This San José Food Truck Is One of the Only Dominican Food Spots in the Bay
In ICA San José Show, Landscapes Offer a Makeshift Home for Ghostly Figures
An Eclectic, Open-Call Art Show Returns to Works/San José
Meet Jerry Nagano, One of the Bay Area’s Last Great Theater Organists
This San José Pop-Up Bakery Sells 18 Different Varieties of Egg Tarts
A New San José Food Stall Specializes in Vietnamese Rice Cake Omelettes
Filipino and Queer Pride Collide at Kababayan Drag Brunch
The Bay Area’s First Kerala-Style Chai Shop Opens in San José
Lowriders Cruise Onto the National Stage In Smithsonian Exhibition
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"content": "\u003cp>A half-mile stretch on the outskirts of south downtown San José has become a hotbed for food trucks from across Latin America. In the past two years, new trucks have launched specializing in corn cachapas from Venezuela, tender nacatamales from Nicaragua, and, as of last May, the slow-cooked stews and savory mashed plantains of the Dominican Republic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wrapped in the characteristic blue, red and white of the Dominican flag, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/elfogongeny/\">El Fogon d’Geny\u003c/a> truck shares a small, picnic table–lined lot with a few other food trucks. Its arrival is great news for fans of Caribbean food: Dominican dishes used to be nearly impossible to come by in the Bay Area. Now, El Fogon d’Geny is putting in the work to introduce the cuisine’s hearty flavors to the South Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Owner Vanessa Rodríguez was born in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, but grew up in Nagua, a smaller city on the island’s northeastern coast. As a child, she learned to cook alongside her mother, grandmother and aunts. In 2002, she moved to Bávaro, Punta Cana, a more touristy area where she began her career as a professional cook. Over the years, she blended what she learned working in restaurant kitchens with her family’s recipes to develop her own style centered on patient, low-and-slow cooking and aggressive seasoning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After immigrating to San José in 2016, she continued working at restaurants and, seeing the lack of Dominican representation, felt inspired to introduce her cuisine to the Bay. Three years ago, she finally gave it a shot, giving away plates of Dominican fried chicken to neighbors and friends. Eventually, she launched a home-based food business, selling habichuelas guisadas and moro de guandules via social media.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13985941\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13985941\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Vanessa-Rodriguez.jpg\" alt=\"A woman with long braids poses for a portrait in front on her food truck.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Vanessa-Rodriguez.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Vanessa-Rodriguez-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Vanessa-Rodriguez-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Vanessa-Rodriguez-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Vanessa Rodríguez launched her food truck business in May of 2025. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Starting a business here isn’t as easy as it is in my country,” says Rodríguez, “I saw it as a difficult dream to achieve, but I did it. Here I am.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The number one reason to visit El Fogon d’Geny is to devour a plate of mofongo. While the savory plantain dish originated in Puerto Rican, it’s also popular in the Dominican Republic. Rodríguez says it’s the most difficult item on her menu to prepare, as she incorporates several personal twists. Traditionally, mofongo is made by frying green plantains, then mashing them with garlic and chicharrón. Rodríguez shapes her version into a crater and fries it to develop a crispy exterior that contrasts the fluffy, meaty interior. It’s topped with shrimp, sliced cheese and a creamy sauce that overflows onto the plate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can also try the distinctly Dominican take on mashed plantains called mangú, in which green plantains are boiled instead of fried before mashing. Rodriguez serves it as part of a traditional Dominican breakfast known as los tres golpes.The mangú has a texture reminiscent of refried beans but even creamier. It comes with fried eggs, two crisped slices of Dominican salami (like extremely beefy-tasting sausage patties) and slabs of fresh cheese that are fried until golden on the outside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13985942\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13985942\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Los-Tres-Golpes.jpg\" alt=\"A plate with mashed plantains, fried eggs, and sliced of fried salami.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Los-Tres-Golpes.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Los-Tres-Golpes-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Los-Tres-Golpes-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Los-Tres-Golpes-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Los tres golpes, a popular Dominican breakfast dish. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>El Fogon d’Geny’s menu highlights a host of other Dominican specialties like habichuelas con dulce (sweet beans), pica pollo (fried chicken) and sancocho (a hearty stew). Rodríguez wanted to offer a large variety of dishes to reach as many people as possible. “I have Dominican and Latino clients, but there’s also a lot of people that aren’t familiar with the food,” says Rodríguez.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">\u003cb>\u003cstrong>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13977950,arts_13977033,arts_13971280']\u003c/span>\u003c/strong>\u003c/b>\u003c/span>For those trying Dominican food for the first time, she recommends La Bandera Dominicana — a home-style plate loaded with tostones, fried yuca balls, habichuelas and a choice of stewed meat. It also includes a scoop of white rice and a piece of crunchy fried rice known as concón. The dish’s colorful components correspond to the red, white and blue of the Dominican flag. Being a first-timer to the cuisine myself, I opted for La Bandera Dominicana with chicken, which turned out to be fall-off-the-bone thighs and drumettes. My favorite bites on the plate were the surprisingly savory cheese-stuffed bolitos de yuca.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As one of the Bay Area’s only ambassadors of the cuisine, Rodríguez is dedicated to replicating the flavors of the Dominican Republic as closely as possible, importing spices, fresh chiles and cured meats from the island. Her crispy, highly seasoned fried chicken is made with several imported ingredients like adobo, sazón and ají gustoso (a sweet, fruity chile). One of her most popular rotating specials is the sancocho, a soup made with a medley of root vegetables and both fresh and cured meats. She also offers a wide selection of Dominican drinks like chinola (passionfruit), lechoza (papaya shake) and morir soñando (a creamy orange shake).\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13985943\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13985943\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Pica-Pollo.jpg\" alt=\"A plate of fried chicken and tostones.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Pica-Pollo.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Pica-Pollo-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Pica-Pollo-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Pica-Pollo-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">El Fogon D’geny’s crispy, highly seasoned Dominican-style fried chicken. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In the end, what comes across most strongly is Rodriguez’s passion for her country, which shines through in the miniature Dominican flags she uses to decorate every dish and the selection of traditional Dominican snacks she keeps on display. She says her favorite compliment is when customers say that her food makes them want to visit the Dominican Republic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I feel very proud to represent my country,” says Rodríguez. “It’s an honor to share our culture and food with the people here. I hope La Bandera Dominicana can become a part of California’s gastronomy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>El Fogon d’Geny is currently open from 10:30 a.m.–9:30 p.m. every day except Tuesdays at 796 S. 1st St. in San José. Check the truck’s \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/elfogongeny/\">\u003ci>Instagram page\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> for its most up-to-date schedule. \u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A half-mile stretch on the outskirts of south downtown San José has become a hotbed for food trucks from across Latin America. In the past two years, new trucks have launched specializing in corn cachapas from Venezuela, tender nacatamales from Nicaragua, and, as of last May, the slow-cooked stews and savory mashed plantains of the Dominican Republic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wrapped in the characteristic blue, red and white of the Dominican flag, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/elfogongeny/\">El Fogon d’Geny\u003c/a> truck shares a small, picnic table–lined lot with a few other food trucks. Its arrival is great news for fans of Caribbean food: Dominican dishes used to be nearly impossible to come by in the Bay Area. Now, El Fogon d’Geny is putting in the work to introduce the cuisine’s hearty flavors to the South Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Owner Vanessa Rodríguez was born in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, but grew up in Nagua, a smaller city on the island’s northeastern coast. As a child, she learned to cook alongside her mother, grandmother and aunts. In 2002, she moved to Bávaro, Punta Cana, a more touristy area where she began her career as a professional cook. Over the years, she blended what she learned working in restaurant kitchens with her family’s recipes to develop her own style centered on patient, low-and-slow cooking and aggressive seasoning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After immigrating to San José in 2016, she continued working at restaurants and, seeing the lack of Dominican representation, felt inspired to introduce her cuisine to the Bay. Three years ago, she finally gave it a shot, giving away plates of Dominican fried chicken to neighbors and friends. Eventually, she launched a home-based food business, selling habichuelas guisadas and moro de guandules via social media.