0:00:01.129,0:00:05.782 ♪ Cambodian music ♪ 0:00:38.840,0:00:42.169 (Uncle Sam) Well, when I came here in 1994 0:00:42.169,0:00:46.956 to eat one donut you didn't realize[br]how much work goes into one donut 0:00:47.807,0:00:51.256 until you actually go into[br]doing the donuts. 0:00:52.579,0:00:57.150 You know, it takes quite a bit[br]just to make one donut. 0:00:57.950,0:01:00.248 I start off by finding a location. 0:01:00.448,0:01:02.123 If I find a location, 0:01:02.454,0:01:07.497 I get a family that needs a donut shop [br]to go to look at the location, 0:01:07.497,0:01:09.858 and if they like it,[br]we negotiate the price, 0:01:10.514,0:01:13.781 and if the price is right,[br]I build it for them and turn them the key. 0:01:14.408,0:01:17.364 You know, most of them[br]already know how to make donuts. 0:01:17.364,0:01:19.525 They worked for a family member, 0:01:19.525,0:01:22.782 you know, they've already worked[br]for like two, three or five years... 0:01:23.402,0:01:25.643 to save up the money[br]to start up the business. 0:01:34.754,0:01:36.947 (Chandara Meas) When I came to the States, 0:01:36.947,0:01:38.805 I don't have no relatives in here, 0:01:38.805,0:01:40.604 so I don't speak that much English, 0:01:40.604,0:01:42.631 so I gotta start to learn English 0:01:42.631,0:01:44.551 and start to work to support myself... 0:01:45.511,0:01:47.356 and I don't have chance[br]to go back to college, 0:01:47.356,0:01:50.668 so I ended up [br]at a donut shop right now. 0:01:52.348,0:01:54.559 Most Cambodians who take us, 0:01:54.559,0:01:57.098 they own a donut shop, [br]they run a donut business... 0:01:59.789,0:02:02.193 Yeah, you know, it's hard to do it, 0:02:02.412,0:02:05.305 not many people want to do that job[br]as I'm doing right now. 0:02:10.954,0:02:13.703 From 1975 to 1979, 0:02:15.428,0:02:19.246 there's the Khmer Rouge ran by Pol Pot. 0:02:20.216,0:02:21.979 At that time I was 10 years old, 0:02:21.979,0:02:25.444 I still remember when they tortured... 0:02:25.444,0:02:28.262 a lot of people dying [br]by starving and sickness... 0:02:29.192,0:02:30.818 most of them were killing people. 0:02:33.432,0:02:34.428 That was a hard time 0:02:34.428,0:02:38.035 and that was the worst thing [br]that happened in the world. 0:02:39.581,0:02:46.062 Most Cambodians escaped from the war [br]in 1981after the Khmer Rouge regime, 0:02:47.372,0:02:49.702 and when they started to come here, 0:02:50.916,0:02:52.682 people don't speak that much English, 0:02:54.622,0:02:57.411 so that's why they started[br]working at donut shops 0:02:57.411,0:03:00.102 because most of them what they do [br]are family business -- 0:03:01.501,0:03:03.289 This is my wife's nephew. 0:03:03.289,0:03:06.065 He just came [br]to the United States last year. 0:03:06.882,0:03:10.069 He came in a special case[br]they call "Lottery Visa". 0:03:10.069,0:03:12.762 He's a lucky one [br]that won a lottery green card. 0:03:16.452,0:03:20.572 The business we just opened--[br]it is still kind of slow, it's brand new. 0:03:21.202,0:03:24.168 Hopefully, we can own it [br]for a long time until we get... 0:03:25.053,0:03:26.225 you know, some profit... 0:03:26.885,0:03:30.148 to take care of my family, my kid... 0:03:30.875,0:03:32.446 go to school, go to college... 0:03:33.394,0:03:34.855 I have a beautiful kid. 0:03:39.095,0:03:42.247 It's like, if you work for a company, 0:03:42.247,0:03:44.738 you have a different schedule[br]than the donut people. 0:03:44.911,0:03:49.001 The donut people, we wake up [br]at 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning, 0:03:49.491,0:03:53.308 and we'll be done by 12:00 or 1:00 o'clock[br]and take a couple-of-hours-nap 0:03:53.308,0:03:56.259 and, you know, get together and then, 0:03:56.259,0:03:59.419 go to sleep, and wake up,[br]and go to make some more donuts! 