIA: So now, I'm going to move this loader down this way... SETH: Oh, watch out.
TRICIA: And I'm going to load in this side... close the door.
I'm going to hit the start button.
It'll steam it again and start the timer for us.
So these bake for 25 minutes, and then, when there's eight minutes left, I will rotate the baguettes.
Once those last eight minutes are done, then I'll take them out and put them on the rack to cool.
MARK: We've done our baking.
Tricia did a great job.
SETH: She sure did.
MARK: And this is one that you made, and you can have it to take home.
SETH: Not quite ready for prime time just yet?
MARK: Not quite ready.
SETH: All right.
I'll take that for later.
MARK: All I'm going to do is cut into the baguette right down the center.
SETH: Oh wow.
MARK: I hope you can see all these wonderful irregular holes.
So then, I'm going to take softened butter.
I'm not being stingy, but I'm not overdoing it.
SETH: There's never any overdoing it when it comes to butter, right?
MARK: Not if it's good butter.
There's no point in using an ingredient that's anything less than wonderful.
We want to have a little bit of mustard, not too much.
That's all.
SETH: Just a smidgen.
MARK: Just a smidgen.
When I use the ham, we keep piling up the ham, and then I take some Gruyere cheese and I go right down the center of it.
SETH: Right down Broadway.
MARK: Right down Broadway.
And that's it.
That's all there is to this sandwich, ham, cheese, butter.
SETH: And of course, a great baguette.
MARK: And of course, a great baguette.
We cut it in fourths.
Here, you should try this.
The bread is so important.
I remember when I first had this, I was in Paris.
I thought, "There's nothing on this."
And then, I tasted it.
SETH: Well, all I can say to that is c'est magnifique.
Perfect execution all the way down the line.
It's a nice dark crust that this baguette has.
MARK: The idea of just for you to be able to bite through it and feel the crust of the baguette kind of collapsing.
SETH: Well, this has been terrific.
MARK: No, we have one more thing to do.
SETH: One more thing.
MARK: We have a signature cap.
It's one that started when my son had his first State Department posting in Sri Lanka, and he took me to a store and I discovered these caps.
And I want to give one to you... SETH: Oh!
MARK: Our Sri Lankan caps, which are something of an emblem.
SETH: Is this for all my hard work today?
MARK: This is for all your hard work today and your kindness to us.
SETH: Well, I am truly honored.
It's been a pleasure to watch you and your team at work.
And I can't wait to come back for another next-level ham and cheese sandwich.
Thank you, Mark.
MARK: Thanks.
SETH: My next visit is just a Metro stop away in Tenleytown.
Here, you'll find Saku Saku Flakerie, the second outpost, and now flagship home of the acclaimed pastry shop.
YURI: I'm from Kobe, Japan.
Kobe is known for Kobe beef, but also very famous for pastries.
A lot of varieties of French baked goods, but also Japanese baked goods.
I moved here seven years ago and I couldn't find Japanese and French twist baked goods, so I thought I can make it happen.
SETH: Along with her husband, Jason, Yuri opened the first Saku Saku in Cleveland Park at the height of the pandemic in 2020.
The Tenleytown location followed two years later.
JASON: Saku Saku is Japanese onomatopoeia, which means, "flaky."
Flakerie was just sort of like a portmanteau of flaky bakeries.
The inspiration is just trying to keep as much of a fusion sensibility as we can.
She never wanted to be entirely French or entirely Japanese.
So even the drinks that we have is something that is reminiscent of both cultures, but also new and something that hopefully people will appreciate.
YURI: What I love about baking is it's different every day, with the temperature, with the humidity outside, on top of that, we have to bake it perfectly.
So it's a long journey to make everyone happy.
When people respond that people love it, that makes my day.
PATRON: You too.
Thanks.
SETH: To get the full bake shop experience, I'm heading to Saku Saku in the wee hours of the morning.
Yuri, Jason.
YURI: Good morning.
JASON: Good morning.
SETH: I guess being a baker, you got to wake up pretty early?
JASON: Absolutely.
But we've got you covered.
