KATE SULLIVAN: Get ready.

Today, we're driving outside of Austin, Texas, on our way to the Hill Country, where one unique and delicious restaurant has been getting major attention.

J.R. MARTINEZ: I'm gonna watch you for a second.

And just when you take a bite of that pastrami.

KATE: Oh, wow.

J.R.: That's what I'm telling you.

KATE: We're meeting a truly inspiring voice.

J.R.: You're not limited.

You can do anything you want.

I went from a hospital bed to Hollywood.

KATE: A man who knows a thing or two about defying odds and expectations.

J.R.: I'm a cycle breaker.

KATE: Cycle breaker.

J.R.: A cycle breaker.

KATE: Wow.

J.R. Martinez is taking me to his favorite restaurant to eat what he loves and find out why he loves it.

J.R.: I guess the question is, are you a fold?

KATE: Oh yeah.

J.R.: You fold?

KATE: New York style.

And then he's sharing his incredible journey from a near death experience in Iraq.

J.R.: Immediately this Humvee is engulfed in flames.

I'm trapped inside.

I can't get out and I'm screaming and yelling at the top of my lungs.

KATE: To going after the job of his dreams.

I have never heard this story in my life.

They reach out to you and say, "Hey, would you like to be an actor?"

Not just an actor, on All My Children.

J.R.: All My Children.

KATE: To finding himself on another adventure.

Do you consider yourself disabled?

J.R.: Absolutely not.

I went on Dancing with the Stars for God's sake.

KATE: J.R. shares how he overcame adversity, built resilience, and redefined his own version of the American Dream.

J.R.: I'm like the real Forrest Gump.

[Kate laughs] Like, I am 100 percent the Forrest Gump.

KATE: What's better in life than a bottle of wine, great food, and an amazing conversation?

My name is Kate Sullivan, and I am the host of To Dine For .

I'm a journalist, a foodie, a traveler with an appetite for the stories of people who are hungry for more: dreamers, visionaries, artists: those who hustle hard in the direction they love.

I travel with them to their favorite restaurant to hear how they did it.

This show is a toast to them and their American Dream.

To Dine For with Kate Sullivan is made possible by... (Music and chatter) MAN: During the weekends, we do like a grill.

(Clatter of chess board) MAN #2: You know you have bragging rights in the hood.

I'm like, "My guy won the game."

(Clatter of chess piece and men yelling and cheering) FEMALE ANNOUNCER: At American National, we honor the "do"-ers and the dreamers: The people who gets things done and keep the world moving.

Our local agents are honored to serve your community, because it's their community, too.

American National.

KATE: Hello, everyone.

Today I'm in Austin, Texas, on my way into a restaurant called Pieous.

A place known for pizza, pastrami and pastries.

I can't wait to eat here.

I am meeting a truly inspiring man who turned a personal tragedy into a way to really impact others' lives.

I can't wait for you to meet J.R. Martinez.

J.R.!

J.R.: Welcome to Austin.

KATE: Thank you.

Thank you for the welcome... J.R.: I'm a hugger.

KATE: Let's go in for a hug.

It's so nice to meet you.

J.R.: Welcome to Austin.

And what a perfect time to be here.

This is a perfect day to try some perfect food and have a great conversation.

KATE: I'm excited.

J.R.: Let's do it!

Come on in.

KATE: J.R. Martinez did not grow up in Texas, but Texas is now home and the restaurant he chose isn't your typical Texas barbecue joint.

Welcome to Pieous, a Neapolitan pizzeria that also serves top-notch pastrami.

You heard me right.

An Italian restaurant in Texas where pizza meets pastrami.

JOSH KANER: Pious, like, I knew what it meant, I felt what it meant, but I didn't know the actual definition.

And then when I looked it up, it said someone who's devoted.

And usually it's related to religion, and food became our religion.

KATE: Josh and Paige Kaner left successful corporate careers in Los Angeles, moved with their family to Austin, and followed their passion for food making.

In 2013, they took over an old barbecue place and transformed it into Pieous, where the pizza is so high quality, it holds a certification from the Italian government.