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13985941\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13985941\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Vanessa-Rodriguez.jpg\" alt=\"A woman with long braids poses for a portrait in front on her food truck.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Vanessa-Rodriguez.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Vanessa-Rodriguez-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Vanessa-Rodriguez-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Vanessa-Rodriguez-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Vanessa Rodríguez launched her food truck business in May of 2025. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Starting a business here isn’t as easy as it is in my country,” says Rodríguez, “I saw it as a difficult dream to achieve, but I did it. Here I am.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The number one reason to visit El Fogon d’Geny is to devour a plate of mofongo. While the savory plantain dish originated in Puerto Rican, it’s also popular in the Dominican Republic. Rodríguez says it’s the most difficult item on her menu to prepare, as she incorporates several personal twists. Traditionally, mofongo is made by frying green plantains, then mashing them with garlic and chicharrón. Rodríguez shapes her version into a crater and fries it to develop a crispy exterior that contrasts the fluffy, meaty interior. It’s topped with shrimp, sliced cheese and a creamy sauce that overflows onto the plate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can also try the distinctly Dominican take on mashed plantains called mangú, in which green plantains are boiled instead of fried before mashing. Rodriguez serves it as part of a traditional Dominican breakfast known as los tres golpes.The mangú has a texture reminiscent of refried beans but even creamier. It comes with fried eggs, two crisped slices of Dominican salami (like extremely beefy-tasting sausage patties) and slabs of fresh cheese that are fried until golden on the outside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13985942\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13985942\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Los-Tres-Golpes.jpg\" alt=\"A plate with mashed plantains, fried eggs, and sliced of fried salami.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Los-Tres-Golpes.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Los-Tres-Golpes-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Los-Tres-Golpes-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Los-Tres-Golpes-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Los tres golpes, a popular Dominican breakfast dish. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>El Fogon d’Geny’s menu highlights a host of other Dominican specialties like habichuelas con dulce (sweet beans), pica pollo (fried chicken) and sancocho (a hearty stew). Rodríguez wanted to offer a large variety of dishes to reach as many people as possible. “I have Dominican and Latino clients, but there’s also a lot of people that aren’t familiar with the food,” says Rodríguez.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">\u003cb>\u003cstrong>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/strong>\u003c/b>\u003c/span>For those trying Dominican food for the first time, she recommends La Bandera Dominicana — a home-style plate loaded with tostones, fried yuca balls, habichuelas and a choice of stewed meat. It also includes a scoop of white rice and a piece of crunchy fried rice known as concón. The dish’s colorful components correspond to the red, white and blue of the Dominican flag. Being a first-timer to the cuisine myself, I opted for La Bandera Dominicana with chicken, which turned out to be fall-off-the-bone thighs and drumettes. My favorite bites on the plate were the surprisingly savory cheese-stuffed bolitos de yuca.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As one of the Bay Area’s only ambassadors of the cuisine, Rodríguez is dedicated to replicating the flavors of the Dominican Republic as closely as possible, importing spices, fresh chiles and cured meats from the island. Her crispy, highly seasoned fried chicken is made with several imported ingredients like adobo, sazón and ají gustoso (a sweet, fruity chile). One of her most popular rotating specials is the sancocho, a soup made with a medley of root vegetables and both fresh and cured meats. She also offers a wide selection of Dominican drinks like chinola (passionfruit), lechoza (papaya shake) and morir soñando (a creamy orange shake).\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13985943\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13985943\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Pica-Pollo.jpg\" alt=\"A plate of fried chicken and tostones.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Pica-Pollo.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Pica-Pollo-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Pica-Pollo-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Pica-Pollo-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">El Fogon D’geny’s crispy, highly seasoned Dominican-style fried chicken. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In the end, what comes across most strongly is Rodriguez’s passion for her country, which shines through in the miniature Dominican flags she uses to decorate every dish and the selection of traditional Dominican snacks she keeps on display. She says her favorite compliment is when customers say that her food makes them want to visit the Dominican Republic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I feel very proud to represent my country,” says Rodríguez. “It’s an honor to share our culture and food with the people here. I hope La Bandera Dominicana can become a part of California’s gastronomy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>El Fogon d’Geny is currently open from 10:30 a.m.–9:30 p.m. every day except Tuesdays at 796 S. 1st St. in San José. Check the truck’s \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/elfogongeny/\">\u003ci>Instagram page\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> for its most up-to-date schedule. \u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "In ICA San José Show, Landscapes Offer a Makeshift Home for Ghostly Figures",
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"headTitle": "In ICA San José Show, Landscapes Offer a Makeshift Home for Ghostly Figures | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>Home is a complicated place for \u003ca href=\"https://www.anoushkamirchandani.com/\">Anoushka Mirchandani\u003c/a>. The India-born, San Francisco-based painter — currently an artist in residence at Silver Art Projects in New York City — has recently returned to the Bay Area for her first solo museum show, \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.icasanjose.org/current-exhibitions/mybodywasariveronce/\">My Body Was A River Once\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, at the Institute of Contemporary Art San José. Here, Mirchandani transmutes transience and diasporic experience into four distinct bodies of work: medium- to large-scale oil-on-canvas paintings, paintings on silk organza, wooden and glass sculptures, and an audio installation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13985855']The first gallery in the exhibition features eight paintings that blend Mirchandani’s signature and spare figurative style with her recent exploration of landscape painting. Her nude female subjects wander and recline amidst foliage and bathe in pools of water, immersed in the landscape to the point of becoming indistinguishable. Body parts fade in and out of the natural surroundings. The background of the painting overtakes a figure’s form in some places, the figure breaks from its environment dramatically in others. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Often, these wanderers are solitary. In \u003cem>All Us Come Cross the Water\u003c/em>, a group of women bathe together in a mountain lake — or perhaps it is a single figure, seen at different moments in time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mirchandani has long painted these types of figures: outlined in oil stick, blending with their environments, a play between background and foreground creating a dynamic visual and conceptual motif. Previously, the majority of her settings have been architectural — balconies, bedrooms, doorways. Here, her figures blur and meld with their surrounding landscapes more seamlessly than in past work. Set loose from a built environment they once resisted or assimilated into, their disappearance into a nature now speaks to transience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13985916\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/0T5A1968_V3_2000.jpg\" alt=\"large paining of woman in landscape with wooden sculptures surrounding\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13985916\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/0T5A1968_V3_2000.