o;o;ó7ó7e revvg] vincent: oh. oh. reporter 1: a dangerous virus is spreading rapidly inside the us. officials are very worried that it could come here. china has more than 200 confirmed cases of coronavirus, it's called, which produces pneumonia-like symptoms. three people have already died... play. [jazz music]

i love this photo because we really look like we're coming from mafia. my grandfather, his brother, my great-grandfather. my grandfather, all his, all the brothers. my great-grandmother and my father. like, here, look, he was so cute. okay, let's go get some wine, guys. ooh. voila. this right here has been in my grandfather's restaurant for, like, 40, 50 years. the bottle-opener from my grandpa. so you see, he's really part of my life all the time. up. ooh-la-la. [speaking in foreign language] vincent: who is vincent samarco? well, vincent samarco is a little guy who has a lot of hopes and a lot of dreams. i'm a third-generation re. the first of the family was my grandfather

from the greek part of my family. he immigrated to south of france when he was a young man. he opened a restaurant in paris. uh, we used to go every sunday when i was a child. it was just like amazing impression. i've been working in the restaurant industry since i'm, uh, probably 18 years old. i've been working in paris all my career until, uh, i immigrated to us seven years ago. you know, i come to the united states. i wanna do french food and to share my passion about french food. and that's kind of the easiest point, you know? like, you gonna present what you are. what does it mean to be french? it's awesome. it's the best thing to be french. well, i know there's a lot of htory. there's a good indication. it means a lot to me to be french, uh, because we, people see us differently. you know, they see us as romantic as they think we have so many wife. uh, they have ideas and image of us.

but, you know, being french is like being anybody else. you know, it's just like, it's just cooler you do the accent. i totally agree. uh, but we're just, just the same. what does it mean to be american? it means to be a good immigrant. that's what it means to be a good american, no? [telephone ringing] belle vie. bonsoir. belle vie. bonjour. belle vie. bonsoir. ♪ belle vie bonjour ♪♪ belle vie, beautiful life. life is beautiful. that's it. you know, like, i live in southern california. i have a restaurant. i'm happy. so life is beautiful. belle vie. well, i'm located on washer between bundy and barrington, and most importantly, betweemcdonald and kfc, uh, two big corporation who feeds you crappy meals and, and puts cardboard into your fries. and, and people are waiting in line to go eat over there.

well, it's freedom. people can eat they want. the cheeseburger is very cheap, i get it. uh, obviously, between a mcdonald and kfc is not the best location you can dream of, but that's the one i could afford. the restaurant was very crappy. it was a restaurant from the 's, '70s. it has been changing hands for the last 50 years. i had to build everything from scratch. i had to do all the electricity, all the plumbing, all the [indistinct], like, the sewer. i built the table myself with my friend trenten. i bought a piece of marble, glued them to a piece of wood and created, like, marble tables. i tried to do, invent even economic. i didn't have a lot of money, so it was obviously just a little cube. and slowly, slowly through the years, i did more stuff. i installed more stuff to make it warmer. i remember, when i opened, i probably started with, like, 15 photos and painting on the wall. now i don't know how much there is, but there's a lot of them, uh... the wall i covered everywhere, there's art everywhere

to make it, you know, warm and-- and-- and decorative. vincent: the chef right here. cedric: oh, yeah? vincent: with the psg. vincent: i called cedric and i said, "hey, man, like, i'm about to open a restaurant." "i can do your papers if you wanna come." "would you like to come?" and he said, "yes." we've been working together before already, so it's a team that goes back together. we met, uh, 12 years ago in paris, uh, working together in a smaller restaurant called nomiya, on the rooftop of, uh, palais de tokyo, which is a contemporary art museum. vincent: we opened the 1st of august, like, four years ago, so it's coming really soon. the opening was, uh, august 1st, 2016. [indistinct chatter] [men cheering] - whoa! - whoo! [blues music]

