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"title": "A Bay Area Guide to Cold Dishes for Hot Weather",
"headTitle": "A Bay Area Guide to Cold Dishes for Hot Weather | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Find more of KQED’s picks for the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/fallguide2023\">best fall 2023 events here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Heading into fall, there are certain fundamental truths every Bay Arean knows: that summer here is (mostly) a lie. That September tomatoes are sacrosanct. And that the hottest damned day of the year often falls on some random weekday in October. This is the season of \u003ci>not\u003c/i> lighting our stoves, when mostly all we want to do is drink aguas frescas inside an air-conditioned room.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thankfully, our local food scene is well prepared for this seasonal scorching. Here are 10 of my favorite dishes to beat the heat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933770\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13933770\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/soba-ichi-cold-soba_LT.jpg\" alt=\"A plate of cold soba with dipping sauce and a side of tempura.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/soba-ichi-cold-soba_LT.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/soba-ichi-cold-soba_LT-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/soba-ichi-cold-soba_LT-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/soba-ichi-cold-soba_LT-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/soba-ichi-cold-soba_LT-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/soba-ichi-cold-soba_LT-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Slurping cold, slippery soba on a hot day is an A+ sensory experience. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Cold Soba at Soba Ichi\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>2311A Magnolia St., Oakland\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hot days were simply \u003ci>made \u003c/i>for cold noodles — or is it the other way around? Either way, it’s hard for me to separate the two, and the few times a year when Bay Area temperatures edge toward triple digits, I start thinking about heading to West Oakland’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/sobaichi_oakland/?hl=en\">Soba Ichi\u003c/a> for a plate of soba. The restaurant serves these traditional buckwheat noodles a number of ways, of course, but my favorite is when the noodles are served cold with a dashi-based dipping sauce. Slurping those cold, slippery noodles while the sweat drips down your face: That’s an A+ sensory experience right there. An ice-cold lemon chu-hi also doesn’t hurt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933775\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13933775\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/pucquio-cebiche_LT.jpg\" alt=\"An elegantly plated Peruvian cebiche: raw fish topped with a crinkled piece of fried trout skin, with trout roe and assorted seaweeds arranged on the plate.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/pucquio-cebiche_LT.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/pucquio-cebiche_LT-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/pucquio-cebiche_LT-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/pucquio-cebiche_LT-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/pucquio-cebiche_LT-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/pucquio-cebiche_LT-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The trout cebiche is notable for its undercurrent of briny ocean umami. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Cebiche at Pucquio\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>5337 College Ave., Oakland\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On a sweltering hot day, sometimes the only thing I want to eat is chilled seafood — say, a simple poke bowl or a classic, caper-studded “Sicilian sashimi” from Swan Oyster Depot (if I didn’t have to wait in line for two hours). For me, the apex of this genre can be found at \u003ca href=\"https://www.pucquio.com/\">Pucquio\u003c/a>, an often-slept-on Peruvian joint where every cebiche on the menu is a stone cold killer. You’ll want to get a couple of them to share: The classic cebiche de pescado (made with rockfish during my recent visit) is bright and bracing, super-charged with a zip of citrusy ají limo chile heat. My favorite, though, is the comparatively mellow trout cebiche, which comes topped with crispy trout skin, as well as marinated trout roe that adds an undercurrent of briny ocean umami. Eat with a spoon so you can get a bit of each component in every bite.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933777\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13933777\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/tigon-banh-hoi-2_LT.jpg\" alt=\"A spread of Vietnamese spring roll fillings next to a plate covered with lettuce and herbs.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/tigon-banh-hoi-2_LT.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/tigon-banh-hoi-2_LT-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/tigon-banh-hoi-2_LT-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/tigon-banh-hoi-2_LT-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/tigon-banh-hoi-2_LT-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/tigon-banh-hoi-2_LT-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fresh herbs and vegetables keep Tigon’s bánh hỏi light and refreshing. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Bánh Hỏi Dặc Biệt at Tigon\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>10086 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You might already know that fresh spring rolls are a Vietnamese hot-weather staple — something about the combination of pliable rice paper wrapping, crisp lettuce, fresh herbs and, often, cold meat or shrimp that makes for such a refreshing bite. The bánh hỏi đặc biệt platter at El Cerrito’s criminally underrated \u003ca href=\"https://eatattigon.com/\">Tigon\u003c/a> takes this general principle and kicks it up eight or nine notches. The base of the platter is the tidy little rice noodle bundles known as bánh hỏi, on top of which the chef has arranged a huge spread of beef, chicken, shrimp, crispy egg rolls and fried bean curd. You dip a round of rice paper in warm water; arrange your meats, noodles and fresh herbs and vegetables on top; and voilà — a make-your-own spring roll party that’s festive and communal, without anyone having to break a sweat. Note well: The $38.50 đặc biệt platter is probably enough food to feed a family of four, but there’s also an option to pick just one or two proteins if you come in a smaller group.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933772\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13933772\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/fil-am-cuisine-skewers_LT.jpg\" alt=\"Hand holding a white plastic takeout container of saucy meat skewers arranged over a bed of white rice.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/fil-am-cuisine-skewers_LT.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/fil-am-cuisine-skewers_LT-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/fil-am-cuisine-skewers_LT-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/fil-am-cuisine-skewers_LT-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/fil-am-cuisine-skewers_LT-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/fil-am-cuisine-skewers_LT-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Daly City’s Fil-Am Cuisine offers exquisite summer barbecue vibes all year round. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>BBQ Skewers at Fil-Am Cuisine\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>66 School St., Daly City\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Every time I step inside this Daly City meat stick institution, the smell of a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13915306/bbq-in-the-bay-series-intro-multicultural-barbecue-bay-area\">summer barbecue\u003c/a> hits me like a tidal wave of nostalgia. Fil-Am Cuisine boasts the same kind of sweet, charred meat and friendly Asian aunties that I associate with family get-togethers from when I was a kid. Even the prices seem like they’ve been time-warped from the early ’90s. Connoisseurs of crispy, carbonized edges, this is your spot. And whether you walk away with a fistful of skewered chicken or pork (why not both?), you can’t go wrong. Cash only.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933771\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13933771\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/messob-veggie-combo_LT.jpg\" alt=\"An Ethiopian veggie combo: six colorful spreads dolloped on an injera-lined metal plate.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/messob-veggie-combo_LT.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/messob-veggie-combo_LT-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/messob-veggie-combo_LT-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/messob-veggie-combo_LT-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/messob-veggie-combo_LT-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/messob-veggie-combo_LT-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The cool, garlicky buticha — the scrambled egg–like dip in the front-left quadrant — is part of what makes Messob’s veggie combo one of the best around. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Buticha at Messob\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>4301 Piedmont Ave., Oakland\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My friend and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/rgebreyesus\">former KQED food writer\u003c/a> Ruth Gebreyesus first \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/the-curious-history-of-the-eritrean-and-ethiopian-veggie-combo-2-1/\">turned me on to\u003c/a> the buticha at \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/messobethiopianrestaurant/\">Messob\u003c/a>. This easy-to-miss slip of an Ethiopian restaurant serves what might be my favorite veggie combo in the Bay — especially the iteration that comes with a scoop of cool, refreshing buticha. At lesser restaurants, this cold chickpea flour dip often resembles an onion-y hummus, or a bland egg salad of sorts. Messob’s buticha is more flavorful by several orders of magnitude, with a texture akin to soft-scrambled eggs and a garlicky punch that had me dipping my injera back into it again and again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.instagram.com/p/CctQwzzPfZE/\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Some Like It Harra at Reem’s\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>2901 Mission St., San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s something uniquely pleasing about scooping up a cool dip or spread with a hunk of warm, fresh bread. In some ways, that’s the whole organizing principle around \u003ca href=\"https://www.reemscalifornia.com/\">Reem’s\u003c/a>, an Arab bakery where the hot pita alone is worth the trip to the Mission. One of my favorite ways to eat it is with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kcet.org/shows/the-migrant-kitchen/reem-assils-labneh\">labneh\u003c/a>, a strained yogurt dish that’s a classic hot-weather treat in much of the Arab world. For her “Some Like It Harra,” chef Reem Assil spices up the labneh with garlic chile morita oil, toasted sesame seeds and a jammy soft-boiled egg. Perfect for \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CjHGICVJbv5/?hl=en\">pita dunking\u003c/a>. (\u003cem>Note: Reem’s Mission location is temporarily closed and is expected to reopen after Labor Day weekend. Its smaller kiosk in the Ferry Building remains open.\u003c/em>)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933779\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13933779\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mandalay-tea-leaf-salad_courtesyFB.jpg\" alt=\"A Burmese tea leaf salad, premixing, with piles of various seeds and nuts arranged on the plate.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1914\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mandalay-tea-leaf-salad_courtesyFB.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mandalay-tea-leaf-salad_courtesyFB-800x798.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mandalay-tea-leaf-salad_courtesyFB-1020x1017.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mandalay-tea-leaf-salad_courtesyFB-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mandalay-tea-leaf-salad_courtesyFB-768x766.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mandalay-tea-leaf-salad_courtesyFB-1536x1531.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mandalay’s fermented tea leaf salad is probably the most flavorful version in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Mandalay/Facebook)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Tea Leaf Salad at Mandalay\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>4348 California St., San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you tell me it’s so hot that you just want to eat salad for dinner, I’ll take that to mean we should go out for Burmese food. After all, Burmese tea leaf salads are one of the jewels of the Bay Area’s immigrant food scene. My favorite is \u003ca href=\"https://www.mandalaysf.com/\">Mandalay’s\u003c/a> extra-pungent version, which isn’t cut with any lettuce — just cabbage, a huge dollop of fermented tea leaves, lime, shrimp powder and an assortment of nuts, seeds and other crunchy-toasty things. Forget your boring tossed salads: Here’s a salad that manages to be refreshing, nutritious \u003ci>and \u003c/i>righteously funky.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933773\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13933773\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/shugetsu-tsukemen_LT.jpg\" alt=\"A bowl of cold ramen noodles topped with grilled pork belly and a halved soft-boiled egg, with dipping broth served in a separate small bowl on the side.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/shugetsu-tsukemen_LT.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/shugetsu-tsukemen_LT-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/shugetsu-tsukemen_LT-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/shugetsu-tsukemen_LT-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/shugetsu-tsukemen_LT-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/shugetsu-tsukemen_LT-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">For many ramen aficionados, tsukemen is the preferred choice for muggy days when you don’t want to drink a steaming-hot bowl of soup. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Tsukemen at Shugetsu\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>2944 S. Norfolk St., San Mateo\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I don’t know if there’s such a thing as “too hot for ramen,” but if I’m sweating even \u003ci>before\u003c/i> I sit down at the noodle counter, I’ll look to see if the menu includes tsukemen, or dipping noodles. Just like the best tsukemen shops in Tokyo, \u003ca href=\"https://shugetsu-ca.com/\">Shugetsu\u003c/a> lets you have whatever size bowl of thick, house-made noodles you want (regular, large or XL) for the same price, with the option to request them cold, as is traditional — both for cooling-off purposes and so that the noodles maintain their springy texture. The idea with tsukemen is to dip the noodles into a super-concentrated broth, too salty and intense to drink on its own, coating each bite with the perfect amount of flavor and fat. This is where Shugetsu shines: The rich, tangy dipping broth, blasted with dried-scallop umami, is simply fantastic. Pro tip: When you’ve slurped up your last noodle, ask the server for the “soup-wari,” a kettle of plain chicken soup that they pour into your remaining dipping broth — diluting it just enough so you can drink it like a normal, if uncommonly tasty, soup.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933776\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13933776\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/oks-deli-tuna-salad_LT.jpg\" alt=\"The cross section of a tuna salad sandwich made with thick slices of milkbread.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/oks-deli-tuna-salad_LT.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/oks-deli-tuna-salad_LT-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/oks-deli-tuna-salad_LT-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/oks-deli-tuna-salad_LT-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/oks-deli-tuna-salad_LT-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/oks-deli-tuna-salad_LT-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The conbini-style tuna salad sandwich features Kewpie-style mayonnaise and thick, bouncy milkbread. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Konbini Tuna Salad Sandwich at Ok’s Deli\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>3932 Telegraph Ave., Oakland\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Deli sandwich weather means a short break from our usual programming of cheesesteaks and hot pastrami: It’s cold cut weather. Egg salad weather. At Oakland’s newish \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/oksdeli/\">Ok’s Deli\u003c/a>, most of the sandwiches have some Asian American twist — and just about every one of them is a certified hit. Lately, I’ve been especially enamored with the deli’s take on a tuna salad sandwich, which takes all of the classic elements — line-caught tuna; pickles, onion and celery chopped super-fine; and lots and lots of mayo — and Asia-fies them ever so slightly through the lens of Japan’s incredible convenience store sandwiches. So, the house mayo is \u003ca href=\"https://thetakeout.com/my-chemical-dependence-on-japanese-kewpie-mayo-1798251538\">Kewpie\u003c/a>-adjacent. The bread is Ok’s delightfully bouncy house-made milk bread. And the sandwich, as a whole? Refreshing as a cool blast of convenience store AC.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933778\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13933778\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bn-chicken-samgyetang_lt.jpg\" alt=\"A steaming vessel of chicken ginseng soup with a whole cornish hen.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bn-chicken-samgyetang_lt.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bn-chicken-samgyetang_lt-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bn-chicken-samgyetang_lt-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bn-chicken-samgyetang_lt-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bn-chicken-samgyetang_lt-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bn-chicken-samgyetang_lt-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Fight fire with fire’ with BN Chicken’s soul-replenishing samgyetang. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Samgyetang at BN Chicken\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>2725 El Camino Real, Santa Clara\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For those who like to zig when everyone else is zagging, consider that in Korea, it’s customary to eat samgyetang — a bubbling-hot chicken and ginseng soup — on the very hottest days of the year. The idea is that causing yourself to sweat \u003ci>more\u003c/i> actually cools you down; meanwhile, the medicinal properties of the soup’s ginseng, garlic and dried jujubes help refill your stamina bar. It’s “\u003ca href=\"https://tastecooking.com/summer-koreans-fight-fire-fire/\">fighting fire with fire\u003c/a>,” as Koreans are fond of saying. And there’s no better place to do it than at Santa Clara’s \u003ca href=\"http://bnchicken.com/\">BN Chicken\u003c/a>, an entire restaurant dedicated to the steamy, soul-replenishing pleasures of samgyetang. The soup comes in a stone bowl, which keeps things boiling-hot for the duration of your meal. Rip into the whole Cornish hen to dig into the glutinous rice and aromatics stuffed inside, and dip chunks of the tender meat in salt as you go. And if the hot soup approach isn’t working for you? Not to worry: BN Chicken also serves a top-notch version of the bracingly vinegary, ice-cold noodle soup known as naengmyeon.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Find more of KQED’s picks for the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/fallguide2023\">best fall 2023 events here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Heading into fall, there are certain fundamental truths every Bay Arean knows: that summer here is (mostly) a lie. That September tomatoes are sacrosanct. And that the hottest damned day of the year often falls on some random weekday in October. This is the season of \u003ci>not\u003c/i> lighting our stoves, when mostly all we want to do is drink aguas frescas inside an air-conditioned room.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thankfully, our local food scene is well prepared for this seasonal scorching. Here are 10 of my favorite dishes to beat the heat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933770\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13933770\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/soba-ichi-cold-soba_LT.jpg\" alt=\"A plate of cold soba with dipping sauce and a side of tempura.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/soba-ichi-cold-soba_LT.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/soba-ichi-cold-soba_LT-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/soba-ichi-cold-soba_LT-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/soba-ichi-cold-soba_LT-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/soba-ichi-cold-soba_LT-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/soba-ichi-cold-soba_LT-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Slurping cold, slippery soba on a hot day is an A+ sensory experience. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Cold Soba at Soba Ichi\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>2311A Magnolia St., Oakland\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hot days were simply \u003ci>made \u003c/i>for cold noodles — or is it the other way around? Either way, it’s hard for me to separate the two, and the few times a year when Bay Area temperatures edge toward triple digits, I start thinking about heading to West Oakland’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/sobaichi_oakland/?hl=en\">Soba Ichi\u003c/a> for a plate of soba. The restaurant serves these traditional buckwheat noodles a number of ways, of course, but my favorite is when the noodles are served cold with a dashi-based dipping sauce. Slurping those cold, slippery noodles while the sweat drips down your face: That’s an A+ sensory experience right there. An ice-cold lemon chu-hi also doesn’t hurt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933775\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13933775\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/pucquio-cebiche_LT.jpg\" alt=\"An elegantly plated Peruvian cebiche: raw fish topped with a crinkled piece of fried trout skin, with trout roe and assorted seaweeds arranged on the plate.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/pucquio-cebiche_LT.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/pucquio-cebiche_LT-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/pucquio-cebiche_LT-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/pucquio-cebiche_LT-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/pucquio-cebiche_LT-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/pucquio-cebiche_LT-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The trout cebiche is notable for its undercurrent of briny ocean umami. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Cebiche at Pucquio\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>5337 College Ave., Oakland\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On a sweltering hot day, sometimes the only thing I want to eat is chilled seafood — say, a simple poke bowl or a classic, caper-studded “Sicilian sashimi” from Swan Oyster Depot (if I didn’t have to wait in line for two hours). For me, the apex of this genre can be found at \u003ca href=\"https://www.pucquio.com/\">Pucquio\u003c/a>, an often-slept-on Peruvian joint where every cebiche on the menu is a stone cold killer. You’ll want to get a couple of them to share: The classic cebiche de pescado (made with rockfish during my recent visit) is bright and bracing, super-charged with a zip of citrusy ají limo chile heat. My favorite, though, is the comparatively mellow trout cebiche, which comes topped with crispy trout skin, as well as marinated trout roe that adds an undercurrent of briny ocean umami. Eat with a spoon so you can get a bit of each component in every bite.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933777\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13933777\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/tigon-banh-hoi-2_LT.jpg\" alt=\"A spread of Vietnamese spring roll fillings next to a plate covered with lettuce and herbs.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/tigon-banh-hoi-2_LT.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/tigon-banh-hoi-2_LT-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/tigon-banh-hoi-2_LT-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/tigon-banh-hoi-2_LT-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/tigon-banh-hoi-2_LT-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/tigon-banh-hoi-2_LT-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fresh herbs and vegetables keep Tigon’s bánh hỏi light and refreshing. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Bánh Hỏi Dặc Biệt at Tigon\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>10086 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You might already know that fresh spring rolls are a Vietnamese hot-weather staple — something about the combination of pliable rice paper wrapping, crisp lettuce, fresh herbs and, often, cold meat or shrimp that makes for such a refreshing bite. The bánh hỏi đặc biệt platter at El Cerrito’s criminally underrated \u003ca href=\"https://eatattigon.com/\">Tigon\u003c/a> takes this general principle and kicks it up eight or nine notches. The base of the platter is the tidy little rice noodle bundles known as bánh hỏi, on top of which the chef has arranged a huge spread of beef, chicken, shrimp, crispy egg rolls and fried bean curd. You dip a round of rice paper in warm water; arrange your meats, noodles and fresh herbs and vegetables on top; and voilà — a make-your-own spring roll party that’s festive and communal, without anyone having to break a sweat. Note well: The $38.50 đặc biệt platter is probably enough food to feed a family of four, but there’s also an option to pick just one or two proteins if you come in a smaller group.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933772\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13933772\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/fil-am-cuisine-skewers_LT.jpg\" alt=\"Hand holding a white plastic takeout container of saucy meat skewers arranged over a bed of white rice.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/fil-am-cuisine-skewers_LT.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/fil-am-cuisine-skewers_LT-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/fil-am-cuisine-skewers_LT-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/fil-am-cuisine-skewers_LT-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/fil-am-cuisine-skewers_LT-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/fil-am-cuisine-skewers_LT-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Daly City’s Fil-Am Cuisine offers exquisite summer barbecue vibes all year round. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>BBQ Skewers at Fil-Am Cuisine\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>66 School St., Daly City\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Every time I step inside this Daly City meat stick institution, the smell of a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13915306/bbq-in-the-bay-series-intro-multicultural-barbecue-bay-area\">summer barbecue\u003c/a> hits me like a tidal wave of nostalgia. Fil-Am Cuisine boasts the same kind of sweet, charred meat and friendly Asian aunties that I associate with family get-togethers from when I was a kid. Even the prices seem like they’ve been time-warped from the early ’90s. Connoisseurs of crispy, carbonized edges, this is your spot. And whether you walk away with a fistful of skewered chicken or pork (why not both?), you can’t go wrong. Cash only.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933771\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13933771\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/messob-veggie-combo_LT.jpg\" alt=\"An Ethiopian veggie combo: six colorful spreads dolloped on an injera-lined metal plate.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/messob-veggie-combo_LT.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/messob-veggie-combo_LT-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/messob-veggie-combo_LT-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/messob-veggie-combo_LT-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/messob-veggie-combo_LT-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/messob-veggie-combo_LT-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The cool, garlicky buticha — the scrambled egg–like dip in the front-left quadrant — is part of what makes Messob’s veggie combo one of the best around. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Buticha at Messob\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>4301 Piedmont Ave., Oakland\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My friend and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/rgebreyesus\">former KQED food writer\u003c/a> Ruth Gebreyesus first \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/the-curious-history-of-the-eritrean-and-ethiopian-veggie-combo-2-1/\">turned me on to\u003c/a> the buticha at \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/messobethiopianrestaurant/\">Messob\u003c/a>. This easy-to-miss slip of an Ethiopian restaurant serves what might be my favorite veggie combo in the Bay — especially the iteration that comes with a scoop of cool, refreshing buticha. At lesser restaurants, this cold chickpea flour dip often resembles an onion-y hummus, or a bland egg salad of sorts. Messob’s buticha is more flavorful by several orders of magnitude, with a texture akin to soft-scrambled eggs and a garlicky punch that had me dipping my injera back into it again and again.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003ch2>Some Like It Harra at Reem’s\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>2901 Mission St., San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s something uniquely pleasing about scooping up a cool dip or spread with a hunk of warm, fresh bread. In some ways, that’s the whole organizing principle around \u003ca href=\"https://www.reemscalifornia.com/\">Reem’s\u003c/a>, an Arab bakery where the hot pita alone is worth the trip to the Mission. One of my favorite ways to eat it is with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kcet.org/shows/the-migrant-kitchen/reem-assils-labneh\">labneh\u003c/a>, a strained yogurt dish that’s a classic hot-weather treat in much of the Arab world. For her “Some Like It Harra,” chef Reem Assil spices up the labneh with garlic chile morita oil, toasted sesame seeds and a jammy soft-boiled egg. Perfect for \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CjHGICVJbv5/?hl=en\">pita dunking\u003c/a>. (\u003cem>Note: Reem’s Mission location is temporarily closed and is expected to reopen after Labor Day weekend. Its smaller kiosk in the Ferry Building remains open.\u003c/em>)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933779\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13933779\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mandalay-tea-leaf-salad_courtesyFB.jpg\" alt=\"A Burmese tea leaf salad, premixing, with piles of various seeds and nuts arranged on the plate.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1914\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mandalay-tea-leaf-salad_courtesyFB.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mandalay-tea-leaf-salad_courtesyFB-800x798.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mandalay-tea-leaf-salad_courtesyFB-1020x1017.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mandalay-tea-leaf-salad_courtesyFB-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mandalay-tea-leaf-salad_courtesyFB-768x766.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mandalay-tea-leaf-salad_courtesyFB-1536x1531.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mandalay’s fermented tea leaf salad is probably the most flavorful version in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Mandalay/Facebook)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Tea Leaf Salad at Mandalay\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>4348 California St., San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you tell me it’s so hot that you just want to eat salad for dinner, I’ll take that to mean we should go out for Burmese food. After all, Burmese tea leaf salads are one of the jewels of the Bay Area’s immigrant food scene. My favorite is \u003ca href=\"https://www.mandalaysf.com/\">Mandalay’s\u003c/a> extra-pungent version, which isn’t cut with any lettuce — just cabbage, a huge dollop of fermented tea leaves, lime, shrimp powder and an assortment of nuts, seeds and other crunchy-toasty things. Forget your boring tossed salads: Here’s a salad that manages to be refreshing, nutritious \u003ci>and \u003c/i>righteously funky.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933773\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13933773\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/shugetsu-tsukemen_LT.jpg\" alt=\"A bowl of cold ramen noodles topped with grilled pork belly and a halved soft-boiled egg, with dipping broth served in a separate small bowl on the side.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/shugetsu-tsukemen_LT.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/shugetsu-tsukemen_LT-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/shugetsu-tsukemen_LT-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/shugetsu-tsukemen_LT-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/shugetsu-tsukemen_LT-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/shugetsu-tsukemen_LT-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">For many ramen aficionados, tsukemen is the preferred choice for muggy days when you don’t want to drink a steaming-hot bowl of soup. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Tsukemen at Shugetsu\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>2944 S. Norfolk St., San Mateo\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I don’t know if there’s such a thing as “too hot for ramen,” but if I’m sweating even \u003ci>before\u003c/i> I sit down at the noodle counter, I’ll look to see if the menu includes tsukemen, or dipping noodles. Just like the best tsukemen shops in Tokyo, \u003ca href=\"https://shugetsu-ca.com/\">Shugetsu\u003c/a> lets you have whatever size bowl of thick, house-made noodles you want (regular, large or XL) for the same price, with the option to request them cold, as is traditional — both for cooling-off purposes and so that the noodles maintain their springy texture. The idea with tsukemen is to dip the noodles into a super-concentrated broth, too salty and intense to drink on its own, coating each bite with the perfect amount of flavor and fat. This is where Shugetsu shines: The rich, tangy dipping broth, blasted with dried-scallop umami, is simply fantastic. Pro tip: When you’ve slurped up your last noodle, ask the server for the “soup-wari,” a kettle of plain chicken soup that they pour into your remaining dipping broth — diluting it just enough so you can drink it like a normal, if uncommonly tasty, soup.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933776\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13933776\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/oks-deli-tuna-salad_LT.jpg\" alt=\"The cross section of a tuna salad sandwich made with thick slices of milkbread.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/oks-deli-tuna-salad_LT.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/oks-deli-tuna-salad_LT-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/oks-deli-tuna-salad_LT-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/oks-deli-tuna-salad_LT-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/oks-deli-tuna-salad_LT-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/oks-deli-tuna-salad_LT-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The conbini-style tuna salad sandwich features Kewpie-style mayonnaise and thick, bouncy milkbread. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Konbini Tuna Salad Sandwich at Ok’s Deli\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>3932 Telegraph Ave., Oakland\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Deli sandwich weather means a short break from our usual programming of cheesesteaks and hot pastrami: It’s cold cut weather. Egg salad weather. At Oakland’s newish \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/oksdeli/\">Ok’s Deli\u003c/a>, most of the sandwiches have some Asian American twist — and just about every one of them is a certified hit. Lately, I’ve been especially enamored with the deli’s take on a tuna salad sandwich, which takes all of the classic elements — line-caught tuna; pickles, onion and celery chopped super-fine; and lots and lots of mayo — and Asia-fies them ever so slightly through the lens of Japan’s incredible convenience store sandwiches. So, the house mayo is \u003ca href=\"https://thetakeout.com/my-chemical-dependence-on-japanese-kewpie-mayo-1798251538\">Kewpie\u003c/a>-adjacent. The bread is Ok’s delightfully bouncy house-made milk bread. And the sandwich, as a whole? Refreshing as a cool blast of convenience store AC.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933778\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13933778\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bn-chicken-samgyetang_lt.jpg\" alt=\"A steaming vessel of chicken ginseng soup with a whole cornish hen.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bn-chicken-samgyetang_lt.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bn-chicken-samgyetang_lt-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bn-chicken-samgyetang_lt-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bn-chicken-samgyetang_lt-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bn-chicken-samgyetang_lt-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bn-chicken-samgyetang_lt-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Fight fire with fire’ with BN Chicken’s soul-replenishing samgyetang. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Samgyetang at BN Chicken\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>2725 El Camino Real, Santa Clara\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For those who like to zig when everyone else is zagging, consider that in Korea, it’s customary to eat samgyetang — a bubbling-hot chicken and ginseng soup — on the very hottest days of the year. The idea is that causing yourself to sweat \u003ci>more\u003c/i> actually cools you down; meanwhile, the medicinal properties of the soup’s ginseng, garlic and dried jujubes help refill your stamina bar. It’s “\u003ca href=\"https://tastecooking.com/summer-koreans-fight-fire-fire/\">fighting fire with fire\u003c/a>,” as Koreans are fond of saying. And there’s no better place to do it than at Santa Clara’s \u003ca href=\"http://bnchicken.com/\">BN Chicken\u003c/a>, an entire restaurant dedicated to the steamy, soul-replenishing pleasures of samgyetang. The soup comes in a stone bowl, which keeps things boiling-hot for the duration of your meal. Rip into the whole Cornish hen to dig into the glutinous rice and aromatics stuffed inside, and dip chunks of the tender meat in salt as you go. And if the hot soup approach isn’t working for you? Not to worry: BN Chicken also serves a top-notch version of the bracingly vinegary, ice-cold noodle soup known as naengmyeon.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "San Jose's Biggest 'Simpsons' Fan Now Has His Own Signature Beer",