JOSH: It's like a food emporium.

It's just, you come here and you can kind of tell that whoever's making their food cares.

KATE: But it's not just about the five ingredient sourdough pizza crust.

Pieous uses family recipes and all fresh produce, house made sauces.

Even the mozzarella is made by hand.

JOSH: When I bus a table and I'll see an empty plate.

It's the equivalent of getting a standing ovation... [inaudible] JOSH: ...for a performer.

KATE: Today's goal is to leave our plates empty for Josh.

We're starting with a choppy salad.

Romaine hearts tossed with fire roasted garbanzo beans.

House made fresh mozzarella and dressing, and lean pastrami piled on top.

Then we're digging into not one but two pizzas: the bacon bleu and the fiery Aphrodite with green salsa, cherry tomatoes, fire roasted chicken and fresh mozzarella on top.

First of all, thank you for bringing me to Pieous.

I am so excited to eat here.

J.R.: Yeah.

KATE: But I'm just wondering, of all the restaurants in Austin that you could have chosen, why did you choose Pieous?

J.R.: You see me around town, I'm a casual guy.

Right?

I'm not dressed up.

Like, this is, this is rare for me to be.

Like, I'm more of a casual, laid back guy.

And Pieous is one of those laid back, get a great meal, great environment, great, great setting.

And for me, that's that, it just sort of checks all boxes for me.

KATE: And it's known for its just excellent, exceptional food.

J.R.: Yes.

I have this memory of- My mother's from El Salvador.

My mother is an immigrant.

My mother came to this country, met my father, had me, and one of the fondest memories I have is my mother worked at an Italian restaurant.

KATE: Did she really?

J.R.: And she would make pizzas.

KATE: Ahh.

J.R.: And, and sometimes if there was no care, no one to leave me with.

I would go to work with her.

So I have this, this pull towards like pizza.

Like, if people ask you the question of like, what's the one meal you want to have before?

And I'm like, it is pizza.

This place, sort of hits that soft spot for me in regards to pizza.

KATE: Oh, whoa.

J.R.: Speaking of.

J.R.: Oh, this is the starter.

Hello.

How are you doing?

PAIGE KANER: Hi, how are you?

J.R.: Yeah, it's good.

Great.

KATE: Thank you, Paige.

J.R.: I'm just telling everybody this is where you have to come.

This is where you have to be.

PAIGE: I love that.

That's so nice.

Thank you so much.

J.R.: No, this is my spot.

PAIGE: That makes me feel so good.

Thank you very much.

KATE: And what are we having, Paige?

PAIGE: Um, this is our famous choppy salad.

Fresh romaine lettuce, our fresh made mozzarella that we make in house every day.

J.R.: Thank you.

I'm going to watch you for a second and just when you take a bite of that pastrami and just see what it does.

I mean, we're all here for the reaction.

You know, we're here for that shot, for that moment.

KATE: Oh, wow.

[Giggles] [J.R. claps and Kate snaps fingers] J.R.: Yes.

I'm telling you.

KATE: I am fascinated to hear about your path.

I would love it if you could bring me back to your childhood.

You kind of told me a little bit about your mom, El Salvador.

How did you grow up?

Where did you grow up?

And sort of, how did it shape you?

J.R.: So my father wasn't in the picture.

He left when I was nine months old, and my mother raised me by herself.

And she, you know, as a single mother, immigrant to this country, she would literally go find jobs wherever she could.

So that caused us to move a lot because we could afford living here when she had this job.

But if that job no longer was available and she had to take another job and now we had to move, it was all based on what her income was.

KATE: Yeah.

J.R.: And at nine years old, my mother found a new job in Hope, Arkansas, and she said, we're going to move.

Just the two of us.

And so we moved to Hope and listen, like Hope is known for, you know, being the birthplace of president Bill Clinton, has amazing watermelon festival.

Every fall.

KATE: Yes.

I've been to Hope.

J.R.: And yeah, and, and there's something really great about these small towns, right?

But it was very challenging for me because at the time I was one of the first Hispanic kids to arrive in the community.

KATE: Wow.