We have our famous Saku Saku coffee jelly cold brew.
SETH: Oh man, a cold brew is going to hit the spot.
What are you guys making today?
YURI: We're making kouign amann.
SETH: Kouign amann, I can't say I know what that is.
YURI: Kouign amann, it's from Brittany region of France and very popular in Japan.
JASON: Yuri's got amazing ideas and she's going to put her own Japanese spin on it.
YURI: Why don't you follow me back and I'll show you?
SETH: Oh, that sounds great.
Let's do it.
All right, and what is this monster of a contraption right here?
YURI: This is a sheeter for lamination, and we are going to put this dough under the sheeter and then, put the butter in.
SETH: Before I even arrived, Yuri mixed the dough for the croissant-like kouign amann, adding in Japanese matcha tea powder.
After the dough is mixed, it's kneaded and left to chill.
YURI: So right now, we are stretching the dough in order to put the butter in the dough.
SETH: So every time, you're just making it a little bit smaller?
YURI: Yes.
SETH: Making a little butter pocket.
YURI: Yeah.
I'm going to cut the side.
This will help stretch the dough evenly.
Ready to go back under the sheeter.
SETH: This is just kind of a fun machine.
YURI: Yeah.
All right.
This is the length I was looking for.
And then, we're putting sugar between the layer, so it will get extra crunchy.
SETH: Ooh, I like crunch.
So this is sugar that looks like maybe it has some more matcha powder in it?
YURI: Matcha in it, yes, to make extra flavor.
You can see.
SETH: Oh yeah, already seeing the matcha and the butter together.
YURI: I'm going to put the sugar one more time.
SETH: So is this going to be a really sweet pastry?
YURI: It's a little bit sweet, but I would say it's not too sweet.
Because we put matcha in it.
So it's a nice balance.
SETH: Going to be just right?
YURI: I think so.
Since this is the final dough, we are going to transfer to the table and cut it.
SETH: This is such an unexpected and unusual color, and I like that we have a ruler here too, because with baking, you just have to be super exact, right?
YURI: Yes.
Everything has to be precisely done, and the layer has to be nice and clear.
I'm going to bring out this bicycle cutter.
SETH: Quite the cool medieval contraption.
YURI: So I'm going to mark it this way, in order to cut it evenly.
We're going to cut it to make it into a perfect square.
Let me show you how small the layers are.
Between the matcha dough, you can see that each of the layers of the butter.
So I'm going to add more sugar for the bottom of the pan.
SETH: You say it's not going to be too sweet, I trust you.
YURI: It's not going to be too sweet.
So we're going to set this on the muffin pan.
We're going to add mochi on the bottom of the kouign amann.
The mochi is nice and soft, so when you bite into it, you get crunch, but also softness.
We're going to put these cups into a mochi.
SETH: You get to do a little smush to make the shapes?
YURI: Yes.
SETH: Baking just seems like a lot of fun.
YURI: Yeah.
We are going to shape the rest of the kouign amann.
And then, once they're proofed, we are going to put in the oven for 20 minutes.
So once it comes out, we let them cool.
And then, we add red bean paste and red bean cream.
To finish the pastry, we will dust the matcha powder on top.
SETH: All right, Yuri, that was quite the journey.
How do I dig into this?
YURI: Let me cut it in half, so you don't get all the cream on your nose.
SETH: I'll see how much I can get in one bite without making a huge mess.
YURI: Sure.
SETH: Here it goes.
YURI: Go for it.
SETH: A flaky mess all over the table, but that is just a heavenly pastry, a wonderful crunch on the outside.
In the middle, such a nice creaminess.
And for me personally, my favorite restaurant when I was a kid was a Japanese restaurant about a half mile up Wisconsin Avenue.
And my favorite thing to get every time was the red bean ice cream.
So red bean has a special place in my heart.
And it's not too sweet.
And Jason, besides the mess on the table, I see we have a few more Saku Saku original beverages.
JASON: Yes.
This is the a raspberry hibiscus tea, and then, our yuzu lemonade with a nice matcha kicker on top.
SETH: We got matcha everywhere today.