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"content": "\u003cp>Fans of the timeless, iconoclastic characters of \u003ci>The Simpsons\u003c/i> are \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13930207/the-simpsons-flash-tattoo-party-parallax-art-studio-milpitas\">endlessly creative\u003c/a> in the ways they express their appreciation for the show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Kevin Tran, the founder of\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/sanjosesimpsons/\"> San Jose Simpsons\u003c/a> — a fan page and\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiBgKKjbgFU\"> custom design\u003c/a> business dedicated to everything \u003ci>Simpsons\u003c/i>– and San Jose-related — beer seems like a fitting way to celebrate the cartoon’s cultural humor. This week Tran will debut his label design for a new Pineapple Hazy IPA that he created in collaboration with\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/caminobrewingcompany/?hl=en\"> Camino Brewing Co.\u003c/a>, one of San Jose’s stand-out craft breweries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though the beer can won’t resemble the iconic Duff Beer served at Moe’s Tavern, the label design will reflect Tran’s lifelong fandom of \u003ci>The Simpsons\u003c/i>, with a few subtle Easter eggs (shout-out to Blinky and Bleeding Gums Murphy) as well as more obvious allusions to \u003ci>Simpsons\u003c/i> lore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.instagram.com/p/Cu-nQfYpcJX/\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sideshow Bob, the murderously misunderstood sidekick to Krusty the Clown, appears on the beer’s label as a palm tree, with his signature hairdo re-imagined as green fronds. “Die Hops, Die” (a pun on Sideshow Bob’s infamous \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaXigSu72A4\">hatred for Bart Simpson\u003c/a>) should also ring clear for any \u003ci>Simpsons\u003c/i> head. Hand-drawn by Tran with the help of his friends — tattoo artist \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/jthrilla_/\">Justin Pantaleon\u003c/a> and illustrator \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/courtesyofthebay/?hl=en\">Courtesy of the Bay\u003c/a> — the beer is a reflection of community, comedy and a connection to American pop culture for immigrant kids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My parents were working a lot, so growing up I was left home with my younger sister,” Tran says. “I grew up watching \u003ci>The Simpsons\u003c/i>. My [Vietnamese] parents weren’t really around or didn’t understand it, you know? Now it helps me to connect with people all over the world, it’s dope.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tran was highly involved throughout the beer-making process, helping to select and even add in the ingredients, while taste-testing trial batches along the way. (Homer Simpson would be proud.) He credits Camino Brewing and its brewer, Kim Pollock, for an open, collaborative process. The beer includes fresh pineapple and, according to Tran, is neither too sweet nor too hoppy. “I just told them I wanted a pineapple hazy, and they knew what to add,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In true fanatic fashion, the event will feature a \u003cem>Simpsons\u003c/em>-inspired burger — the “Krusty” cheeseburger served on plates that resemble the clouds from the show’s intro, courtesy of the Mexican food pop-up \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/cajetasjbayarea/?hl=en\">Cajeta \u003c/a>— and doughnuts. In addition, San Jose Simpsons and other local vendors like \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/onndawn/?hl=en\">onndawn\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/bagdadgoods/\">Bag Dad Goods\u003c/a> will be selling original \u003ci>Simpsons\u003c/i> merch, illustrations and other paraphernalia such as sling bags. Tran notes that they have sold everything from crocheted plushies to 3D-printed models and epoxy resin toys at past events.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I always open it up to homies who do art but haven’t always been in a show before,” he says. “It’s cool to see everyone’s take on \u003ci>The Simpsons\u003c/i>. It’s completely free-ranging.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/caminobrewingcompany/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Camino Brewing Co.\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> (718 S. 1st St., San Jose) will debut \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/sanjosesimpsons/\">\u003ci>San Jose Simpsons\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>’ Pineapple Hazy IPA on Sat., Aug. 26 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. with live music. San Jose Simpsons and friends will showcase original art and collector’s items. Food and desserts will be served by\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/cajetasjbayarea/?hl=en\"> \u003ci>Cajeta,\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/dvssweets/?hl=en\">\u003ci>DVS Sweets and more\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Sideshow Bob and Krusty the Clown pop up at Camino Brewing for a night of custom art and themed foods.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Fans of the timeless, iconoclastic characters of \u003ci>The Simpsons\u003c/i> are \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13930207/the-simpsons-flash-tattoo-party-parallax-art-studio-milpitas\">endlessly creative\u003c/a> in the ways they express their appreciation for the show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Kevin Tran, the founder of\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/sanjosesimpsons/\"> San Jose Simpsons\u003c/a> — a fan page and\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiBgKKjbgFU\"> custom design\u003c/a> business dedicated to everything \u003ci>Simpsons\u003c/i>– and San Jose-related — beer seems like a fitting way to celebrate the cartoon’s cultural humor. This week Tran will debut his label design for a new Pineapple Hazy IPA that he created in collaboration with\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/caminobrewingcompany/?hl=en\"> Camino Brewing Co.\u003c/a>, one of San Jose’s stand-out craft breweries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though the beer can won’t resemble the iconic Duff Beer served at Moe’s Tavern, the label design will reflect Tran’s lifelong fandom of \u003ci>The Simpsons\u003c/i>, with a few subtle Easter eggs (shout-out to Blinky and Bleeding Gums Murphy) as well as more obvious allusions to \u003ci>Simpsons\u003c/i> lore.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Sideshow Bob, the murderously misunderstood sidekick to Krusty the Clown, appears on the beer’s label as a palm tree, with his signature hairdo re-imagined as green fronds. “Die Hops, Die” (a pun on Sideshow Bob’s infamous \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaXigSu72A4\">hatred for Bart Simpson\u003c/a>) should also ring clear for any \u003ci>Simpsons\u003c/i> head. Hand-drawn by Tran with the help of his friends — tattoo artist \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/jthrilla_/\">Justin Pantaleon\u003c/a> and illustrator \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/courtesyofthebay/?hl=en\">Courtesy of the Bay\u003c/a> — the beer is a reflection of community, comedy and a connection to American pop culture for immigrant kids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My parents were working a lot, so growing up I was left home with my younger sister,” Tran says. “I grew up watching \u003ci>The Simpsons\u003c/i>. My [Vietnamese] parents weren’t really around or didn’t understand it, you know? Now it helps me to connect with people all over the world, it’s dope.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tran was highly involved throughout the beer-making process, helping to select and even add in the ingredients, while taste-testing trial batches along the way. (Homer Simpson would be proud.) He credits Camino Brewing and its brewer, Kim Pollock, for an open, collaborative process. The beer includes fresh pineapple and, according to Tran, is neither too sweet nor too hoppy. “I just told them I wanted a pineapple hazy, and they knew what to add,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In true fanatic fashion, the event will feature a \u003cem>Simpsons\u003c/em>-inspired burger — the “Krusty” cheeseburger served on plates that resemble the clouds from the show’s intro, courtesy of the Mexican food pop-up \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/cajetasjbayarea/?hl=en\">Cajeta \u003c/a>— and doughnuts. In addition, San Jose Simpsons and other local vendors like \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/onndawn/?hl=en\">onndawn\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/bagdadgoods/\">Bag Dad Goods\u003c/a> will be selling original \u003ci>Simpsons\u003c/i> merch, illustrations and other paraphernalia such as sling bags. Tran notes that they have sold everything from crocheted plushies to 3D-printed models and epoxy resin toys at past events.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I always open it up to homies who do art but haven’t always been in a show before,” he says. “It’s cool to see everyone’s take on \u003ci>The Simpsons\u003c/i>. It’s completely free-ranging.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/caminobrewingcompany/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Camino Brewing Co.\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> (718 S. 1st St., San Jose) will debut \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/sanjosesimpsons/\">\u003ci>San Jose Simpsons\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>’ Pineapple Hazy IPA on Sat., Aug. 26 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. with live music. San Jose Simpsons and friends will showcase original art and collector’s items. Food and desserts will be served by\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/cajetasjbayarea/?hl=en\"> \u003ci>Cajeta,\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/dvssweets/?hl=en\">\u003ci>DVS Sweets and more\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Your Favorite Filipino American Chef Was Probably a DJ or B-Boy Back in the Day",
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"content": "\u003cp>You can’t tell the story of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop\">Bay Area hip-hop\u003c/a> without a tip of the cap to all of the Filipino Americans who helped shape the scene — from the legion of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13812554/how-daly-citys-filipino-mobile-dj-scene-changed-hip-hop-forever\">mobile DJ crews\u003c/a> and B-boys/B-girls to the influential \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13905208/a-new-generation-of-filipino-hip-hop-builds-on-a-deep-bay-area-legacy\">emcees\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13924042/nump-hyphy-i-gott-grapes-interview\">producers\u003c/a> and graffiti artists. It makes sense, then, that the 2023 edition of \u003ca href=\"https://www.undiscoveredsf.com/\">Undiscovered SF\u003c/a>, San Francisco’s preeminent Filipino American culture fest, is framed as a months-long celebration of hip-hop. This year is \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13932076/bay-area-hip-hop-50th-anniversary-celebrations\">hip-hop’s 50th anniversary\u003c/a>, after all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, when the block party kicks off in the SoMa Pilipinas cultural district on Aug. 19, one of the biggest draws will be the same thing that attracts a crowd to any big Filipino gathering: the food.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And as Desi Danganan — executive director of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kultivatelabs.org/\">Kultivate Labs\u003c/a>, the nonprofit that organizes the event — explains it, the Bay Area’s vibrant Fil-Am food scene today is itself deeply rooted in the community’s ties to hip-hop. Back in the ’80s, among Filipino Americans in the Bay, “everyone and their mom was a DJ,” Danganan recalls. Then there was a stretch of time when it seemed like everyone became a club promoter. Danganan remembers when he was in his twenties, the promotion crews running the nightclubs in SoMa were 90% Filipino.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These days? Those same folks are operating some of the region’s most popular food trucks and pop-up restaurants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All of a sudden, the new DJ was the chef,” Danganan says. “Chefs started popping up, rave-style, in places that weren’t necessarily kitchens.” He describes something akin to a DJ/dancer/club promoter to chef pipeline: Alex Retodo was a club promoter before he started rolling lumpia at \u003ca href=\"https://www.thelumpiacompany.com/\">the Lumpia Company\u003c/a>, which he co-owns with E-40. Evan Kidera was a rapper before he co-founded \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/senorsisig\">Señor Sisig\u003c/a> — arguably the single \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2019/11/4/20946482/senor-sisig-filipino-open-mission-sf\">most famous Bay Area food truck\u003c/a>. The couple behind Filipino-Japanese pop-up \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/oxandtiger/\">Ox and Tiger\u003c/a> were dancers before they were chefs. So were the co-founders of the Chase Center food stall \u003ca href=\"http://www.instagram.com/thesarapshop\">Sarap Shop\u003c/a>. And Undiscovered SF booked Rod Reyes, of the San Jose–based food truck \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/baryakitchen\">Barya Kitchen\u003c/a>, as a DJ for one of the festival’s earliest incarnations, before he’d even started his food business.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933294\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13933294\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/KultivateLabs_Undscvrd_food.jpg\" alt=\"Pork sisig served with a slice of lemon and a mound of white rice.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2511\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/KultivateLabs_Undscvrd_food.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/KultivateLabs_Undscvrd_food-800x1046.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/KultivateLabs_Undscvrd_food-1020x1334.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/KultivateLabs_Undscvrd_food-160x209.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/KultivateLabs_Undscvrd_food-768x1004.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/KultivateLabs_Undscvrd_food-1174x1536.jpg 1174w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/KultivateLabs_Undscvrd_food-1566x2048.jpg 1566w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A plate of pork sisig from a previous edition of Undiscovered SF. The annual festival has always celebrated the Bay Area’s Filipino street food scene. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Kultivate Labs)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The kind of trajectory that Danganan describes isn’t uniquely Filipino, of course. Some of it is rooted in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13907726/e-40-goon-with-the-spoon-bay-area-rappers-food-entrepreneurs-hustle\">entrepreneurial spirit and hustle culture\u003c/a> that undergirds the whole Bay Area hip-hop scene. And if the Bay Area’s Filipino American community produced some of the most \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/10777508/top-5-tracks-born-from-the-bay-areas-filipino-mobile-dj-scene\">legendary DJs in hip-hop history\u003c/a>, it’s only natural that that kind of creativity would also translate into other artistic endeavors. “They’re really gifted at taking ingredients and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13898436/uncle-tito-filipino-comfort-food-soma-opening\">remixing them\u003c/a> to create something new,” Danganan explains — say, a bacon cheeseburger lumpia or a sisig burrito. The only difference? “Now they’re not beats. They’re flavors.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13907726,arts_13905208,arts_13923127']\u003c/span>All of the aforementioned DJ- or dancer-turned-chefs — and many more — will be on hand to sling food for at least one iteration of this year’s Undiscovered SF block party. Organizers decided hip-hop’s big birthday was too monumental to limit to a single afternoon, so it’ll host three separate parties over the course of the next three months. Each one will have a specific theme: Aug. 19 will be “Classics and Throwbacks.” Sept. 16 will focus on “The Future.” And Oct. 21 will be “The Present.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Food highlights at \u003ca href=\"https://www.undiscoveredsf.com/\">Aug. 19’s kickoff event\u003c/a> will include Señor Sisig and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13926749/tasty-tings-jamaican-beef-patties-sf-oakland\">Tasty Tings\u003c/a>, whose Jamaican-Filipina-Chinese-Creole owner incorporates Filipino ingredients like longaniza pork into her Jamaican patties. The September and October lineups will include Barya Kitchen and a special collaboration between Ox and Tiger, Sarap Shop and lechon specialist \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/jeepneyguy/\">Jeepney Guy\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933297\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13933297\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Turontastic_photo-from-Kultivate-Labs.jpg\" alt=\"A paper tray of turon (banana lumpia) topped with ube ice cream and sprinkled with ube crumbles.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1279\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Turontastic_photo-from-Kultivate-Labs.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Turontastic_photo-from-Kultivate-Labs-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Turontastic_photo-from-Kultivate-Labs-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Turontastic_photo-from-Kultivate-Labs-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Turontastic_photo-from-Kultivate-Labs-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Turontastic_photo-from-Kultivate-Labs-1536x1023.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Turontastic’s take on turon, or banana lumpia, topped with ube ice cream. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Kultivate Labs)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>According to Danganan, one of the local Filipino food scene’s newest trends is the proliferation of sweets shops and bakery pop-ups, many of which cropped up during the pandemic. This, too, will be reflected at Undiscovered SF: There will be plenty of ube treats to be had.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most of the offerings will come from small local purveyors, with one notable exception. In a classic case of knowing your audience, representatives from SPAM HQ will be on hand to pass out free samples of the brand’s new flavor — maple-flavored Spam — to the assembled crowd of \u003ca href=\"https://www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/archive/2022/03/spam-wwii-history-hormel-canned-meat/629416/\">noted canned meat lovers\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.undiscoveredsf.com/\">\u003ci>Undiscovered SF\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> will host block parties in the SoMa Pilipinas cultural district, at and around The Parks @5M (44 Mary St., San Francisco) on Aug. 19, Sep. 16 and Oct. 21, from noon to 6 p.m.. The all-ages event is free and open to the public, but you can reserve a free ticket (and commemorative pin) \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.undiscoveredsf.com/store/undiscovered-block-party-pin-2023\">\u003ci>online\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>You can’t tell the story of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop\">Bay Area hip-hop\u003c/a> without a tip of the cap to all of the Filipino Americans who helped shape the scene — from the legion of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13812554/how-daly-citys-filipino-mobile-dj-scene-changed-hip-hop-forever\">mobile DJ crews\u003c/a> and B-boys/B-girls to the influential \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13905208/a-new-generation-of-filipino-hip-hop-builds-on-a-deep-bay-area-legacy\">emcees\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13924042/nump-hyphy-i-gott-grapes-interview\">producers\u003c/a> and graffiti artists. It makes sense, then, that the 2023 edition of \u003ca href=\"https://www.undiscoveredsf.com/\">Undiscovered SF\u003c/a>, San Francisco’s preeminent Filipino American culture fest, is framed as a months-long celebration of hip-hop. This year is \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13932076/bay-area-hip-hop-50th-anniversary-celebrations\">hip-hop’s 50th anniversary\u003c/a>, after all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, when the block party kicks off in the SoMa Pilipinas cultural district on Aug. 19, one of the biggest draws will be the same thing that attracts a crowd to any big Filipino gathering: the food.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And as Desi Danganan — executive director of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kultivatelabs.org/\">Kultivate Labs\u003c/a>, the nonprofit that organizes the event — explains it, the Bay Area’s vibrant Fil-Am food scene today is itself deeply rooted in the community’s ties to hip-hop. Back in the ’80s, among Filipino Americans in the Bay, “everyone and their mom was a DJ,” Danganan recalls. Then there was a stretch of time when it seemed like everyone became a club promoter. Danganan remembers when he was in his twenties, the promotion crews running the nightclubs in SoMa were 90% Filipino.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These days? Those same folks are operating some of the region’s most popular food trucks and pop-up restaurants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All of a sudden, the new DJ was the chef,” Danganan says. “Chefs started popping up, rave-style, in places that weren’t necessarily kitchens.” He describes something akin to a DJ/dancer/club promoter to chef pipeline: Alex Retodo was a club promoter before he started rolling lumpia at \u003ca href=\"https://www.thelumpiacompany.com/\">the Lumpia Company\u003c/a>, which he co-owns with E-40. Evan Kidera was a rapper before he co-founded \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/senorsisig\">Señor Sisig\u003c/a> — arguably the single \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2019/11/4/20946482/senor-sisig-filipino-open-mission-sf\">most famous Bay Area food truck\u003c/a>. The couple behind Filipino-Japanese pop-up \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/oxandtiger/\">Ox and Tiger\u003c/a> were dancers before they were chefs. So were the co-founders of the Chase Center food stall \u003ca href=\"http://www.instagram.com/thesarapshop\">Sarap Shop\u003c/a>. And Undiscovered SF booked Rod Reyes, of the San Jose–based food truck \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/baryakitchen\">Barya Kitchen\u003c/a>, as a DJ for one of the festival’s earliest incarnations, before he’d even started his food business.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933294\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13933294\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/KultivateLabs_Undscvrd_food.jpg\" alt=\"Pork sisig served with a slice of lemon and a mound of white rice.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2511\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/KultivateLabs_Undscvrd_food.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/KultivateLabs_Undscvrd_food-800x1046.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/KultivateLabs_Undscvrd_food-1020x1334.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/KultivateLabs_Undscvrd_food-160x209.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/KultivateLabs_Undscvrd_food-768x1004.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/KultivateLabs_Undscvrd_food-1174x1536.jpg 1174w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/KultivateLabs_Undscvrd_food-1566x2048.jpg 1566w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A plate of pork sisig from a previous edition of Undiscovered SF. The annual festival has always celebrated the Bay Area’s Filipino street food scene. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Kultivate Labs)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The kind of trajectory that Danganan describes isn’t uniquely Filipino, of course. Some of it is rooted in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13907726/e-40-goon-with-the-spoon-bay-area-rappers-food-entrepreneurs-hustle\">entrepreneurial spirit and hustle culture\u003c/a> that undergirds the whole Bay Area hip-hop scene. And if the Bay Area’s Filipino American community produced some of the most \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/10777508/top-5-tracks-born-from-the-bay-areas-filipino-mobile-dj-scene\">legendary DJs in hip-hop history\u003c/a>, it’s only natural that that kind of creativity would also translate into other artistic endeavors. “They’re really gifted at taking ingredients and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13898436/uncle-tito-filipino-comfort-food-soma-opening\">remixing them\u003c/a> to create something new,” Danganan explains — say, a bacon cheeseburger lumpia or a sisig burrito. The only difference? “Now they’re not beats. They’re flavors.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>All of the aforementioned DJ- or dancer-turned-chefs — and many more — will be on hand to sling food for at least one iteration of this year’s Undiscovered SF block party. Organizers decided hip-hop’s big birthday was too monumental to limit to a single afternoon, so it’ll host three separate parties over the course of the next three months. Each one will have a specific theme: Aug. 19 will be “Classics and Throwbacks.” Sept. 16 will focus on “The Future.” And Oct. 21 will be “The Present.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Food highlights at \u003ca href=\"https://www.undiscoveredsf.com/\">Aug. 19’s kickoff event\u003c/a> will include Señor Sisig and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13926749/tasty-tings-jamaican-beef-patties-sf-oakland\">Tasty Tings\u003c/a>, whose Jamaican-Filipina-Chinese-Creole owner incorporates Filipino ingredients like longaniza pork into her Jamaican patties. The September and October lineups will include Barya Kitchen and a special collaboration between Ox and Tiger, Sarap Shop and lechon specialist \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/jeepneyguy/\">Jeepney Guy\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933297\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13933297\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Turontastic_photo-from-Kultivate-Labs.jpg\" alt=\"A paper tray of turon (banana lumpia) topped with ube ice cream and sprinkled with ube crumbles.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1279\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Turontastic_photo-from-Kultivate-Labs.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Turontastic_photo-from-Kultivate-Labs-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Turontastic_photo-from-Kultivate-Labs-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Turontastic_photo-from-Kultivate-Labs-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Turontastic_photo-from-Kultivate-Labs-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Turontastic_photo-from-Kultivate-Labs-1536x1023.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Turontastic’s take on turon, or banana lumpia, topped with ube ice cream. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Kultivate Labs)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>According to Danganan, one of the local Filipino food scene’s newest trends is the proliferation of sweets shops and bakery pop-ups, many of which cropped up during the pandemic. This, too, will be reflected at Undiscovered SF: There will be plenty of ube treats to be had.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most of the offerings will come from small local purveyors, with one notable exception. In a classic case of knowing your audience, representatives from SPAM HQ will be on hand to pass out free samples of the brand’s new flavor — maple-flavored Spam — to the assembled crowd of \u003ca href=\"https://www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/archive/2022/03/spam-wwii-history-hormel-canned-meat/629416/\">noted canned meat lovers\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.undiscoveredsf.com/\">\u003ci>Undiscovered SF\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> will host block parties in the SoMa Pilipinas cultural district, at and around The Parks @5M (44 Mary St., San Francisco) on Aug. 19, Sep. 16 and Oct. 21, from noon to 6 p.m.. The all-ages event is free and open to the public, but you can reserve a free ticket (and commemorative pin) \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.undiscoveredsf.com/store/undiscovered-block-party-pin-2023\">\u003ci>online\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Berkeley's Bolita Celebrates the Delicate Art of Mexican Masa",
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"content": "\u003cp>For Emmanuel Galvan, the founder of \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/bolitamasa/?hl=en\">Bolita Masa\u003c/a>, turning raw corn into maize dough is part of an ancestral magic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s the humble backbone of [Mexico],” says Galvan, whose Berkeley-based pop-up specializes in Mexican masa. “Corn allowed the Maya and Aztec empires to grow to their sizes as an incredibly important crop. There is so much mythology around it, and it’s instilled in being Mexican. I want to shine a light on that and the work it takes because making masa is fucking hard.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How hard? Start with the fact that he begins by choosing from at least 13 corn varietals at his disposal — each with their own color, texture, flavor and purpose — hailing from wildly distinct regions of Mexico. On some days, Galvan and his team might handle over 200 pounds of corn, from bruised shades of blue and dusky purple kernels to the eternally glowing yellow of classic elote. Alchemizing this colorful crop into masa is as much a delicate art as it is a calculated science.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933157\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13933157\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita-tricolor-800x1200.jpg\" alt=\"tri color tortillas (yellow, blue and purple) are displayed on a tan plate inside the Berkeley kitchen where they were made\" width=\"800\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita-tricolor-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita-tricolor-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita-tricolor-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita-tricolor-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita-tricolor-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita-tricolor-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita-tricolor-scaled.jpg 1707w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">These tri-color tortillas are displayed inside the Berkeley kitchen where they were made. \u003ccite>(Emmanuel Galvan)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The 28-hour process involves a meticulous amount of measuring, weighing, boiling, soaking, softening and nixtamalizing that ends with a grinder made of volcanic stone crushing the wet, calcified kernels into fresh masa. The result is a nutritious staple in the Mexican and Central American diet that has become a literal foundation for culinary sustenance, forming the base for tamales, tacos, tlayudas, tetelas, tlacoyos, tostadas and more — including foods that don’t start with the letter “T,” such as pupusas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"large\" align=\"right\"]“Alchemizing this colorful crop into masa is as much a delicate art as it is a calculated science.”[/pullquote]Bolita, which launched in 2020, sells their pre-packaged masas, as well as some of the Bay Area’s best salsas and moles, at the Mission Mercado farmers market in San Francisco. And the business is now expanding to Oakland’s Grand Lake Farmers Market on Saturdays. For Galvan, working with \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tamoamx/?hl=en\">Tamao, an ethical corn supplier in Mexico City\u003c/a>, is a huge reason he can continue to operate. Tamao’s owner, Francisco Musi, maintains close partnerships with farmers around Mexico to bring in a diverse array of corn from 11 states — each with its own unique properties. As Galvan notes, Tamao sells strictly surplus produce that does not impact the local needs or economy in Mexico and de-prioritizes any U.S. demand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13920076,arts_13931115,arts_13925233']\u003c/span>Most importantly, Galvan deeply honors what masa represents — and its holy place at the top of the Indigenous American food pyramid. The name Bolita comes from a varietal of Oaxacan corn, the bolita, which is round and sturdy, and is often used for making the largest tortillas. But it also reminds Galvan of his roots in Napa, where his immigrant father worked in the local vineyards. His mother would bring home commercially-made masa from the supermarket and have him and his siblings roll it into a ball (or “bolita”) to be pressed into tortillas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though Galvan prides himself in being able to sell some of the Bay Area’s freshest scratch-made masa for customers to take home as is, he can also throw down in the kitchen with his team of cooks. That’s because Bolita Masa also provides hot meals as a roaming pop-up that embraces various masa-based dishes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933158\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13933158\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita1-candid-800x544.jpg\" alt=\"a Mexican American chef smiles inside the kitchen where he makes masa from scratch \" width=\"800\" height=\"544\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita1-candid-800x544.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita1-candid-1020x693.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita1-candid-160x109.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita1-candid-768x522.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita1-candid-1536x1044.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita1-candid.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Emmanuel Galvan has been perfecting the delicate art of Mexican masa in Berkeley. \u003ccite>(ICA Fund/Cayce Clifford)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>One must-try for the uninitiated is Bolita’s tetela, a classic Oaxacan snack that Galvan describes as a “simple triangular pocket of masa filled with black beans, gooey quesillo and hoja santa.” For his upcoming one-off pop-up at Birba Wine Bar on Aug. 27, Galvan is preparing a sweet corn tamal with strawberry chamoy, along with a savory tamal stuffed with Jimmy Nardello peppers and quesillo. He tells me there will be four more masa-based dishes in the mix, too. With its newly acquired kitchen in Berkeley, Bolita seems to have found the right recipe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s an ingredient I’ve always been excited about,” Galvan says of his masa-based cuisine. “I’m not doing anything new. People have been using maize to make food for centuries. But I hope to show the importance of these ingredients as something that can be valued.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CtsbnGQrmzB/?img_index=1\">\u003ci>Bolita Masa\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> sells pre-packed goods at \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/missionmercado/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Mission Mercado\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> (84 Bartlett St., San Francisco) every Thursday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. and \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.agriculturalinstitute.org/grand-lake\">\u003ci>Grand Lake Farmers Market\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> (746 Grand Ave., Oakland) on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. \u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Bolita also appears as a regular food pop-up at \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/hammerlingwines/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Hammerling Wines\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> (1350 Fifth St., Berkeley) every first Friday of the month from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. and will be serving food at \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/birbawinebar/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Birba\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> (458 Grove St., San Francisco) on Sun., Aug. 27 from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>For Emmanuel Galvan, the founder of \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/bolitamasa/?hl=en\">Bolita Masa\u003c/a>, turning raw corn into maize dough is part of an ancestral magic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s the humble backbone of [Mexico],” says Galvan, whose Berkeley-based pop-up specializes in Mexican masa. “Corn allowed the Maya and Aztec empires to grow to their sizes as an incredibly important crop. There is so much mythology around it, and it’s instilled in being Mexican. I want to shine a light on that and the work it takes because making masa is fucking hard.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How hard? Start with the fact that he begins by choosing from at least 13 corn varietals at his disposal — each with their own color, texture, flavor and purpose — hailing from wildly distinct regions of Mexico. On some days, Galvan and his team might handle over 200 pounds of corn, from bruised shades of blue and dusky purple kernels to the eternally glowing yellow of classic elote. Alchemizing this colorful crop into masa is as much a delicate art as it is a calculated science.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933157\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13933157\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita-tricolor-800x1200.jpg\" alt=\"tri color tortillas (yellow, blue and purple) are displayed on a tan plate inside the Berkeley kitchen where they were made\" width=\"800\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita-tricolor-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita-tricolor-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita-tricolor-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita-tricolor-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita-tricolor-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita-tricolor-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita-tricolor-scaled.jpg 1707w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">These tri-color tortillas are displayed inside the Berkeley kitchen where they were made. \u003ccite>(Emmanuel Galvan)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The 28-hour process involves a meticulous amount of measuring, weighing, boiling, soaking, softening and nixtamalizing that ends with a grinder made of volcanic stone crushing the wet, calcified kernels into fresh masa. The result is a nutritious staple in the Mexican and Central American diet that has become a literal foundation for culinary sustenance, forming the base for tamales, tacos, tlayudas, tetelas, tlacoyos, tostadas and more — including foods that don’t start with the letter “T,” such as pupusas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>Most importantly, Galvan deeply honors what masa represents — and its holy place at the top of the Indigenous American food pyramid. The name Bolita comes from a varietal of Oaxacan corn, the bolita, which is round and sturdy, and is often used for making the largest tortillas. But it also reminds Galvan of his roots in Napa, where his immigrant father worked in the local vineyards. His mother would bring home commercially-made masa from the supermarket and have him and his siblings roll it into a ball (or “bolita”) to be pressed into tortillas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though Galvan prides himself in being able to sell some of the Bay Area’s freshest scratch-made masa for customers to take home as is, he can also throw down in the kitchen with his team of cooks. That’s because Bolita Masa also provides hot meals as a roaming pop-up that embraces various masa-based dishes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933158\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13933158\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita1-candid-800x544.jpg\" alt=\"a Mexican American chef smiles inside the kitchen where he makes masa from scratch \" width=\"800\" height=\"544\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita1-candid-800x544.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita1-candid-1020x693.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita1-candid-160x109.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita1-candid-768x522.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita1-candid-1536x1044.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita1-candid.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Emmanuel Galvan has been perfecting the delicate art of Mexican masa in Berkeley. \u003ccite>(ICA Fund/Cayce Clifford)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>One must-try for the uninitiated is Bolita’s tetela, a classic Oaxacan snack that Galvan describes as a “simple triangular pocket of masa filled with black beans, gooey quesillo and hoja santa.” For his upcoming one-off pop-up at Birba Wine Bar on Aug. 27, Galvan is preparing a sweet corn tamal with strawberry chamoy, along with a savory tamal stuffed with Jimmy Nardello peppers and quesillo. He tells me there will be four more masa-based dishes in the mix, too. With its newly acquired kitchen in Berkeley, Bolita seems to have found the right recipe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s an ingredient I’ve always been excited about,” Galvan says of his masa-based cuisine. “I’m not doing anything new. People have been using maize to make food for centuries. But I hope to show the importance of these ingredients as something that can be valued.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CtsbnGQrmzB/?img_index=1\">\u003ci>Bolita Masa\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> sells pre-packed goods at \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/missionmercado/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Mission Mercado\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> (84 Bartlett St., San Francisco) every Thursday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. and \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.agriculturalinstitute.org/grand-lake\">\u003ci>Grand Lake Farmers Market\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> (746 Grand Ave., Oakland) on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. \u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Bolita also appears as a regular food pop-up at \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/hammerlingwines/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Hammerling Wines\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> (1350 Fifth St., Berkeley) every first Friday of the month from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. and will be serving food at \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/birbawinebar/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Birba\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> (458 Grove St., San Francisco) on Sun., Aug. 27 from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Why Hina Yakitori Won’t Reopen in San Francisco",