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/0T5A1968_V3_2000-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/0T5A1968_V3_2000-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/0T5A1968_V3_2000-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Installation view of Anoushka Mirchandani’s show ‘My Body Was A River Once’ at the Institute of Contemporary Art San José. \u003ccite>(ICA San José)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For Mirchandani, these figures ireference apsaras, shapeshifting water spirits in Hindu and Buddhist mythology. Their supernatural mutability correlates to a diasporic sense of displacement and assimilation, a process of reinventing oneself in order to locate a sense of belonging. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mirchandani’s natural settings are themselves collaged from a number of reference photos taken across the globe — India, Mount Tamalpais, New Mexico. The combined landscapes are not quite real, but not entirely imagined, either. They provide a makeshift home for Mirchandani’s ghostly characters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My family has a history of treating home like an anxious attachment with a lover,” the painter tells KQED. There is a sense of yearning throughout the work on view.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In each of her canvases, Mirchandani uses the same color for the underpainting, a dark red that pays homage to the natural clay of Maharashtra, the Indian state she’s from. In some places, the color bleeds through thinner parts of the overpainting; it’s a literal foundation for both the artist and her work. In her search for a sense of belonging, Mirchandani can’t quite let go of the past.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13985923\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1333px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Photo-credit_-Paul-Rho_2000b.jpg\" alt=\"nude female figure sits beside pool of water\" width=\"1333\" height=\"2000\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13985923\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Photo-credit_-Paul-Rho_2000b.jpg 1333w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Photo-credit_-Paul-Rho_2000b-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Photo-credit_-Paul-Rho_2000b-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Photo-credit_-Paul-Rho_2000b-1024x1536.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1333px) 100vw, 1333px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Anoushka Mirchandani, ‘Cherry Springs,’ 2025; Oil, oil stick, and oil pastel on canvas. \u003ccite>(Courtesy the artist and Yossi Milo, New York; Photo by Paul Rho)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In this vein, a fraught tension between place and displacement shows up in material juxtapositions throughout the show. Wall-mounted wooden sculptures dot the exhibition’s main gallery, curving around the room’s corners and bending to frame individual paintings like the gnarled limbs of trees. Each branch bears an unexpected fruit. Several wooden and glass spines sprout from the sculptures, giving them the appearance of large cacti or strange sea urchins. The glass spines glitter brilliantly at certain angles and turn invisible at others, like drops of water. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The sculptural forms lend to the organic theme of the landscape paintings but the spikes speak of hostility, drawing the viewer in and simultaneously warning “keep your distance.” The hostile installation feels like a declaration of possession by the artist, safeguarding her story.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A group of long silk paintings hang ceiling to floor in a darkened second gallery that also includes an audio installation, both titled \u003cem>I Am Everywhere the Water Has Been\u003c/em>. The silks, featuring more female bathers, function as a single, multi-panel artwork. Some panels float behind others, blurring and obscuring painted images like a view through water. The specialized audio installation, a collaboration with producer Sanaya Ardeshir, layers interviews with Mirchandani’s grandmother; field recordings from Western Ghats; and the artist’s own abstract vocalizations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13985917\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/0T5A2146_V2_2000.jpg\" alt=\"paintings frame doorway with hanging silk pieces\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13985917\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/0T5A2146_V2_2000.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/0T5A2146_V2_2000-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/0T5A2146_V2_2000-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/0T5A2146_V2_2000-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Installation view of Anoushka Mirchandani’s show ‘My Body Was A River Once’ at the Institute of Contemporary Art San José. \u003ccite>(ICA San José)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Mirchandani only recently began talking to her grandmother, who lived through the 1947 partition of India, about her experiences of migration. She has recorded and compiled the conversations into an archive that’s now starting to inform her painting practice, as well as her 2024 documentary short \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.anoushkamirchandani.com/new-page-3\">Landscapes of Longing\u003c/a>\u003c/em>. The archive itself is part reality, part fiction and part myth, and the audio installation at the ICA San José is similarly fragmented, layered intentionally to further obscure any coherent narrative.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My archive is very fluid and amorphous,” Mirchandani says. “My family doesn’t have any heirlooms — just oral history and a few photos.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mirchandani’s family history is as collaged as the landscapes her figures occupy. It exists as snatches of memory and second-hand knowledge passed down through generations. So it follows that her representation of that history would feel pieced together, too. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The artist’s fragmented approach to this narrative is in some ways intentional, and in other ways symptomatic. In conveying the experience of an unsettled state of being, \u003cem>My Body Was A River Once\u003c/em> also feels full of potential, on the verge of something more expansive. While the show is a bold departure into new territory for the artist, it’s clearly just the first step. I can’t wait to see where in the world Mirchandani goes next.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>‘\u003ca href=\"https://www.icasanjose.org/current-exhibitions/mybodywasariveronce/\">My Body Was A River Once\u003c/a>’ is on view at the ICA San José (560 S 1st St., San José) through Aug. 23, 2026.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The first gallery in the exhibition features eight paintings that blend Mirchandani’s signature and spare figurative style with her recent exploration of landscape painting. Her nude female subjects wander and recline amidst foliage and bathe in pools of water, immersed in the landscape to the point of becoming indistinguishable. Body parts fade in and out of the natural surroundings. The background of the painting overtakes a figure’s form in some places, the figure breaks from its environment dramatically in others. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Often, these wanderers are solitary. In \u003cem>All Us Come Cross the Water\u003c/em>, a group of women bathe together in a mountain lake — or perhaps it is a single figure, seen at different moments in time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mirchandani has long painted these types of figures: outlined in oil stick, blending with their environments, a play between background and foreground creating a dynamic visual and conceptual motif. Previously, the majority of her settings have been architectural — balconies, bedrooms, doorways. Here, her figures blur and meld with their surrounding landscapes more seamlessly than in past work. Set loose from a built environment they once resisted or assimilated into, their disappearance into a nature now speaks to transience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13985916\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/0T5A1968_V3_2000.jpg\" alt=\"large paining of woman in landscape with wooden sculptures surrounding\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13985916\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/0T5A1968_V3_2000.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/0T5A1968_V3_2000-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/0T5A1968_V3_2000-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/0T5A1968_V3_2000-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Installation view of Anoushka Mirchandani’s show ‘My Body Was A River Once’ at the Institute of Contemporary Art San José. \u003ccite>(ICA San José)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For Mirchandani, these figures ireference apsaras, shapeshifting water spirits in Hindu and Buddhist mythology. Their supernatural mutability correlates to a diasporic sense of displacement and assimilation, a process of reinventing oneself in order to locate a sense of belonging. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mirchandani’s natural settings are themselves collaged from a number of reference photos taken across the globe — India, Mount Tamalpais, New Mexico. The combined landscapes are not quite real, but not entirely imagined, either. They provide a makeshift home for Mirchandani’s ghostly characters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My family has a history of treating home like an anxious attachment with a lover,” the painter tells KQED. There is a sense of yearning throughout the work on view.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In each of her canvases, Mirchandani uses the same color for the underpainting, a dark red that pays homage to the natural clay of Maharashtra, the Indian state she’s from. In some places, the color bleeds through thinner parts of the overpainting; it’s a literal foundation for both the artist and her work. In her search for a sense of belonging, Mirchandani can’t quite let go of the past.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13985923\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1333px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Photo-credit_-Paul-Rho_2000b.jpg\" alt=\"nude female figure sits beside pool of water\" width=\"1333\" height=\"2000\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13985923\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Photo-credit_-Paul-Rho_2000b.jpg 1333w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Photo-credit_-Paul-Rho_2000b-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Photo-credit_-Paul-Rho_2000b-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Photo-credit_-Paul-Rho_2000b-1024x1536.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1333px) 100vw, 1333px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Anoushka Mirchandani, ‘Cherry Springs,’ 2025; Oil, oil stick, and oil pastel on canvas. \u003ccite>(Courtesy the artist and Yossi Milo, New York; Photo by Paul Rho)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In this vein, a fraught tension between place and displacement shows up in material juxtapositions throughout the show. Wall-mounted wooden sculptures dot the exhibition’s main gallery, curving around the room’s corners and bending to frame individual paintings like the gnarled limbs of trees. Each branch bears an unexpected fruit. Several wooden and glass spines sprout from the sculptures, giving them the appearance of large cacti or strange sea urchins. The glass spines glitter brilliantly at certain angles and turn invisible at others, like drops of water. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The sculptural forms lend to the organic theme of the landscape paintings but the spikes speak of hostility, drawing the viewer in and simultaneously warning “keep your distance.” The hostile installation feels like a declaration of possession by the artist, safeguarding her story.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A group of long silk paintings hang ceiling to floor in a darkened second gallery that also includes an audio installation, both titled \u003cem>I Am Everywhere the Water Has Been\u003c/em>. The silks, featuring more female bathers, function as a single, multi-panel artwork. Some panels float behind others, blurring and obscuring painted images like a view through water. The specialized audio installation, a collaboration with producer Sanaya Ardeshir, layers interviews with Mirchandani’s grandmother; field recordings from Western Ghats; and the artist’s own abstract vocalizations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13985917\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/0T5A2146_V2_2000.jpg\" alt=\"paintings frame doorway with hanging silk pieces\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13985917\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/0T5A2146_V2_2000.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/0T5A2146_V2_2000-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/0T5A2146_V2_2000-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/0T5A2146_V2_2000-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Installation view of Anoushka Mirchandani’s show ‘My Body Was A River Once’ at the Institute of Contemporary Art San José. \u003ccite>(ICA San José)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Mirchandani only recently began talking to her grandmother, who lived through the 1947 partition of India, about her experiences of migration. She has recorded and compiled the conversations into an archive that’s now starting to inform her painting practice, as well as her 2024 documentary short \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.anoushkamirchandani.com/new-page-3\">Landscapes of Longing\u003c/a>\u003c/em>. The archive itself is part reality, part fiction and part myth, and the audio installation at the ICA San José is similarly fragmented, layered intentionally to further obscure any coherent narrative.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My archive is very fluid and amorphous,” Mirchandani says. “My family doesn’t have any heirlooms — just oral history and a few photos.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mirchandani’s family history is as collaged as the landscapes her figures occupy. It exists as snatches of memory and second-hand knowledge passed down through generations. So it follows that her representation of that history would feel pieced together, too. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The artist’s fragmented approach to this narrative is in some ways intentional, and in other ways symptomatic. In conveying the experience of an unsettled state of being, \u003cem>My Body Was A River Once\u003c/em> also feels full of potential, on the verge of something more expansive. While the show is a bold departure into new territory for the artist, it’s clearly just the first step. I can’t wait to see where in the world Mirchandani goes next.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>‘\u003ca href=\"https://www.icasanjose.org/current-exhibitions/mybodywasariveronce/\">My Body Was A River Once\u003c/a>’ is on view at the ICA San José (560 S 1st St., San José) through Aug. 23, 2026.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "An Eclectic, Open-Call Art Show Returns to Works/San José",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.hadiaghaeefineart.com/\">Hadi Aghaee\u003c/a> paints former President Joe Biden with three heads: One as a demonic caricature, another as the Joker, and another as a figure frozen in rage. Biden orders soldiers as he stands atop the back of an American taxpayer whose money is being siphoned to fund wars and global conflicts. Yet the center of attention is on the painting’s namesakes: \u003cem>Baseball, Booze and Beyoncé\u003c/em>!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In this visually stimulating scene inspired by Biden’s final year in office, Aghaee critiques America’s fascination with sports and entertainment, and how spectacle distracts from social and political struggles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[The government] keeps you busy with entertainment,” Aghaee tells KQED, “so you don’t have time to think about or question what they’re doing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His painting will appear in Works/San José’s open-call exhibition, \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://workssanjose.org/2026/01/10/super-hunger-anti-valentine-bowl-games-returns-with-part-lx/\">Super Hunger Anti-Valentine Bowl Games Part LX\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, on view Jan. 24–Feb. 15, 2026.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13985762\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13985762\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/HadiAghaee_Baseball-Booze-n-Beyonce_acrylic_48X48_2000.jpg\" alt=\"painting with central figure, soldiers, crowds, animals and flags emerging from fires\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/HadiAghaee_Baseball-Booze-n-Beyonce_acrylic_48X48_2000.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/HadiAghaee_Baseball-Booze-n-Beyonce_acrylic_48X48_2000-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/HadiAghaee_Baseball-Booze-n-Beyonce_acrylic_48X48_2000-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/HadiAghaee_Baseball-Booze-n-Beyonce_acrylic_48X48_2000-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hadi Aghaee, ‘Baseball, Booze and Beyoncé!’ 2025. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of the artist)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A similar show was staged there 10 years ago, when the Denver Broncos faced off against the Carolina Panthers at Levi’s Stadium. Back then, the gallery created a deliberate hodgepodge exhibition as part of San José’s broader Super Bowl cultural programming.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Works combined its biennial Anti-Valentine show; America’s obsession with sports; and excitement around \u003cem>The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2\u003c/em> movie, released in late 2015. A decade later, these elements have aligned once again: the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12062767/nfl-unveils-super-bowl-lx-events-spanning-san-francisco-san-jose-and-east-bay\">Super Bowl returns to Levi’s Stadium\u003c/a>, anti-Valentine season is back at Works, and a new \u003cem>Hunger Games\u003c/em> film will hit theaters in November.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The mashup thing is just to have fun,” Works President Joe Miller says. “Works is always pushing the envelope a little bit, things that other art spaces say, ‘That’s a little too raw, or that makes me uncomfortable.’ … We’re not concerned about those things. We’re just concerned about: Is it something we haven’t done before? Is it somebody we haven’t shown before? And is their work worth seeing?