torturing my friend eric ripert. i don't know why, maybe it's because he's so damn nice. you high, man? you look high. >> eric: i am. but i liked it. >> man: yeah. >> anthony: you can pretty much tear his toenails out and he'd still find something nice to say about you. he's so polite, yet, if you look closely, and i do, his discomfort can be exquisite. >> eric: he's the devil. look at him. ♪ i took a walk through this beautiful world ♪ ♪ felt the cool rain on my shoulder ♪ ♪ found something good in this beautiful world ♪ ♪ i felt the rain getting colder ♪ ♪ sha la la la la sha la la la la la ♪ ♪ sha la la la la sha la la la la la la ♪ >> anthony: it's the spicy, sensualist heartland of all the things i love about china. the collision between very, very old and very new. an exploding middle class. a lot of history. and food that can burn you down to a charred, smoking little stump. sichuan province, located in the southwest of china. over a thousand miles from beijing. a region so fertile and lush that it's been referred to as china's breadbasket. and its capitol, chengdu.

torturing my friend eric ripert. i don't know why, maybe it's because he's so damn nice. is toenails out and he'd still find something nice to say about you. he's so polite, yet, if you look closely, and i do, his discomfort can be exquisite. >> eric: he's the devil. look at him.