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"content": "\u003cp>When \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/hinayakitori/\">Hina Yakitori\u003c/a> first opened on Divisadero Street in 2019, San Francisco’s general dining public had a hard time making heads or tails of the place. Here, it seemed, was a restaurant specializing in the kind of grilled chicken skewers you could find for $5 or $6 a pop at any izakaya in town. But at Hina, there wasn’t any a la carte menu at all — just an “omakase style” tasting menu that would run you well over $100 a person for about half a pasture-raised chicken’s worth of food.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As far as anyone could tell, it was the \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2019/9/26/20883995/hina-yakitori-sf-open-japanese-chicken-skewer-restaurant-omakase\">first restaurant of its kind in the U.S.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, even back in 2019, anyone who’d eaten at a high-end yakitori restaurant in Japan understood, immediately, what kind of restaurant Hina was striving to be. And anyone who had eaten at chef Tommy Cleary’s earlier, more casual version of Hina in Oakland understood that Cleary was a chicken magician — and that once you saw, \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/hina-yakitori-in-oakland-works-magic-with-whole-chickens-and-a-charcoal-grill-2-1/\">as I’d seen\u003c/a>, how delicious he could make the “crisp-edged, earthy chicken heart and the fatty, cartilaginous tail,” you could never again think of grilled chicken as a boring menu option.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But now, after four years and a host of accolades, Hina Yakitori — or this iteration of it, at least — is shutting it down. Last week, the restaurant announced that its \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CvizrtXpWnY/\">last day of dinner service will be Aug. 31\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933019\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13933019\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/hina_tommy-cleary.jpg\" alt=\"A yakitori chef in a baseball cap and apron turns chicken skewers over a smoky charcoal gril.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2539\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/hina_tommy-cleary.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/hina_tommy-cleary-800x1058.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/hina_tommy-cleary-1020x1349.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/hina_tommy-cleary-160x212.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/hina_tommy-cleary-768x1016.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/hina_tommy-cleary-1162x1536.jpg 1162w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/hina_tommy-cleary-1549x2048.jpg 1549w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chef Tommy Cleary has been on the vanguard of a burgeoning yakitori movement here in the U.S. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Hina Yakitori)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Cleary says the ownership group’s decision to close can largely be attributed to a particularly brutal July when, for the first time in the four years since Hina opened, the restaurant had empty seats even on Friday and Saturday nights. “It just fell off a cliff,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And at least anecdotally, it isn’t just Hina that’s struggling. Cleary says all of his friends who run restaurants in San Francisco have seen similar drop-offs in business. Even at the buzziest, most highly acclaimed fine-dining restaurants, Cleary says, “you can just walk in.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While it’s hard to pinpoint a single root cause, Cleary says he can’t help but feel like Hina’s recent doldrums are somehow connected to the broader narrative about San Francisco that’s getting blasted out in the media and \u003ca href=\"https://sfstandard.com/2022/06/04/total-recall-the-wechat-infowars-over-chesa-boudin/\">across WeChat group chats\u003c/a> right now — that the whole city has turned into some kind of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11880951/sf-leaders-say-robbery-and-theft-are-down-despite-narratives-of-rampant-crime\">lawless wasteland\u003c/a>. “The image that’s portrayed of San Francisco is not a good one,” he says. “For people outside the area, it’s like a punching bag.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933022\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13933022\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/hina_crackling.jpg\" alt=\"A square of crispy chicken skin topped with caviar.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/hina_crackling.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/hina_crackling-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/hina_crackling-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/hina_crackling-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/hina_crackling-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/hina_crackling-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A non-skewer course featured crispy chicken skin topped with caviar. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For a restaurant like Hina — a destination, special occasion spot for most diners — the downtick in out-of-town visitors has taken its toll. For instance, Cleary says he used to get a big chunk of business from overseas Chinese tourists, but all of that has dried up in the past year. “Even my uncle in Japan was like, ‘What’s going on in San Francisco?’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, Cleary says he’s certain he doesn’t want to open another restaurant in San Francisco in the foreseeable future. But that doesn’t necessarily mean the end of the road for Hina. Cleary says he’s mulling over four different options at this point: He might reopen Hina more or less as it was — a tiny, boutique, omakase-style yakitori restaurant. Alternatively, he might open a more casual 40- or 50-seat izakaya. Or he might revive the fried chicken sandwich concept that he’d pivoted to during the height of the pandemic, when his \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2021/1/21/22241119/hina-yakitori-yagenbori-nashville-hot-chicken-japanese-shichimi-togarashi\">take on Nashville hot chicken\u003c/a>, seasoned with a Japanese shichimi togarashi spice blend, was one of San Francisco’s most delicious lunchtime takeout options. Whichever restaurant concept he settles on, he’ll look for a space somewhere in the East Bay or in the San Mateo area, where he grew up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13907206\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13907206\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/hina_sandwich_LT-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A fried chicken sandwich in a plastic takeout container.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/hina_sandwich_LT-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/hina_sandwich_LT-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/hina_sandwich_LT-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/hina_sandwich_LT-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/hina_sandwich_LT-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/hina_sandwich_LT-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/hina_sandwich_LT-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/hina_sandwich_LT-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cleary’s Yogenbori fried chicken sandwich is a Tokyo-Nashville hybrid. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The fourth option would be the most unexpected: Cleary is getting married in Thailand this winter, and he says he might just pack everything up and move there outright. Hina Yakitori would do pretty well in Thailand, he thinks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What has felt especially bittersweet, Cleary says, is how many longtime customers rushed to make reservations after the initial closure \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CvizrtXpWnY/\">announcement\u003c/a>. Within a day and half, they were fully booked for the rest of the month — a last gasp of business that came too late to save the restaurant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13907197,arts_13926203,arts_13929494']\u003c/span>Meanwhile, Cleary had already planned a whole month’s worth of\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CvgpFjIr1M6/?img_index=1\"> special collaboration dinners\u003c/a> in August featuring yakitori chefs from around the country. The original idea was to hype the restaurant up during this sluggish stretch, but the dinners were also meant to be a showcase for the burgeoning yakitori movement here in the U.S. These days, a growing number of pop-ups and restaurants are helping to expand people’s consciousness of the wide range of artistry one can achieve with hot charcoal and skewered chicken parts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Take one of the guest chefs, Ozzie Mendoza Diaz, a Puerto Rican chef who did street-side yakitori pop-ups in New Orleans for years and is now in the process of opening a yakitori-focused izakaya called \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/fowlmouth_pr/\">Fowlmouth\u003c/a> on the island, in San Juan. A self-taught chef, Mendoza Diaz says he was inspired by the similarity between yakitori and pinchos — Puerto Rico’s own version of grilled meat on a stick. “Meat on a stick is cross-cultural as hell,” he tells me. And so his take on yakitori expresses traditional Puerto Rican flavors through the lens of techniques that are distinctly Japanese: His chicken oyster skewer with pigeon pea miso is a play on Puerto Rican arroz con gandules; his “pincho de pega’o” rice cake skewer celebrates Puerto Rican and Japanese people’s mutual love for the crunchy rice at the bottom of the pot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.instagram.com/p/CU71KkZFrxT/\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Hina is already completely booked for its Aug. 17 collab dinner with Mendoza Diaz — as it is through the end of its run — diners desperate for one last meal can still put themselves \u003ca href=\"https://www.exploretock.com/hinayakitori\">on a waitlist\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hina, of course, has been on the vanguard of this new yakitori movement. Though the guest chef dinners weren’t originally planned as an out-with-a-bang farewell celebration, Cleary believes they’ll show how vibrant and diverse the American yakitori scene is becoming — and how much it’s already grown since Hina first opened on Divisadero with the city’s unlikeliest omakase menu.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We were almost there,” Cleary says. “The whole idea was to elevate that style to show people that yakitori is not just a cheap street food. It’s up there with people who do sushi — it’s just as respectable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/hinayakitori/\">\u003ci>Hina Yakitori’s\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> last official day of business at 808 Divisadero St., San Francisco, is Aug. 31. The standard omakase-style yakitori tasting menu is $165 per person; the special collaboration dinners are $200 per person. While the restaurant is currently fully booked through the end of its run, customers can put themselves on a waitlist through \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.exploretock.com/hinayakitori\">\u003ci>Tock\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. \u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>When \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/hinayakitori/\">Hina Yakitori\u003c/a> first opened on Divisadero Street in 2019, San Francisco’s general dining public had a hard time making heads or tails of the place. Here, it seemed, was a restaurant specializing in the kind of grilled chicken skewers you could find for $5 or $6 a pop at any izakaya in town. But at Hina, there wasn’t any a la carte menu at all — just an “omakase style” tasting menu that would run you well over $100 a person for about half a pasture-raised chicken’s worth of food.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As far as anyone could tell, it was the \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2019/9/26/20883995/hina-yakitori-sf-open-japanese-chicken-skewer-restaurant-omakase\">first restaurant of its kind in the U.S.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, even back in 2019, anyone who’d eaten at a high-end yakitori restaurant in Japan understood, immediately, what kind of restaurant Hina was striving to be. And anyone who had eaten at chef Tommy Cleary’s earlier, more casual version of Hina in Oakland understood that Cleary was a chicken magician — and that once you saw, \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/hina-yakitori-in-oakland-works-magic-with-whole-chickens-and-a-charcoal-grill-2-1/\">as I’d seen\u003c/a>, how delicious he could make the “crisp-edged, earthy chicken heart and the fatty, cartilaginous tail,” you could never again think of grilled chicken as a boring menu option.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But now, after four years and a host of accolades, Hina Yakitori — or this iteration of it, at least — is shutting it down. Last week, the restaurant announced that its \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CvizrtXpWnY/\">last day of dinner service will be Aug. 31\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933019\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13933019\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/hina_tommy-cleary.jpg\" alt=\"A yakitori chef in a baseball cap and apron turns chicken skewers over a smoky charcoal gril.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2539\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/hina_tommy-cleary.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/hina_tommy-cleary-800x1058.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/hina_tommy-cleary-1020x1349.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/hina_tommy-cleary-160x212.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/hina_tommy-cleary-768x1016.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/hina_tommy-cleary-1162x1536.jpg 1162w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/hina_tommy-cleary-1549x2048.jpg 1549w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chef Tommy Cleary has been on the vanguard of a burgeoning yakitori movement here in the U.S. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Hina Yakitori)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Cleary says the ownership group’s decision to close can largely be attributed to a particularly brutal July when, for the first time in the four years since Hina opened, the restaurant had empty seats even on Friday and Saturday nights. “It just fell off a cliff,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And at least anecdotally, it isn’t just Hina that’s struggling. Cleary says all of his friends who run restaurants in San Francisco have seen similar drop-offs in business. Even at the buzziest, most highly acclaimed fine-dining restaurants, Cleary says, “you can just walk in.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While it’s hard to pinpoint a single root cause, Cleary says he can’t help but feel like Hina’s recent doldrums are somehow connected to the broader narrative about San Francisco that’s getting blasted out in the media and \u003ca href=\"https://sfstandard.com/2022/06/04/total-recall-the-wechat-infowars-over-chesa-boudin/\">across WeChat group chats\u003c/a> right now — that the whole city has turned into some kind of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11880951/sf-leaders-say-robbery-and-theft-are-down-despite-narratives-of-rampant-crime\">lawless wasteland\u003c/a>. “The image that’s portrayed of San Francisco is not a good one,” he says. “For people outside the area, it’s like a punching bag.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933022\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13933022\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/hina_crackling.jpg\" alt=\"A square of crispy chicken skin topped with caviar.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/hina_crackling.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/hina_crackling-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/hina_crackling-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/hina_crackling-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/hina_crackling-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/hina_crackling-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A non-skewer course featured crispy chicken skin topped with caviar. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For a restaurant like Hina — a destination, special occasion spot for most diners — the downtick in out-of-town visitors has taken its toll. For instance, Cleary says he used to get a big chunk of business from overseas Chinese tourists, but all of that has dried up in the past year. “Even my uncle in Japan was like, ‘What’s going on in San Francisco?’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, Cleary says he’s certain he doesn’t want to open another restaurant in San Francisco in the foreseeable future. But that doesn’t necessarily mean the end of the road for Hina. Cleary says he’s mulling over four different options at this point: He might reopen Hina more or less as it was — a tiny, boutique, omakase-style yakitori restaurant. Alternatively, he might open a more casual 40- or 50-seat izakaya. Or he might revive the fried chicken sandwich concept that he’d pivoted to during the height of the pandemic, when his \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2021/1/21/22241119/hina-yakitori-yagenbori-nashville-hot-chicken-japanese-shichimi-togarashi\">take on Nashville hot chicken\u003c/a>, seasoned with a Japanese shichimi togarashi spice blend, was one of San Francisco’s most delicious lunchtime takeout options. Whichever restaurant concept he settles on, he’ll look for a space somewhere in the East Bay or in the San Mateo area, where he grew up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13907206\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13907206\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/hina_sandwich_LT-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A fried chicken sandwich in a plastic takeout container.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/hina_sandwich_LT-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/hina_sandwich_LT-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/hina_sandwich_LT-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/hina_sandwich_LT-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/hina_sandwich_LT-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/hina_sandwich_LT-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/hina_sandwich_LT-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/hina_sandwich_LT-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cleary’s Yogenbori fried chicken sandwich is a Tokyo-Nashville hybrid. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The fourth option would be the most unexpected: Cleary is getting married in Thailand this winter, and he says he might just pack everything up and move there outright. Hina Yakitori would do pretty well in Thailand, he thinks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What has felt especially bittersweet, Cleary says, is how many longtime customers rushed to make reservations after the initial closure \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CvizrtXpWnY/\">announcement\u003c/a>. Within a day and half, they were fully booked for the rest of the month — a last gasp of business that came too late to save the restaurant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>Meanwhile, Cleary had already planned a whole month’s worth of\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CvgpFjIr1M6/?img_index=1\"> special collaboration dinners\u003c/a> in August featuring yakitori chefs from around the country. The original idea was to hype the restaurant up during this sluggish stretch, but the dinners were also meant to be a showcase for the burgeoning yakitori movement here in the U.S. These days, a growing number of pop-ups and restaurants are helping to expand people’s consciousness of the wide range of artistry one can achieve with hot charcoal and skewered chicken parts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Take one of the guest chefs, Ozzie Mendoza Diaz, a Puerto Rican chef who did street-side yakitori pop-ups in New Orleans for years and is now in the process of opening a yakitori-focused izakaya called \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/fowlmouth_pr/\">Fowlmouth\u003c/a> on the island, in San Juan. A self-taught chef, Mendoza Diaz says he was inspired by the similarity between yakitori and pinchos — Puerto Rico’s own version of grilled meat on a stick. “Meat on a stick is cross-cultural as hell,” he tells me. And so his take on yakitori expresses traditional Puerto Rican flavors through the lens of techniques that are distinctly Japanese: His chicken oyster skewer with pigeon pea miso is a play on Puerto Rican arroz con gandules; his “pincho de pega’o” rice cake skewer celebrates Puerto Rican and Japanese people’s mutual love for the crunchy rice at the bottom of the pot.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>While Hina is already completely booked for its Aug. 17 collab dinner with Mendoza Diaz — as it is through the end of its run — diners desperate for one last meal can still put themselves \u003ca href=\"https://www.exploretock.com/hinayakitori\">on a waitlist\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hina, of course, has been on the vanguard of this new yakitori movement. Though the guest chef dinners weren’t originally planned as an out-with-a-bang farewell celebration, Cleary believes they’ll show how vibrant and diverse the American yakitori scene is becoming — and how much it’s already grown since Hina first opened on Divisadero with the city’s unlikeliest omakase menu.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We were almost there,” Cleary says. “The whole idea was to elevate that style to show people that yakitori is not just a cheap street food. It’s up there with people who do sushi — it’s just as respectable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/hinayakitori/\">\u003ci>Hina Yakitori’s\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> last official day of business at 808 Divisadero St., San Francisco, is Aug. 31. The standard omakase-style yakitori tasting menu is $165 per person; the special collaboration dinners are $200 per person. While the restaurant is currently fully booked through the end of its run, customers can put themselves on a waitlist through \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.exploretock.com/hinayakitori\">\u003ci>Tock\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. \u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "mestizo-san-jose-filipino-food-truck-la-pulga-mexican-hawaiian",
"title": "A New San Jose Food Truck Fuses Filipino, Mexican and Hawaiian Flavors",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cb>\u003ci>¡Hella Hungry! is a column about Bay Area foodmakers, exploring the region’s culinary cultures through the mouth of a first-generation local.\u003c/i>\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For anyone with childhood memories of growing up in the South Bay, San Jose’s Berryessa Flea Market — or “\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13905374/la-pulga-san-jose-flea-market-redevelopment-eulogy\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">La Pulga\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">,” as it’s endearingly known — has long been a haven of joy, particularly for immigrant families. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">La Pulga truly had it all. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For as long as I can remember, the flea market has always been a humble space for entrepreneurial beginnings. At one point, my mom even ran her own stand selling used clothes there. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">More recently, though, the historic flea market, like much of the region, has undergone seismic redevelopments. There’s now a BART station within walking distance, adding metropolitan accessibility to the formerly industrial area — but also \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kalw.org/economy-business-labor/2023-02-27/a-family-at-the-berryessa-flea-market-fights-to-stay\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">displacing many longtime, predominantly Latinx vendors\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Across the street, there’s a glamorous new condominium complex where a dusty parking lot used to be. It all underscores the ongoing contradictions of a region that is \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.archpaper.com/2021/07/san-jose-berryessa-flea-market-replaced-by-sprawling-mixed-use-development/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">yearning to grow\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> while simultaneously introducing a new set of \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://sanjosespotlight.com/san-jose-berryessa-flea-market-changes-prove-costly-for-vendors/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">costly challenges for longtime community members\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Despite its struggles and the ensuing public backlash, the Berryessa Flea Market — which is still among the largest open-air markets in the United States — remains vibrant in a different kind of way. There’s a funky beer garden with live music and a weekly Friday night market. The reimagined space has allowed emerging food makers to gain visibility by introducing an assortment of new cuisines and experiences.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13932716\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13932716\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_truck-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"a crowd gathers in front of a food truck in San Jose\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_truck-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_truck-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_truck-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_truck-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_truck-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_truck.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mestizo is building a loyal following in the South Bay with appearances at La Pulga in San Jose. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That new wave includes \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/westaymixin/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mestizo\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a homegrown trio of Filipino Americans who roll around the 408 in their food truck (not to be confused with San Francisco’s Yucatan-inspired food truck that has the same name). Childhood friends Keith Canda, Chris Zamora and Anthony Cruzet are dishing out fire meals of Filipino, Mexican and Hawaiian eats, including fried chicken mac salad burritos, tempura salmon tacos and “KaluaQuiles” — mole-bathed chilaquiles with fresh mango sauce and kalua pork. They also organized \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CtIC0ivL_DR/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">San Jose’s first-ever lumpia eating contest\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and frequently collaborate with popular San Jose streetwear brands like \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/cukui/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Cukui\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, as well as a variety of local organizations — everything from low-rider bike clubs to \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13930207/the-simpsons-flash-tattoo-party-parallax-art-studio-milpitas\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">tattoo shops\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I swung by with my older brother and dad on a busy night earlier this summer to meet Mestizo’s crew and soak up some nostalgic vibes. It was the first time my family had been back to La Pulga together in decades.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This interview has been edited for length and clarity.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">********\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ALAN CHAZARO: When and how did you all launch your Mestizo food truck together?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CHRIS ZAMORA:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> We just started the truck this year. We wanted to come in and take it slow, but we’ve realized it’s all happening so quickly, especially this summer. It’s a culmination of our friendship over 20 years. We’ve always tried to find a project to work on together. We’re in three different industries as professionals, and we’ve never been able to officially collaborate on anything. This is that pinnacle for us. It’s not just getting together and partying like we did in our 20s. This has a deeper purpose.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ANTHONY CRUZET:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> We decided on a food truck because Keith already had a food truck from a business he was doing with his cousins in the past. He was thinking of selling it, and Chris looked at me and asked if we should just try to run our own food truck. It was literally that easy. Why not? It fell into place, and we’re figuring it out as we go.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13932710\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13932710\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_group_photo-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"a group of three friends stand in front of their new food truck in San Jose\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_group_photo-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_group_photo-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_group_photo-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_group_photo-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_group_photo-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_group_photo.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mestizo owners Chris Zamora (left), Anthony Cruzet (center) and Keith Canda (right) have known each other since grade school. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Talk to me about the name and concept of Mestizo. Where does that come from, and what does it represent for you all as mixed Filipinos?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ANTHONY:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> In coming up with our name, we discussed the different kinds of foods we could do. It’s fusion, mixed. The definition of “mestizo” is being mixed race. We want our own version of that. I’m literally mestizo — half Filipino, half Mexican. So it’s a representation of myself. That’s connected with the foods we want to do, being Filipino-rooted with other influences.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CHRIS: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We also wanted flexibility with our menu. Some places only do Filipino food, but we wanted versatility to evolve our dishes over time. We’re all in different stages in our lives right now. Me and Ant just got back from Thailand, so we’re coming back with new flavors, new concepts. We want that evolutionary kind of experience to provide our community. Yes, we’re known for our fried-chicken-and-gravy burrito and our KaluaQuiles, but we can imagine new things, too.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEITH CANDA:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> For me, Mestizo is a combination of a few things. All of us coming together is a mix of what we believe in, outside of food. We’re all mixed: We have different ideas, different goals, different careers. Then we put the food truck into play. Chris’s expertise in the kitchen. Ant in marketing and sales. And my little experience with running a food truck in the past. We stand by Mestizo because we believe in not just cultural fusion – Filipino, Hawaiian, Mexican – but in coming together as people with different skills.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Describe your food. What’s an example of a popular dish on your menu? What makes Mestizo unique?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CHRIS:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The “Stay Rooted” burrito has fried chicken, which comes from one of us tasting chicken karaage in Japan. The mac salad in the burrito is from another one of us who took a trip to Hawaii. And then the gravy rice is from my memory of KFC gravy as a kid. There’s no rice at KFC, but I’ve always wanted to put that gravy on rice. So that’s all of us in one dish, literally. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13932707\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13932707\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_burrito-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"a fried chicken burrito with Hawaiian mac salad is on display\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_burrito-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_burrito-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_burrito-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_burrito-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_burrito-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_burrito.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The “Stay Rooted” burrito, which features fried chicken, Hawaiian mac salad and gravy, inspired an accompanying T-shirt made in collaboration with Cukui Clothing. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">From a menu-building standpoint, what I think is unique about us is that it’s really just all of us and our wives literally putting ideas together from scratch. One time, Ant sent us a video of an ube grilled cheese sandwich using ube jam. The text messages just started going off after that, and I showed my wife, who had some of her own thoughts to add, and we just combined all of that into our own idea. So the concepts just build from there within our own little community. It comes from our travels, our experiences, our families.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEITH: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Having a collaboration with Cukui with the Stay Rooted burrito adds another layer of community, too. We share a goal to bring the community together and collaborate, to give whatever we can offer. I work at a print shop that makes shirts for Cukui, and our businesses have grown up hand in hand because we’ve been printing for them for years. I just had the idea to offer a \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://cukui.com/collections/mens/products/mestizo-x-cukui-lowrider-tee-cream\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">collaborative T-shirt\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> as part of our menu. That’s the vibe we wanted. We bring those creative juices, our designs, the hype. Cukui has a super big following as it is. So having them to work with is huge.