J.R.: And listen, this is not that long ago, but we're talking about early nineties.

And so there was just still like a lot of hazing, a lot of, I mean, I don't know.

I'm careful with the word bullying, you know, but I got picked on a lot.

KATE: It was not an accepting environment.

J.R.: It was not.

KATE: J.R. struggled in Hope, Arkansas, getting into trouble at school and fighting.

His life wasn't going the direction he wanted.

J.R.: Kate, I used to always say to my mom, there's a whole world out there.

I'm in this small town of like 7,000 people.

KATE: Right.

J.R.: When I said mom, I just don't feel like this is the place for me.

I feel like I need to be somewhere else in order for me to see the world and thrive.

My mother said, "Where do we want to go?"

KATE: Wow.

J.R.: We'll change.

We'll deal with it.

We'll go, let's make it happen.

Let's figure it out.

And that's still instilled in me today.

That even as, within my own family, within my own life, when it comes to making a decision, I'm like, let's just go.

We'll figure it out.

Oh man, we haven't- we're like two bites in the pastrami and here we go.

PAIGE: Here we go.

J.R.: So what do we have now?

PAIGE: Okay, this is the bacon bleu pizza.

KATE: Oh my gosh.

PAIGE: Sweet and salty flavor explosion.

KATE: That looks incredible.

J.R.: I mean, would you ever think of doing that?

KATE: No.

I heard how it was made.

It's incredible with the- with the marmalade, the bacon marmalade.

Incredible.

PAIGE: And then this is the fiery Aphrodite.

So, spicy, spicy.

J.R.: So which one are you going for?

KATE: I'm going to start here.

J.R.: All right, let's do it.

KATE: I'm going to try them both.

But this bacon bleu.

J.R.: That is my wife's favorite.

KATE: Is this your wife's favorite?

J.R.: And it is mine as well.

KATE: Oh my goodness.

I might need a minute on this one.

KATE: This is delicious.

J.R.: So much is happening.

J.R.: I don't even like tomatoes.

[Kate laughs] But then look at that chicken.

Look how beautiful.

KATE: I love when a flavor surprises me.

Like I wasn't ready for it.

And the bleu, the gorgonzola and the bacon jam.

Oh, and the arugula.

Really good.

I'm really interested, how did you get into the military?

You said that you didn't have any family members.

Why did you join the military?

J.R.: So I was a senior in high school when 9/11 happened.

And I think like so many incredible, courageous, brave individuals that weren't in the military at the time when 9/11 took place, um, that decided, what can we do?

Now, it was also my opportunity to get out of a small town, to go see the world, that I clearly had this pull to do.

And I just wanted to give back.

And when I got into it, it was supposed to be three years.

That was it.

I would be 22 years old and I would move on with my life.

KATE: So what year of the three-year tour of duty did your accident happen?

J.R.: I was literally seven months in... KATE: Seven months.

J.R.: ...into my career.

KATE And can you take me to that day?

What happened?

J.R.: We were driving through a city called Karbala and we had to escort this convoy's group of people.

We got 'em there safely.

So it was my turn to drive and I started driving and you know, Kate, I was 19 and incredibly naive.

Even though I knew that war was a possibility, I just, you just never think it's going to happen.

KATE: Right.

J.R.: I had the window down.

It was just like, oh, this is just another day.

And then, [snaps fingers] and immediately the other three troops were thrown out of the vehicle.

We ran over a roadside bomb and it was essentially right under my feet.

Ran over it and, you know, I never quite understood why I was trapped inside and why they were thrown out.

And somebody, somebody... KATE: Instantly caught on fire.

J.R.: Like instantly caught on fire because- KATE: You're in the driver's seat.... J.R.: I'm in the driver's seat.

We had fuel.

We had ammo.

We took everything with us because you never know if you're going to make it back to your base camp.

So you just take it all.

And immediately this Humvee is engulfed in flames.

I'm trapped inside.

I can't get out.

And I'm screaming and yelling at the top of my lungs.

And I'm just, and I can, I can see out through the front window of the Humvee.

And I can see chaos, people just running around.

I can tell people were like, we don't know what happened.