[crowd cheering] [man whistling] [blues music] the top. [cheering] - wow. - yeah. ♪ falling in love ♪ with you ♪ [crowd cheering] [instrumental music]

woman 1: he's a very strict boss, by the way. i can't be late, which usually in, in our normal life, i can be late, as late as i want to be. i've been late for dates, like, an hour-and-a-half late, you know, for dates. there was one day they came in, i was like, "okay, i think, i think it's time for me to find somebody." [chuckles] and just keep him waiting. it sounds very vain, but i was very nervous. ♪ no matter what you say i will trust you anyway ♪ i'm ornella samarco and i'm, uh, vincent's wife. vincent: well, the moment i first saw her, uh, she was wearing a red dress and, and she was amaz-- amazingly beautiful. time stopped, like, for real, like-- like in the movies. like, for real. that was, uh, kind of weird. well, i'm told by julie, my friend, that-- that time stopped for about two minutes, because at some point, um, i feel her tugging on my jacket. i said, like, "oh, who's that girl?" they say, "i don't know. i wanna know." just a simple, basically very beautiful love story.

[indistinct singing] ornella: do you want me to do that? you seem to be having-- no, it's this thing is blocking everything. ornella: can i do that for you? - yeah. not now. i just need that. it was very disappointing. she's very nice. she's very sweet. she's very smiley. [laughing] ♪ love farewell ♪ [ornella laughing] vincent: i don't know where she comes from. she's very mysterious. no, she come from russia. i will never forget the moment that i was, uh, in the plane over los angeles. ornella: that overwhelming feeling of home. there's no place like it. it's home. vincent: la is where my heart is, where my life is. it's my, my body and soul. i'm here, that's what i'm thinking about. i love living in that town. i love the people. uh, i know it's very rare, usually people say,

"oh, my god, la people. they're so empty." but they're not empty, they're like, they, they're welcoming, they're generous. i think maybe also because i'm a restaurateur and i'm easy talking to and i'm easy at friendship, it's at my advantage. but the friendship i made in the united states are in los angeles. it's a lot of fun to be part of this community. it's big community of los angeles. i like my job because many, many of the time i'm here, i'm part othe community, i know all the community. and that's very exciting to me, you know, to be a part of, of society, you know? it's something i really like. five, four, three, two, one. [indistinct cheering] happy new year! [jazz music] restaurant was full, uh,

not every da of cour, but most of the time. uh, people were enjoying. customer was hapappy. um, people coming, having fu live music on weekends. um, getting re employees, getting more, more presence, getting more following. vincent: uh, the restaurant was thriving and, and just turning like a beautiful oiled machine. you know, like, choo-choo-choo, like a beautiful clock. and, uh, and obviously, the pandemic killed everything. new alarm bells ringing tonight on the coronavirus outbreak in this country, as the number of dead rises, more confirmed cases tonight in n york and los angeles. reporter 2: tonight in los angeles, local emergency as six new coronavirus cases have been confirmed and now a startling warning shaking the region of ten million people. "what we do know," experts say, "is coronavirus can spread between people within six feet of each other." and whenever possible, try to keep six feet

between you and other people that you don't know at large events. reporter 3: the entire state of california ordered a stay-at-home, that's 40 million people. the global death toll has now topped 10,000. almost 250,000 cases have been recorded. vincent: i think it's gonna take a lot of time. i think a lot of optimistical businessmen who wants to make money think that in a few months it's gonna be ended. since the beginning i heard that, that, "oh, like, don't worry aut, this summer it's gonna be ended." and, and it's not gonna be ended for a while. oh, wow. oh, no. [orchestral music] i was not expecting that. it's kind of logical. vincent: all the animation of a farmer market with all the stands on both side. it's so exciting. i think not enough people come here... and enjoy the produce of, uh... of locality.