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And we [co-hosted] a lowrider bike anniversary event at History Park in San Jose with our T-shirts and food, so it’s a cross-pollination of businesses and representation. For the event, we partnered with \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/shinysideupshow/?hl=en\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Shiny Side Up\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> from San Jose to design original shirts. That kind of community interaction is a staple for Mestizo.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13932714\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13932714\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_menushirts-800x1200.jpg\" alt=\"a food truck displays their food menu, along with custom t-shirts and basketball shorts\" width=\"800\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_menushirts-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_menushirts-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_menushirts-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_menushirts-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_menushirts-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_menushirts-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_menushirts-scaled.jpg 1707w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mestizo regularly collaborates with boutique streetwear makers around the Bay Area for custom apparel at their events. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CHRIS:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It’s also with \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thecruisershop/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Cruiser Shop\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a custom bicycle shop [in Campbell]. It’s like a car show for bicycles. With food and custom clothing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>You seem very rooted in San Jose and the South Bay. What’s your connection to the culture there?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CHRIS:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> We’re all born and raised in either Milpitas or San Jose. Ant and I went to kindergarten together, and we met Keith as teenagers. We all had Mustangs growing up and cruised together. That’s where it all kind of sparked from. I still have my ’73 Mach 1.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ANTHONY:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Keith has a ’67. I got a ’70 fastback. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEITH:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Mine has a 298 engine with a cam, nothing too crazy. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CHRIS:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Keith has a solid connection and foundation to San Jose and the brands and people here. I live in Milpitas now, but my cousins and I grew up in the Alum Rock area of East San Jose. That’s a whole thing to unravel in itself. There’s so much variety of cooking and food. Everyone has a favorite taco spot or torta spot, but there are so many to choose from that I think everyone finds their own way to stand out. It has influenced me and the way I cook and how we build menus by just taking the same simple ingredients to make our own magic. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ANTHONY:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Keith is Mr. San Jose.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What does “Mr. San Jose” have to say about the city’s food and culture?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEITH: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">San Jose has a huge reputation for great Mexican food. But once you cross into Milpitas, there are a few great Filipino spots for such a small city. We wanted to bring that together since we are accustomed to growing up eating at Jaliscos and off of Alum Rock. Without growing up in San Jose and tasting the different spices and recipes of authentic immigrant foods, we wouldn’t be doing this. We’re coming together collectively and putting that all on one plate. We’re strongly rooted in that.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ANTHONY:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The South Bay is such a big melting pot. Our palates were forced to get accustomed to all these different flavors. Indian food with Vietnamese food across the street and Chinese food next door. That’s the whole idea of Mestizo. We don’t want to be in a box. We want to open our menu to anything we grew up eating around the South Bay. Maybe we’ll do Filipino and Indian. We can do that. We know those flavors. Let’s see what we can create and who we might collaborate with for that.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What do you think of Filipino food in the Bay Area? Besides your own kitchens, where do you go for the best Filipino dishes and how does it compare to your experiences in the Philippines?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CHRIS:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Around here, there’s \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://www.mykalesa.com/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Kalesa\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. That’s a sit-down. \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.maxsrestaurantna.com/daly-city\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Max’s\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, even though it’s a global chain. But I think Filipino food is actually underrepresented overall. We’re seeing it a lot more now on food shows and the cooking channels of the world, but it’s still underrepresented. For a long time, it’s been represented to us as “turo turo.” That means “point point.” If you go to \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/goldilocksph/?hl=en\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Goldilocks\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, you point at what you want to get. That’s what we were used to seeing growing up. But there’s a lot of space to explore where Filipino food is in the Bay Area right now and where it can be. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13932713\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13932713\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_lumpia-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"a plate of lumpia with orange sauce on display\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_lumpia-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_lumpia-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_lumpia-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_lumpia-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_lumpia-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_lumpia.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pounds of “Mestizo Lumpia” were served in San Jose’s first ever lumpia eating contest earlier this year. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We just got back from the Philippines recently. But even there, it’s not always represented well because the food is so connected to the U.S. nowadays. Burgers, fried chicken, hot dogs. You’ll find more of that than traditional Filipino food sometimes. For middle- and upper-class people, they don’t go out to eat Filipino food. Over there, there are thousands of islands, so there’s a thousand ways to make adobo, lumpia, all of it, and people do that at home. There’s this one dish I love with fish balls on a wooden stick. It’s barbecued street food from the Philippines. We want to do that kind of stuff.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13928804,arts_13919707,arts_13905374']There’s also kamayan [a traditional Filipino method of eating with your bare hands]. Back in the day, during war times, the military was figuring out a way for generals and privates to share a table together. Typically, the tables were set up in ranks and separated. But they wanted a collaborative meal. So they laid out banana leaves on a big table and put rice and different proteins out for everyone to share. It’s called \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.hungryhuy.com/kamayan-feast/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">a “boodle fight,” a shared meal together\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. No utensils, just hands. It’s an interesting way of eating, since it’s very primal, but also offers space for a different kind of connection. That’s something I’d like to experiment with but not with the food truck. Our vision with that is to set up an event at a park and essentially put the banana leaves out, the decor, and do private events for small groups of friends. It could be weird if you do that with a complete stranger. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>That sounds amazing. You also recently hosted San Jose’s first lumpia eating contest. Is there any chance we’ll see that again?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CHRIS:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I’m the one who wants to do it every week [laughs]. We want to bring it back. My idea is to do a “champions league” lumpia eating contest. Champions from different events, from different parts of San Jose. But that’s still a dream in the conceptual stage. You do the math and you’re like, man, eating that much lumpia? We can do that. But then you see it, and it’s actually kind of hard to do.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ANTHONY:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> We’ve talked about doing it again. But with more than just pork lumpia, since that’s limiting for some people’s diet. We want to try to do something with \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13907726/e-40-goon-with-the-spoon-bay-area-rappers-food-entrepreneurs-hustle\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">E-40’s Lumpia Company\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. That would be dope to do something bigger featuring their lumpia and hosted by us. That’s just me putting that out into the universe.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Mestizo food truck pops up at various events around the South Bay. Their next appearance at La Pulga (1590 Berryessa Rd., San Jose) will be for the flea market’s \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://gardenattheflea.com/event/bnm-taco-night-of-innovation/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Taco Night of Innovation\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> on Fri., Aug. 18. For updates, follow Mestizo \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/westaymixin/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">on Instagram\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"title": "Mestizo Food Truck in San Jose Fuses Filipino, Mexican and Hawaiian Flavors | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cb>\u003ci>¡Hella Hungry! is a column about Bay Area foodmakers, exploring the region’s culinary cultures through the mouth of a first-generation local.\u003c/i>\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For anyone with childhood memories of growing up in the South Bay, San Jose’s Berryessa Flea Market — or “\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13905374/la-pulga-san-jose-flea-market-redevelopment-eulogy\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">La Pulga\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">,” as it’s endearingly known — has long been a haven of joy, particularly for immigrant families. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">La Pulga truly had it all. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For as long as I can remember, the flea market has always been a humble space for entrepreneurial beginnings. At one point, my mom even ran her own stand selling used clothes there. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">More recently, though, the historic flea market, like much of the region, has undergone seismic redevelopments. There’s now a BART station within walking distance, adding metropolitan accessibility to the formerly industrial area — but also \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kalw.org/economy-business-labor/2023-02-27/a-family-at-the-berryessa-flea-market-fights-to-stay\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">displacing many longtime, predominantly Latinx vendors\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Across the street, there’s a glamorous new condominium complex where a dusty parking lot used to be. It all underscores the ongoing contradictions of a region that is \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.archpaper.com/2021/07/san-jose-berryessa-flea-market-replaced-by-sprawling-mixed-use-development/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">yearning to grow\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> while simultaneously introducing a new set of \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://sanjosespotlight.com/san-jose-berryessa-flea-market-changes-prove-costly-for-vendors/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">costly challenges for longtime community members\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Despite its struggles and the ensuing public backlash, the Berryessa Flea Market — which is still among the largest open-air markets in the United States — remains vibrant in a different kind of way. There’s a funky beer garden with live music and a weekly Friday night market. The reimagined space has allowed emerging food makers to gain visibility by introducing an assortment of new cuisines and experiences.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13932716\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13932716\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_truck-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"a crowd gathers in front of a food truck in San Jose\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_truck-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_truck-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_truck-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_truck-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_truck-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_truck.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mestizo is building a loyal following in the South Bay with appearances at La Pulga in San Jose. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That new wave includes \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/westaymixin/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mestizo\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a homegrown trio of Filipino Americans who roll around the 408 in their food truck (not to be confused with San Francisco’s Yucatan-inspired food truck that has the same name). Childhood friends Keith Canda, Chris Zamora and Anthony Cruzet are dishing out fire meals of Filipino, Mexican and Hawaiian eats, including fried chicken mac salad burritos, tempura salmon tacos and “KaluaQuiles” — mole-bathed chilaquiles with fresh mango sauce and kalua pork. They also organized \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CtIC0ivL_DR/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">San Jose’s first-ever lumpia eating contest\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and frequently collaborate with popular San Jose streetwear brands like \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/cukui/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Cukui\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, as well as a variety of local organizations — everything from low-rider bike clubs to \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13930207/the-simpsons-flash-tattoo-party-parallax-art-studio-milpitas\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">tattoo shops\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I swung by with my older brother and dad on a busy night earlier this summer to meet Mestizo’s crew and soak up some nostalgic vibes. It was the first time my family had been back to La Pulga together in decades.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This interview has been edited for length and clarity.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">********\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ALAN CHAZARO: When and how did you all launch your Mestizo food truck together?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CHRIS ZAMORA:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> We just started the truck this year. We wanted to come in and take it slow, but we’ve realized it’s all happening so quickly, especially this summer. It’s a culmination of our friendship over 20 years. We’ve always tried to find a project to work on together. We’re in three different industries as professionals, and we’ve never been able to officially collaborate on anything. This is that pinnacle for us. It’s not just getting together and partying like we did in our 20s. This has a deeper purpose.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ANTHONY CRUZET:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> We decided on a food truck because Keith already had a food truck from a business he was doing with his cousins in the past. He was thinking of selling it, and Chris looked at me and asked if we should just try to run our own food truck. It was literally that easy. Why not? It fell into place, and we’re figuring it out as we go.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13932710\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13932710\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_group_photo-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"a group of three friends stand in front of their new food truck in San Jose\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_group_photo-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_group_photo-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_group_photo-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_group_photo-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_group_photo-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_group_photo.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mestizo owners Chris Zamora (left), Anthony Cruzet (center) and Keith Canda (right) have known each other since grade school. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Talk to me about the name and concept of Mestizo. Where does that come from, and what does it represent for you all as mixed Filipinos?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ANTHONY:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> In coming up with our name, we discussed the different kinds of foods we could do. It’s fusion, mixed. The definition of “mestizo” is being mixed race. We want our own version of that. I’m literally mestizo — half Filipino, half Mexican. So it’s a representation of myself. That’s connected with the foods we want to do, being Filipino-rooted with other influences.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CHRIS: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We also wanted flexibility with our menu. Some places only do Filipino food, but we wanted versatility to evolve our dishes over time. We’re all in different stages in our lives right now. Me and Ant just got back from Thailand, so we’re coming back with new flavors, new concepts. We want that evolutionary kind of experience to provide our community. Yes, we’re known for our fried-chicken-and-gravy burrito and our KaluaQuiles, but we can imagine new things, too.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEITH CANDA:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> For me, Mestizo is a combination of a few things. All of us coming together is a mix of what we believe in, outside of food. We’re all mixed: We have different ideas, different goals, different careers. Then we put the food truck into play. Chris’s expertise in the kitchen. Ant in marketing and sales. And my little experience with running a food truck in the past. We stand by Mestizo because we believe in not just cultural fusion – Filipino, Hawaiian, Mexican – but in coming together as people with different skills.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Describe your food. What’s an example of a popular dish on your menu? What makes Mestizo unique?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CHRIS:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The “Stay Rooted” burrito has fried chicken, which comes from one of us tasting chicken karaage in Japan. The mac salad in the burrito is from another one of us who took a trip to Hawaii. And then the gravy rice is from my memory of KFC gravy as a kid. There’s no rice at KFC, but I’ve always wanted to put that gravy on rice. So that’s all of us in one dish, literally. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13932707\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13932707\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_burrito-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"a fried chicken burrito with Hawaiian mac salad is on display\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_burrito-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_burrito-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_burrito-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_burrito-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_burrito-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_burrito.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The “Stay Rooted” burrito, which features fried chicken, Hawaiian mac salad and gravy, inspired an accompanying T-shirt made in collaboration with Cukui Clothing. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">From a menu-building standpoint, what I think is unique about us is that it’s really just all of us and our wives literally putting ideas together from scratch. One time, Ant sent us a video of an ube grilled cheese sandwich using ube jam. The text messages just started going off after that, and I showed my wife, who had some of her own thoughts to add, and we just combined all of that into our own idea. So the concepts just build from there within our own little community. It comes from our travels, our experiences, our families.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEITH: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Having a collaboration with Cukui with the Stay Rooted burrito adds another layer of community, too. We share a goal to bring the community together and collaborate, to give whatever we can offer. I work at a print shop that makes shirts for Cukui, and our businesses have grown up hand in hand because we’ve been printing for them for years. I just had the idea to offer a \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://cukui.com/collections/mens/products/mestizo-x-cukui-lowrider-tee-cream\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">collaborative T-shirt\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> as part of our menu. That’s the vibe we wanted. We bring those creative juices, our designs, the hype. Cukui has a super big following as it is. So having them to work with is huge.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And we [co-hosted] a lowrider bike anniversary event at History Park in San Jose with our T-shirts and food, so it’s a cross-pollination of businesses and representation. For the event, we partnered with \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/shinysideupshow/?hl=en\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Shiny Side Up\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> from San Jose to design original shirts. That kind of community interaction is a staple for Mestizo.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13932714\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13932714\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_menushirts-800x1200.jpg\" alt=\"a food truck displays their food menu, along with custom t-shirts and basketball shorts\" width=\"800\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_menushirts-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_menushirts-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_menushirts-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_menushirts-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_menushirts-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_menushirts-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_menushirts-scaled.jpg 1707w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mestizo regularly collaborates with boutique streetwear makers around the Bay Area for custom apparel at their events. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CHRIS:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It’s also with \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thecruisershop/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Cruiser Shop\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a custom bicycle shop [in Campbell]. It’s like a car show for bicycles. With food and custom clothing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>You seem very rooted in San Jose and the South Bay. What’s your connection to the culture there?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CHRIS:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> We’re all born and raised in either Milpitas or San Jose. Ant and I went to kindergarten together, and we met Keith as teenagers. We all had Mustangs growing up and cruised together. That’s where it all kind of sparked from. I still have my ’73 Mach 1.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ANTHONY:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Keith has a ’67. I got a ’70 fastback. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEITH:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Mine has a 298 engine with a cam, nothing too crazy. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CHRIS:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Keith has a solid connection and foundation to San Jose and the brands and people here. I live in Milpitas now, but my cousins and I grew up in the Alum Rock area of East San Jose. That’s a whole thing to unravel in itself. There’s so much variety of cooking and food. Everyone has a favorite taco spot or torta spot, but there are so many to choose from that I think everyone finds their own way to stand out. It has influenced me and the way I cook and how we build menus by just taking the same simple ingredients to make our own magic. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ANTHONY:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Keith is Mr. San Jose.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What does “Mr. San Jose” have to say about the city’s food and culture?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KEITH: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">San Jose has a huge reputation for great Mexican food. But once you cross into Milpitas, there are a few great Filipino spots for such a small city. We wanted to bring that together since we are accustomed to growing up eating at Jaliscos and off of Alum Rock. Without growing up in San Jose and tasting the different spices and recipes of authentic immigrant foods, we wouldn’t be doing this. We’re coming together collectively and putting that all on one plate. We’re strongly rooted in that.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ANTHONY:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The South Bay is such a big melting pot. Our palates were forced to get accustomed to all these different flavors. Indian food with Vietnamese food across the street and Chinese food next door. That’s the whole idea of Mestizo. We don’t want to be in a box. We want to open our menu to anything we grew up eating around the South Bay. Maybe we’ll do Filipino and Indian. We can do that. We know those flavors. Let’s see what we can create and who we might collaborate with for that.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What do you think of Filipino food in the Bay Area? Besides your own kitchens, where do you go for the best Filipino dishes and how does it compare to your experiences in the Philippines?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CHRIS:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Around here, there’s \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://www.mykalesa.com/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Kalesa\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. That’s a sit-down. \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.maxsrestaurantna.com/daly-city\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Max’s\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, even though it’s a global chain. But I think Filipino food is actually underrepresented overall. We’re seeing it a lot more now on food shows and the cooking channels of the world, but it’s still underrepresented. For a long time, it’s been represented to us as “turo turo.” That means “point point.” If you go to \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/goldilocksph/?hl=en\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Goldilocks\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, you point at what you want to get. That’s what we were used to seeing growing up. But there’s a lot of space to explore where Filipino food is in the Bay Area right now and where it can be. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13932713\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13932713\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_lumpia-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"a plate of lumpia with orange sauce on display\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_lumpia-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_lumpia-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_lumpia-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_lumpia-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_lumpia-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/mestizo_lumpia.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pounds of “Mestizo Lumpia” were served in San Jose’s first ever lumpia eating contest earlier this year. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We just got back from the Philippines recently. But even there, it’s not always represented well because the food is so connected to the U.S. nowadays. Burgers, fried chicken, hot dogs. You’ll find more of that than traditional Filipino food sometimes. For middle- and upper-class people, they don’t go out to eat Filipino food. Over there, there are thousands of islands, so there’s a thousand ways to make adobo, lumpia, all of it, and people do that at home. There’s this one dish I love with fish balls on a wooden stick. It’s barbecued street food from the Philippines. We want to do that kind of stuff.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>There’s also kamayan [a traditional Filipino method of eating with your bare hands]. Back in the day, during war times, the military was figuring out a way for generals and privates to share a table together. Typically, the tables were set up in ranks and separated. But they wanted a collaborative meal. So they laid out banana leaves on a big table and put rice and different proteins out for everyone to share. It’s called \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.hungryhuy.com/kamayan-feast/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">a “boodle fight,” a shared meal together\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. No utensils, just hands. It’s an interesting way of eating, since it’s very primal, but also offers space for a different kind of connection. That’s something I’d like to experiment with but not with the food truck. Our vision with that is to set up an event at a park and essentially put the banana leaves out, the decor, and do private events for small groups of friends. It could be weird if you do that with a complete stranger. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>That sounds amazing. You also recently hosted San Jose’s first lumpia eating contest. Is there any chance we’ll see that again?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CHRIS:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I’m the one who wants to do it every week [laughs]. We want to bring it back. My idea is to do a “champions league” lumpia eating contest. Champions from different events, from different parts of San Jose. But that’s still a dream in the conceptual stage. You do the math and you’re like, man, eating that much lumpia? We can do that. But then you see it, and it’s actually kind of hard to do.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ANTHONY:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> We’ve talked about doing it again. But with more than just pork lumpia, since that’s limiting for some people’s diet. We want to try to do something with \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13907726/e-40-goon-with-the-spoon-bay-area-rappers-food-entrepreneurs-hustle\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">E-40’s Lumpia Company\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. That would be dope to do something bigger featuring their lumpia and hosted by us. That’s just me putting that out into the universe.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Mestizo food truck pops up at various events around the South Bay. Their next appearance at La Pulga (1590 Berryessa Rd., San Jose) will be for the flea market’s \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://gardenattheflea.com/event/bnm-taco-night-of-innovation/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Taco Night of Innovation\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> on Fri., Aug. 18. For updates, follow Mestizo \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/westaymixin/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">on Instagram\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Feast on ‘Sofreh’ — a Book That Celebrates Persian Cooking, Past and Future",