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year’s open call features artwork that pertains to one, two or all three of the respective themes, like Aghaee’s painting, which captures the intersection between sports, love and violence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13985763\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13985763\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Mireya-Villanueva_2000.jpg\" alt=\"man being taken away from a crying child within heart-shaped bouquet of flowers\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Mireya-Villanueva_2000.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Mireya-Villanueva_2000-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Mireya-Villanueva_2000-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Mireya-Villanueva_2000-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A painting by Mireya Villanueva in ‘Super Hunger Anti-Valentine Bowl Games Part LX’ at Works/San José. \u003ccite>(Joe Miller)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A longtime San José resident, Aghaee moved from Shiraz, Iran as a 19-year-old to pursue an engineering degree at Southern Illinois University. Drawing was a hobby he maintained growing up, but immigrating to a new country while learning English and working three jobs to stay afloat put a 35-year halt to his artistic endeavors. It wasn’t until 2014, when a friend recommended he get back into art, that he learned a new medium altogether: painting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Painting not only became a therapeutic outlet, but a way to comment on the social and political issues going on around him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13985338']“I returned to art, and boy, it’s the best medicine for any problem,” Aghaee says. “Pick up art, whether it’s music or painting or whatever, it really heals. To make it heal even faster, if you think of other people who have problems bigger than yours, you forget about your own problem. It’s all solved, it’s all gone. That’s why I picked up social issues and politics, because when I look at what other people are going through, my problem is nothing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since returning to art making, Aghaee has shown at a variety of Bay Area institutions, including San Francisco’s de Young Museum, the Euphrat Museum of Art at De Anza College, and Santa Clara’s Triton Museum. A common theme in his works are people — a lot of them. Many of his paintings depict crowds in crisis; whether grappling with COVID-19 or experiencing the chaos of election season, his subjects are constantly in turmoil.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Aghaee’s \u003cem>Baseball, Booze and Beyoncé!\u003c/em> reflects a different year and different administration, but he finds that imbalance of power remains unresolved in 2026. Those same concerns extend beyond the U.S., as protests in Iran have surged against the Islamic Republic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Aghaee has watched his home country’s unrest with both urgency and personal grief. These events will inform his next body of work, he says. They are another example of how political power repeatedly fails the people it governs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The message is the same,” Aghaee says. “The message even goes with other countries, it’s not just the U.S. A lot of countries put too much of their budget toward military and war. That’s why they don’t have enough money to use for social needs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>‘\u003ca href=\"https://workssanjose.org/2026/01/10/super-hunger-anti-valentine-bowl-games-returns-with-part-lx/\">Super Hunger Anti-Valentine Bowl Games Part LX\u003c/a>’ is on view at Works/San José (38 South Second St., San José) on weekends, Jan. 24–Feb. 15, 2026.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.hadiaghaeefineart.com/\">Hadi Aghaee\u003c/a> paints former President Joe Biden with three heads: One as a demonic caricature, another as the Joker, and another as a figure frozen in rage. Biden orders soldiers as he stands atop the back of an American taxpayer whose money is being siphoned to fund wars and global conflicts. Yet the center of attention is on the painting’s namesakes: \u003cem>Baseball, Booze and Beyoncé\u003c/em>!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In this visually stimulating scene inspired by Biden’s final year in office, Aghaee critiques America’s fascination with sports and entertainment, and how spectacle distracts from social and political struggles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[The government] keeps you busy with entertainment,” Aghaee tells KQED, “so you don’t have time to think about or question what they’re doing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His painting will appear in Works/San José’s open-call exhibition, \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://workssanjose.org/2026/01/10/super-hunger-anti-valentine-bowl-games-returns-with-part-lx/\">Super Hunger Anti-Valentine Bowl Games Part LX\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, on view Jan. 24–Feb. 15, 2026.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13985762\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13985762\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/HadiAghaee_Baseball-Booze-n-Beyonce_acrylic_48X48_2000.jpg\" alt=\"painting with central figure, soldiers, crowds, animals and flags emerging from fires\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/HadiAghaee_Baseball-Booze-n-Beyonce_acrylic_48X48_2000.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/HadiAghaee_Baseball-Booze-n-Beyonce_acrylic_48X48_2000-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/HadiAghaee_Baseball-Booze-n-Beyonce_acrylic_48X48_2000-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/HadiAghaee_Baseball-Booze-n-Beyonce_acrylic_48X48_2000-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hadi Aghaee, ‘Baseball, Booze and Beyoncé!’ 2025. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of the artist)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A similar show was staged there 10 years ago, when the Denver Broncos faced off against the Carolina Panthers at Levi’s Stadium. Back then, the gallery created a deliberate hodgepodge exhibition as part of San José’s broader Super Bowl cultural programming.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Works combined its biennial Anti-Valentine show; America’s obsession with sports; and excitement around \u003cem>The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2\u003c/em> movie, released in late 2015. A decade later, these elements have aligned once again: the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12062767/nfl-unveils-super-bowl-lx-events-spanning-san-francisco-san-jose-and-east-bay\">Super Bowl returns to Levi’s Stadium\u003c/a>, anti-Valentine season is back at Works, and a new \u003cem>Hunger Games\u003c/em> film will hit theaters in November.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The mashup thing is just to have fun,” Works President Joe Miller says. “Works is always pushing the envelope a little bit, things that other art spaces say, ‘That’s a little too raw, or that makes me uncomfortable.’ … We’re not concerned about those things. We’re just concerned about: Is it something we haven’t done before? Is it somebody we haven’t shown before? And is their work worth seeing?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year’s open call features artwork that pertains to one, two or all three of the respective themes, like Aghaee’s painting, which captures the intersection between sports, love and violence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13985763\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13985763\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Mireya-Villanueva_2000.jpg\" alt=\"man being taken away from a crying child within heart-shaped bouquet of flowers\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Mireya-Villanueva_2000.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Mireya-Villanueva_2000-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Mireya-Villanueva_2000-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/01/Mireya-Villanueva_2000-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A painting by Mireya Villanueva in ‘Super Hunger Anti-Valentine Bowl Games Part LX’ at Works/San José. \u003ccite>(Joe Miller)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A longtime San José resident, Aghaee moved from Shiraz, Iran as a 19-year-old to pursue an engineering degree at Southern Illinois University. Drawing was a hobby he maintained growing up, but immigrating to a new country while learning English and working three jobs to stay afloat put a 35-year halt to his artistic endeavors. It wasn’t until 2014, when a friend recommended he get back into art, that he learned a new medium altogether: painting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Painting not only became a therapeutic outlet, but a way to comment on the social and political issues going on around him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“I returned to art, and boy, it’s the best medicine for any problem,” Aghaee says. “Pick up art, whether it’s music or painting or whatever, it really heals. To make it heal even faster, if you think of other people who have problems bigger than yours, you forget about your own problem. It’s all solved, it’s all gone. That’s why I picked up social issues and politics, because when I look at what other people are going through, my problem is nothing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since returning to art making, Aghaee has shown at a variety of Bay Area institutions, including San Francisco’s de Young Museum, the Euphrat Museum of Art at De Anza College, and Santa Clara’s Triton Museum. A common theme in his works are people — a lot of them. Many of his paintings depict crowds in crisis; whether grappling with COVID-19 or experiencing the chaos of election season, his subjects are constantly in turmoil.