0:04:00.833,0:04:05.791 (man singing Karaoke in Cambodian) 0:04:21.114,0:04:23.119 (end of singing) 0:04:24.761,0:04:28.046 Yeah, we like to get together[br]because, you know, 0:04:28.046,0:04:29.460 we work seven days a week. 0:04:30.103,0:04:33.130 You know, some wake up at one, 0:04:33.130,0:04:34.429 some of us wake up at two, 0:04:34.429,0:04:35.799 some of us at three... 0:04:38.192,0:04:39.779 and we work seven days a week, 0:04:39.779,0:04:42.952 you know, this is the only fun[br]that we have. 0:04:44.763,0:04:48.179 ♪ Cambodian music ♪ 0:04:48.510,0:04:53.146 I would say 95% of the donut shops[br]in Texas, not just in Houston, 0:04:53.976,0:04:56.896 in Texas is Cambodian-people-owned. 0:04:58.870,0:05:00.509 One one-big -family, that's all. 0:05:01.018,0:05:04.402 ♪ Cambodian music ♪ 0:05:39.530,0:05:42.372 My parents bought the store in 1994. 0:05:43.292,0:05:46.836 They would always bring us on weekends[br]because we have school on weekdays. 0:05:46.836,0:05:50.308 I really dread waking up on the weekend[br]just to come make donut, you know. 0:05:51.582,0:05:54.329 They told me one day[br]I'm going to own my business, 0:05:54.329,0:05:56.950 and I kind of say[br]I didn't want to do this. 0:05:56.950,0:06:01.342 This is not my first choice[br]of what I really wanted to do. 0:06:04.145,0:06:07.196 For me, I thought going to school[br]was what I really wanted to do, 0:06:07.196,0:06:08.774 I wanted to experience that life. 0:06:09.815,0:06:13.362 One day I woke up and I realized[br]I didn't wanna work for somebody else. 0:06:14.299,0:06:17.592 I called my mom and I told her[br]I wanted to come back home... 0:06:17.592,0:06:18.605 and try this again, 0:06:18.605,0:06:21.261 and she was very excited,[br]very happy for me 0:06:21.261,0:06:24.660 that I can kind of woke up[br]and I wanted to do this. 0:06:28.199,0:06:29.633 I get up at four o'clock, 0:06:30.713,0:06:34.148 and my sisters, [br]they get up at about 2:00-2:30, 0:06:34.148,0:06:38.280 they're closer to the plant[br]so they wake up earlier, 0:06:39.100,0:06:40.582 to go to the plant and-- 0:06:41.152,0:06:42.325 I'm fortunate to have 0:06:43.395,0:06:44.655 a little bit of both, 0:06:44.655,0:06:48.746 so I can stay in bed a little longer[br]and they can-- 0:06:50.740,0:06:52.953 So when I first got to Houston[br]I didn't know-- 0:06:52.953,0:06:56.119 I thought my family was [br]the only one that's doing donuts. 0:06:56.656,0:06:57.766 I come to find out 0:06:57.766,0:07:00.683 a lot of Cambodian people[br]have done this way before we have... 0:07:01.496,0:07:04.693 You know, it's like a community[br]of helping out each other, you know, 0:07:04.693,0:07:07.812 like, people were telling each other[br]what can make you successful 0:07:07.812,0:07:10.682 and I don't think anybody[br]was envious of each other, 0:07:10.682,0:07:13.705 they just wanted to see[br]our culture succeed, 0:07:15.265,0:07:17.315 and the donut business [br]is where it started 0:07:17.315,0:07:19.579 for a lot of these Cambodian cultures. 0:07:20.485,0:07:21.692 It's definitely a dream 0:07:21.692,0:07:24.229 that a lot of people wanted[br]when they are in Cambodia, 0:07:24.229,0:07:25.639 to have their own place. 0:07:26.169,0:07:27.390 Back in Cambodia, 0:07:28.173,0:07:30.355 it's a fast, fast-pace life. 0:07:30.355,0:07:33.129 Every day is a struggle to find, 0:07:33.129,0:07:35.404 you know, money and food for the family. 0:07:35.404,0:07:38.429 It made me realized[br]what I have out here in America. 0:07:38.429,0:07:40.226 As hard as I think I work down here, 0:07:40.226,0:07:43.685 I think that they work harder over there[br]to make a smaller living. 0:07:49.753,0:07:51.544 My first place when I came, 0:07:51.544,0:07:54.739 I learned in the one Donald's Donut[br]on el Dorado in Webster. 0:07:56.156,0:07:58.932 And then I breached it out to[br]a Yankee Doodle Donuts. 0:08:00.816,0:08:07.106 And then, that's when I met David[br]on the El Dorado store. 0:08:07.406,0:08:09.459 I was teaching him since he was young. 