look at the cucumber. you see? aww, there's even a bit of dirt on it. it's so cute. it smells good. so it's eye, smell, mouth, ears and, of course, touch. you have to smell it. you have to drink it. you have to taste it. [music continues] - mm. - pretty good, huh? - they are delicious. - most of the casket. - yeah. - mm-hmm. they're gonna get better once we get some more heat. woman 2: how are ya? woman 3: good. we got everything we need. chef's gonna be happy. happy chef, happy life. cedric started, and started to do some mixed plate. uh, charcuterie and cheese. yeah, we're gonna open the menu a little bit to make it bigger and try to start to play again a little bit. to make a little menu, to try to develop, to try to have more pickup orders, more to-go. - alright, pick-up order. - yeah, like, right now... we cannot have dine-in or anything, guys. man 1: every restaurant? - yeah, it's only dine-out.

- you can only dine outside. - oh, 'cause it's only outside? it's only outside, it's gonna be like that for a while, i think, sir. and a lot of people were coming in all the time picking up a to-go order and asking if they can sta and eat inside the restaurant. i mean, every other person was king that question. and i think vincent just wanted to, knowing that he cannot do that and it's not se and it's not, um, in compliance, uh, vincent kept saying no, obviously. but then i think he wanted to do something for his community, for the neighborhood, for his, for his customer his friends. nobody's talking about opening or anything, so we need to do something about it. if not, like i said, it's bankruptcy, uh, tomorrow. [grunts] [jazz music] okay, i'm good to go. vincent: i just need a day off with my wife. and my wife and maybe some friends.

this is not holding. we have a problem, houston. [ccks] no, i don't feel good at all. ah, there. finally got it, you guys. [music continues] [exhales sharply] ready. it's a day-to-day, the future of belle vie. it's a day-to-day thinking. uh, i don't know. uh, i don't wanna take chae of saying it's gna keep open, it's gonna close. uh, right now i'm doing my best every day to not to have to answer to that question y. if i lose the restaurant, i lose my visa. if you lose your visa, you cannot stay here. that's the id. i lose my visa, and my chef will, is also losing his papers. so in three weeks after you lose your e-2 visa, you lose the business. you have to go back to your country, basically.

you're not welcome anymore. even though if you work and pay taxes for, like, now four years, like, bye-bye, thank you. yeah, it's a, it's very complex, u process to immigrate and to actually stay here. you have to take an oath and you're standing with about 2000 other immigrants who have to put their hand up the same as you. i remember just crying for two-and-a-half hours. i couldn't believe that i finally made it. it took me 12 years to become a citizen in this country. you constantly have that fear in the back of your head that you're not gonna be able to stay here and you had wasted so many years of your life, nothing. the process of coming from france was difficult, uh, due to... that's w i had to open a restaurant, so i can create my own business. if belle vie's closing, i have two months to leave the country because my visa is on, i'm under belle vie. so if belle vie doesn't exist, i, i can't stay here.

i have to go. i-- i... i like to live here, for sure, better than-- than paris now. yeah, i feel more free here. i do have a girlfriend that i met here, yeah. that will be a sad han but if it's happened, it's happened, you know? they've been closing all the offices for immigration due to covid-19 and due to, uh, an extreme new, uh, way of managing the country. and this is the new hoax, the coronavirus. you know that, right? ronavirus. we'll do everything in our power to keep the infection and those carrying the infection from entering our country. we have no choice. but, uh, let's not talk about politics together. where's my coca-cola, baby? ornella: i poured it into a glass. - that's it for me? ornella: yeah. baby, i'm working in the sun outside all day, woodworking.

i need an entire coca-cola. - no, you don't. - this is insulting. it's too much sugar. - not yet. vincent: perfect. [upbeat music] yeah. let's do that. [machine whirring] one. [whirring] et voila. we're good. boom. is the 16 foot, uh, gonna be long enough? we're going fast. it's exciting. at least, uh, instead of doing nothing at all all day, you're trying to do something, you know? to fight against adversity, you know? instead of waiting for people to order food, uh, we making it up. and, and, sasha, i need also the level. [speaking in foreign language]