I had a lacerated liver and I had broken ribs.

I mean, I just, I was just sucking it all in.

And I remember my eyes getting heavy and I was just, and what that was clearly was, I was just losing energy.

I was just with my thoughts and I was just with my breath.

I can hear myself gasping.

[Gasps] KATE: You remember that moment.

J.R.: I vividly remember.

I could almost like, it's, it's almost like, um, You can almost remember a taste of something.

I, I, I, I can feel that right now.

And my eyes were closed.

And I'm just in this space.

And there's no noise.

There's no pain.

There's nothing.

It's just me in this space.

And I would open my eyes and just screaming, yelling, and hope that somebody would come to save me.

And I repeated that.

KATE: J.R. made it out of Iraq alive, but he was very badly injured with burns on his face and more than one third of his body.

He had inhaled a lot of smoke and had broken ribs.

J.R. was put in a medically induced coma and spent months in the hospital in San Antonio.

He had 34 surgeries from the accident.

By the time he was 21, J.R. found himself struggling to not only come back from the physical injuries, but the mental ones as well.

J.R.: I struggled emotionally, mentally.

And when I turned 21, I was drinking.

I was angry.

I was resentful.

KATE: How did you get from angry and resentful to where you are now?

What was it?

And I know it's not a quick fix.

J.R.: Oh, it kind of is.

KATE: What was it?

J.R.: It kind of is.

My best friend told me I needed to cry.

KATE: Really?

J.R.: I was traveling with a group of veterans, friends.

We were driving all to the back to the hotel one night.

Somebody said something.

I kind of snapped back and just kind of made a snarky remark.

My best friend, who was not my best friend at the time, but a friend, an acquaintance, he said, "Hey, J.R., relax."

I didn't want to hear that.

I didn't like that.

So I immediately started to come, become very defensive.

I wanted to get physical.

I wanted to fight- KATE: Oh wow, yeah.

J.R.: Because that's essentially what I've been taught.

That's all I know.

He did not engage.

Thank God.

Cause he's six foot four, 275 pounds.

And instead of him engaging in that, when we got back to the hotel, he told me to sit in the passenger seat of the car.

And he says,"You need to cry."

And I said, "What do you, I don't need to cry."

And he said, "Yes, you do."

And then before you know it, I started crying.

I had no idea why.

And all these things just started to flood.

All these things.

And things, honestly, one would think these are things that clearly from your injury.

No, the root of a lot of the things that I was carrying, I was struggling with was from the previous 19 years of my life prior to my injury in Iraq.

The Iraq- My injury was just the trigger.

KATE: Right.

J.R.: That was just the thing that set it all off.

KATE: It wasn't about Iraq.

J.R.: That was the lighter to the fuse and boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.

But that clearly worked for me to be vulnerable.

KATE: Yeah.

J.R.: It took one person to lean in to show up for me.

And it took one person to allow me to feel like I had a community, even if it was only one person.

Nothing is immediate.

Nothing is in life.

However, however, I can almost tell you, shortly after that, People Magazine reaches out to me to feature me in their five year anniversary of the Iraq war.

I'm selected as one of the vets they want to feature.

Two months after that, I get an email to audition to become an actor and then the rest just becomes history.

KATE: It turns out this one email would change the trajectory of J.R.'s life.

A pivot to Hollywood.

You come back from Iraq.

You are burned on 40 percent of your body?

J.R.: Nearly, yep.

KATE: And then you pivot to acting.

[J.R. laughs] Okay, you're as unexpected as this pizza.

I mean, seriously, what was that always a dream of yours?

Or how did that even happen?

J.R.: I get an email to audition to become an actor on the soap opera called All My Children because they were launching a storyline of a veteran.

And they thought, what are the odds of us finding a real veteran that can act?

KATE: Okay, let's just stop there.

For all the people who want to get into acting, for all the people hustling in L.A. J.R.: Just, just throw it out there.

KATE: And you get, they come, they reach out to you?

I have never heard this story in my life.

They reach out to you and say, "Hey, would you like to be an actor?"

Not just an actor, on All My Children?