JASON: Yes, indeed.
In Japanese culture, seasonality is very important.
There's a great appreciation for nature, so we try to echo that in a lot of our offerings.
SETH: And the fillings, I'm guessing some of these change with the seasons a little bit too?
YURI: Right now, we have matcha and mochi, red bean, what we do fig and brie or the pumpkin cream filling for fall.
So it's very seasonal.
SETH: So I'll come back for the pumpkin spice season too?
And so, Yuri, for you, how did you know the time was right to strike out on your own with this wonderful concept?
YURI: I think there is no time, like really a time for you to start.
I just jumped in, because I trusted myself that I can bring all the Japanese traditional flavors to people who live here.
We have all of cherry blossom trees in the city.
That made me think that maybe this is the right place.
SETH: Proof is right here.
I'm so glad you brought these Japanese flavors to DC.
This made waking up early worth it.
Thank you guys so much.
YURI: Thank you.
JASON: Thank you.
SETH: My last stop takes me to Rockville, Maryland.
In the Woodley Garden Shopping Center, just off I-270, you'll find Z&Z Manoushe Bakery.
DANNY: So manoushe is an iconic flatbread in the Middle East, and the root of the word comes from the Arabic word, "to carve or to sculpt."
So that's because I'm making these little pockets for flavor.
The most traditional topping is this really famous herb blend called za'atar, and then, mixed with olive oil.
Of course, there's many other toppings.
There's varieties that come with cheese, different meat versions.
JOHNNY: We grew up in Rockville, Maryland.
We've been around this area our whole life.
So we started Z&Z in 2016 outside of the Foggy Bottom Farmer's Market.
You could often hear people walking by, "Oh, is that pizza?"
Thankfully, everyone came around and became interested in what we were doing and then, came to know manoushe as a manoushe and not as a pizza.
It was our pleasure to be able to bring them into our culture.
SETH: For Johnny and Danny, family is everything, including opening up Z&Z in the same location where their grandfather and uncle ran a restaurant for over 20 years.
JOHNNY: So we have me and my brother.
Our brother in New Jersey is also helping out.
My sister is here almost all the time with us, and my dad and my mom.
DANNY: Our dad, Isa, has become a little bit of a social media star.
When they come in, they're like, "Oh my God, that's him."
And he's always kind of begrudgingly joining these videos, but I think that's part of the charm.
And I think he secretly he loves it.
ISSA: Oh, I forgot I'm undercover.
DANNY: Our parents have been the inspiration in handing down these traditions, not only the food, but then, also, for the hospitality that we grew up in and seeing how they treated guests when they came to our house.
And that's the same goal we have for everyone who walks through these doors.
CUSTOMER: Thank you so much.
CREW: Thank you.
We appreciate it.
Thank you.
SETH: Danny, good to meet you.
DANNY: Nice to meet you too.
Welcome.
SETH: Looks like we're going to be stretching some dough out here today.
What are you making?
DANNY: Yeah, that's right.
We're making manoushe.
But today, we're going to be making specifically our "Signature Dish," which is called the "Lebanese Bride."
So we're going to stretch the dough.
SETH: You're going to teach me how to do this today?
DANNY: I'm going to try.
So we use a special blend of white and wheat flours fermented for up to 48 to 72 hours.
So now, you use your fingers and you're kind of creating these little pockets of dough.
SETH: Okay.
DANNY: And so, from here, you can see the dough is nice and elastic.
I'm going to toss a few times.
Sorry if I get flour on you, but you're in the splash zone.
SETH: Occupational hazard.
DANNY: Yeah.
So I'll bring it here over to our bread pillow.
My grandma actually makes us these custom bread pillows that we still use.
SETH: Okay, I love it.
DANNY: So I put a lot of semolina on this, so it doesn't stick.
And then, now is the fun part where you get to kind of slap the dough down and you put it here.
SETH: Boom.
DANNY: Hopefully you get it on.
You got to try to make it a nice circle.
I put a little oil on, because if you don't put oil on, it'll turn into pita bread in the oven.
SETH: Oh no.