- you good? thank you. - yeah. well, really i hoping this look like a little cute canopy, move some tables outside and, uh, to transform this very ugly part of los angeles to make it, like, cute, you know? like, you can have a good experience and be happy having dinner and be transported to paris. do a structure and then some plants and then some decor, some music, some se-- sexy french accent, and we good to go. man 2: a little vincent? - i know. we do them all the same size, we cut them and we just... [imitates banging] [whirring] [whirring] in your face. boom, okay. okay. vincent: can i get a kiss before you go? [speaking in foreign language] vincent: like that. perfect.

if the city doesn't like what i'm doing right now, well, we're closing after that. but this is illegal what we're doing, by the way. i'm gonna have a break. i'm more this kind of person, you know, like, i, you know, i don't like weapons, i don't like war, i don't like politics. i don't like destruction, but i like building stuff. it's very fulfilling, you know? i think it's, uh... yeah, it's fulfilling. as in, i think every human should be, can be fulfilled just by building something, instead of trying to destruct and make the most money they can make in the world. i mean, look, i'm broke as hell, i'm in debt and i'm super happy. i see... sasha, a beer for the gentleman, please. uh, i build, like, a structure in the back of the restaurant probably for, like, 800 bucks. i would have paid a contractor for, like, probably like $10,000 to do the same work. i think we did a great job of trying to do something, trying to react, uh, this crazy situation. now we're gonna open the back, thpatio, and people are gonna start coming again.

they feel like, they feel like belle vie, but outside, you know? and i'm sure vincent's gonna make it super pretty. [instrumental musi [music continues] oh.

[music continues] ah. the business is starting, man. [instrumental music] [indistinct chatter] - so which one? - this one. oh, so this? this is an aioli with mushroom and parsley. you have your mask on the floor. behind your, uh, chair. [indistinct chatter] thank you. is that all? [speaking in foreign language] [indistinct chatter] [cell phone ringing] vincent: belle vie. bonsoir. [indistinct chatter] [bell dinging]

bonjour. [music continues] [indistinct chatter] bonne fete. [indistinct chatter] [door shuts] put it down. ah. okay, now you can pull it. [indistinct singing] sasha, careful. heavy, man. man 3: wonderful talk. [indistinct chatter] vincent: i don't know. [speaking in foreign language] vincent: do you see, like, how hard it is to bring out and back in every day

a full caron marble table with cast iron on the bottom? it's kinda heavy. that's why i don't go to the gym. i have a restaurant. up. [jazz music] [sighs] let me grab this for yourself, man. something that's heavy. - this is not heavy. - i don't care. this is not heavy. no. from the owner to get the permit, and the city? i didn't ask. ye, that, that's the thing i learn in america is that you don't ask, you do and you ask for forgiveness. that's what they told me . yeah, the sayin' is, "it's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission." voila. thank you. , but what, what the landlord is gonna say? the landlord is gonna say, "take it off." okay, i don't make money. so, like, what, i give you the key back? in the city, uh, they were telling us

to do stuff outside now. man 4: now it feels way more parisian 'cse you can bring your dogs. exactly. [chuckles] fantastique. wonderful night. thank you, guys. thank you, brother. i'm very happy about what i did because you have a lot of regulars that it's the first time they come to the restaurant for the last four months. all my community that i created, you know? every single one of them just, uh, says the same thing, like, "thank god you're back. thank god you're back." um, it just, it's, it's been very flattering. vincent: a small restaurant is a center of a community, the center of a neighborhood. at the prehistoric time, we started socializing. why? because we were cold. so we did a fire, and everybody sits around the fire. and then we see like, "oh, my god, if we put some meat on the fire, it tastes so good!" and we started exchanging, doing, like, shadows and stuff like that, you know, starting socializing. we need to socialize. so the covid-19 is gonna block us for a few year,

and i'm, i'm sure it's a few year. but after, for our industry, it's gonna go back to normal because people need it. we talking about the future of humanity. [laughs] in a week or something like that, we're gonna get some customers, send an email. they're gonna come by, you know, a few. we're gonna do a sort of opening with a bit of food, a bit of drink. and they're all gonna come and put some drawing, a message about 2020, a year that, i don't know what you call... to me, you know, it can be good for people. it cou be bad for people. so that's what we're gonna do. [singing in foreign language] [laughter]