"headTitle": "Feast on ‘Sofreh’ — a Book That Celebrates Persian Cooking, Past and Future | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>The new cookbook \u003cem>Sofreh\u003c/em> doesn’t open with tempting menus for future dinner parties or ingredient lists, but with a poetic conversation between an unnamed narrator and a grapevine. When asked why it continues to grow despite bearing so much fruit, the vine answers: “Why stop now, when there is such immense joy in my reaching for the sun.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Roots are very important to me,” says chef and author Nasim Alikhani. “I literally brought a little stem from my father’s grape garden in Iran, which originally he brought to our home from his own village.” She planted that vine in the back garden of her small Persian restaurant \u003ca href=\"https://www.sofrehnyc.com/\">Sofreh\u003c/a>. “That’s my roots, but whether the leaves grow, that’s up to the sky,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13932692\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13932692\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/quentin-bacon_custom-a8a0b4988d0f47115ed059bc7aa04f4ada4f920f-800x770.jpg\" alt=\"A woman of color wearing a white top sits in front of a white wall at a table. She's smiling.\" width=\"800\" height=\"770\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/quentin-bacon_custom-a8a0b4988d0f47115ed059bc7aa04f4ada4f920f-800x770.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/quentin-bacon_custom-a8a0b4988d0f47115ed059bc7aa04f4ada4f920f-1020x982.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/quentin-bacon_custom-a8a0b4988d0f47115ed059bc7aa04f4ada4f920f-160x154.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/quentin-bacon_custom-a8a0b4988d0f47115ed059bc7aa04f4ada4f920f-768x740.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/quentin-bacon_custom-a8a0b4988d0f47115ed059bc7aa04f4ada4f920f-1536x1479.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/quentin-bacon_custom-a8a0b4988d0f47115ed059bc7aa04f4ada4f920f-1920x1849.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/quentin-bacon_custom-a8a0b4988d0f47115ed059bc7aa04f4ada4f920f.jpg 1998w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Once you practice who you are, no matter where you are, you’re home,’ says Nasim Alikhani. \u003ccite>(Quentin Bacon)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In the five years since Sofreh opened its doors in the Prospect Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, Alikhani has earned a James Beard nomination, cooked at the White House and for the Metropolitan Museum’s annual Met Gala. She says she’d always envisioned writing a cookbook but she also wanted her first book to be more than just a collection of recipes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Farsi word \u003cem>Sofreh \u003c/em>refers to both the ornate table covering laid before a meal and to the many familial, religious and seasonal celebrations centered on food. \u003ca href=\"https://www.sofrehnyc.com/cookbook\">\u003cem>Sofreh: A Contemporary Approach to Classic Persian Cuisine\u003c/em>\u003c/a> was published earlier this summer, and blends recipes with Alikhani’s personal story of leaving Iran, migration and reinvention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13932697\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13932697\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Screen-Shot-2023-08-03-at-10.20.47-PM-800x1019.png\" alt=\"A white plate with chopped vegetables on it sits next to a bowl of stew on a white table.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1019\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Screen-Shot-2023-08-03-at-10.20.47-PM-800x1019.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Screen-Shot-2023-08-03-at-10.20.47-PM-1020x1299.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Screen-Shot-2023-08-03-at-10.20.47-PM-160x204.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Screen-Shot-2023-08-03-at-10.20.47-PM-768x978.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Screen-Shot-2023-08-03-at-10.20.47-PM.png 1044w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In a chapter dedicated to accompaniments known as Torshi and Moraba, Alikhani describes techniques for pickling and preserving vegetables and fruits as condiments for stews and rice dishes on the Sofreh. \u003ccite>(Quentin Bacon/ Knopf)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Alikhani was 59 when she opened the restaurant in 2018, and she says what may have been insurmountable disadvantages in a cutthroat industry — her immigrant identity, gender and age — have also become the roots of her success. “I think once you practice who you are, no matter where you are, you’re home.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like her restaurant’s interiors, the book is a celebration of her cultural inheritance and is interspersed with poetry, culinary history and a chapter of full-page documentary photographs of Iran entitled “Sarzamine Man” or my homeland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13932694\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13932694\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/sofreh-cover_custom-2ea7de8d1b60b5a852d88f3959066c7f4f0f590f.jpg\" alt=\"A book cover depicting Persian food on a white plate.\" width=\"200\" height=\"277\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/sofreh-cover_custom-2ea7de8d1b60b5a852d88f3959066c7f4f0f590f.jpg 200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/sofreh-cover_custom-2ea7de8d1b60b5a852d88f3959066c7f4f0f590f-160x222.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Sofreh: A Contemporary Approach to Classic Persian Cuisine.’ \u003ccite>(Knopf)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The recipes in \u003cem>Sofreh\u003c/em> reflect the expansive range and imperial heritage of Persian cuisine, which has always been distinct from its neighboring Mediterranean, Arab and South Asian traditions. Fresh herbs, barberries and slivered pistachios are infused into rice dishes known as \u003cem>polos\u003c/em> that form the accompaniment for slow-cooked meat stews like \u003cem>Fesenjan. \u003c/em>Although Alikhani includes recipes for grilled meats like \u003cem>Kabab Koobideh\u003c/em> — albeit adapted for Western kitchens — she also adds Mezcal cocktail versions of Iran’s lemon-infused summer cordials known as\u003cem> Sharbat-e Sekenjabin\u003c/em> and modern vegetarian entrees for lighter eating.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To celebrate the book’s publication, Alikhani recently spent a week in Los Angeles hosting a series of pop-up Sofreh dinners and book signings in a city sometimes lovingly referred to as “Tehrangeles.” As home to one of the largest Persian communities outside Iran, LA has no shortage of Persian restaurants but very few present the kind of sleekly plated modern interpretations Alikhani has perfected at Sofreh.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All the Persian restaurants essentially are the same — your kababs and your stews — whereas if you go to Iran, there’s a long, rich culinary history,” says LA resident Payman Bahmani-Bailey who was preparing cocktails for the pop-up. “So not only do you not see that aspect of the tradition reflected, you also don’t see much creativity. Everything is remnants of past glory. And if you didn’t know any better, you’d think our people didn’t accomplish anything in the last 5,000 years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13932698\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13932698\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Screen-Shot-2023-08-03-at-10.45.58-PM-800x977.png\" alt=\"A white oval plate with symmetrical lines of rice, grains and beans arranged on it.\" width=\"800\" height=\"977\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Screen-Shot-2023-08-03-at-10.45.58-PM-800x977.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Screen-Shot-2023-08-03-at-10.45.58-PM-1020x1246.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Screen-Shot-2023-08-03-at-10.45.58-PM-160x195.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Screen-Shot-2023-08-03-at-10.45.58-PM-768x938.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Screen-Shot-2023-08-03-at-10.45.58-PM.png 1092w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">With candied barberries, raisins and slivered pistachios and almonds, Sofreh includes a recipe for Morasa Polo or Jeweled Rice, which Alikhani recommends serving for ‘momentous occasion, or a holiday table, as it was originally intended.’ \u003ccite>(Quentin Bacon/ Knopf)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I admire her, and she’s an inspiration for how to break glass ceilings, and make a name for ourselves while keeping our traditions alive,” says pastry chef Fariba Nafissi who attended one of Alikhani’s Los Angeles book events after years of following her through social media. “I’m speaking from my own challenges — introducing Americans or any nationality to a pastry they’ve never tasted. Nasim was an inspiration with what she has done with Iranian food.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13930727']Alikhani says she is grateful for the way non-Iranians have embraced her cooking, but she says the support from her own Persian community has given her a profound sense of satisfaction and purpose: “You reach another level when your own people come and pat your back and say well done.” She says despite her enduring ties to Iran, she avoids the term “authentic” because it can become a metaphor for becoming culturally and creatively static.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we as immigrants become stuck in the past, we deprive ourselves of the opportunities our new space has provided. If we don’t know how to adapt, then we become extinct. That’s the dinosaur situation. We’re human. I don’t want to become another Iranian dinosaur stuck in a glorious past. I make my glory now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\">visit NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Feast+on+%27Sofreh%27+%E2%80%94+a+book+that+celebrates+Persian+cooking%2C+past+and+future&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The new cookbook \u003cem>Sofreh\u003c/em> doesn’t open with tempting menus for future dinner parties or ingredient lists, but with a poetic conversation between an unnamed narrator and a grapevine. When asked why it continues to grow despite bearing so much fruit, the vine answers: “Why stop now, when there is such immense joy in my reaching for the sun.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Roots are very important to me,” says chef and author Nasim Alikhani. “I literally brought a little stem from my father’s grape garden in Iran, which originally he brought to our home from his own village.” She planted that vine in the back garden of her small Persian restaurant \u003ca href=\"https://www.sofrehnyc.com/\">Sofreh\u003c/a>. “That’s my roots, but whether the leaves grow, that’s up to the sky,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13932692\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13932692\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/quentin-bacon_custom-a8a0b4988d0f47115ed059bc7aa04f4ada4f920f-800x770.jpg\" alt=\"A woman of color wearing a white top sits in front of a white wall at a table. She's smiling.\" width=\"800\" height=\"770\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/quentin-bacon_custom-a8a0b4988d0f47115ed059bc7aa04f4ada4f920f-800x770.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/quentin-bacon_custom-a8a0b4988d0f47115ed059bc7aa04f4ada4f920f-1020x982.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/quentin-bacon_custom-a8a0b4988d0f47115ed059bc7aa04f4ada4f920f-160x154.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/quentin-bacon_custom-a8a0b4988d0f47115ed059bc7aa04f4ada4f920f-768x740.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/quentin-bacon_custom-a8a0b4988d0f47115ed059bc7aa04f4ada4f920f-1536x1479.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/quentin-bacon_custom-a8a0b4988d0f47115ed059bc7aa04f4ada4f920f-1920x1849.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/quentin-bacon_custom-a8a0b4988d0f47115ed059bc7aa04f4ada4f920f.jpg 1998w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Once you practice who you are, no matter where you are, you’re home,’ says Nasim Alikhani. \u003ccite>(Quentin Bacon)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In the five years since Sofreh opened its doors in the Prospect Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, Alikhani has earned a James Beard nomination, cooked at the White House and for the Metropolitan Museum’s annual Met Gala. She says she’d always envisioned writing a cookbook but she also wanted her first book to be more than just a collection of recipes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Farsi word \u003cem>Sofreh \u003c/em>refers to both the ornate table covering laid before a meal and to the many familial, religious and seasonal celebrations centered on food. \u003ca href=\"https://www.sofrehnyc.com/cookbook\">\u003cem>Sofreh: A Contemporary Approach to Classic Persian Cuisine\u003c/em>\u003c/a> was published earlier this summer, and blends recipes with Alikhani’s personal story of leaving Iran, migration and reinvention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13932697\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13932697\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Screen-Shot-2023-08-03-at-10.20.47-PM-800x1019.png\" alt=\"A white plate with chopped vegetables on it sits next to a bowl of stew on a white table.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1019\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Screen-Shot-2023-08-03-at-10.20.47-PM-800x1019.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Screen-Shot-2023-08-03-at-10.20.47-PM-1020x1299.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Screen-Shot-2023-08-03-at-10.20.47-PM-160x204.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Screen-Shot-2023-08-03-at-10.20.47-PM-768x978.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Screen-Shot-2023-08-03-at-10.20.47-PM.png 1044w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In a chapter dedicated to accompaniments known as Torshi and Moraba, Alikhani describes techniques for pickling and preserving vegetables and fruits as condiments for stews and rice dishes on the Sofreh. \u003ccite>(Quentin Bacon/ Knopf)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Alikhani was 59 when she opened the restaurant in 2018, and she says what may have been insurmountable disadvantages in a cutthroat industry — her immigrant identity, gender and age — have also become the roots of her success. “I think once you practice who you are, no matter where you are, you’re home.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like her restaurant’s interiors, the book is a celebration of her cultural inheritance and is interspersed with poetry, culinary history and a chapter of full-page documentary photographs of Iran entitled “Sarzamine Man” or my homeland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13932694\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13932694\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/sofreh-cover_custom-2ea7de8d1b60b5a852d88f3959066c7f4f0f590f.jpg\" alt=\"A book cover depicting Persian food on a white plate.\" width=\"200\" height=\"277\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/sofreh-cover_custom-2ea7de8d1b60b5a852d88f3959066c7f4f0f590f.jpg 200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/sofreh-cover_custom-2ea7de8d1b60b5a852d88f3959066c7f4f0f590f-160x222.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Sofreh: A Contemporary Approach to Classic Persian Cuisine.’ \u003ccite>(Knopf)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The recipes in \u003cem>Sofreh\u003c/em> reflect the expansive range and imperial heritage of Persian cuisine, which has always been distinct from its neighboring Mediterranean, Arab and South Asian traditions. Fresh herbs, barberries and slivered pistachios are infused into rice dishes known as \u003cem>polos\u003c/em> that form the accompaniment for slow-cooked meat stews like \u003cem>Fesenjan. \u003c/em>Although Alikhani includes recipes for grilled meats like \u003cem>Kabab Koobideh\u003c/em> — albeit adapted for Western kitchens — she also adds Mezcal cocktail versions of Iran’s lemon-infused summer cordials known as\u003cem> Sharbat-e Sekenjabin\u003c/em> and modern vegetarian entrees for lighter eating.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To celebrate the book’s publication, Alikhani recently spent a week in Los Angeles hosting a series of pop-up Sofreh dinners and book signings in a city sometimes lovingly referred to as “Tehrangeles.” As home to one of the largest Persian communities outside Iran, LA has no shortage of Persian restaurants but very few present the kind of sleekly plated modern interpretations Alikhani has perfected at Sofreh.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All the Persian restaurants essentially are the same — your kababs and your stews — whereas if you go to Iran, there’s a long, rich culinary history,” says LA resident Payman Bahmani-Bailey who was preparing cocktails for the pop-up. “So not only do you not see that aspect of the tradition reflected, you also don’t see much creativity. Everything is remnants of past glory. And if you didn’t know any better, you’d think our people didn’t accomplish anything in the last 5,000 years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13932698\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13932698\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Screen-Shot-2023-08-03-at-10.45.58-PM-800x977.png\" alt=\"A white oval plate with symmetrical lines of rice, grains and beans arranged on it.\" width=\"800\" height=\"977\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Screen-Shot-2023-08-03-at-10.45.58-PM-800x977.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Screen-Shot-2023-08-03-at-10.45.58-PM-1020x1246.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Screen-Shot-2023-08-03-at-10.45.58-PM-160x195.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Screen-Shot-2023-08-03-at-10.45.58-PM-768x938.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/Screen-Shot-2023-08-03-at-10.45.58-PM.png 1092w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">With candied barberries, raisins and slivered pistachios and almonds, Sofreh includes a recipe for Morasa Polo or Jeweled Rice, which Alikhani recommends serving for ‘momentous occasion, or a holiday table, as it was originally intended.’ \u003ccite>(Quentin Bacon/ Knopf)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I admire her, and she’s an inspiration for how to break glass ceilings, and make a name for ourselves while keeping our traditions alive,” says pastry chef Fariba Nafissi who attended one of Alikhani’s Los Angeles book events after years of following her through social media. “I’m speaking from my own challenges — introducing Americans or any nationality to a pastry they’ve never tasted. Nasim was an inspiration with what she has done with Iranian food.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Alikhani says she is grateful for the way non-Iranians have embraced her cooking, but she says the support from her own Persian community has given her a profound sense of satisfaction and purpose: “You reach another level when your own people come and pat your back and say well done.” She says despite her enduring ties to Iran, she avoids the term “authentic” because it can become a metaphor for becoming culturally and creatively static.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we as immigrants become stuck in the past, we deprive ourselves of the opportunities our new space has provided. If we don’t know how to adapt, then we become extinct. That’s the dinosaur situation. We’re human. I don’t want to become another Iranian dinosaur stuck in a glorious past. I make my glory now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\">visit NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Feast+on+%27Sofreh%27+%E2%80%94+a+book+that+celebrates+Persian+cooking%2C+past+and+future&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "A Third-Generation Indian Coffee Roaster Carves Her Own Path in Berkeley",
"headTitle": "A Third-Generation Indian Coffee Roaster Carves Her Own Path in Berkeley | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>[dropcap]W[/dropcap]hen many Americans think of Indian food, they probably conjure up the buttery scent of tikka masala — those grilled chunks of yogurt-marinated chicken drowned in red sauce. Or they might recall the earthy, kaleidoscopic aromas of cumin, coriander and turmeric from inside an Indian spice aisle. Maybe they imagine the sugary perfume of a hot cup of masala chai.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What I’d bet they don’t think of is\u003ca href=\"https://www.worldcoffeeportal.com/5THWAVE/Podcast/2023/A-conversation-with-tata-starbucks\"> coffee\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But for Tanya Rao, owner of \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/kavericoffee/?hl=en\">Kaveri Coffee Works\u003c/a> — a small-scale, independent roasting business in Berkeley — coffee has been a family tradition for more than half a century. The Raos’ connection to coffee dates back to 1941, when Tanya’s grandfather, M.V. Rao, opened India Coffee Kiosk in Bangalore, India, in the Karnataka region — known for being the country’s largest coffee producer. When M.V. could no longer run the family trade, he passed it on to Tanya’s father, Mohan Rao. Ever since then, coffee has defined a sense of home and purpose for the men in Rao’s family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No one, however, expected or groomed Tanya, the youngest daughter, to take up the mantle. Yet here she is.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was next in line to get married,” Rao says. “But instead I broke barriers and challenged the status quo by leaving my [former] career to travel and own my business.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, Rao is leading a new wave of Bay Area coffee makers with a focus on empowering women of color in the coffee industry, which can often feel male-centric and white-dominant. Even at Berkeley’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.corocoffee.com/\">CoRo, the beautifully collaborative space where Rao roasts her coffee\u003c/a>, there was a visible lack of women during the busy morning I visited. That’s not to say women roasters don’t exist, but to see an Indian woman in a room full of male coffee roasters was scorchingly noticeable to me. Data reveals a gender gap in the coffee industry, with men accumulating a far greater share of the profits. According to \u003ca href=\"https://www.ico.org/documents/cy2017-18/icc-122-11e-gender-equality.pdf\">a report from the International Coffee Organization\u003c/a>, 70% of coffee labor worldwide is provided by women, while only 20% of coffee farms are women-owned. Similarly, \u003ca href=\"https://www.zippia.com/coffee-roaster-jobs/demographics/\">the American coffee roasting industry is heavily male-dominated\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13932434\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13932434\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/kaveri_bags-800x533.jpg\" alt='two bags of \"specialty coffee of India\" sit inside a coffee roasting warehouse in Berkeley' width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/kaveri_bags-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/kaveri_bags-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/kaveri_bags-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/kaveri_bags-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/kaveri_bags-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/kaveri_bags.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kaveri Coffee Works owner Tanya Rao gets her coffee beans imported directly from growers in her native India. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For Rao, however, those disparities are all a part of what fuels her mission to stand out as a radical coffee entrepreneur — one who is introducing Bay Areans to the delectable, relatively little-known world of Indian coffee beans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though Americans are more likely to associate India with its tea rather than its coffee, South India — particularly the southwestern state of Karnataka — \u003ci>is \u003c/i>known for having a rich coffee culture. Karnataka is where Rao’s grandfather founded his coffee business, and it’s also where a Sufi saint named Baba Budan is believed to have planted India’s first coffee seeds over 300 years ago. The region maintains a year-round high-altitude climate that is lush for coffee cultivation. In fact, it’s helped make India \u003ca href=\"https://www.nescafe.com/gb/understanding-coffee/coffee-producing-countries/#:~:text=Brazil,producer%20for%20over%20150%20years.\">the eighth largest coffee producer in the world\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet in much of the Western world, Indian coffee is still largely unappreciated. British colonizers controlled India’s coffee industry for nearly 200 years until the Indian Independence Act was signed in 1947. As a result, most Indian coffee never made it to the Americas. Instead, it wound up being shipped to Europe, Australia and other parts of Asia, while a colonized Latin America developed its own coffee belt along the equator to supply the Western Hemisphere. Rao estimates that only 3% of coffee in the U.S. comes from India, while the majority of India’s coffee gets shipped to Italy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But back in Karnataka? “Coffee is a part of our lives, a real luxury,” Rao says.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Indian Coffee Revolution in the Bay\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: A woman from Bangalore who grew up in a patriarchal capitalist society leaves her native country and defies traditional gender expectations to create her own coffee business in Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Having emigrated from India at age 17, Rao began her winding path with a degree in computer science from the University of Virginia in 2001. It’s what her parents wanted her to do. And for years, she did it. She worked as a finance engineer, trying to “build the perfect American dream.” But everything changed when Rao visited San Francisco for the first time and, after falling in love with the culture here, quit her job to relocate to the Bay Area in 2008.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13932435\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13932435\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/kaveri_beans-800x1200.jpg\" alt=\"a woman scoops a handful of Indian coffee beans with her hands inside a roasting warehouse\" width=\"800\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/kaveri_beans-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/kaveri_beans-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/kaveri_beans-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/kaveri_beans-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/kaveri_beans-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/kaveri_beans-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/kaveri_beans-scaled.jpg 1707w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tanya Rao holds up a handful of “monsooned” coffee beans, which originated along the southern coast of India. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Here, she hiked toward self-discovery, leaving the financial sector behind to study outdoor recreation and tourism at San Francisco State, with an emphasis on social justice and cultural representation. Afterward, she became a women’s backpacking guide, which is about as far as she could’ve veered away from her life as someone with a prestigious career meant to appease her Indian family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Bay Area is where people who are curious and want to try something new are,” Rao says. “I wanted something different.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Rao’s father, who had moved to New Jersey, fell ill, she left everything to take care of him, reconnecting with her childhood memories of coffee. Before his passing, he offered his stake in the family coffee business, which had grown from a humble roadside stand pouring cups of joe during World War II to one of the nation’s first private coffee businesses, rebranding itself as New India Coffee Works in the early ’80s. Rao declined. As a result, the family business wound up shuttering.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, Rao decided to carry on her family’s legacy by launching Kaveri Coffee Works — named after a major river in Karnataka — in 2019. With her firsthand knowledge of both India’s coffee riches and the gaps in the Bay Area market for Indian coffee, she wanted to create a business that would bring attention to her home country’s scandalously overlooked brewing culture. She flew out to India to develop partnerships with women-owned farms around the Chikmagalur expanse of South India that now export their beans directly to Rao’s facility in Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I attribute the Bay’s entrepreneurial environment to me being able to turn my idea into a business,” Rao says. “I wouldn’t have been able to do this on the East Coast, and it would’ve looked very differently for me in India.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13932439\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13932439\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/SupriyaYelimeli1_mural-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"a mural of an Indian woman making filter coffee in India\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/SupriyaYelimeli1_mural-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/SupriyaYelimeli1_mural-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/SupriyaYelimeli1_mural-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/SupriyaYelimeli1_mural-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/SupriyaYelimeli1_mural-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/SupriyaYelimeli1_mural.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A mural of a woman making Indian filter coffee in Karnataka. Painted by \u003ca href=\"https://geechugalu.wordpress.com/2021/10/31/enoch-dheeraj-ebenezer/\">Enoch Dheeraj Ebenezer\u003c/a>. \u003ccite>(Supriya Yelimeli)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>With virtually no other Indian specialty coffee makers in the Bay Area, Kaveri is filling a tall order. Surprisingly, for a region where Indian immigrants comprise \u003ca href=\"https://localnewsmatters.org/2022/08/26/ten-maps-that-show-where-asian-american-communities-reside-in-the-bay-area/\">the second largest Asian American community\u003c/a> (making the Bay Area the \u003ca href=\"https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/top-10-us-metropolitan-areas-with-the-highest-population-of-indians.html\">fifth largest Indian diaspora in the nation\u003c/a>), it’s quite rare to find a coffee maker who is strictly dedicated to roasting Indian coffee beans. In fact, Rao might be the only one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m not aware of any Indian coffee makers like her in the Bay Area,” says Supriya Yelimeli, a first-generation Indian American who grew up in Fremont and is now a journalist at \u003ca href=\"https://www.berkeleyside.org/author/supriya-yelimeli\">Berkeleyside\u003c/a>. “My experience with Indian coffee is attached to the home. My parents would get an egregious amount of Colombian coffee from Costco and use a drip coffee machine to try to replicate Indian filter coffee here. When I was growing up, they complained that they couldn’t get the kind of Indian coffee they wanted.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yelimeli, who also has family roots in Karnataka, draws a distinction between “Indian-grown” coffee and “Indian-style” coffee, which doesn’t necessarily need to be made with Indian-grown coffee beans. Often, it involves some combination of chicory and milk, with a ritualistic preparation that relies on “bisi bisi” (or “piping hot”) temperatures. Brewed using a steel filter, the coffee comes out milky and frothy, and is wildly popular among Indian coffee drinkers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PubmeU451L8\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rao, for her part, mostly focuses on roasting Indian-grown coffee beans. But she also wants to use Kaveri as a platform to introduce customers to all different aspects of Indian coffee culture. In India, Rao explains, “pure coffee” is a drink largely reserved for the bourgeoisie. It’s expensive. But watered-down variations, like the chicory coffee, are still commonly consumed by the working classes of India. To make it, the coffee beans get diluted with ground chicory — a spice made from the root of a dandelion plant that was popular among French soldiers, and later adopted and brought to India by the British military. [pullquote size=\"large\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Supriya Yelimeli\"]“When I was growing up, [my parents] complained that they couldn’t get the kind of Indian coffee they wanted.”[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In some households, mixing hot water with just the chicory by itself is considered coffee, despite lacking any actual coffee grounds. Along with tea, chicory coffee is the most common (and affordable) drink you’ll find in the region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Selling a version of Indian chicory coffee is just one of the ways that Kaveri Coffee Works pays homage to Rao’s roots in India, \u003ca href=\"https://perfectdailygrind.com/2017/10/indias-specialty-coffee-journey-from-chicory-to-the-chemex/#:~:text=Over%20time%2C%20chicory%20root%20also,%2C%20New%20Orleans%2C%20and%20more.\">where the chicory blend is still extremely common\u003c/a>. Rao offers an 80/20 pre-ground mix that customers can brew at home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a part of my cultural identity,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Monsooned Coffee and Espresso Liqueur\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The chicory coffee is only one of the distinctive aspects of Indian coffee that Rao wants to bring to the Bay Area. She explains that in many countries, mass-produced coffee is grown as a “monocrop,” in fields dedicated only to growing coffee. Indian coffee, on the other hand, has maintained its organic essence through “intercropping.” In southern India, coffee is grown in a natural rainforest next to pepper vines, cardamon, citrus, jackfruit, mangoes and other companion crops that enrich the soil. This lends the coffee hints of earthy chocolate and nutty spices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13932436\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13932436\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/kaveri_ground-coffee-800x1200.jpg\" alt=\"a woman scoops up chicory mix that she blends with her Indian coffee\" width=\"800\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/kaveri_ground-coffee-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/kaveri_ground-coffee-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/kaveri_ground-coffee-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/kaveri_ground-coffee-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/kaveri_ground-coffee-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/kaveri_ground-coffee-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/kaveri_ground-coffee-scaled.jpg 1707w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tanya Rao adds chicory to her ground coffee to make a special “chicory blend,” which is popular in India. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Because of Indian coffee’s high tolerance to extreme weather conditions, some farmers even expose their beans to monsoon storm conditions for weeks on end, allowing them to engorge and lose their natural acidity. The \u003ca href=\"https://www.goodfoodrevolution.com/monsooned-malabar-how-beards-clippers-and-monsoon-winds-gave-rise-to-a-new-type-of-coffee/\">monsooned malabar is a centuries-old method\u003c/a> that is uniquely specific to the coast of Karnataka — and one that’s become increasingly trendy in recent years. The result is a milder, mellower flavor than regular coffee, allowing for a laidback afternoon of sipping for pleasure rather than urgent morning functionality.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though Kaveri doesn’t sell monsooned beans at the moment, Rao already has a supplier and is currently experimenting with a recipe for roasting these rare single-origin beans in a way that might translate successfully for Bay Area drinkers. Rao notes that since monsoon beans are typically used for espresso drinks, they don’t taste as good when served as a simple drip coffee. If all goes to plan, she’ll start offering batches of her monsoon beans later this month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to these traditional styles of Indian coffee, Rao embraces “the art as much as the science” of it all. She recently collaborated with Dissident Spirits Co., a new distillery in Richmond, to create an \u003ca href=\"https://shop.sipalkalirye.com/products/kaveri-espresso-liqueur\">espresso liqueur made by infusing vodka with Kaveri’s espresso beans\u003c/a>, then aging the boozy concoction in rum barrels. The liqueur might not be the sort of thing her family’s coffee company would have ever sold, but it’s yet another sign that Rao has developed her own personal relationship with coffee outside of what it would look and taste like back in India.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She credits Bay Area businesses like Dissident and CoRo for providing a pathway for her to creatively explore her ancestry through experimental coffee roasting. The Bay Area also has a strong ecosystem for start-ups and entrepreneurs, which Rao has utilized by attending master classes at CoRo and participating in coffee cupping classes at \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thecrownoak/?hl=en\">the Crown Royal Coffee Lab & Tasting Room\u003c/a> in Oakland — “like wine tasting, but for coffee,” she explains.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13912706,arts_13930727,arts_13916794']\u003c/span>“I’m allowed to put on a different cultural persona here than I would in India,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In spite of Rao’s efforts, for the time being, Indian coffee remains relatively obscure in the Bay Area. Berkeleyside writer Yelimeli believes the reason it hasn’t yet filtered its way into the Bay Area has to do with the geography of where Indian coffee is produced — and the cultural implications of that geography.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As far as Indian influence in the West goes, it usually comes from North India: Bollywood, Hindi language and other known cultural exports including chai. That’s all from the North,” she says. “Northern Indians don’t grow coffee so they don’t drink it as much.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13932441\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13932441\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/SupriyaYelimeli3_coffeeshop-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"a commercial coffee shop named Gayathri Coffee in India\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/SupriyaYelimeli3_coffeeshop-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/SupriyaYelimeli3_coffeeshop-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/SupriyaYelimeli3_coffeeshop-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/SupriyaYelimeli3_coffeeshop-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/SupriyaYelimeli3_coffeeshop-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/SupriyaYelimeli3_coffeeshop.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Commercial coffee chains like Gayathri Coffee are becoming increasingly popular in Karnataka. \u003ccite>(Supriya Yelimeli)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>With the emergence of Kaveri Coffee, Yelimeli hopes people’s awareness will start to change. Rao certainly thinks so. \u003ca href=\"https://kavericoffee.com/\">She currently only sells her coffee online\u003c/a> and at a fistful of Bay Area \u003ca href=\"https://kavericoffee.com/pages/locations\">markets and coffee shops\u003c/a>, including Albany’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/kitchenette625/\">Kitchenette\u003c/a> and CoRo’s own \u003ca href=\"https://www.corocoffeeroom.com/\">onsite cafe\u003c/a>. But she hopes to continue expanding her business without losing the hands-on intimacy of small-batch coffee roasting. Perhaps a brick-and-mortar is next.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s my birthright and duty to serve Indian coffee in the Bay Area,” Rao says. “I’m thinking of ways to do it authentically. I don’t want anything to be lost in translation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-12127869 aligncenter\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/kavericoffee/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Kaveri Coffee\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> can be found online and at select Bay Area locations, including CoRo (2322 Fifth St., Berkeley) and Rainbow Grocery Cooperative (1745 Folsom St., San Francisco). Rao will appear at this year’s \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfcoffeefestival.com/\">\u003ci>San Francisco Coffee Festival \u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>(Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture Festival Pavilion, 2 Marina Blvd., SF) on Nov. 11 and 12 from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfcoffeefestival.com/tickets\">\u003ci>Tickets\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> are currently available at a discounted price.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">W\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>hen many Americans think of Indian food, they probably conjure up the buttery scent of tikka masala — those grilled chunks of yogurt-marinated chicken drowned in red sauce. Or they might recall the earthy, kaleidoscopic aromas of cumin, coriander and turmeric from inside an Indian spice aisle. Maybe they imagine the sugary perfume of a hot cup of masala chai.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What I’d bet they don’t think of is\u003ca href=\"https://www.worldcoffeeportal.com/5THWAVE/Podcast/2023/A-conversation-with-tata-starbucks\"> coffee\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But for Tanya Rao, owner of \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/kavericoffee/?hl=en\">Kaveri Coffee Works\u003c/a> — a small-scale, independent roasting business in Berkeley — coffee has been a family tradition for more than half a century. The Raos’ connection to coffee dates back to 1941, when Tanya’s grandfather, M.V. Rao, opened India Coffee Kiosk in Bangalore, India, in the Karnataka region — known for being the country’s largest coffee producer. When M.V. could no longer run the family trade, he passed it on to Tanya’s father, Mohan Rao. Ever since then, coffee has defined a sense of home and purpose for the men in Rao’s family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No one, however, expected or groomed Tanya, the youngest daughter, to take up the mantle. Yet here she is.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was next in line to get married,” Rao says. “But instead I broke barriers and challenged the status quo by leaving my [former] career to travel and own my business.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, Rao is leading a new wave of Bay Area coffee makers with a focus on empowering women of color in the coffee industry, which can often feel male-centric and white-dominant. Even at Berkeley’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.corocoffee.com/\">CoRo, the beautifully collaborative space where Rao roasts her coffee\u003c/a>, there was a visible lack of women during the busy morning I visited. That’s not to say women roasters don’t exist, but to see an Indian woman in a room full of male coffee roasters was scorchingly noticeable to me. Data reveals a gender gap in the coffee industry, with men accumulating a far greater share of the profits. According to \u003ca href=\"https://www.ico.org/documents/cy2017-18/icc-122-11e-gender-equality.pdf\">a report from the International Coffee Organization\u003c/a>, 70% of coffee labor worldwide is provided by women, while only 20% of coffee farms are women-owned. Similarly, \u003ca href=\"https://www.zippia.com/coffee-roaster-jobs/demographics/\">the American coffee roasting industry is heavily male-dominated\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13932434\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13932434\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/kaveri_bags-800x533.jpg\" alt='two bags of \"specialty coffee of India\" sit inside a coffee roasting warehouse in Berkeley' width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/kaveri_bags-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/kaveri_bags-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/kaveri_bags-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/kaveri_bags-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/kaveri_bags-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/kaveri_bags.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kaveri Coffee Works owner Tanya Rao gets her coffee beans imported directly from growers in her native India. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For Rao, however, those disparities are all a part of what fuels her mission to stand out as a radical coffee entrepreneur — one who is introducing Bay Areans to the delectable, relatively little-known world of Indian coffee beans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though Americans are more likely to associate India with its tea rather than its coffee, South India — particularly the southwestern state of Karnataka — \u003ci>is \u003c/i>known for having a rich coffee culture. Karnataka is where Rao’s grandfather founded his coffee business, and it’s also where a Sufi saint named Baba Budan is believed to have planted India’s first coffee seeds over 300 years ago. The region maintains a year-round high-altitude climate that is lush for coffee cultivation. In fact, it’s helped make India \u003ca href=\"https://www.nescafe.com/gb/understanding-coffee/coffee-producing-countries/#:~:text=Brazil,producer%20for%20over%20150%20years.\">the eighth largest coffee producer in the world\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet in much of the Western world, Indian coffee is still largely unappreciated. British colonizers controlled India’s coffee industry for nearly 200 years until the Indian Independence Act was signed in 1947. As a result, most Indian coffee never made it to the Americas. Instead, it wound up being shipped to Europe, Australia and other parts of Asia, while a colonized Latin America developed its own coffee belt along the equator to supply the Western Hemisphere. Rao estimates that only 3% of coffee in the U.S. comes from India, while the majority of India’s coffee gets shipped to Italy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But back in Karnataka? “Coffee is a part of our lives, a real luxury,” Rao says.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Indian Coffee Revolution in the Bay\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: A woman from Bangalore who grew up in a patriarchal capitalist society leaves her native country and defies traditional gender expectations to create her own coffee business in Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Having emigrated from India at age 17, Rao began her winding path with a degree in computer science from the University of Virginia in 2001. It’s what her parents wanted her to do. And for years, she did it. She worked as a finance engineer, trying to “build the perfect American dream.” But everything changed when Rao visited San Francisco for the first time and, after falling in love with the culture here, quit her job to relocate to the Bay Area in 2008.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13932435\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13932435\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/kaveri_beans-800x1200.jpg\" alt=\"a woman scoops a handful of Indian coffee beans with her hands inside a roasting warehouse\" width=\"800\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/kaveri_beans-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/kaveri_beans-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/kaveri_beans-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/kaveri_beans-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/kaveri_beans-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/kaveri_beans-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/kaveri_beans-scaled.jpg 1707w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tanya Rao holds up a handful of “monsooned” coffee beans, which originated along the southern coast of India. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Here, she hiked toward self-discovery, leaving the financial sector behind to study outdoor recreation and tourism at San Francisco State, with an emphasis on social justice and cultural representation. Afterward, she became a women’s backpacking guide, which is about as far as she could’ve veered away from her life as someone with a prestigious career meant to appease her Indian family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Bay Area is where people who are curious and want to try something new are,” Rao says. “I wanted something different.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Rao’s father, who had moved to New Jersey, fell ill, she left everything to take care of him, reconnecting with her childhood memories of coffee. Before his passing, he offered his stake in the family coffee business, which had grown from a humble roadside stand pouring cups of joe during World War II to one of the nation’s first private coffee businesses, rebranding itself as New India Coffee Works in the early ’80s. Rao declined. As a result, the family business wound up shuttering.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, Rao decided to carry on her family’s legacy by launching Kaveri Coffee Works — named after a major river in Karnataka — in 2019. With her firsthand knowledge of both India’s coffee riches and the gaps in the Bay Area market for Indian coffee, she wanted to create a business that would bring attention to her home country’s scandalously overlooked brewing culture. She flew out to India to develop partnerships with women-owned farms around the Chikmagalur expanse of South India that now export their beans directly to Rao’s facility in Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I attribute the Bay’s entrepreneurial environment to me being able to turn my idea into a business,” Rao says. “I wouldn’t have been able to do this on the East Coast, and it would’ve looked very differently for me in India.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13932439\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13932439\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/SupriyaYelimeli1_mural-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"a mural of an Indian woman making filter coffee in India\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/SupriyaYelimeli1_mural-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/SupriyaYelimeli1_mural-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/SupriyaYelimeli1_mural-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/SupriyaYelimeli1_mural-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/SupriyaYelimeli1_mural-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/SupriyaYelimeli1_mural.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A mural of a woman making Indian filter coffee in Karnataka. Painted by \u003ca href=\"https://geechugalu.wordpress.com/2021/10/31/enoch-dheeraj-ebenezer/\">Enoch Dheeraj Ebenezer\u003c/a>. \u003ccite>(Supriya Yelimeli)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>With virtually no other Indian specialty coffee makers in the Bay Area, Kaveri is filling a tall order. Surprisingly, for a region where Indian immigrants comprise \u003ca href=\"https://localnewsmatters.org/2022/08/26/ten-maps-that-show-where-asian-american-communities-reside-in-the-bay-area/\">the second largest Asian American community\u003c/a> (making the Bay Area the \u003ca href=\"https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/top-10-us-metropolitan-areas-with-the-highest-population-of-indians.html\">fifth largest Indian diaspora in the nation\u003c/a>), it’s quite rare to find a coffee maker who is strictly dedicated to roasting Indian coffee beans. In fact, Rao might be the only one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m not aware of any Indian coffee makers like her in the Bay Area,” says Supriya Yelimeli, a first-generation Indian American who grew up in Fremont and is now a journalist at \u003ca href=\"https://www.berkeleyside.org/author/supriya-yelimeli\">Berkeleyside\u003c/a>. “My experience with Indian coffee is attached to the home. My parents would get an egregious amount of Colombian coffee from Costco and use a drip coffee machine to try to replicate Indian filter coffee here. When I was growing up, they complained that they couldn’t get the kind of Indian coffee they wanted.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yelimeli, who also has family roots in Karnataka, draws a distinction between “Indian-grown” coffee and “Indian-style” coffee, which doesn’t necessarily need to be made with Indian-grown coffee beans. Often, it involves some combination of chicory and milk, with a ritualistic preparation that relies on “bisi bisi” (or “piping hot”) temperatures. Brewed using a steel filter, the coffee comes out milky and frothy, and is wildly popular among Indian coffee drinkers.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/PubmeU451L8'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/PubmeU451L8'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rao, for her part, mostly focuses on roasting Indian-grown coffee beans. But she also wants to use Kaveri as a platform to introduce customers to all different aspects of Indian coffee culture. In India, Rao explains, “pure coffee” is a drink largely reserved for the bourgeoisie. It’s expensive. But watered-down variations, like the chicory coffee, are still commonly consumed by the working classes of India. To make it, the coffee beans get diluted with ground chicory — a spice made from the root of a dandelion plant that was popular among French soldiers, and later adopted and brought to India by the British military. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In some households, mixing hot water with just the chicory by itself is considered coffee, despite lacking any actual coffee grounds. Along with tea, chicory coffee is the most common (and affordable) drink you’ll find in the region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Selling a version of Indian chicory coffee is just one of the ways that Kaveri Coffee Works pays homage to Rao’s roots in India, \u003ca href=\"https://perfectdailygrind.com/2017/10/indias-specialty-coffee-journey-from-chicory-to-the-chemex/#:~:text=Over%20time%2C%20chicory%20root%20also,%2C%20New%20Orleans%2C%20and%20more.\">where the chicory blend is still extremely common\u003c/a>. Rao offers an 80/20 pre-ground mix that customers can brew at home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a part of my cultural identity,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Monsooned Coffee and Espresso Liqueur\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The chicory coffee is only one of the distinctive aspects of Indian coffee that Rao wants to bring to the Bay Area. She explains that in many countries, mass-produced coffee is grown as a “monocrop,” in fields dedicated only to growing coffee. Indian coffee, on the other hand, has maintained its organic essence through “intercropping.” In southern India, coffee is grown in a natural rainforest next to pepper vines, cardamon, citrus, jackfruit, mangoes and other companion crops that enrich the soil. This lends the coffee hints of earthy chocolate and nutty spices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13932436\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13932436\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/kaveri_ground-coffee-800x1200.jpg\" alt=\"a woman scoops up chicory mix that she blends with her Indian coffee\" width=\"800\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/kaveri_ground-coffee-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/kaveri_ground-coffee-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/kaveri_ground-coffee-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/kaveri_ground-coffee-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/kaveri_ground-coffee-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/kaveri_ground-coffee-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/kaveri_ground-coffee-scaled.jpg 1707w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tanya Rao adds chicory to her ground coffee to make a special “chicory blend,” which is popular in India. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Because of Indian coffee’s high tolerance to extreme weather conditions, some farmers even expose their beans to monsoon storm conditions for weeks on end, allowing them to engorge and lose their natural acidity. The \u003ca href=\"https://www.goodfoodrevolution.com/monsooned-malabar-how-beards-clippers-and-monsoon-winds-gave-rise-to-a-new-type-of-coffee/\">monsooned malabar is a centuries-old method\u003c/a> that is uniquely specific to the coast of Karnataka — and one that’s become increasingly trendy in recent years. The result is a milder, mellower flavor than regular coffee, allowing for a laidback afternoon of sipping for pleasure rather than urgent morning functionality.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though Kaveri doesn’t sell monsooned beans at the moment, Rao already has a supplier and is currently experimenting with a recipe for roasting these rare single-origin beans in a way that might translate successfully for Bay Area drinkers. Rao notes that since monsoon beans are typically used for espresso drinks, they don’t taste as good when served as a simple drip coffee. If all goes to plan, she’ll start offering batches of her monsoon beans later this month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to these traditional styles of Indian coffee, Rao embraces “the art as much as the science” of it all. She recently collaborated with Dissident Spirits Co., a new distillery in Richmond, to create an \u003ca href=\"https://shop.sipalkalirye.com/products/kaveri-espresso-liqueur\">espresso liqueur made by infusing vodka with Kaveri’s espresso beans\u003c/a>, then aging the boozy concoction in rum barrels. The liqueur might not be the sort of thing her family’s coffee company would have ever sold, but it’s yet another sign that Rao has developed her own personal relationship with coffee outside of what it would look and taste like back in India.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She credits Bay Area businesses like Dissident and CoRo for providing a pathway for her to creatively explore her ancestry through experimental coffee roasting. The Bay Area also has a strong ecosystem for start-ups and entrepreneurs, which Rao has utilized by attending master classes at CoRo and participating in coffee cupping classes at \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thecrownoak/?hl=en\">the Crown Royal Coffee Lab & Tasting Room\u003c/a> in Oakland — “like wine tasting, but for coffee,” she explains.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>“I’m allowed to put on a different cultural persona here than I would in India,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In spite of Rao’s efforts, for the time being, Indian coffee remains relatively obscure in the Bay Area. Berkeleyside writer Yelimeli believes the reason it hasn’t yet filtered its way into the Bay Area has to do with the geography of where Indian coffee is produced — and the cultural implications of that geography.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As far as Indian influence in the West goes, it usually comes from North India: Bollywood, Hindi language and other known cultural exports including chai. That’s all from the North,” she says. “Northern Indians don’t grow coffee so they don’t drink it as much.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13932441\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13932441\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/SupriyaYelimeli3_coffeeshop-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"a commercial coffee shop named Gayathri Coffee in India\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/SupriyaYelimeli3_coffeeshop-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/SupriyaYelimeli3_coffeeshop-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/SupriyaYelimeli3_coffeeshop-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/SupriyaYelimeli3_coffeeshop-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/SupriyaYelimeli3_coffeeshop-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/SupriyaYelimeli3_coffeeshop.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Commercial coffee chains like Gayathri Coffee are becoming increasingly popular in Karnataka. \u003ccite>(Supriya Yelimeli)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>With the emergence of Kaveri Coffee, Yelimeli hopes people’s awareness will start to change. Rao certainly thinks so. \u003ca href=\"https://kavericoffee.com/\">She currently only sells her coffee online\u003c/a> and at a fistful of Bay Area \u003ca href=\"https://kavericoffee.com/pages/locations\">markets and coffee shops\u003c/a>, including Albany’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/kitchenette625/\">Kitchenette\u003c/a> and CoRo’s own \u003ca href=\"https://www.corocoffeeroom.com/\">onsite cafe\u003c/a>. But she hopes to continue expanding her business without losing the hands-on intimacy of small-batch coffee roasting. Perhaps a brick-and-mortar is next.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s my birthright and duty to serve Indian coffee in the Bay Area,” Rao says. “I’m thinking of ways to do it authentically. I don’t want anything to be lost in translation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-12127869 aligncenter\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/kavericoffee/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Kaveri Coffee\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> can be found online and at select Bay Area locations, including CoRo (2322 Fifth St., Berkeley) and Rainbow Grocery Cooperative (1745 Folsom St., San Francisco). Rao will appear at this year’s \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfcoffeefestival.com/\">\u003ci>San Francisco Coffee Festival \u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>(Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture Festival Pavilion, 2 Marina Blvd., SF) on Nov. 11 and 12 from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfcoffeefestival.com/tickets\">\u003ci>Tickets\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> are currently available at a discounted price.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Why Taiwanese People Love Outdoor Grilling",
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"content": "\u003cp>It was one of the most Taiwanese things I’d ever seen in the Bay: a crowd of hungry people lined up in front of a long, makeshift charcoal grill on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13901982/good-to-eat-dumplings-new-taiwanese-restaurant-emeryville\">Good to Eat Dumplings\u003c/a>’ string light–bedecked side patio, everyone gawking at the huge-ass chicken cutlets and Taiwanese sausages charring and sizzling over the flames. More than anything, what hit me was the distinctive smell of \u003ca href=\"https://tastecooking.com/there-is-no-substitute-for-shacha-sauce/\">shacha\u003c/a>, aka Taiwanese barbecue sauce, wafting through the air, smoky and a little bit spicy, undergirded with the pungency of dried fish — a smell intimately familiar to anyone who’s ever strolled through a Taiwanese night market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We missed that shacha-filled aroma,” says Angie Lin, who runs Good to Eat Dumplings along with her wife Tony Tung, the restaurant’s chef. “It made all of us so excited.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last September’s Taiwanese-style barbecue event at Good to Eat was probably \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13921917/best-dishes-bay-area-2022\">my favorite food event of the year\u003c/a>. This weekend, the Emeryville restaurant is running it back, this time for two nights — \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CvAqlQeyzLd/?img_index=1\">July 29 and 30\u003c/a> — instead of one, in hopes of satisfying what wound up being a huge demand. As it turns out, Lin and Tung weren’t the only ones nostalgic for Taiwanese barbecue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13932058\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13932058\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/good-to-eat_line.jpg\" alt=\"A line of customers waiting in front of a charcoal grill, where various Taiwanese barbecue items are cooking.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/good-to-eat_line.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/good-to-eat_line-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/good-to-eat_line-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/good-to-eat_line-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/good-to-eat_line-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/good-to-eat_line-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/good-to-eat_line-1536x2048.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The ambiance at Good to Eat’s inaugural Taiwanese BBQ event evoked a typical Taiwanese street food scene. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The inaugural edition of the event took place during the Mid-Autumn Festival, which for Taiwanese people is probably even more closely associated with outdoor grilling than the Fourth of July is for Americans. As Lin explains it, people in Taiwan have always loved grilling outdoors, but it became codified as a national pastime of sorts in the early ’80s, when a barbecue sauce company launched a big advertising campaign during the lead-up to Mid-Autumn Festival. Lin remembers TV commercials that emphasized how nice it was to sit and chat in the park while skewers of marinated meat sizzled on the grill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For Taiwanese people, you need to get together [for Mid-Autumn Festival] anyway,” she says. “You want to stay outside to enjoy mooncake and watch the full moon. And during that whole season, the temperature in Taiwan is just right.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These days, almost everyone grills for Mid-Autumn Festival — and, really, all throughout the relatively cool and comfortable fall months. But Taiwanese grilling culture is a different beast from how most Americans think of grilling. The grills are small and portable, and the cuts of meat tend to be smaller too — no one is grilling thick steaks. One of my fondest memories from living in Taiwan was when my co-workers slapped a metal grate on top of the rim of a car tire for an impromptu grilling session. Squatting on the sidewalk while you devour a fistful of shacha-slathered meat skewers: That’s the quintessential Taiwanese experience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13932059\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13932059\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/good-to-eat_corn.jpg\" alt=\"Four ears of sauce-slathered corn cook on a grill.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/good-to-eat_corn.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/good-to-eat_corn-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/good-to-eat_corn-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/good-to-eat_corn-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/good-to-eat_corn-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/good-to-eat_corn-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/good-to-eat_corn-1536x2048.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Grilled corn slathered in shacha sauce is a Taiwanese street food classic. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Good to Eat Dumplings)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Then, there’s the unique Taiwanese taste. For many Americans, “barbecue sauce” tends to connote a sweet and tangy tomato- or vinegar-based condiment. Taiwanese shacha, on the other hand, is soy sauce–based, seasoned with an assortment of intensely flavored spices, aromatics and, usually, dried brill fish and dried shrimp. It’s a cousin of Southeast Asian satay, Lin explains — very savory and loaded with umami.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13897936,arts_13901982,arts_13915306']\u003c/span>Mid-Autumn Festival falls on Sept. 29 this year, but Lin and Tung figured they’d kick off their grilling season a little bit early. So, this weekend’s event will feature several staples of Taiwanese barbecue and night market culture. There will be grilled chicken cutlets or pork chops (they’re still deciding), corn on the cob, fish balls, fish cakes, pork blood cakes and foil packets filled with vegetables and mushrooms. Most of the items will get a liberal brush of shacha before they’re thrown onto the grill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Each $55 ticket will buy you six tokens that you can use at various stations at the event — two tokens for a larger main course and one token for almost everything else. The idea, Lin says, is for each ticket to provide for a full, and very filling, meal for one person: say, a big, juicy grilled chicken cutlet, a couple of side dishes, a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13897498/mama-liu-lu-rou-fan-taiwanese-food-comic\">bowl of lu rou fan\u003c/a> and a cold beer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of the items will be new to diners whose only exposure to Taiwanese food is boba or popcorn chicken or beef noodle soup — the handful of dishes that have \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13897272/bay-area-taiwanese-food-scene-nostalgia\">gotten mainstream exposure\u003c/a>. And, really, what sets Good to Eat apart from the bulk of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13897936/best-taiwanese-restaurants-sf-oakland-cupertino-bay-area\">Bay Area’s Taiwanese restaurants\u003c/a> is Lin and Tung’s commitment to sharing their love of the culture with their customers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13932060\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13932060\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/good-to-eat_sausage.jpg\" alt=\"Skewers of zucchini and Taiwanese sausage in a metal tray.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/good-to-eat_sausage.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/good-to-eat_sausage-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/good-to-eat_sausage-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/good-to-eat_sausage-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/good-to-eat_sausage-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/good-to-eat_sausage-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/good-to-eat_sausage-1536x2048.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Not only will guests be able to eat these sausages, they’ll be able to gamble for them too. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Good to Eat Dumplings)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Toward that end, they’ve added another fun wrinkle to this barbecue event: a Taiwanese sausage station where they’ll not only introduce diners to plump, sweet Taiwanese sausages but also to the very Taiwanese game of sausage \u003ci>gambling\u003c/i>. At every traditional sausage stand in Taiwan, Lin explains, they’ll always have a bowl with four dice and the option to bet against the sausage stand owner. If you get a lucky roll? “You can win a lot of sausages.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For us, it’s not for gambling; it’s more for fun,” Lin says. Guests at this weekend’s event are sure to walk away with full stomachs — and, if they’re lucky, they might even get three sausages for the price of one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Good to Eat Dumplings (1298 65th St., Emeryville) will host its Taiwanese barbecue event on Sat., July 29 and Sunday, July 30, from 4:30–9:30 p.m. \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.goodtoeatdumplings.com/events\">\u003ci>Tickets for specific time slots are available online\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> (and are expected to sell out early).\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>It was one of the most Taiwanese things I’d ever seen in the Bay: a crowd of hungry people lined up in front of a long, makeshift charcoal grill on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13901982/good-to-eat-dumplings-new-taiwanese-restaurant-emeryville\">Good to Eat Dumplings\u003c/a>’ string light–bedecked side patio, everyone gawking at the huge-ass chicken cutlets and Taiwanese sausages charring and sizzling over the flames. More than anything, what hit me was the distinctive smell of \u003ca href=\"https://tastecooking.com/there-is-no-substitute-for-shacha-sauce/\">shacha\u003c/a>, aka Taiwanese barbecue sauce, wafting through the air, smoky and a little bit spicy, undergirded with the pungency of dried fish — a smell intimately familiar to anyone who’s ever strolled through a Taiwanese night market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We missed that shacha-filled aroma,” says Angie Lin, who runs Good to Eat Dumplings along with her wife Tony Tung, the restaurant’s chef. “It made all of us so excited.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last September’s Taiwanese-style barbecue event at Good to Eat was probably \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13921917/best-dishes-bay-area-2022\">my favorite food event of the year\u003c/a>. This weekend, the Emeryville restaurant is running it back, this time for two nights — \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CvAqlQeyzLd/?img_index=1\">July 29 and 30\u003c/a> — instead of one, in hopes of satisfying what wound up being a huge demand. As it turns out, Lin and Tung weren’t the only ones nostalgic for Taiwanese barbecue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13932058\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13932058\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/good-to-eat_line.jpg\" alt=\"A line of customers waiting in front of a charcoal grill, where various Taiwanese barbecue items are cooking.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/good-to-eat_line.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/good-to-eat_line-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/good-to-eat_line-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/good-to-eat_line-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/good-to-eat_line-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/good-to-eat_line-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/good-to-eat_line-1536x2048.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The ambiance at Good to Eat’s inaugural Taiwanese BBQ event evoked a typical Taiwanese street food scene. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The inaugural edition of the event took place during the Mid-Autumn Festival, which for Taiwanese people is probably even more closely associated with outdoor grilling than the Fourth of July is for Americans. As Lin explains it, people in Taiwan have always loved grilling outdoors, but it became codified as a national pastime of sorts in the early ’80s, when a barbecue sauce company launched a big advertising campaign during the lead-up to Mid-Autumn Festival. Lin remembers TV commercials that emphasized how nice it was to sit and chat in the park while skewers of marinated meat sizzled on the grill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For Taiwanese people, you need to get together [for Mid-Autumn Festival] anyway,” she says. “You want to stay outside to enjoy mooncake and watch the full moon. And during that whole season, the temperature in Taiwan is just right.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These days, almost everyone grills for Mid-Autumn Festival — and, really, all throughout the relatively cool and comfortable fall months. But Taiwanese grilling culture is a different beast from how most Americans think of grilling. The grills are small and portable, and the cuts of meat tend to be smaller too — no one is grilling thick steaks. One of my fondest memories from living in Taiwan was when my co-workers slapped a metal grate on top of the rim of a car tire for an impromptu grilling session. Squatting on the sidewalk while you devour a fistful of shacha-slathered meat skewers: That’s the quintessential Taiwanese experience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13932059\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13932059\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/good-to-eat_corn.jpg\" alt=\"Four ears of sauce-slathered corn cook on a grill.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/good-to-eat_corn.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/good-to-eat_corn-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/good-to-eat_corn-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/good-to-eat_corn-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/good-to-eat_corn-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/good-to-eat_corn-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/good-to-eat_corn-1536x2048.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Grilled corn slathered in shacha sauce is a Taiwanese street food classic. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Good to Eat Dumplings)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Then, there’s the unique Taiwanese taste. For many Americans, “barbecue sauce” tends to connote a sweet and tangy tomato- or vinegar-based condiment. Taiwanese shacha, on the other hand, is soy sauce–based, seasoned with an assortment of intensely flavored spices, aromatics and, usually, dried brill fish and dried shrimp. It’s a cousin of Southeast Asian satay, Lin explains — very savory and loaded with umami.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>Mid-Autumn Festival falls on Sept. 29 this year, but Lin and Tung figured they’d kick off their grilling season a little bit early. So, this weekend’s event will feature several staples of Taiwanese barbecue and night market culture. There will be grilled chicken cutlets or pork chops (they’re still deciding), corn on the cob, fish balls, fish cakes, pork blood cakes and foil packets filled with vegetables and mushrooms. Most of the items will get a liberal brush of shacha before they’re thrown onto the grill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Each $55 ticket will buy you six tokens that you can use at various stations at the event — two tokens for a larger main course and one token for almost everything else. The idea, Lin says, is for each ticket to provide for a full, and very filling, meal for one person: say, a big, juicy grilled chicken cutlet, a couple of side dishes, a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13897498/mama-liu-lu-rou-fan-taiwanese-food-comic\">bowl of lu rou fan\u003c/a> and a cold beer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of the items will be new to diners whose only exposure to Taiwanese food is boba or popcorn chicken or beef noodle soup — the handful of dishes that have \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13897272/bay-area-taiwanese-food-scene-nostalgia\">gotten mainstream exposure\u003c/a>. And, really, what sets Good to Eat apart from the bulk of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13897936/best-taiwanese-restaurants-sf-oakland-cupertino-bay-area\">Bay Area’s Taiwanese restaurants\u003c/a> is Lin and Tung’s commitment to sharing their love of the culture with their customers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13932060\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13932060\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/good-to-eat_sausage.jpg\" alt=\"Skewers of zucchini and Taiwanese sausage in a metal tray.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/good-to-eat_sausage.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/good-to-eat_sausage-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/good-to-eat_sausage-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/good-to-eat_sausage-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/good-to-eat_sausage-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/good-to-eat_sausage-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/good-to-eat_sausage-1536x2048.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Not only will guests be able to eat these sausages, they’ll be able to gamble for them too. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Good to Eat Dumplings)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Toward that end, they’ve added another fun wrinkle to this barbecue event: a Taiwanese sausage station where they’ll not only introduce diners to plump, sweet Taiwanese sausages but also to the very Taiwanese game of sausage \u003ci>gambling\u003c/i>. At every traditional sausage stand in Taiwan, Lin explains, they’ll always have a bowl with four dice and the option to bet against the sausage stand owner. If you get a lucky roll? “You can win a lot of sausages.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For us, it’s not for gambling; it’s more for fun,” Lin says. Guests at this weekend’s event are sure to walk away with full stomachs — and, if they’re lucky, they might even get three sausages for the price of one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Good to Eat Dumplings (1298 65th St., Emeryville) will host its Taiwanese barbecue event on Sat., July 29 and Sunday, July 30, from 4:30–9:30 p.m. \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.goodtoeatdumplings.com/events\">\u003ci>Tickets for specific time slots are available online\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> (and are expected to sell out early).\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "urelio-s-pizza-west-berkeley-pickup-truck-pop-up-hella-hungry",
"title": "This Pizza-On-Wheels Pop-Up Roams the East Bay’s Streets",