J.R.: All My Children.

KATE: And you said, your answer was?

J.R.: No.

KATE: Your answer was no?

J.R.: No.

KATE: No?

What happened?

J.R.: It scared the hell out of me.

[Kate laughs] 'Cause I wasn't an actor.

KATE: Yeah.

J.R.: Then I start thinking, well of course, my body.

Soap opera actors, I mean, they're beautiful people.

Gorgeous.

I can't be on camera with those people.

KATE: You are self-sabotaging yourself.

J.R.: Here comes that best friend of mine.

Because he's the one that sent me the email.

He says, "What do you have to lose?

What's the worst they're going to say?

No."

I said, "You're right."

KATE: What was supposed to be a three month stint on All My Children turned into three years playing Brott Monroe, an Army veteran who was injured in combat.

Did acting come natural to you?

J.R.: Yeah.

Well, it also came even more natural because I'm just telling the story of the vets, wounded vets.

I'm telling our story.

KATE: So when the acting opportunity, at that point, where you were advocating for veterans, that was your job, right?

You were speaking.

J.R.: That was it.

I was trying to get into motivational speaking.

Trying to allow people to understand that I was so much more than just a disabled veteran.

And that was the title that people put on me.

Disabled.

Veteran.

Not just veteran.

KATE: Do you consider yourself disabled?

J.R.: Absolutely not.

Absolutely not.

I went on Dancing with the Stars for God's sake.

Like, there's... KATE: That's right.

He didn't just go on the show.

In Season 13 of Dancing with the Stars, J.R. Martinez and his partner, Karina Smirnoff, brought home the famous Mirror Ball Trophy.

Did you always want to be on Dancing on the Stars?

How did that happen?

J.R.: I'm like the real Forrest Gump.

[Kate laughs] Like, I'm 100 percent the Forrest Gump.

At one of the All My Children fan events, a fan said to me, "Would you ever go on Dancing with the Stars?"

KATE: Oh, that's how it started?

J.R.: And I go and ask the executive producer of the show, of All My Children, who had become a dear friend and still is, and I said, "What do you think about this?

This keeps coming up."

She says, "Oh my God, I'm going to make an introduction."

KATE: And could you dance at that point?

J.R.: I mean, listen, I could get down a little bit.

I got some rhythm, you know.

I got a little bit of rhythm.

You know, but nothing formal.

Let's not get crazy here.

I'm going to the classics, baby.

I'm doing the running man.

I'm doing the shopping cart.

I'm trying to do the worm without knocking my teeth out.

I'm doing that kind of stuff.

KATE: Well, I'm going to switch pizzas.

J.R.: Okay, let's do it.

KATE: So, you take this one, and I will take this one.

What did it take to win Dancing with the Stars, in your mind?

J.R.: A lot of letting go.

KATE: Letting go?

Not discipline, not practice?

J.R.: Oh, discipline is, but, but you have to let go of this fear of judgment of what might happen.

KATE: Right.

J.R.: You have to let go of somebody.

Well, hold on.

Take that bite.

Take that bite.

Your taste buds, your senses are just firing off on every cylinder right now.

Trying to figure it out.

KATE: Is that cumin?

I don't know what's going on in here.

This is delicious.

It's spicy.

J.R.: That's what I'm saying.

KATE: It's got cilantro on pizza.

I've never had cilantro on pizza.

J.R.: That's what I'm saying.

KATE: What did you winning teach you about what's possible?

J.R.: I had such a fear for so many years, of being able to walk in public, how I'd be perceived, if I would be accepted, if I'd ever meet somebody, to date somebody.

I'm gonna be honest, would I ever be intimate with anybody.

Right, would I ever have a family, a career.

Like all those things going, into the- into your head, into your thought process.

And being on that show, I guess I got the proof that if I just show up as myself, my true self, the good, the bad, and the ugly, cause I cried on the show and I was not afraid of crying in front of 20, 20 million people.

KATE: You learned to cry.

J.R.: I learned to cry.

That I knew- it told me that if I continue to show up in that authentic way, I would not only continue to create deeper connection with my community, but I would expand my community.