DANNY: And so, we don't want it to puff up, even though it's delicious, it's just a little bit different than what we were going for.
SETH: The weight of the olive oil will kind of keep the dough settled a little bit?
DANNY: Exactly, and then, another bonus is it kind of fries it when you flip it, so that's always good.
SETH: Nice.
DANNY: All right, I'm going to put it in the flour for you and then, you take over from there.
SETH: All right, little flour on top.
Okay.
And then, start to, start to sculpt?
DANNY: Yeah.
You want to use the pads of your fingers.
Okay.
SETH: Oh, very soft dough.
Okay.
DANNY: Yeah, if it makes you feel any better, it took us years to get this down.
There you go.
SETH: All right, so a few flips?
DANNY: Yep.
And you want to remember which side is the face.
So this is the face.
You want that to go face down on the pillow.
SETH: Okay.
How's that?
DANNY: I lost track, but I think it looks good.
So face down.
Okay.
And now's the easy part, just kind of like pulling bedsheets, SETH: Okay.
DANNY: So you can just get underneath.
And sometimes, you want to keep a hand on top.
SETH: So we got a pillow.
We got some bedsheets.
DANNY: Yeah, that looks pretty good for a first time.
SETH: Ready to slam it down?
DANNY: Yeah.
So oh, don't forget the semolina.
SETH: Semolina.
DANNY: Because you don't want a sticky peel.
SETH: All right, here we go.
Ready?
DANNY: All right.
SETH: One, two.
All right.
DANNY: Not bad.
You can do any kind of design you want with the olive oil.
Just don't go too crazy.
SETH: Oop!
DANNY: That's all right.
We can clean that up.
SETH: All right.
All right.
Okay, there we go.
That's a disaster.
But it's going to work.
DANNY: All right.
You didn't do too bad.
We're going to fire these in the oven.
So we're cooking them here at 740, which is pretty hot.
And what we're going to do for the brides, which is a little bit different than a traditional one, is we're going to flip it halfway.
And you can see now it's getting nice and bubbly.
That's my signal to let you take a look before what I'm going to do is flip it so you get the nice sear on the top.
We still want a firm bottom, but a soft top.
I'm going to give them just a little rotation.
It doesn't need too much.
I'm going to give it now a quick flip.
I'm not going to get too fancy here.
It's hot.
And then, quick second on the bottom, because those stones are really hot.
So again, I'm just going to watch it just maybe 30 seconds.
And whichever one looks nicer is mine, I think.
SETH: All right.
Hey, Johnny, another member of the family.
Nice to meet you.
JOHNNY: You too.
SETH: So you're going to be topping the Lebanese Bride?
JOHNNY: Yep.
We'll go ahead and do that.
So I'm going to lather the soft pillowy bread up with some labneh.
I like to explain it as like a yogurt cheese.
So it starts out in a yogurt form, and then, it gets strained to thicken.
And then, it becomes a little more like a schmear.
SETH: A schmear, all right, now you're speaking my language.
And I have to ask about the name too, Lebanese Bride?
DANNY: So Lebanese Bride is introduced to us from our dad, when they used to take summer trips to Lebanon, their first stop would be at the shop to get what was called "Lebanese Bride."
And it's on thinner bread, but same toppings.
They wrap it up and they use a white wax paper.
And so, when you peel back the wax paper, it looks like the veil.
And so, that's why it's called Lebanese Bride.
SETH: Got it.
Got it.
JOHNNY: So we're going to then douse it with za'atar overtop, which is a key ingredient that pairs perfectly with labneh.
So it's savory, herbaceous, and slightly nutty.
So next, after we have the labneh and za'atar over top, we're going to throw some juicy tomatoes right over.
And now, cucumbers for that crunch element.
It's the best one-biter, because you get cooling, creamy, refreshing, oily, savory, herbaceous, fattiness, all in one bite.
SETH: Every single bite, love it.
JOHNNY: Then comes the garden mint, and we're just going to sprinkle that right over the top.
This is a beautiful Tunisian olive oil, velvety smooth.
DANNY: And the olive oil, of course, is the other Z in Z&Z.