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Aghaee’s \u003cem>Baseball, Booze and Beyoncé!\u003c/em> reflects a different year and different administration, but he finds that imbalance of power remains unresolved in 2026. Those same concerns extend beyond the U.S., as protests in Iran have surged against the Islamic Republic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Aghaee has watched his home country’s unrest with both urgency and personal grief. These events will inform his next body of work, he says. They are another example of how political power repeatedly fails the people it governs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The message is the same,” Aghaee says. “The message even goes with other countries, it’s not just the U.S. A lot of countries put too much of their budget toward military and war. That’s why they don’t have enough money to use for social needs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>‘\u003ca href=\"https://workssanjose.org/2026/01/10/super-hunger-anti-valentine-bowl-games-returns-with-part-lx/\">Super Hunger Anti-Valentine Bowl Games Part LX\u003c/a>’ is on view at Works/San José (38 South Second St., San José) on weekends, Jan. 24–Feb. 15, 2026.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Jerry Nagano is a walking, talking, breathing slice of nostalgia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The organist has spent years as a popular pre- and post-show staple in the lobbies of the \u003ca href=\"https://stanfordtheatre.org/aboutWurlitzer.html\">Stanford Theatre\u003c/a> in Palo Alto and the \u003ca href=\"https://sanjosetheaters.org/theaters/california-theatre/\">California Theatre\u003c/a> in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/san-jose\">San Jose\u003c/a>. But where Nagano still gets his biggest shoutouts is from those who recognize him from a gig he started back in the late 1980s — at Hayward’s Ye Olde Pizza Joynt, where delicious pies were being served alongside tunes from Nagano’s Mighty Wurlitzer organ.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Being in the Bay Area, if someone comes up to me and says, ‘I heard you at…,’ it’s almost always at the Pizza Joynt,” said Nagano, who took up the organ as a kid in his native Los Angeles because he didn’t feel the thrill or challenge of a piano.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984826\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984826\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/20251210_JERRYNAGANO_DECEMBER_GH-17-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/20251210_JERRYNAGANO_DECEMBER_GH-17-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/20251210_JERRYNAGANO_DECEMBER_GH-17-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/20251210_JERRYNAGANO_DECEMBER_GH-17-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/20251210_JERRYNAGANO_DECEMBER_GH-17-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jerry Nagano plays the California Theatre’s 1928 Wurlitzer lobby organ in San Jose on Dec. 10, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In the 1970s, pizza paired with organs was all the rage nationwide. But in the following decade, organs and organists began to disappear. Pizza and entertainment entered a new phase in 1977, when Atari founder Nolan Bushnell planted his latest creation in San Jose, the very first Chuck E. Cheese’s Pizza Time Theatre.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hungry customers flocked to see Chuck E. Cheese and his buddies, such as Jasper T. Jowls and a lion named “The King” that sang in the style of Elvis. But even as pizza and pipes were ready to enter their swan song, Ye Olde Pizza Joynt had plenty of great years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ye Olde Pizza Joynt opened on Hesperian Boulevard in 1958, but a fire silenced the organ — and some of the East Bay’s best pizza — for good in 2003. Fortunately, despite smoke damage to the organ’s console, the pipes were salvaged, protected by the thick oak shutters that controlled the volume.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nagano started at Ye Olde around 1988 and played there until 1997, serving as one of only four organists the place ever had. The most famous of those was Bill Langford, who played at Ye Olde for 18 years until 1981. “My audiences were the children of Bill Langford,” Nagano said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984824\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984824\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/20251210_JERRYNAGANO_DECEMBER_GH-7-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/20251210_JERRYNAGANO_DECEMBER_GH-7-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/20251210_JERRYNAGANO_DECEMBER_GH-7-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/20251210_JERRYNAGANO_DECEMBER_GH-7-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/20251210_JERRYNAGANO_DECEMBER_GH-7-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Organist Jerry Nagano poses with the lobby pipe organ at the California Theatre in San Jose on Dec. 10, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Nagano played organ full time for his first five years at Ye Olde. Five nights a week, he perched at his instrument, with vinyl albums emblazoned with \u003cem>Jerry\u003c/em> for sale off to the side. Monkey toys crashing cymbals and a train whistle added even more texture. Despite the fun of his gig, he now had a mortgage in San Jose, and the prospects of a 40-year career as an organist wasn’t going to get things paid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nagano, who has an undergraduate degree from UCLA, began taking computer classes at De Anza College in Cupertino during the day, which first led to a job at NASA and then a career at Stanford as an electrical engineer from 1998 to 2024. Five days a week in Hayward became two.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite his new full-time gig, Nagano found a way to keep his very unique skill going.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When I started this year from hell of doing college classes, going to NASA and playing at the Pizza Joynt, someone decided, ‘OK, you don’t have enough to do, so let’s throw another something on your plate for you to spin — would you be the Tuesday night organist at the Stanford Theatre?’” Nagano recalled. “That was one of my two free nights, so another night was taken up.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984823\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984823\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/20251210_JERRYNAGANO_DECEMBER_GH-5-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/20251210_JERRYNAGANO_DECEMBER_GH-5-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/20251210_JERRYNAGANO_DECEMBER_GH-5-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/20251210_JERRYNAGANO_DECEMBER_GH-5-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/20251210_JERRYNAGANO_DECEMBER_GH-5-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Organist Jerry Nagano plays the lobby’s restored 1928 Wurlitzer pipe organ at the California Theatre in San Jose on Dec. 10, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Now 67 years old, Nagano splits his time between the Stanford Theatre and the California Theatre, the organ programming in both venues supported by the Packard Humanities Institute. Nagano has a knack for dazzling audiences with tunes that often fit the bills of the respective venues, especially at Stanford, which specializes in playing vintage films as far back as the silent era.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Opera San Jose General Director and CEO Shawna Lucey understands that in today’s modern era, where competition for one’s entertainment dollar is fierce, opera is more than a rustic stage and beautiful singing. Going to the opera is an event, where patrons bask in the thrill of the world’s greatest vocal compositions. Nagano has been a staple for those attending the California’s many events since 2008, and having a Bay Area icon in the house just amplifies the setting even more. [aside postid='arts_13984704']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a special thing from this region that we have remarkable talent, and Jerry is delighting audiences with the sounds of one of the most classic American experiences. It just doesn’t get any better than that,” said Lucey, whose father, like Nagano, is a retired electrical engineer. “We have Jerry play, but he doesn’t just play. He talks to our audiences and explains things about the Wurlitzer organ, which is really exciting for our patrons and audiences both young and old.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Watching Nagano dive into the two-, three- or four-manual organ is to watch an American master in motion. In the dimly lit lobby of the California Theatre, where the 1928 two-manual instrument is housed, each keyboard has 61 keys, with 32 more notes at his nimble feet. That’s not to mention the plethora of sound buttons that surround the keys just above, featuring every brass, woodwind or percussion sound imaginable. [aside postid='arts_13984286']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Mighty Wurlitzer and all its iterations have seen their best days. In the Bay Area, those days are largely attributed to the few folks like Nagano, keeping a tradition alive that is straight from the pages of classic Americana. Nagano still enjoys playing, still loves sitting down and cranking out a Broadway tune, even keeping tricks up his sleeve from newer shows like \u003cem>Hamilton\u003c/em> or classic rock bands such as Led Zeppelin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The only rules Nagano has are his own. No matter the setting — in fancy dress at the opera, enjoying a film from the golden age of cinema, or, back in the day, scarfing down pepperoni slices with your family — Nagano’s number-one rule is all about having fun.