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"content": "\u003cp>In my former life as a UC Berkeley student, the industrial blocks around Gilman Street in West Berkeley never seemed to offer much outside of Pyramid Brewing — which was one of the first microbreweries in the region but, sadly, \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/pyramid-alehouses-berkeley-location-shuts-down-2-1/\">no longer exists\u003c/a>. Admittedly, I don’t remember visiting Gilman very often in those days, unless I needed to reach the freeway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In recent years, however, \u003ca href=\"https://www.berkeleyside.org/2023/04/14/berkeley-natural-wine-guide\">a sparkling concentration of wineries and breweries\u003c/a> have emerged to revitalize this particular stretch of the neighborhood, turning sparse lots into an inviting space to imbibe natural wines and explore a constant rotation of the Bay Area’s latest food pop-ups. And I’m here for it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The area — anchored around the intersection of Gilman and Fifth — offers a combination of outdoor seating, chill warehouse vibes and a mingling of young families and hipster adults in an easily overlooked sliver of the East Bay. It’s an ideal location for something like \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/ureliospizza/?hl=en\">Urelio’s\u003c/a>, a pop-up \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/pizza\">pizzeria\u003c/a> on wheels run from the back of a 1989 Ford F-250. Owners Samuel Ciccarelli and Rosie Dooley toss their pizzas all over the East Bay, but they most frequently appear at \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/broccellars/?hl=en\">Broc Cellars\u003c/a>, one of West Berkeley’s most popular upstart wineries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’re a pizza traditionalist infatuated with the classically thin Neapolitan crust, then Urelio’s is definitely your kind of slice. Envision an oven-fresh, fire-kissed chewiness with simple, quality toppings. Without question, Ciccarelli, the main pizza chef, has perfected the balance of old-world favorites like the classic margherita and marinara. He also obsesses over seasonal showcases, including a corn, mushroom and lemon pie this summer, and an experimental rendition of vitello tonnato (an elegant Italian dish of veal with tuna sauce).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While slammed with orders on a hot July afternoon, Ciccarelli and his team turned naturally leavened sourdough into wood-flamed perfection with nothing more than a bundle of fresh ingredients, patience and a love for excellent pie-making. Here’s what Ciccarelli had to say about his journey from working as a cook in high-end kitchens around the country to shoveling pizzas from the back of his truck.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13931322\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13931322\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/Sam-800x541.jpg\" alt=\"A man wearing a Urelio's Pizza shirt takes a pizza out of an oven that is attached to a pick up truck at an outdoor food pop-up in Berkeley\" width=\"800\" height=\"541\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/Sam-800x541.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/Sam-1020x690.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/Sam-160x108.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/Sam-768x519.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/Sam-1536x1039.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/Sam.jpg 1893w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sam Ciccarelli patiently stokes the fire and handles pizza making from a self-built oven at Urelio’s. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>This interview has been edited for length and clarity.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center\">********\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ALAN CHAZARO: I get the sense that Urelio’s is a tribute to someone important in your life. What’s your connection to that name?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13931313\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 480px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13931313 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/urelios_dough_720.jpg\" alt=\"A man wearing a Urelio's Pizza shirt stretches pizza dough at an outdoor food pop-up in Berkeley\" width=\"480\" height=\"720\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/urelios_dough_720.jpg 480w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/urelios_dough_720-160x240.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Naturally leavened dough is prepared for the oven. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>SAM CICCARELLI:\u003c/b> That’s my great-grandfather’s name. He used to live in Modesto on our family ranch and we’d go to his house for big family gatherings. Full tables of pasta, salad, tri-tip. My earliest food memories were always at his house as a central gathering place. It felt proper to pay respect to him and the atmosphere he curated for the family. His parents immigrated here from Italy, first to San Jose, then Modesto. Back then, they had a family farm that grew almonds and walnuts. Urelio lived on that farm throughout his life, and now my grandfather lives on the ranch. They sold the orchards but still live on the property.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Did you grow up in Modesto as well?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I grew up in Modesto, but a lot of our family lives in the Bay Area. I spent summers in San Francisco at my aunt and uncle’s apartment, right near Ghirardelli Square. I would skate around there and eat food. It left a big impression on me. I’ve been fortunate to travel to other places, but every time I visit a new city it makes me reflect on how much I love the Bay and want to invest in this community. My partner, Rosie, feels the same. We’ve both always wanted to have a restaurant in San Francisco, and that’s still our goal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>You began by working at restaurants in New York City, and later at Chez Panisse in Berkeley. What was your role there, and what drew you towards pizza making?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My role changed quite a bit at Chez over my four years there. I was an intern at first, then I worked the line — the pizza oven, the grill, the salad station. I always loved pizza. My first job ever was at a place in Modesto that served tapas and pizza. We always ordered pizza there, and it was owned by family friends. I had never really thought too much about making it, though, until I had exposure at Chez. My partner Rosie and I met while working there. When we went on dates, she’d always take us out to pizza places. I realized later on that she was listening to me more than I was listening to myself, since I always talked about pizza.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the pandemic, when \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/Chez-Panisse-Berkeley-takeout-sandwiches-Waters-15446533.php\">Chez began doing a marketplace\u003c/a> because of shelter in place, there came a time when we were going to do pizzas, and the chefs asked me to help get that off the ground. To go from not working with food for months and then being in front of the oven again, starting fires, making pizzas every day, it was a major outlet that I wanted to focus on. Pizza is such a common ground for people. It’s approachable for anyone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13931309\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13931309\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/urelios_making-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A man wearing a Urelio's Pizza shirt places toppings on pizzas at an outdoor food pop-up in Berkeley\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/urelios_making-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/urelios_making-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/urelios_making-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/urelios_making-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/urelios_making-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/urelios_making.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Urelio’s uses naturally leavened dough with seasonal California ingredients. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Have you ever been to Italy?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I still have family there along the Adriatic in a tiny fishing village. They visited us about 10 years ago. I’ve been to Europe and interned at Noma in Copenhagen, but I actually haven’t been to Italy yet. We’re due to visit it soon and plan to go on our honeymoon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>You operate Urelio’s from a mobile oven attached to a modified Ford F-250 truck. Tell me about the oven — and about the truck — and how it all came together for you.\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I knew I really wanted to make pizza and was thinking of a way to get our product out. In a world with a lot of pizza makers doing similar things, I was thinking of doing something different. I’ve always liked classic stuff — old cars, things like that. At first I was thinking of making a pizza trailer, but I’d seen that, and I didn’t even have a trailer. But my family used to have a Ford truck on the family ranch. It’s a simple, clean look. I wondered about building an oven on a truck like that. It’s one of the only vehicles that can actually hold the weight. So I bought [a Ford F-250] from a dairy farmer in Petaluma. That was the first piece for us, and then we conceptualized the oven.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13931324\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13931324\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/urelios_truck-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"a vintage Ford pick up with a Urelio's Pizza logo on the passenger door\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/urelios_truck-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/urelios_truck-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/urelios_truck-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/urelios_truck-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/urelios_truck-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/urelios_truck.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Urelio’s 1989 Ford F-250 reminds Ciccareli of his great grandfather’s life as a Modesto farmer. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>How does one build and install a pizza oven on a truck?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13928196,arts_13917120,arts_13930138']\u003c/span>It’s a lot of work. I bought the core of the oven precast, and we mounted it onto the truck bed and built from there. What goes into building it, you can use a steel core or refractory cement. There’s a specific one I love from Italy. The floor is one piece so there’s no cracks, and it’s better for heat retention and not allowing cold spots. I have no masonry experience, so I couldn’t cast it myself. So you can buy the core and the internal dome. You get about 1,200 pounds of oven. Then you do the rest: a plate on the bottom, vibration isolators under that. You weld a mold around it to hold it all in place. We used aircraft cables over that. It’s fully on the plate. It’ll only come off with a forklift if I unbolt it first.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I have another job, so it was a lot to do whenever we could. My friend who helped would come over after his job, and then we’d work on the oven at night with headlamps. It took about two months to build it and make it usable. It was a great workout for the tendons in my wrist and arms that I never even knew I had.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>It seems laborious, but clearly the results are delicious. What draws you to the grind of making wood-fired pizzas without taking any shortcuts?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I love the romance of it. It feels primal to take a fire in an oven and tend it through the day and then try to control it and make a product that already can be wild, especially when it’s naturally leavened. There’s levels to the details you have to pay attention to. Like making art. If you throw too many logs, the temperature spikes and it won’t come out right. There’s a delicate balance, and I feel connected to that craft. Using fire was one of the first ways pizza was made in Naples. I think it’s cool to be connected to those roots. There’s always tweaks to be made, but if it’s just right — the proofing, the fire, the balanced toppings, a crispy oven bake, the timing — it feels perfect. It’s too nice of an end product to be okay with anything less than that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13931310\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13931310\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/urelios_mortadella_pie-800x1200.jpg\" alt=\"A woman wearing a Urelio's Pizza shirt slices a baloney and cheese pizza at an outdoor food pop-up in Berkeley\" width=\"800\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/urelios_mortadella_pie-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/urelios_mortadella_pie-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/urelios_mortadella_pie-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/urelios_mortadella_pie-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/urelios_mortadella_pie-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/urelios_mortadella_pie-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/urelios_mortadella_pie-scaled.jpg 1707w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A whole pie is freshly sliced at Urelio’s. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>On weeknights my family usually just orders Little Caesars, but I appreciate the artistry and delicacy of the craft.\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s a place for everything. I love all pizza. I’ll eat it all. That’s the fun thing. There are so many pizza genres. They’re all different kinds of expressions. I personally just love the wood fire. Starting the fire every morning is so peaceful. You continually stoke it for the entire day. It’s a careful balance. You might notice the oven dipping, so you have to choose a certain size of log. Or it might be too intense and you have to scale back. I have to split logs ahead of time and sort them by size at home, and then I stack them in a certain way by the truck so I know which ones to use depending on what the fire needs when I’m on the line. If there are lots of customers that day and I have to pump out more pizzas, I’ll toss in the biggest log. Those kinds of things. It’s a fun challenge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What are your thoughts on the Bay Area’s pizza scene overall, and who — besides yourself — makes your favorite pies?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Bay Area is having a pizza moment right now. There’s lots of attention on it. Rosie and I love going to \u003ca href=\"https://www.rosepizzeria.com/\">Rose Pizzeria\u003c/a> in Berkeley. It’s a cozy family spot with tasty stuff and great wine. I also enjoy \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thatsouttasight/?hl=en\">Outta Sight Pizza\u003c/a> in the Tenderloin. It’s a slice shop. Super cool. It’s run by some skaters, and I used to skateboard, so I like that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13928196/pizza-supreme-being-sourdough-punk-rock-skateboard-merch-sacramento\">connection between pizza makers and people into skating\u003c/a>, punk, surfing. I feel that connection and admire seeing it from afar. I also love Pollara, although \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2023/6/12/23758287/berkeley-pollara-pizzeria-closing\">I heard they’re moving back to New Jersey\u003c/a>. Oh, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/pizzeriadelfina/?hl=en\">Delfina\u003c/a>. That’s a classic San Franciscan spot I ate at growing up. One of the people who trained me at Chez worked there for a long time. It’s sentimental.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/ureliospizza/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Urelio’s Pizza\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> operates on a limited pop-up schedule with rotating locations around the East Bay. \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.ureliospizza.com/\">\u003ci>Check their page for details\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> about upcoming events.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Urelio's serves old-world Italian pizza with seasonal California toppings — from the back of a pickup truck.",
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"title": "Urelio's Slings Pizza From the Back of Pickup Truck in Berkeley | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>In my former life as a UC Berkeley student, the industrial blocks around Gilman Street in West Berkeley never seemed to offer much outside of Pyramid Brewing — which was one of the first microbreweries in the region but, sadly, \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/pyramid-alehouses-berkeley-location-shuts-down-2-1/\">no longer exists\u003c/a>. Admittedly, I don’t remember visiting Gilman very often in those days, unless I needed to reach the freeway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In recent years, however, \u003ca href=\"https://www.berkeleyside.org/2023/04/14/berkeley-natural-wine-guide\">a sparkling concentration of wineries and breweries\u003c/a> have emerged to revitalize this particular stretch of the neighborhood, turning sparse lots into an inviting space to imbibe natural wines and explore a constant rotation of the Bay Area’s latest food pop-ups. And I’m here for it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The area — anchored around the intersection of Gilman and Fifth — offers a combination of outdoor seating, chill warehouse vibes and a mingling of young families and hipster adults in an easily overlooked sliver of the East Bay. It’s an ideal location for something like \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/ureliospizza/?hl=en\">Urelio’s\u003c/a>, a pop-up \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/pizza\">pizzeria\u003c/a> on wheels run from the back of a 1989 Ford F-250. Owners Samuel Ciccarelli and Rosie Dooley toss their pizzas all over the East Bay, but they most frequently appear at \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/broccellars/?hl=en\">Broc Cellars\u003c/a>, one of West Berkeley’s most popular upstart wineries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’re a pizza traditionalist infatuated with the classically thin Neapolitan crust, then Urelio’s is definitely your kind of slice. Envision an oven-fresh, fire-kissed chewiness with simple, quality toppings. Without question, Ciccarelli, the main pizza chef, has perfected the balance of old-world favorites like the classic margherita and marinara. He also obsesses over seasonal showcases, including a corn, mushroom and lemon pie this summer, and an experimental rendition of vitello tonnato (an elegant Italian dish of veal with tuna sauce).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While slammed with orders on a hot July afternoon, Ciccarelli and his team turned naturally leavened sourdough into wood-flamed perfection with nothing more than a bundle of fresh ingredients, patience and a love for excellent pie-making. Here’s what Ciccarelli had to say about his journey from working as a cook in high-end kitchens around the country to shoveling pizzas from the back of his truck.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13931322\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13931322\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/Sam-800x541.jpg\" alt=\"A man wearing a Urelio's Pizza shirt takes a pizza out of an oven that is attached to a pick up truck at an outdoor food pop-up in Berkeley\" width=\"800\" height=\"541\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/Sam-800x541.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/Sam-1020x690.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/Sam-160x108.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/Sam-768x519.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/Sam-1536x1039.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/Sam.jpg 1893w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sam Ciccarelli patiently stokes the fire and handles pizza making from a self-built oven at Urelio’s. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>This interview has been edited for length and clarity.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center\">********\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ALAN CHAZARO: I get the sense that Urelio’s is a tribute to someone important in your life. What’s your connection to that name?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13931313\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 480px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13931313 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/urelios_dough_720.jpg\" alt=\"A man wearing a Urelio's Pizza shirt stretches pizza dough at an outdoor food pop-up in Berkeley\" width=\"480\" height=\"720\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/urelios_dough_720.jpg 480w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/urelios_dough_720-160x240.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Naturally leavened dough is prepared for the oven. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>SAM CICCARELLI:\u003c/b> That’s my great-grandfather’s name. He used to live in Modesto on our family ranch and we’d go to his house for big family gatherings. Full tables of pasta, salad, tri-tip. My earliest food memories were always at his house as a central gathering place. It felt proper to pay respect to him and the atmosphere he curated for the family. His parents immigrated here from Italy, first to San Jose, then Modesto. Back then, they had a family farm that grew almonds and walnuts. Urelio lived on that farm throughout his life, and now my grandfather lives on the ranch. They sold the orchards but still live on the property.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Did you grow up in Modesto as well?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I grew up in Modesto, but a lot of our family lives in the Bay Area. I spent summers in San Francisco at my aunt and uncle’s apartment, right near Ghirardelli Square. I would skate around there and eat food. It left a big impression on me. I’ve been fortunate to travel to other places, but every time I visit a new city it makes me reflect on how much I love the Bay and want to invest in this community. My partner, Rosie, feels the same. We’ve both always wanted to have a restaurant in San Francisco, and that’s still our goal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>You began by working at restaurants in New York City, and later at Chez Panisse in Berkeley. What was your role there, and what drew you towards pizza making?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My role changed quite a bit at Chez over my four years there. I was an intern at first, then I worked the line — the pizza oven, the grill, the salad station. I always loved pizza. My first job ever was at a place in Modesto that served tapas and pizza. We always ordered pizza there, and it was owned by family friends. I had never really thought too much about making it, though, until I had exposure at Chez. My partner Rosie and I met while working there. When we went on dates, she’d always take us out to pizza places. I realized later on that she was listening to me more than I was listening to myself, since I always talked about pizza.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the pandemic, when \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/Chez-Panisse-Berkeley-takeout-sandwiches-Waters-15446533.php\">Chez began doing a marketplace\u003c/a> because of shelter in place, there came a time when we were going to do pizzas, and the chefs asked me to help get that off the ground. To go from not working with food for months and then being in front of the oven again, starting fires, making pizzas every day, it was a major outlet that I wanted to focus on. Pizza is such a common ground for people. It’s approachable for anyone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13931309\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13931309\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/urelios_making-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A man wearing a Urelio's Pizza shirt places toppings on pizzas at an outdoor food pop-up in Berkeley\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/urelios_making-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/urelios_making-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/urelios_making-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/urelios_making-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/urelios_making-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/urelios_making.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Urelio’s uses naturally leavened dough with seasonal California ingredients. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Have you ever been to Italy?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I still have family there along the Adriatic in a tiny fishing village. They visited us about 10 years ago. I’ve been to Europe and interned at Noma in Copenhagen, but I actually haven’t been to Italy yet. We’re due to visit it soon and plan to go on our honeymoon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>You operate Urelio’s from a mobile oven attached to a modified Ford F-250 truck. Tell me about the oven — and about the truck — and how it all came together for you.\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I knew I really wanted to make pizza and was thinking of a way to get our product out. In a world with a lot of pizza makers doing similar things, I was thinking of doing something different. I’ve always liked classic stuff — old cars, things like that. At first I was thinking of making a pizza trailer, but I’d seen that, and I didn’t even have a trailer. But my family used to have a Ford truck on the family ranch. It’s a simple, clean look. I wondered about building an oven on a truck like that. It’s one of the only vehicles that can actually hold the weight. So I bought [a Ford F-250] from a dairy farmer in Petaluma. That was the first piece for us, and then we conceptualized the oven.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13931324\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13931324\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/urelios_truck-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"a vintage Ford pick up with a Urelio's Pizza logo on the passenger door\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/urelios_truck-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/urelios_truck-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/urelios_truck-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/urelios_truck-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/urelios_truck-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/urelios_truck.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Urelio’s 1989 Ford F-250 reminds Ciccareli of his great grandfather’s life as a Modesto farmer. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>How does one build and install a pizza oven on a truck?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>It’s a lot of work. I bought the core of the oven precast, and we mounted it onto the truck bed and built from there. What goes into building it, you can use a steel core or refractory cement. There’s a specific one I love from Italy. The floor is one piece so there’s no cracks, and it’s better for heat retention and not allowing cold spots. I have no masonry experience, so I couldn’t cast it myself. So you can buy the core and the internal dome. You get about 1,200 pounds of oven. Then you do the rest: a plate on the bottom, vibration isolators under that. You weld a mold around it to hold it all in place. We used aircraft cables over that. It’s fully on the plate. It’ll only come off with a forklift if I unbolt it first.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I have another job, so it was a lot to do whenever we could. My friend who helped would come over after his job, and then we’d work on the oven at night with headlamps. It took about two months to build it and make it usable. It was a great workout for the tendons in my wrist and arms that I never even knew I had.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>It seems laborious, but clearly the results are delicious. What draws you to the grind of making wood-fired pizzas without taking any shortcuts?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I love the romance of it. It feels primal to take a fire in an oven and tend it through the day and then try to control it and make a product that already can be wild, especially when it’s naturally leavened. There’s levels to the details you have to pay attention to. Like making art. If you throw too many logs, the temperature spikes and it won’t come out right. There’s a delicate balance, and I feel connected to that craft. Using fire was one of the first ways pizza was made in Naples. I think it’s cool to be connected to those roots. There’s always tweaks to be made, but if it’s just right — the proofing, the fire, the balanced toppings, a crispy oven bake, the timing — it feels perfect. It’s too nice of an end product to be okay with anything less than that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13931310\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13931310\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/urelios_mortadella_pie-800x1200.jpg\" alt=\"A woman wearing a Urelio's Pizza shirt slices a baloney and cheese pizza at an outdoor food pop-up in Berkeley\" width=\"800\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/urelios_mortadella_pie-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/urelios_mortadella_pie-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/urelios_mortadella_pie-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/urelios_mortadella_pie-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/urelios_mortadella_pie-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/urelios_mortadella_pie-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/urelios_mortadella_pie-scaled.jpg 1707w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A whole pie is freshly sliced at Urelio’s. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>On weeknights my family usually just orders Little Caesars, but I appreciate the artistry and delicacy of the craft.\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s a place for everything. I love all pizza. I’ll eat it all. That’s the fun thing. There are so many pizza genres. They’re all different kinds of expressions. I personally just love the wood fire. Starting the fire every morning is so peaceful. You continually stoke it for the entire day. It’s a careful balance. You might notice the oven dipping, so you have to choose a certain size of log. Or it might be too intense and you have to scale back. I have to split logs ahead of time and sort them by size at home, and then I stack them in a certain way by the truck so I know which ones to use depending on what the fire needs when I’m on the line. If there are lots of customers that day and I have to pump out more pizzas, I’ll toss in the biggest log. Those kinds of things. It’s a fun challenge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What are your thoughts on the Bay Area’s pizza scene overall, and who — besides yourself — makes your favorite pies?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Bay Area is having a pizza moment right now. There’s lots of attention on it. Rosie and I love going to \u003ca href=\"https://www.rosepizzeria.com/\">Rose Pizzeria\u003c/a> in Berkeley. It’s a cozy family spot with tasty stuff and great wine. I also enjoy \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thatsouttasight/?hl=en\">Outta Sight Pizza\u003c/a> in the Tenderloin. It’s a slice shop. Super cool. It’s run by some skaters, and I used to skateboard, so I like that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13928196/pizza-supreme-being-sourdough-punk-rock-skateboard-merch-sacramento\">connection between pizza makers and people into skating\u003c/a>, punk, surfing. I feel that connection and admire seeing it from afar. I also love Pollara, although \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2023/6/12/23758287/berkeley-pollara-pizzeria-closing\">I heard they’re moving back to New Jersey\u003c/a>. Oh, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/pizzeriadelfina/?hl=en\">Delfina\u003c/a>. That’s a classic San Franciscan spot I ate at growing up. One of the people who trained me at Chez worked there for a long time. It’s sentimental.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/ureliospizza/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Urelio’s Pizza\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> operates on a limited pop-up schedule with rotating locations around the East Bay. \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.ureliospizza.com/\">\u003ci>Check their page for details\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> about upcoming events.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "The East Bay’s Hottest Brunch Is a Dip Lover’s Paradise",
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"content": "\u003cp>The first time I tried to eat at \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CRW2FMbLsRd/\">Lulu\u003c/a>, I had no idea it was one of the hardest-to-snag brunch reservations in the East Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A quick Google Maps search had clued me in to the availability of Palestinian mezzes in this sleepy stretch of West Berkeley. But the sign outside said that weekend brunch service was by reservation only — and, as a sweetly apologetic server informed us, they were already fully booked for the day. This proved to be a running refrain: The following weekend, I called first thing in the morning. Fully booked. I planned ahead and tried calling on a Wednesday. Booked all weekend long.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By the time I secured a table — more than a week in advance — it felt like a minor miracle. (“Usually you have to call two or three weeks ahead,” a Lulu employee later told me.) But when my family finally sat down for our long-awaited mezze brunch, it didn’t take long to understand why reservations are such a hot ticket. One bite of chef Mona Leena Michael’s silky, umami-forward chili hummus, loaded with pine nuts and shimeiji mushrooms, and I was already making plans for my next visit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>This restaurant is a dip lover’s paradise\u003c/i>, I thought to myself, scooping up more hummus with a hunk of rich sumac focaccia. And that was before I’d even tasted the creamy muhammara or the spicy, tangy fava bean dip known as ful. The spreads come as part of Lulu’s abundant and extremely \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/lulu.berkeley/tagged/\">Instagram-friendly\u003c/a> $30-a-person prix-fixe brunch spread, which takes the time-tested Palestinian tradition of feasting on assorted dips, and things to dip, and turns it into a special occasion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13931334\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13931334\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu_shouka-quiles.jpg\" alt=\"A woman's hands holding a bowl of pita chips topped with shakshouka sauce and soft-scrambled eggs.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1281\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu_shouka-quiles.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu_shouka-quiles-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu_shouka-quiles-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu_shouka-quiles-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu_shouka-quiles-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu_shouka-quiles-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Early Girl ‘shouka-quiles’ are a cross between shakshouka and chilaquiles. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Lulu/StarChefs)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As Michael tells it, the restaurant is a particular creature of the pandemic. As soon as lockdown hit, she was laid off from her job as \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/B01UTw6h-5g/?hl=en\">chef at Dyafa\u003c/a>, an upscale Arab restaurant on the Jack London waterfront that never wound up reopening. She hustled flatbreads out of her apartment for a while — as “\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/themanaeeshlady/\">the Mana’eesh Lady\u003c/a>” — until someone \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/article/A-Palestinian-food-pop-up-was-shut-down-for-15558018.php\">ratted her out\u003c/a> to the Alameda County health department. It was at this point that Michael came across the tiny, out-of-the-way space on Camelia Street that used to be a British tea room. She opened Lulu there in August of 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The setting helped shape the concept. Inspired by the charmingly bedecked three-tiered cake stands she’d always loved at classic tea rooms like Lovejoy’s in San Francisco, Michael came up with the idea of doing a big brunch board topped with elegant versions of Palestinian mezzes and dips — a kind of “Arabic high tea,” she explains.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13928345,arts_13894684,arts_13899700']\u003c/span>“The goal was to create something that wasn’t just a basic dining experience,” Michael says. “With the pandemic, people really needed a reason to go out — something special.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What that means, in part, is that aesthetics are a big part of the restaurant’s appeal. A big mezze board is going to be a thing of beauty at almost any Turkish or Palestinian restaurant, but at Lulu, I watched a member of the staff spend several minutes arranging individual sprigs of mint on the board like a master florist. It’s the kind of eye-catching, slightly over-the-top presentation that elicits oohs and ahhs when it hits the table.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the exact makeup of the brunch prix fixe changes from week to week, it generally consists of three dips, three types of bread (mana’eesh, sesame seed–topped Jerusalem bagels and sumac focaccia), crudités, falafel, a seasonal vegetable and one additional item — “something fun,” Michael says, like fried za’atar polenta topped with whipped feta.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13931337\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13931337\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu_chef-leena_courtesy.jpg\" alt=\"Portrait of a chef in a pink shirt and floral apron, standing in front of her restaurant.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1281\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu_chef-leena_courtesy.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu_chef-leena_courtesy-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu_chef-leena_courtesy-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu_chef-leena_courtesy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu_chef-leena_courtesy-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu_chef-leena_courtesy-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chef Mona Leena Michael’s concept for Lulu was a kind of “Arabic high tea.” \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Lulu/StarChefs)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Really, though, all of the food is meant to be fun and not strictly traditional. “I like to say that Lulu is a California restaurant with Palestinian influence,” Michael says, explaining that she developed an appreciation for all of the Bay Area’s diverse food cultures while growing up in San Jose.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Palestinians don’t flavor their hummus with chilis,” she says. “I didn’t want to open up another Arabic restaurant that just serves the same BS. I didn’t want to just do shawarma and hummus and pita bread.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Every item on Lulu’s bread board takes Michael’s Palestinian family recipes — as well as the Egyptian food traditions of Lulu’s other chef, Peter Girgis — and riffs off of them in playful ways. The falafel comes crowned with a smear of chili-flecked black garlic tahini. The ful — listed on the menu as “refried beans,” in an artful bit of cultural translation — is topped with labneh and chimichurri. “We jazzed it up,” Michael says. She drew the line, though, when Girgis wanted to add a whole bunch of cumin to the ful, in the Egyptian style. (“Abso-fucking-lutely not, bro!” she says, laughing.) The \u003ca href=\"https://www.luluberkeley.com/weekend-brunch\">a la carte menu\u003c/a> includes things like a shakshuka-chilaquiles hybrid and a fried chicken sandwich with “banh mi vibes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13931341\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13931341\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu-falafel.jpg\" alt=\"Close-up of hand holding a falafel ball topped with black garlic tahini and a purple flower.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu-falafel.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu-falafel-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu-falafel-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu-falafel-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu-falafel-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu-falafel-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">At Lulu, the falafel isn’t exactly traditional: This version is fennel-scented and topped with black garlic tahini and an edible flower. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In about a month, the restaurant will add dinner service on Wednesdays and Thursdays. While the menu is a work in progress, Michael says customers can expect tapas-style small plates like Girgis’s pickled eggplants (inspired by his mother’s recipe) served with burrata. A signature dish will be a take on shish barak, an Arabic lamb dumpling, reimagined as a soup dumpling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, Michael says she feels bad about how many people she’s had to turn away due to the restaurant’s small size. Fortunately, change is on the way: Sometime in November, she hopes, the restaurant will move to a bigger space a few blocks away, where she’ll have room to seat walk-ups and large groups, as well as a private dining room for special events in the back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All of our terrible reviews are people who drove from San Bruno with eight people and say, ‘What do you mean you can’t seat us?’” Michael says. “I’m just happy that I’ll be able to accommodate people in a more welcoming manner.