SEC Network’s TrueSouth Presented by YellaWood heads to Buford Highway on Tuesday, Oct. 13th
The ninth season of Emmy Award-winning TrueSouth Presented by YellaWood hits the road to Atlanta, Georgia on Tuesday, Oct. 13 at 8 p.m. ET. The episode is focused on Buford Highway, a Silk Road for the modern South, lined with towering signs, written in a multitude of languages, advertising restaurants and other businesses run by mom-and-pop entrepreneurs from across the world.
All episodes of TrueSouth are available on demand on the ESPN App via an applicable subscription immediately after airing. Visit the TrueSouth website to follow the crew throughout the year.
Episode Summary
Two restaurants anchor our story: Havana Sandwich Shop, founded in 1976 by newlyweds Eddie and Debbie Benedit, along with his parents Guido and Felisa Benedit, is a beloved Atlanta institution, famous for Cuban sandwiches, layered with ham and roasted pork, cheese and pickles, dunked in a garlic-citrus mojo sauce. Now run by Debbie Benedit and her son Eddie, the restaurant is also a portal to Cuban-American life, connecting the Communist revolution in Cuba to the Mariel Boatlift to the saga of one American family.
North of Havana in Asian Plaza shopping center, Kamayan, owned by Mia Orino and Carlo Ghan, takes its name from a feast, served in the Philippines, usually on a bed of banana leaves, with a big hunk of roasted pork at center. Orino and Ghan are partners in the business, and in life. Their food reelects their childhoods. And the ways they celebrate the home they now claim. They speak with great passion about what it means to call Buford Highway and the South home, and of what this place has given to them and what they are giving back.
To put this place in context, experts join the crew for conversations, including historian Jim Cobb, B. Phinizy Spalding Professor Emeritus at the University of Georgia; real estate leader Jack Halpern, CEO of Halpern Enterprises; Lily Paiban, executive director of We Love Buford Highway; and Emily Wu Pearson, immigration and communities reporter at the Atlanta public radio station, WABE. Ron Hsu of Lazy Betty and his bother Howard Hsu of Sweet Auburn BBQ take us on a tour of Pinetree Plaza, an early locus for immigrant business owners.
This episode opens and closes with a rehearsal and performance by the Buford Highway Orchestra, directed by Juana Alzaga, made up of students ages 7-13. Music for this episode comes from contemporary artists Dillon, Kels, Nikeboy Zeke, and Eddie 9V. We also play the oldies. Act two opens with the Top-40 anthem from 1974 that celebrated a suburban South in transition from country to city: “Doraville” by the Atlanta Rhythm Section.