The first one, as you know, is Za'atar.
The Arabic word is zayt al-zaytun for olive oil.
So those are the two Zs, and no manoushe is complete without it.
JOHNNY: Going to sprinkle with salt now.
Just a little dash.
And now, I'm just going to slice it up.
If my dad was next to me, he'd be watching to make sure it's a perfect cut.
SETH: You have my full vote of confidence in how you cut a manoushe.
JOHNNY: Seth, grab a bride with me and we'll go enjoy.
SETH: Let's do it.
All right.
Oh, and we have more family now, Mom and Dad, world-famous.
MUNA: Hello.
ISSA: Nice to meet you.
SETH: Nice to meet you as well.
I'm going to give you guys the one that I rolled out, but Johnny did a great job with the toppings and the cutting, right?
ISSA: Good job.
We approve.
You did a good job.
MUNA: Looks good.
SETH: Awesome.
All right.
Well, I cannot wait to dig in here.
ISSA: Enjoy.
SETH: Wow.
ISSA: Zaki.
Zaki.
SETH: Just a symphony of flavor and a symphony of texture too.
Got some of that cucumber, little herbaceous bite there.
JOHNNY: My favorite word to use.
SETH: That's just delicious.
MUNA: In my way, I say it's zaki.
Zaki is how you say it in Arabic.
SETH: Zaki indeed.
Love that.
Going for another.
Oh yeah.
And the labneh is good too, because it gives you a little bit of that creaminess, that texture on top of the pie.
I can understand why some people might even mistake it for pizza, but just completely unique flavors and textures on top.
ISSA: That makes it not pizza.
SETH: Not pizza.
Just to be absolutely clear, not pizza.
And you guys kind of initially discouraged them from opening this business.
Is that right?
ISSA: It's true, because I was in restaurants for a long time and restaurant life is not easy.
So when they came out saying, "Oh, we want to open the restaurant," I said, "No, no.
Don't you ever go into restaurants."
But they never listened.
SETH: Kids, what can you say?
ISSA: What can you say?
They're kids.
MUNA: For me as their mom, as an immigrant, I wanted them to be in the corporate world.
I wanted to see them doing something really big.
But I am very proud of them now for the hard work they put in and for how far they've come.
I'm a proud mama.
SETH: And they've made your husband a star too.
MUNA: Yeah, unfortunately for me.
DANNY: Yeah, it's definitely been a challenge, but doubly rewarding with the family aspect.
Our grandfather came to this country, worked really hard, and there's so much of his fingerprints still here.
And even the dough mixer we have in the front was used by my grandma.
So it's really just such a piece of home here.
I think it makes it all mean that much more to us.
When we bought this place back, we were able to surprise our entire family with the news, and it was a very emotional homecoming.
SETH: So it really is full circle in every respect?
Well, I've really enjoyed this journey going down the line, learning about manoushe.
So delicious.
Thank you guys so much.
DANNY: Thank you.
JOHNNY: Thank you.
MUNA: Thank you.
Thank you, Seth.
(music plays through credits) ANNOUNCER: To find out more about great food in the Washington Metro area, visit weta.org/signaturedish.
Crafting the Lebanese Bride Manoushe is a Family Tradition at Z&Z Manoushe Bakery in Rockville
Video has Closed Captions
Seth learns the secret behind the Lebanese Bride manoushe at Z&Z Manoushe Bakery in Rockville, MD. (5m 32s)
How Bread Furst Crafts the Perfect Baguette and Jambon Beurre Sandwich
Video has Closed Captions
Seth samples the jambon buerre sandwich at Bread Furst in Van Ness, D.C. (6m 2s)
Bread Furst in Van Ness; Saku Saku Flakerie in Tenleytown; Rockville’s Z&Z Manoushe Bakery. (30s)
Saku Saku Flakerie's Kouign Amann is a Crunchy, Creamy Delight
Video has Closed Captions
Seth tries the kouign amann with red bean paste at Saku Saku Flakerie in Tenleytown, D.C. (3m 48s)
Signature Dish is a local public television program presented by WETA