[singing continues] [indistinct chatter] okey-dokey, guacamole. [speaking in foreign language] [speaking in foreign language] [indistinct chatter] vincent: yeah, it's, it's happy, you know? like, people like to do that, and you see, like, a, a lot of people just feel artistic. look at them, like... a cute little couple having a glass of wine. look. bell v. that's funny. people love it, people are very excited about what we're doing. people having a lot of fun. uh, it's just eight table instead of 20. ornella: financially it's not a very feasible plan because the amount of tables that, uh, we can, uh,

we can place in the back is-- is very limited. a restaurant has to work at, you know, 70, 80% full. you kinda start making money, you know? that's how you do your business applying calculation. so, like, getting full at 25%, 30%, uh, doesn't make enough money. we need to do at least 25 to 3000, 100 every da five days a week, to be afloat. and we're far from there and we're far from getting there. french food is also not like pizza, pasta. you know, it's not like something you can order and get delivered, so... it's not... i guess i shouldn't be french. i should be more like italian or, or chinese or japanese, you know, to have, like, a more bigger to-go and delivery, uh, possibility of business. "oh, yes, like, let's do a small business administration loan and give them money." we don't want money.

we wanna be able to open so we can employ people and these people can also make money. if there's a pandemic, the first people who will be careful about all the legislation you have to do, you know, six feet apart, all that stuff, is gonna be small businesses. why? because all big businesses and corporation, the owneis not here. when you work for big corporation like that, you just come to work on time, take your break on time. i used to work for gordon ramsey in versailles, which is a big corporation in a big hotel. 's still hard. but when you go home, you're just like, "that's it." you-- you tried to forget about it. and that's the thing, when you work for small business like that, you have to be that kind of available all the time. it's like your baby, you have to take care of-- of-- of him, like, all the time. we're gonna reopen in three months and everybody's gonna go out. no, not everybody's gonna go out. people are freaked out. it's gonna be very hard for small mom-and-pops restaurant to survive.

reporter 4: nearly one in six restaurants is closed either long-term or permanently due to the pandemic. that figure represents about a 100,000 restaurants. the food service industry lost a 165 billion in revenue from march to july. california restaurants appear to be faring even worse with one in three restauras telling the california restaunt association that they'll either close permanently or downsize by closing some locations. four more billion of money they did. amazon. so, like, some people are very happy about this pandemic. and, oh, what are chances? the most rich people in the world are happy about that, you know? rich people don't care. everybody's playing at wall street with the money and they're all making money in us, so we're struggling. i don't know, there should be a cap or something. you know, like, "okay, you $3 billion?" "congratulation. you have a golden plate." "you're part of member of so-- society, and all the rest of money goes to education and helping people."

vincent: we trying to have the same thing everywhere, instead of having local restaurants and local farmers to make our food and to get our food. you know, like a community. look at all these people that need money anywhere. all the people in the street that needs help. if you're pulling people through the bottom, you cannot rise. and right now i don't see anything rising. i seeing everything going down. but the corporation are making more money every day. i'm not a, i'm not a research person, i'm not a political expert, but what i see is that it's not working and that we're not doing anything to go somewre. find another solution, another way to live together, so we can live in symbiosis with each other and planet earth. i know a lot of people that are very rich and very sad because you cannot buy happiness. you can't just buy stuff that's gonna give you,