For many audiences, David Moscow will always be remembered as the young Josh Baskin in Big or David Jacobs in Newsies. But in 2026, Moscow’s creative focus has shifted far from the movie set. With the unscripted travel and food series From Scratch, premiering March 2 on Peacock, he returns to the screen with a mission that goes well beyond entertainment: showing viewers how food actually gets to the plate.
In each episode, Moscow travels to a different destination with one rule — recreate a region’s signature dish entirely from scratch. That means harvesting every ingredient himself within a week through fishing, farming, and foraging before preparing the final meal alongside local chefs. The concept transforms a familiar food show into something more immersive: part travelogue, part culinary apprenticeship, and part exploration of the people whose work sustains the food system.
“Food is at the center of everything for humanity,” Moscow said during a recent interview. “All the wars, all the holidays, the calendar — everything is really based around food. Human history is basically: where’s the food, and how do we get more of it?”
From Child Actor to Producer and Host
Moscow spent decades acting in film and television, but his path toward From Scratch began when he started exploring work behind the camera.
“I really liked acting,” he explained. “But when you talk to the writers, the directors, the producers, you realize — those are the bosses. I wanted to create something where I could blend all the things I love into one job.”
That curiosity eventually led him into producing and writing, and ultimately into developing a travel documentary series he could host himself. Now entering its sixth season, the show recently moved to Peacock, bringing its library to a wider audience.
“This is the best job I’ve ever had,” Moscow said. “It’s really fun to start from scratch — literally and figuratively — and then make it all the way through an episode.”
A Week to Rebuild a Dish From the Ground Up
Each episode begins simply: a local chef prepares a signature dish for Moscow. Then the challenge begins.
“I meet with a chef, they make me a meal,” he said. “Then I have a week to harvest all the ingredients and remake it from scratch. The chefs are the bookends — and in the middle, it’s adventure.”
The process forces Moscow into unfamiliar territory, whether that means fishing along Pacific coastlines, tapping maple trees in Quebec, or learning centuries-old cooking traditions in India. The destinations this season include Hawaii, Quebec, Bermuda, New York’s bagel culture, and rural regions of India.
Through those experiences, Moscow said he discovered how deeply food and culture evolve together. “Food makes culture, and culture makes food,” he explained. “Think about how many generations of trial and error it takes to create a dish we now think of as simple — whether it’s curry, poutine, poké, or even a smashburger.”
The Hidden Genius Behind Food and The Importance of Awareness
One of the most surprising aspects of the series, Moscow said, is witnessing the expertise behind food production. “When you’re really with an expert — a farmer, a chef, a fisherman — it’s humbling,” he said. “These people aren’t just cooking. They’re running businesses, inventing tools, managing economics. You realize how brilliant they are.”
Chefs in particular, he noted, combine technical mastery with creative instinct. “Great chefs are geniuses,” he said. “And they have to be. If you don’t make great food today, someone else will open a restaurant across the street that does.”
Also, Moscow hopes audiences come away with a deeper awareness of how food is produced. “I think where you get your food from is very important,” he said. “You want intentional purchasing — supporting farmers, supporting people who do things well.”
The lesson echoes something familiar to food professionals and coffee enthusiasts alike: every ingredient represents an entire chain of people, places, and labor. “If you eat pizza, you’re connected through a web to a community much larger than just you,” Moscow said. “It takes dozens of people to make something that simple.”
A Food City That Continues to Evolve
Moscow, who has lived in Los Angeles for decades, also sees the city as one of the most exciting food capitals in the world.
“Los Angeles is an amazing food town,” he said. “The food here is so much better than when I first arrived in the 1980s.”
When asked where visitors should explore first, he pointed to the multicultural restaurant corridor along Sawtelle Boulevard.
“You can walk a few blocks and find incredible Korean, Japanese, Mexican, and dessert spots,” he said. “And every time you go, you want to try somewhere new — but you also want to go back to the last place you loved.”
With its blend of travel, sustainability, and cultural storytelling, From Scratch ultimately reveals something simple but often overlooked: every meal carries a story.
From farmers and fishermen to chefs and communities, the path from land to table is far longer — and far more collaborative — than most diners realize.
For Moscow, the show’s goal is straightforward.
“Food connects people,” he said. “When you understand the work behind it, you start to appreciate not just the dish, but the entire community that made it possible.”
Streaming on Peacock, watch the promo here and for more information visit discoverfromscratch.com
For more information visit peacocktv.com
Photo credits: Photo courtesy of From Scratch