And I have.

There were so many people over the course of 40 years on this earth that one person at a time took stuff away from me.

But there's so many more people, one person at a time, they gave it back.

And more.

KATE: Well, that was a label they put on you.

J.R.: That was a label they put on me.

People started telling me, you're a burn victim.

So I would walk around and be like, "Hi, I'm J.R. Martinez.

I'm a disabled veteran and a burn victim."

And it wasn't until I got connected to the burn community, to the Phoenix Society, where I was taught, we're not victims, we're survivors.

KATE: Survivors.

And then some.

J.R.: The more time I spent with veterans, it was like, you're not disabled, you're a veteran.

And then I started changing that narrative and taking ownership of, this is who my, this is what my identity is.

KATE: J.R. has worked tirelessly to turn things around for other veterans as well.

His book, "Full of Heart, My Story of Survival, Strength in Spirit," became a New York Times bestseller.

He travels the country speaking to companies, non-profits, and universities, all while continuing to meet one on one with other veterans.

What's it like to be in a room of veterans?

To walk in and to know that many of them in that room need to hear what you have to say.

J.R.: First of all, I feel a sense, I feel a great deal of pride and honor to be part of such a small alumni of people, that have raised their right hand the same way that I did because there's not many of us.

I honestly spend so much more time just listening and asking questions because I'm the guy that gets all the notoriety, all the attention because I was on the show.

I did this, I've done that.

And these individuals are doing incredible things either, either just in their home, in their communities.

Like, you know, they're maybe bigger.

Who knows?

But no one really gives them the same acknowledgment.

KATE: So it was nothing that you had to say, it was what you had to, holding space to hear.

J.R.: Allow them to say.

KATE: What they had to say.

J.R.: What they needed to say.

KATE: We talked about your mother being the American dream.

How do you define the American dream?

J.R.: There are no limits.

I mean, this is an amazing country.

Like everything, has its imperfections, has its flaws, has its things about it.

That's true in every, no matter where you go.

But to me, the American Dream is like, you're not limited.

You can do anything you want.

I mean, I went from a hospital bed to Hollywood.

Like, it's, how much are you willing to work?

How hard, how hard do you, how bad do you want it?

And how, how are you willing to show up every single day?

And, and, and listen, my mom sacrificed so much.

So much.

And that's also part of my motivation every day.

Life has also like, almost been taken away from me.

KATE: Right.

J.R.: But knowing what my mother sacrificed for me to have this opportunity, that's why I show up.

Because I know how much it took for me to have this day.

KATE: I have enjoyed this conversation so much.

J.R.: This is so much fun.

KATE: Thank you for your time, for your talent.

J.R.: Been the joy to have this conversation with you.

I feel like we've been friends for a very long time.

KATE: I feel the same way.

J.R.: And I know we're going to be friends for a long time... KATE: I hope so.

J.R.: So thank you so much.

KATE: Thank you.

How could you not enjoy a meal with J.R. Martinez?

A man whose passion and zest for life is so obvious.

He calls himself the real life Forrest Gump because his life is a seemingly random collection of experiences.

But, if you note, amidst all of them, is a desire and ability to rise to the challenge of the day.

That whatever life throws at you, what might happen if you just hang in there?

What might happen if you embrace the moment and find a way to give back?

J.R. Martinez is the American dream, like his mother.

And he's paving a way for others to find theirs as well.

♪♪ KATE: If you would like to know more about the guests, the restaurants, and the inspiring stories of success, please visit ToDineForTV.com or follow us on Facebook and Instagram @ToDineForTV.

We also have a podcast.

To Dine For , The Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

To Dine For with Kate Sullivan is made possible by... (Music and chatter) MAN: During the weekends, we do like a grill.

(Clatter of chess board) MAN #2: You know you have bragging rights in the hood.

I'm like, "My guy won the game."

(Clatter of chess piece and men yelling and cheering) FEMALE ANNOUNCER: At American National, we honor the "do"-ers and the dreamers: The people who gets things done and keep the world moving.

Our local agents are honored to serve your community, because it's their community, too.

American National.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