0:08:10.166,0:08:14.879 I taught him probably [br]about five years, I believe. 0:08:15.715,0:08:18.247 (David Buehrer) My name is David Buehrer[br]and this is Morningstar. 0:08:21.922,0:08:25.128 (Uncle Sam) Most of the time[br]I don't ask for help but, you know-- 0:08:25.128,0:08:28.322 It surprises me it came up from David 0:08:28.322,0:08:31.226 just to ask me to get into [br]a business partnership with him. 0:08:35.015,0:08:37.176 (David B.) This is the first thing [br]I'd learned with-- 0:08:37.176,0:08:39.705 when I was in high school[br]was how to roll kolaches 0:08:39.705,0:08:43.239 and Sam's family [br]they would let me roll a kolache 0:08:43.239,0:08:46.047 and they would immediately[br]unroll the kolache, 0:08:46.047,0:08:48.759 and then they would roll it again[br]to make sure it was perfect. 0:08:48.759,0:08:52.201 And for like the first three [br]or four months of me working there 0:08:52.201,0:08:54.634 they never served any of my kolaches.[br](chuckles) 0:08:55.884,0:08:59.623 One day they just saw one of them[br]and decided it was okay, 0:08:59.623,0:09:02.176 and from then on, [br]they let me roll kolaches for them. 0:09:02.176,0:09:03.353 But it took like months 0:09:03.353,0:09:06.379 before they even serve [br]one of the kolaches that I rolled. 0:09:06.379,0:09:08.916 It shows the attention to details,[br]a level of quality, 0:09:08.916,0:09:11.314 and maybe, I just needed to learn more. 0:09:11.314,0:09:14.149 But it took months to learn [br]how to roll the kolaches right. 0:09:15.683,0:09:18.506 (David B.) One of the things[br]we wanted to do with Morningtar 0:09:18.506,0:09:20.501 is bring in the technique that we learned 0:09:20.501,0:09:22.297 from the Cambodian donut shops 0:09:22.297,0:09:26.755 and apply it to the foodie nature[br]that specialty copy exists in. 0:09:26.755,0:09:30.249 We have a lot of bartenders, and chefs,[br]and sommelier friends, 0:09:30.249,0:09:32.709 and a lot of our donuts [br]are inspired by them. 0:09:34.152,0:09:35.724 Yeah, at one point in high school 0:09:35.724,0:09:38.584 I was driving an hour [br]at two in the morning 0:09:38.584,0:09:42.236 to go and learn how to make donuts[br]in Magnolia, Texas, with Sam. 0:09:42.236,0:09:46.085 And then, an hour back,[br]and then go to school by 7:30... 0:09:46.655,0:09:48.938 but, you know,[br]you do what you gotta do to learn. 0:09:49.233,0:09:51.340 (Uncle Sam) In the nineties, you know, 0:09:51.340,0:09:55.910 that's when the donuts started here[br]in Houston by the Cambodian community, 0:09:55.910,0:10:00.639 and to now is a long time to me, like... 0:10:00.639,0:10:02.932 we feel like, it needs change, 0:10:02.932,0:10:05.145 it needs some time to change, you know. 0:10:06.468,0:10:08.712 (Uncle Sam) And then, [br]all of a sudden one day, 0:10:08.712,0:10:13.928 he said-- he calls me pou[br]--which is Cambodian like, uncle-- 0:10:14.355,0:10:19.496 and he said, "Would you like to do[br]a donut shop and a coffee together?", 0:10:19.496,0:10:21.909 I said, "Sure", [br]you know, I never expected it. 0:10:25.792,0:10:27.662 In the future, 0:10:27.662,0:10:30.999 the new generations[br]they know that I own this store 0:10:30.999,0:10:33.976 and they want to do something like this. 0:10:36.472,0:10:39.785 I don't want to do[br]the same thing every day. 0:10:39.785,0:10:43.406 Especially, when doing it [br]for almost 20 years. 0:10:44.319,0:10:46.797 You're doing the same thing every day, 0:10:46.797,0:10:52.693 and to me, I wouldn't want to go back[br]and do the same shop 0:10:52.693,0:10:54.317 like a mom-and-pop shop. 0:10:55.009,0:10:59.823 This is the shop that I want to do [br]as the next one... 0:10:59.823,0:11:00.785 and the next one, 0:11:00.785,0:11:02.268 and the next one... 0:11:05.036,0:11:09.882 People have no idea [br]what go into a single donut here. 0:11:12.737,0:11:15.982 English subtitles by[br]Jenny Lam-Chowdhury