Food shares stage with politics in new show ‘Breaking Bread’.

Lawmakers get a bite of bipartisanship on a new show focused on food and politics.

The goal of “Breaking Bread,” which premieres July 4 at 7 p.m. on Bloomberg Originals, is to “try to entertain our democracy back to life,” says host Alexander Heffner.

In each of the series’ 10 streaming episodes, Heffner is seen crisscrossing the country sharing food with lawmakers — whether it’s cooking homemade elk fajitas with Sen. Martin Heinrich (DN.M.) or eating homegrown bison, potatoes and strawberries with Candidate for North Dakota’s 2024 presidential candidate, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum — while dishing out some political talk.

“You hear stories all the time from people on the Hill saying we used to have backyard barbecues with politicians from both parties and their families and kids. And there’s no incentive for that type of interaction,” said Heffner, co-author of the 2022 “Documentary History of the United States.”

“So the ‘breaking bread’ impulse was: How can we model that kind of discourse when everything seems to be pulling us in the opposite direction?”

According to Heffner, the kitchen turned out to be the key to productive political conversations.

“Within our political discourse, the nastiness, the vindictiveness, the revenge — it’s gotten us nowhere productively,” Heffner told ITK.

“Food – that’s where we all find our sustenance.” I think it was a shared experience that we enjoyed these meals together,” said Heffner, who hosts “The Open Mind” on PBS.

“So as a step toward building consensus and alliances that can help improve our republic, I thought, well, let’s try to build the political capital to get there. And that’s what these talks were about.’

Some of Heffner’s culinary adventures include enjoying vegan chicken and waffles at a Garden State cafe with Sen. Cory Booker (DN.J.); “The vegan food was as good as any non-vegan food I’ve ever had.”

The show, which airs on Bloomberg.com, a mash-up of CBS’ “Face the Nation” and Jerry Seinfeld’s “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee,” also took Heffner to the basketball court, where he shot hoops with Sen. John Thune (RS.D . ) before we eat cheeseburgers together. “I was impressed with Senator Thun’s basketball skills, which put me to shame.

Other episodes include eating pancakes with Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (RW.Va.), trying pulled pork plates and banana pudding with North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) and enjoying “exceptional” Thai food with Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R ) .

“Each of these people had a different approach to how they consumed food, what they liked, what they ate at home or in the Senate locker room,” Heffner said.

According to Heffner, it appears that breaking the partisan gridlock in Washington could start with political power players “breaking bread” with each other.

The meal, where he feasted with figures on both sides of the political aisle, Heffner said, put “a certain satisfaction in the air that allowed us to approach some more challenging discussions about how to get back together to effectively lead both parties.”