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are many other organists in the business that play better and more accurately than I do, and I always refer to them as the organists that want to impress people,” Nagano said. “That was the point where I said, ‘I would much rather entertain my audience than impress them, so I will work on giving my audience a fun, good time.’ You might be impressed or you might not be, but I sure hope you have a good time while you’re listening.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Jerry Nagano is a walking, talking, breathing slice of nostalgia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The organist has spent years as a popular pre- and post-show staple in the lobbies of the \u003ca href=\"https://stanfordtheatre.org/aboutWurlitzer.html\">Stanford Theatre\u003c/a> in Palo Alto and the \u003ca href=\"https://sanjosetheaters.org/theaters/california-theatre/\">California Theatre\u003c/a> in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/san-jose\">San Jose\u003c/a>. But where Nagano still gets his biggest shoutouts is from those who recognize him from a gig he started back in the late 1980s — at Hayward’s Ye Olde Pizza Joynt, where delicious pies were being served alongside tunes from Nagano’s Mighty Wurlitzer organ.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Being in the Bay Area, if someone comes up to me and says, ‘I heard you at…,’ it’s almost always at the Pizza Joynt,” said Nagano, who took up the organ as a kid in his native Los Angeles because he didn’t feel the thrill or challenge of a piano.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984826\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984826\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/20251210_JERRYNAGANO_DECEMBER_GH-17-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/20251210_JERRYNAGANO_DECEMBER_GH-17-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/20251210_JERRYNAGANO_DECEMBER_GH-17-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/20251210_JERRYNAGANO_DECEMBER_GH-17-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/20251210_JERRYNAGANO_DECEMBER_GH-17-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jerry Nagano plays the California Theatre’s 1928 Wurlitzer lobby organ in San Jose on Dec. 10, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In the 1970s, pizza paired with organs was all the rage nationwide. But in the following decade, organs and organists began to disappear. Pizza and entertainment entered a new phase in 1977, when Atari founder Nolan Bushnell planted his latest creation in San Jose, the very first Chuck E. Cheese’s Pizza Time Theatre.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hungry customers flocked to see Chuck E. Cheese and his buddies, such as Jasper T. Jowls and a lion named “The King” that sang in the style of Elvis. But even as pizza and pipes were ready to enter their swan song, Ye Olde Pizza Joynt had plenty of great years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ye Olde Pizza Joynt opened on Hesperian Boulevard in 1958, but a fire silenced the organ — and some of the East Bay’s best pizza — for good in 2003. Fortunately, despite smoke damage to the organ’s console, the pipes were salvaged, protected by the thick oak shutters that controlled the volume.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nagano started at Ye Olde around 1988 and played there until 1997, serving as one of only four organists the place ever had. The most famous of those was Bill Langford, who played at Ye Olde for 18 years until 1981. “My audiences were the children of Bill Langford,” Nagano said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984824\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984824\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/20251210_JERRYNAGANO_DECEMBER_GH-7-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/20251210_JERRYNAGANO_DECEMBER_GH-7-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/20251210_JERRYNAGANO_DECEMBER_GH-7-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/20251210_JERRYNAGANO_DECEMBER_GH-7-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/20251210_JERRYNAGANO_DECEMBER_GH-7-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Organist Jerry Nagano poses with the lobby pipe organ at the California Theatre in San Jose on Dec. 10, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Nagano played organ full time for his first five years at Ye Olde. Five nights a week, he perched at his instrument, with vinyl albums emblazoned with \u003cem>Jerry\u003c/em> for sale off to the side. Monkey toys crashing cymbals and a train whistle added even more texture. Despite the fun of his gig, he now had a mortgage in San Jose, and the prospects of a 40-year career as an organist wasn’t going to get things paid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nagano, who has an undergraduate degree from UCLA, began taking computer classes at De Anza College in Cupertino during the day, which first led to a job at NASA and then a career at Stanford as an electrical engineer from 1998 to 2024. Five days a week in Hayward became two.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite his new full-time gig, Nagano found a way to keep his very unique skill going.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When I started this year from hell of doing college classes, going to NASA and playing at the Pizza Joynt, someone decided, ‘OK, you don’t have enough to do, so let’s throw another something on your plate for you to spin — would you be the Tuesday night organist at the Stanford Theatre?’” Nagano recalled. “That was one of my two free nights, so another night was taken up.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984823\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984823\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/20251210_JERRYNAGANO_DECEMBER_GH-5-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/20251210_JERRYNAGANO_DECEMBER_GH-5-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/20251210_JERRYNAGANO_DECEMBER_GH-5-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/20251210_JERRYNAGANO_DECEMBER_GH-5-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/20251210_JERRYNAGANO_DECEMBER_GH-5-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Organist Jerry Nagano plays the lobby’s restored 1928 Wurlitzer pipe organ at the California Theatre in San Jose on Dec. 10, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Now 67 years old, Nagano splits his time between the Stanford Theatre and the California Theatre, the organ programming in both venues supported by the Packard Humanities Institute. Nagano has a knack for dazzling audiences with tunes that often fit the bills of the respective venues, especially at Stanford, which specializes in playing vintage films as far back as the silent era.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Opera San Jose General Director and CEO Shawna Lucey understands that in today’s modern era, where competition for one’s entertainment dollar is fierce, opera is more than a rustic stage and beautiful singing. Going to the opera is an event, where patrons bask in the thrill of the world’s greatest vocal compositions. Nagano has been a staple for those attending the California’s many events since 2008, and having a Bay Area icon in the house just amplifies the setting even more. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a special thing from this region that we have remarkable talent, and Jerry is delighting audiences with the sounds of one of the most classic American experiences. It just doesn’t get any better than that,” said Lucey, whose father, like Nagano, is a retired electrical engineer. “We have Jerry play, but he doesn’t just play. He talks to our audiences and explains things about the Wurlitzer organ, which is really exciting for our patrons and audiences both young and old.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Watching Nagano dive into the two-, three- or four-manual organ is to watch an American master in motion. In the dimly lit lobby of the California Theatre, where the 1928 two-manual instrument is housed, each keyboard has 61 keys, with 32 more notes at his nimble feet. That’s not to mention the plethora of sound buttons that surround the keys just above, featuring every brass, woodwind or percussion sound imaginable. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Mighty Wurlitzer and all its iterations have seen their best days. In the Bay Area, those days are largely attributed to the few folks like Nagano, keeping a tradition alive that is straight from the pages of classic Americana. Nagano still enjoys playing, still loves sitting down and cranking out a Broadway tune, even keeping tricks up his sleeve from newer shows like \u003cem>Hamilton\u003c/em> or classic rock bands such as Led Zeppelin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The only rules Nagano has are his own. No matter the setting — in fancy dress at the opera, enjoying a film from the golden age of cinema, or, back in the day, scarfing down pepperoni slices with your family — Nagano’s number-one rule is all about having fun.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are many other organists in the business that play better and more accurately than I do, and I always refer to them as the organists that want to impress people,” Nagano said. “That was the point where I said, ‘I would much rather entertain my audience than impress them, so I will work on giving my audience a fun, good time.’ You might be impressed or you might not be, but I sure hope you have a good time while you’re listening.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "egg-tarts-san-jose-pop-up-bakery-a-m-patisserie-pastel-de-nata",
