Michele StuevenThe eighth season of Lucky Chow, the PBS series that follows culinary expert Danielle Chang around the world, goes to Europe, exploring its cultures and discovering traditions that compare and contrast with those of Asia.
In the five-part weekly season premiering on Friday, May 1, Chang treks from England to Denmark, with a few pit stops in between, including Berlin, Paris, London, Copenhagen, and Northern Italy, to explore how Asian culinary culture has rooted itself in European terroir.
Lucky Chow in Berlin (Courtesy PBS)
Episodes include:
COPENHAGEN: SCANDIASIAN – Premiering May 1
Copenhagen changed the rules of fine dining by insisting that food reflect the land and the seasons. Chang meets Asian chefs who take that ethos seriously and apply it through their own traditions. Chinese, Korean, Indonesian, and Japanese techniques shape Nordic ingredients, regenerative farms, and Baltic seafood. The result is cooking that is contemporary yet deeply tied to place.
ITALY: CHINESE ITALIA – Premiering May 8
Danielle travels through Italy to experience the deep fusion between Chinese and Italian cultures. From Milan’s Chinatown to Prato’s working-class dumpling shops and Florence’s street food, she discovers unexpected overlaps: hand-worked dough, reverence for butchery, and a shared belief that feeding people well is an act of care.
BERLIN: EDIBLE ART – Premiering May 15
For decades, Berlin’s affordability and artistic freedom have drawn artists from around the world. Chang spends time with multihyphenated Asian creatives in Berlin who cook, perform, sing, and dance—sometimes all at once.
LONDON: EMPIRE ON THE PLATE – Premiering May 22
London’s Asian food culture is inseparable from the history of the British Empire. Chang moves through Chinatown, Brick Lane, and beyond to trace how tea, curry spices, and peppers arrived through trade and colonial rule, and how migrants adapted those ingredients into everyday food. From legacy restaurants to new voices, she explores who gets to tell these stories today.
PARIS: BY WAY OF VIETNAM – Premiering May 29
Paris is home to one of the largest Vietnamese communities outside Asia, and its food has been part of the city for decades. Chang explores how Vietnamese cooking took root in France through colonial history and continued resettlement. From pho and coffee to bánh mì and pastry, she traces how Vietnamese flavors reshaped Parisian taste.
Danielle Chang in Italy (Courtesy PBS)