SOUTH PHILLY BARBACOA: SPIRITUALLY ROOTED POLITICS AND PLATES

Cristina Martinez and her husband, Ben Miller run South Philly Barbacoa, one of our greatest and most soulful restaurants, not only for the inimitable lamb barbacoa and consommé that comes out of its kitchen starting at 5am, but for the restaurant's steadfast and rousing defense of undocumented workers. Martinez's story is epic as an immigrant and as a chef. She's now on lawyer number 3 and has spent an untold amount of money in legal fees just trying to get her papers sorted. All the while, Martinez and Miller strive to take care of the undocumented restaurant workers around them by speaking up for their cause and truly giving them visibility--a step many restaurant owners are unwilling to take. Ben Miller joins us on this episode of Take Away Only, post-shift, to continue energetically going to bat for undocumented workers while Christina, who speaks Spanish, completes yet another 15-hour shift to keep Philadelphia barbacoa-rich in the midst of a pandemic.