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.luluberkeley.com/\">\u003ci>Lulu\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is located at 1019 Camelia St. in Berkeley. It’s open for breakfast (9–11 a.m.) and lunch (11:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m.) on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Friday through Sunday, it serves brunch 9:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m., by reservation only. Soon, it will also start dinner service on Wednesdays and Thursdays.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The first time I tried to eat at \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CRW2FMbLsRd/\">Lulu\u003c/a>, I had no idea it was one of the hardest-to-snag brunch reservations in the East Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A quick Google Maps search had clued me in to the availability of Palestinian mezzes in this sleepy stretch of West Berkeley. But the sign outside said that weekend brunch service was by reservation only — and, as a sweetly apologetic server informed us, they were already fully booked for the day. This proved to be a running refrain: The following weekend, I called first thing in the morning. Fully booked. I planned ahead and tried calling on a Wednesday. Booked all weekend long.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By the time I secured a table — more than a week in advance — it felt like a minor miracle. (“Usually you have to call two or three weeks ahead,” a Lulu employee later told me.) But when my family finally sat down for our long-awaited mezze brunch, it didn’t take long to understand why reservations are such a hot ticket. One bite of chef Mona Leena Michael’s silky, umami-forward chili hummus, loaded with pine nuts and shimeiji mushrooms, and I was already making plans for my next visit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>This restaurant is a dip lover’s paradise\u003c/i>, I thought to myself, scooping up more hummus with a hunk of rich sumac focaccia. And that was before I’d even tasted the creamy muhammara or the spicy, tangy fava bean dip known as ful. The spreads come as part of Lulu’s abundant and extremely \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/lulu.berkeley/tagged/\">Instagram-friendly\u003c/a> $30-a-person prix-fixe brunch spread, which takes the time-tested Palestinian tradition of feasting on assorted dips, and things to dip, and turns it into a special occasion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13931334\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13931334\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu_shouka-quiles.jpg\" alt=\"A woman's hands holding a bowl of pita chips topped with shakshouka sauce and soft-scrambled eggs.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1281\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu_shouka-quiles.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu_shouka-quiles-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu_shouka-quiles-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu_shouka-quiles-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu_shouka-quiles-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu_shouka-quiles-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Early Girl ‘shouka-quiles’ are a cross between shakshouka and chilaquiles. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Lulu/StarChefs)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As Michael tells it, the restaurant is a particular creature of the pandemic. As soon as lockdown hit, she was laid off from her job as \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/B01UTw6h-5g/?hl=en\">chef at Dyafa\u003c/a>, an upscale Arab restaurant on the Jack London waterfront that never wound up reopening. She hustled flatbreads out of her apartment for a while — as “\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/themanaeeshlady/\">the Mana’eesh Lady\u003c/a>” — until someone \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/article/A-Palestinian-food-pop-up-was-shut-down-for-15558018.php\">ratted her out\u003c/a> to the Alameda County health department. It was at this point that Michael came across the tiny, out-of-the-way space on Camelia Street that used to be a British tea room. She opened Lulu there in August of 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The setting helped shape the concept. Inspired by the charmingly bedecked three-tiered cake stands she’d always loved at classic tea rooms like Lovejoy’s in San Francisco, Michael came up with the idea of doing a big brunch board topped with elegant versions of Palestinian mezzes and dips — a kind of “Arabic high tea,” she explains.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>“The goal was to create something that wasn’t just a basic dining experience,” Michael says. “With the pandemic, people really needed a reason to go out — something special.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What that means, in part, is that aesthetics are a big part of the restaurant’s appeal. A big mezze board is going to be a thing of beauty at almost any Turkish or Palestinian restaurant, but at Lulu, I watched a member of the staff spend several minutes arranging individual sprigs of mint on the board like a master florist. It’s the kind of eye-catching, slightly over-the-top presentation that elicits oohs and ahhs when it hits the table.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the exact makeup of the brunch prix fixe changes from week to week, it generally consists of three dips, three types of bread (mana’eesh, sesame seed–topped Jerusalem bagels and sumac focaccia), crudités, falafel, a seasonal vegetable and one additional item — “something fun,” Michael says, like fried za’atar polenta topped with whipped feta.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13931337\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13931337\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu_chef-leena_courtesy.jpg\" alt=\"Portrait of a chef in a pink shirt and floral apron, standing in front of her restaurant.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1281\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu_chef-leena_courtesy.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu_chef-leena_courtesy-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu_chef-leena_courtesy-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu_chef-leena_courtesy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu_chef-leena_courtesy-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu_chef-leena_courtesy-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chef Mona Leena Michael’s concept for Lulu was a kind of “Arabic high tea.” \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Lulu/StarChefs)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Really, though, all of the food is meant to be fun and not strictly traditional. “I like to say that Lulu is a California restaurant with Palestinian influence,” Michael says, explaining that she developed an appreciation for all of the Bay Area’s diverse food cultures while growing up in San Jose.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Palestinians don’t flavor their hummus with chilis,” she says. “I didn’t want to open up another Arabic restaurant that just serves the same BS. I didn’t want to just do shawarma and hummus and pita bread.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Every item on Lulu’s bread board takes Michael’s Palestinian family recipes — as well as the Egyptian food traditions of Lulu’s other chef, Peter Girgis — and riffs off of them in playful ways. The falafel comes crowned with a smear of chili-flecked black garlic tahini. The ful — listed on the menu as “refried beans,” in an artful bit of cultural translation — is topped with labneh and chimichurri. “We jazzed it up,” Michael says. She drew the line, though, when Girgis wanted to add a whole bunch of cumin to the ful, in the Egyptian style. (“Abso-fucking-lutely not, bro!” she says, laughing.) The \u003ca href=\"https://www.luluberkeley.com/weekend-brunch\">a la carte menu\u003c/a> includes things like a shakshuka-chilaquiles hybrid and a fried chicken sandwich with “banh mi vibes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13931341\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13931341\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu-falafel.jpg\" alt=\"Close-up of hand holding a falafel ball topped with black garlic tahini and a purple flower.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu-falafel.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu-falafel-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu-falafel-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu-falafel-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu-falafel-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/lulu-falafel-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">At Lulu, the falafel isn’t exactly traditional: This version is fennel-scented and topped with black garlic tahini and an edible flower. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In about a month, the restaurant will add dinner service on Wednesdays and Thursdays. While the menu is a work in progress, Michael says customers can expect tapas-style small plates like Girgis’s pickled eggplants (inspired by his mother’s recipe) served with burrata. A signature dish will be a take on shish barak, an Arabic lamb dumpling, reimagined as a soup dumpling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, Michael says she feels bad about how many people she’s had to turn away due to the restaurant’s small size. Fortunately, change is on the way: Sometime in November, she hopes, the restaurant will move to a bigger space a few blocks away, where she’ll have room to seat walk-ups and large groups, as well as a private dining room for special events in the back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All of our terrible reviews are people who drove from San Bruno with eight people and say, ‘What do you mean you can’t seat us?’” Michael says. “I’m just happy that I’ll be able to accommodate people in a more welcoming manner.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.luluberkeley.com/\">\u003ci>Lulu\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is located at 1019 Camelia St. in Berkeley. It’s open for breakfast (9–11 a.m.) and lunch (11:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m.) on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Friday through Sunday, it serves brunch 9:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m., by reservation only. Soon, it will also start dinner service on Wednesdays and Thursdays.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "This New Richmond Taco Truck Is a Cheesy, Meaty Social Media Sensation",
"headTitle": "This New Richmond Taco Truck Is a Cheesy, Meaty Social Media Sensation | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>As a crowd lines up in front of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tacoselrulas/?hl=en\">Tacos El Rulas #2\u003c/a> food truck on a recent Friday night, the real show is happening a few feet away in a long, tented section of the parking lot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bookended by a big charcoal grill on one side and a spinning, sizzling al pastor trompo on the other, the taqueros work their magic on the flat-tops. They hand-press fresh tortillas, griddle onions and bell peppers in bacon fat, and layer heaps of well-charred meat and melted cheese to assemble the over-the-top creations that have become the truck’s calling card: the “papá loca” (a Mexican American analogue to the fully loaded baked potato) and the alambre — a cheesy, street food–style mixed grill that’s popular in Mexico City.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What I love about El Rulas is the backyard party vibe — something about the tight cluster of picnic tables and cheerful banda music and the smell of smoky grilled meats seeping deep into your clothes. All in all, it’s about as fun a place as there is right now to grab tacos in the East Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13931128\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13931128\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_lot.jpg\" alt=\"The Tacos El Rulas #2 taco truck displays the red, green and white of the Mexican flag. To its left, the truck's taqueros prepare food on flat-top grills. To the right is a tented dining area with picnic tables.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_lot.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_lot-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_lot-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_lot-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_lot-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_lot-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The taco truck’s parking lot setup feels as festive as a backyard party. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“When a lot of people are here, it just feels like a small get-together,” says Angeles Lopez, a high school senior who helps her father, Raul Ramirez Rodriguez, operate the business. “It doesn’t really feel like I’m working.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tacos El Rulas isn’t exactly a newcomer to the East Bay taco scene. Early in the pandemic, one of its trucks — known for its \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2021/2/11/22275500/tacos-el-rulas-truck-berkeley-quesabirria-torta-cubana-handmade-tortillas\">outlandishly overstuffed tortas\u003c/a> — debuted in the parking lot of a Berkeley auto shop. Its second truck used to be stationed at a smaller, more out-of-the-way location in Richmond, on Rumrill Road, before moving to its current spot on \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/a-richmond-taco-crawl-2-1/\">23rd Street\u003c/a> in March.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13915646,arts_13923359']\u003c/span>The new location’s popularity is, at least in part, a social media success story. I had driven past a few dozen times since it opened but, even as a fan of the Berkeley truck, never got around to stopping by. Then, a few weeks ago, three or four different \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Csmwe4OpYEd/?hl=en\">food influencer\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CsuHiSGtc7I/?hl=en\">videos\u003c/a> featuring Tacos El Rulas popped up on my Instagram feed in the span of a couple of days — this despite the fact that the truck has almost no presence on \u003ca href=\"https://www.yelp.com/biz/tacos-el-rulas-richmond\">Yelp\u003c/a> or in traditional food media.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lopez explains that the viral Instagram and TikTok videos are a deliberate part of their marketing strategy. When business lagged in the taco truck’s first couple of months, her father reached out directly to several prominent Bay Area food influencers to see if they’d be willing to help him promote his food (for a fee, of course). It seems \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Cs6kFO_rIuI/?hl=en\">nearly all of them\u003c/a> said yes. According to Lopez, early boosters like \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Csbu6DarI8D/?hl=en\">@booziebrunch\u003c/a> were instrumental in helping to introduce Tacos El Rulas to the Black community, which now forms a large part of the truck’s fanbase.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13931130\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13931130\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre.jpg\" alt=\"A cheesy mix of meat, bell pappers, and onions served in an aluminum tray with a stack of corn tortillas on top.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The alambre in all its glory. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13931129\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13931129\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre-closeup.jpg\" alt=\"A hand holding a taco stuffed with cheesy meat, onions, and peppers.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre-closeup.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre-closeup-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre-closeup-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre-closeup-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre-closeup-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre-closeup-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Assemble your own tacos. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Of course, El Rulas’ massively portioned alambres and papás locas are uniquely suited for social media. (Everyone loves a good cheese pull, after all.) And it doesn’t hurt that those specific items — only available at the Richmond location — are legitimately delicious. The alambre is a gut-busting mix of chorizo, bacon, onions, peppers, pineapple, melted cheese and your choice of meat. As a crowning touch, a squirt of Worcestershire and Maggi seasoning adds a unique, almost stir fry–like savoriness, and the whole thing comes topped with a stack of handmade tortillas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The papá loca is just as much of a crowd-pleaser: a couple of big-ass potatoes topped with an unconscionable amount of butter, bacon, cheese, onions, guacamole and, again, your choice of meat. A day’s worth of calories, probably, though it’s still hard to stop myself from eating the whole thing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13931127\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13931127\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_grill.jpg\" alt=\"A man in black uses tongs to flip a rack of ribs cooking on the grill. A long chorizo sausage is coiled overhead on the frame of the grill.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_grill.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_grill-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_grill-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_grill-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_grill-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_grill-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The grill station features whole racks of pork ribs, ribeye steaks and a long coil of chorizo cooking overhead. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>If anything, the Tacos El Rulas menu has so many options that it can be intimidating for a first-timer. Their signature meat is Mexico City–style al pastor sliced off a pineapple-topped vertical spit, but every time I’ve visited, something new has caught my eye: garlic-butter shrimp, racks of pork ribs, flame-grilled ribeye steaks. They do the trendy \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2019/11/21/20937687/el-garage-quesabirria-birria-taco-richmond-instagram\">quesabirria tacos\u003c/a> here, as well as extra-crunchy vampiro tacos and quesadillas made with their fresh, hand-pressed tortillas. And while the mammoth torta Cubana has always been a star at the Berkeley truck, the Richmond location has a stand-alone torta menu with a whopping 18 varieties — more than you’ll find just about anywhere other than a dedicated torta shop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Something for everyone” might not be your typical taco truck credo, but so far, Tacos El Rulas’ maximalist, social media–driven approach seems to be working. Lopez says that customers regularly drive from as far away as Vallejo or San Francisco, often because they saw the alambre or the papá loca on TikTok or Instagram.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Every time someone tells me that, I get amazed and surprised,” Lopez says. “But they always end up liking our food.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13931126\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13931126\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_angeles.jpg\" alt=\"A teenage girl in a black long-sleeved Nirvana T-shirt stands in front of a green taco truck.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1439\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_angeles.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_angeles-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_angeles-1020x764.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_angeles-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_angeles-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_angeles-1536x1151.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Angeles Lopez (left), a rising high school senior, helps her father run both of the Tacos El Rulas food trucks. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tacoselrulas/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Tacos El Rulas #2\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is located at 232 23rd St. in Richmond, in a parking lot shared by a beauty salon and an astrology shop. It’s open Sundays–Thursdays from 4 p.m. to midnight, and Fridays–Saurdays from 4 p.m. to 1 a.m.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Tacos El Rulas is winning hearts and minds — and Instagram feeds — with its decadent alambres and papás locas.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>As a crowd lines up in front of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tacoselrulas/?hl=en\">Tacos El Rulas #2\u003c/a> food truck on a recent Friday night, the real show is happening a few feet away in a long, tented section of the parking lot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bookended by a big charcoal grill on one side and a spinning, sizzling al pastor trompo on the other, the taqueros work their magic on the flat-tops. They hand-press fresh tortillas, griddle onions and bell peppers in bacon fat, and layer heaps of well-charred meat and melted cheese to assemble the over-the-top creations that have become the truck’s calling card: the “papá loca” (a Mexican American analogue to the fully loaded baked potato) and the alambre — a cheesy, street food–style mixed grill that’s popular in Mexico City.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What I love about El Rulas is the backyard party vibe — something about the tight cluster of picnic tables and cheerful banda music and the smell of smoky grilled meats seeping deep into your clothes. All in all, it’s about as fun a place as there is right now to grab tacos in the East Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13931128\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13931128\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_lot.jpg\" alt=\"The Tacos El Rulas #2 taco truck displays the red, green and white of the Mexican flag. To its left, the truck's taqueros prepare food on flat-top grills. To the right is a tented dining area with picnic tables.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_lot.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_lot-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_lot-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_lot-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_lot-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_lot-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The taco truck’s parking lot setup feels as festive as a backyard party. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“When a lot of people are here, it just feels like a small get-together,” says Angeles Lopez, a high school senior who helps her father, Raul Ramirez Rodriguez, operate the business. “It doesn’t really feel like I’m working.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tacos El Rulas isn’t exactly a newcomer to the East Bay taco scene. Early in the pandemic, one of its trucks — known for its \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2021/2/11/22275500/tacos-el-rulas-truck-berkeley-quesabirria-torta-cubana-handmade-tortillas\">outlandishly overstuffed tortas\u003c/a> — debuted in the parking lot of a Berkeley auto shop. Its second truck used to be stationed at a smaller, more out-of-the-way location in Richmond, on Rumrill Road, before moving to its current spot on \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/a-richmond-taco-crawl-2-1/\">23rd Street\u003c/a> in March.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>The new location’s popularity is, at least in part, a social media success story. I had driven past a few dozen times since it opened but, even as a fan of the Berkeley truck, never got around to stopping by. Then, a few weeks ago, three or four different \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Csmwe4OpYEd/?hl=en\">food influencer\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CsuHiSGtc7I/?hl=en\">videos\u003c/a> featuring Tacos El Rulas popped up on my Instagram feed in the span of a couple of days — this despite the fact that the truck has almost no presence on \u003ca href=\"https://www.yelp.com/biz/tacos-el-rulas-richmond\">Yelp\u003c/a> or in traditional food media.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lopez explains that the viral Instagram and TikTok videos are a deliberate part of their marketing strategy. When business lagged in the taco truck’s first couple of months, her father reached out directly to several prominent Bay Area food influencers to see if they’d be willing to help him promote his food (for a fee, of course). It seems \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Cs6kFO_rIuI/?hl=en\">nearly all of them\u003c/a> said yes. According to Lopez, early boosters like \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Csbu6DarI8D/?hl=en\">@booziebrunch\u003c/a> were instrumental in helping to introduce Tacos El Rulas to the Black community, which now forms a large part of the truck’s fanbase.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13931130\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13931130\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre.jpg\" alt=\"A cheesy mix of meat, bell pappers, and onions served in an aluminum tray with a stack of corn tortillas on top.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The alambre in all its glory. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13931129\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13931129\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre-closeup.jpg\" alt=\"A hand holding a taco stuffed with cheesy meat, onions, and peppers.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre-closeup.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre-closeup-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre-closeup-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre-closeup-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre-closeup-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre-closeup-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Assemble your own tacos. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Of course, El Rulas’ massively portioned alambres and papás locas are uniquely suited for social media. (Everyone loves a good cheese pull, after all.) And it doesn’t hurt that those specific items — only available at the Richmond location — are legitimately delicious. The alambre is a gut-busting mix of chorizo, bacon, onions, peppers, pineapple, melted cheese and your choice of meat. As a crowning touch, a squirt of Worcestershire and Maggi seasoning adds a unique, almost stir fry–like savoriness, and the whole thing comes topped with a stack of handmade tortillas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The papá loca is just as much of a crowd-pleaser: a couple of big-ass potatoes topped with an unconscionable amount of butter, bacon, cheese, onions, guacamole and, again, your choice of meat. A day’s worth of calories, probably, though it’s still hard to stop myself from eating the whole thing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13931127\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13931127\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_grill.jpg\" alt=\"A man in black uses tongs to flip a rack of ribs cooking on the grill. A long chorizo sausage is coiled overhead on the frame of the grill.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_grill.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_grill-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_grill-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_grill-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_grill-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_grill-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The grill station features whole racks of pork ribs, ribeye steaks and a long coil of chorizo cooking overhead. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>If anything, the Tacos El Rulas menu has so many options that it can be intimidating for a first-timer. Their signature meat is Mexico City–style al pastor sliced off a pineapple-topped vertical spit, but every time I’ve visited, something new has caught my eye: garlic-butter shrimp, racks of pork ribs, flame-grilled ribeye steaks. They do the trendy \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2019/11/21/20937687/el-garage-quesabirria-birria-taco-richmond-instagram\">quesabirria tacos\u003c/a> here, as well as extra-crunchy vampiro tacos and quesadillas made with their fresh, hand-pressed tortillas. And while the mammoth torta Cubana has always been a star at the Berkeley truck, the Richmond location has a stand-alone torta menu with a whopping 18 varieties — more than you’ll find just about anywhere other than a dedicated torta shop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Something for everyone” might not be your typical taco truck credo, but so far, Tacos El Rulas’ maximalist, social media–driven approach seems to be working. Lopez says that customers regularly drive from as far away as Vallejo or San Francisco, often because they saw the alambre or the papá loca on TikTok or Instagram.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Every time someone tells me that, I get amazed and surprised,” Lopez says. “But they always end up liking our food.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13931126\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13931126\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_angeles.jpg\" alt=\"A teenage girl in a black long-sleeved Nirvana T-shirt stands in front of a green taco truck.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1439\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_angeles.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_angeles-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_angeles-1020x764.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_angeles-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_angeles-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_angeles-1536x1151.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Angeles Lopez (left), a rising high school senior, helps her father run both of the Tacos El Rulas food trucks. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tacoselrulas/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Tacos El Rulas #2\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is located at 232 23rd St. in Richmond, in a parking lot shared by a beauty salon and an astrology shop. It’s open Sundays–Thursdays from 4 p.m. to midnight, and Fridays–Saurdays from 4 p.m. to 1 a.m.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"id": "closealltabs",
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"order": 1
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"title": "Code Switch / Life Kit",
"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
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"meta": {
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"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Commonwealth-Club-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"meta": {
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"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
"link": "/radio/program/commonwealth-club",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw",
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"id": "forum",
"title": "Forum",
"tagline": "The conversation starts here",
"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9am-11am, 10pm-11pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Forum with Mina Kim and Alexis Madrigal",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 9
},
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"id": "freakonomics-radio",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "http://freakonomics.com/",
"airtime": "SUN 1am-2am, SAT 3pm-4pm",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/freakonomics-radio",
"subscribe": {
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/freakonomics-radio/id354668519",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/Freakonomics-Radio-p272293/",
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},
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"id": "fresh-air",
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"link": "/radio/program/fresh-air",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=214089682&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"info": "A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.",
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"hidden-brain": {
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"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "NPR"
},
"link": "/radio/program/hidden-brain",
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"how-i-built-this": {
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"title": "How I Built This with Guy Raz",
"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/howIBuiltThis.png",
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"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
"meta": {
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"link": "/radio/program/how-i-built-this",
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"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/3zxy",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-built-this-with-guy-raz/id1150510297?mt=2",
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"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
"title": "Hyphenación",
"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Hyphenacion_FinalAssets_PodcastTile.png",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
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"order": 15
},
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},
"jerrybrown": {
"id": "jerrybrown",
"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Political-Mind-of-Jerry-Brown-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
"meta": {
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"order": 18
},
"link": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
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},
"latino-usa": {
"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
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"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
}
},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
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"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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},
"masters-of-scale": {
"id": "masters-of-scale",
"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
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"source": "WaitWhat"
},
"link": "/radio/program/masters-of-scale",
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"apple": "http://mastersofscale.app.link/",
"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
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}
},
"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
"title": "Morning Edition",
"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3am-9am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Morning-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/morning-edition/",
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"link": "/radio/program/morning-edition"
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"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "On Our Watch from NPR and KQED",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 11
},
"link": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1567098962",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5ucHIub3JnLzUxMDM2MC9wb2RjYXN0LnhtbD9zYz1nb29nbGVwb2RjYXN0cw",
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"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/show/on-our-watch",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510360/podcast.xml"
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},
"on-the-media": {
"id": "on-the-media",
"title": "On The Media",
"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm-3pm, MON 12am-1am",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/onTheMedia.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/otm",
"meta": {
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"source": "wnyc"
},
"link": "/radio/program/on-the-media",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/on-the-media/id73330715?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/On-the-Media-p69/",
"rss": "http://feeds.wnyc.org/onthemedia"
}
},
"pbs-newshour": {
"id": "pbs-newshour",
"title": "PBS NewsHour",
"info": "Analysis, background reports and updates from the PBS NewsHour putting today's news in context.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3pm-4pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/PBS-News-Hour-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/",
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"source": "pbs"
},
"link": "/radio/program/pbs-newshour",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pbs-newshour-full-show/id394432287?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/PBS-NewsHour---Full-Show-p425698/",
"rss": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/feeds/rss/podcasts/show"
}
},
"perspectives": {
"id": "perspectives",
"title": "Perspectives",
"tagline": "KQED's series of daily listener commentaries since 1991",
"info": "KQED's series of daily listener commentaries since 1991.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Perspectives_Tile_Final.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Perspectives",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/perspectives/",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 14
},
"link": "/perspectives",
"subscribe": {
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"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/432309616/perspectives",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/perspectives/category/perspectives/feed/",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93dzIua3FlZC5vcmcvcGVyc3BlY3RpdmVzL2NhdGVnb3J5L3BlcnNwZWN0aXZlcy9mZWVkLw"
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},
"planet-money": {
"id": "planet-money",
"title": "Planet Money",
"info": "The economy explained. Imagine you could call up a friend and say, Meet me at the bar and tell me what's going on with the economy. Now imagine that's actually a fun evening.",
"airtime": "SUN 3pm-4pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/planetmoney.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/sections/money/",
"meta": {
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"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/planet-money",
"subscribe": {
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/planet-money/id290783428?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/Business--Economics-Podcasts/Planet-Money-p164680/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510289/podcast.xml"
}
},
"politicalbreakdown": {
"id": "politicalbreakdown",
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