"title": "This San José Pop-Up Bakery Sells 18 Different Varieties of Egg Tarts",
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"content": "\u003cp>You might imagine that most egg tarts are relatively indistinguishable, with their pastry cups and plain, sunglow-colored custard filling. You wouldn’t necessarily expect the treats to get remixed into dozens of different flavors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That hasn’t stopped \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/a.m.patisserie\">A&M Pâtisserie\u003c/a>. The San José–based bakery pop-up sells a whopping eighteen different egg tart flavors, many of them inspired by various Asian cuisines. At a makers’ market at the Santa Clara Convention Center in November, a perpetual line of at least fifty customers swarmed the A&M booth for hours, everyone scanning the banner menu to decide which of the palm-sized egg tarts to order. A wide range of unconventional toppings included things like toasted marshmallows, flame-kissed corn kernels, \u003ca href=\"https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/milk-crumb-382321\">milk crumbs\u003c/a> and caramelized banana slices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alice Ngo and Minh Pham first started making egg tarts at home during the COVID lockdown. “We got laid off and had nothing to do,” says Pham. “Alice got bored and started baking.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ngo taught herself how to make Portuguese egg tarts (aka pastéis de nata) by watching YouTube videos. After getting positive feedback from friends and family, the couple started selling the pastries to the public through Instagram and Facebook.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984906\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984906\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Alice-Ngo-and-Minh-Pham.jpg\" alt=\"An Asian woman and man in matching black hooded sweatshirts.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Alice-Ngo-and-Minh-Pham.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Alice-Ngo-and-Minh-Pham-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Alice-Ngo-and-Minh-Pham-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Alice-Ngo-and-Minh-Pham-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A&M founders Alice Ngo (left) and Minh Pham. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I wasn’t a baker, I was a cook,” says Pham. “But I enjoy pastries since I was born in France.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He moved to the United States in 2016 to pursue a tech career, but decided against working a desk job. Instead, he started working in restaurants and took cooking classes through the hospitality management program at Mission College. These days, Pham is the primary egg tart producer, juggling the pop-up with his day job as a baker at Alexander’s Patisserie. Meanwhile, Ngo uses her experience working at a hotel to handle the pop-up’s front-of-house operations and customer service.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The defining characteristic of a Portuguese-style egg tart is the custard filling’s blistered, caramelized top, which sets it apart from both British egg tarts and Cantonese \u003ca href=\"https://www.seriouseats.com/daan-tat-hong-kong-style-egg-tart-5208534\">dan tat\u003c/a> — the popular dim sum dish that is probably the best-known egg tart variation here in the Bay Area. Meanwhile, Macau, a former Portuguese territory, is known for egg tarts with a scorched custard that’s eggier and less sweet than pastel de nata. The distinctions between the styles have blurred over time, but originally British custard tarts used a shortbread crust and the others were made with puff pastry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984904\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984904\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Display-Case.jpg\" alt=\"Display case with 18 different varieties of egg tarts.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"924\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Display-Case.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Display-Case-160x74.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Display-Case-768x355.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Display-Case-1536x710.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">All 18 flavors in the display case at an A&M pop-up event in November 2025. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Ngo and Pham eventually shifted away from the traditional pastel de nata because they wanted their egg tarts to be lighter and less sweet. They make the puff pastry shell extra-crispy and flaky to complement their creamy custards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I wanted something in between so I took the best of both and created my own,” says Pham. “It’s not Macau. It’s not Portuguese. It’s A&M’s.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13983625,arts_13984330,arts_13981935']\u003c/span>But the biggest thing that sets A&M Pâtisserie’s egg tarts apart is the sheer variety of flavors. The menu is ever growing as the bakers draw inspiration from their favorite pastries and restaurant dishes. Their guava egg tart is modeled after the guava-and-cheese strudel at Porto’s, the legendary Los Angeles–based Cuban bakery. The corn cheese flavor was inspired by kon-chijeu, their favorite Korean banchan. A few of A&M’s egg tarts, like the honey-garlic flavor, even have savory elements. The bakery also sells cookies, macarons and canelés.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A&M’s first large pop-ups were at FoodieLand’s 2023 festival series, which spanned several cities including Sacramento, Berkeley and San Mateo. Now, the bakery’s busiest events of the year are SJMade’s November Holiday Fair and its Winter Wonder Market in December. “The first year, we brought 600 and sold out within three hours,” Pham says of the holiday fair. “Then, the second year we brought 800 and sold out by 2 p.m.” This year, they scaled up to 1,500 egg tarts for each day of the two-day event, which required an entire month of prep time. The most time-consuming component is the multi-layered puff pastry, which takes hours to assemble.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984903\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984903\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Line-of-customers-at-AM.jpg\" alt=\"Long line of customers waiting to buy egg tarts. A large banner overhead shows the different flavors available. \" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Line-of-customers-at-AM.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Line-of-customers-at-AM-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Line-of-customers-at-AM-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Line-of-customers-at-AM-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A long line of customers waiting to order at one of A&M’s pop-ups. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>During my visit to the A&M booth at last month’s SJMade Holiday Fair, I split a six-pack of egg tarts with my fiancée, my cousin and his girlfriend. After each bite, there was an audible “mmm” from each member of the party. We loved the classic egg tart custard’s glassy surface and creamy, light interior. My favorite was the yuzu egg tart, which had an intense acidity to balance the butteriness of the crust and strips of candied yuzu peel to mellow out the experience. A close second was the seasonal pistachio egg tart with chunks of pistachio on top for some crunch. Each person in the group had their own favorite.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bakery’s next step will be to experiment with savory egg tarts that have a quiche-like filling. Pham plans to introduce these to the menu once he figures out a way to bring an oven into their pop-up space, so he can serve them warm. He and Ngo are also constantly improving their existing flavors — the matcha egg tart is being upgraded to matcha mochi, and the s’mores tart will soon incorporate homemade marshmallow. The pop-up’s next seasonal special is a salted egg yolk tart that’s scheduled to release around Lunar New Year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have 18 flavors of egg tarts now,” says Pham. “I can say confidently we’re the only ones offering that many flavors.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/a.m.patisserie/\">\u003ci>A&M Pâtisserie\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> pops up at events around the Bay. The next pop-up is at the \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sanjosemade.com/pages/winter-wonder-market-2025\">\u003ci>SJ Made Winter Wonder Market\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> at South Hall (435 S. Market St., San José) on Dec. 13–14, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>You might imagine that most egg tarts are relatively indistinguishable, with their pastry cups and plain, sunglow-colored custard filling. You wouldn’t necessarily expect the treats to get remixed into dozens of different flavors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That hasn’t stopped \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/a.m.patisserie\">A&M Pâtisserie\u003c/a>. The San José–based bakery pop-up sells a whopping eighteen different egg tart flavors, many of them inspired by various Asian cuisines. At a makers’ market at the Santa Clara Convention Center in November, a perpetual line of at least fifty customers swarmed the A&M booth for hours, everyone scanning the banner menu to decide which of the palm-sized egg tarts to order. A wide range of unconventional toppings included things like toasted marshmallows, flame-kissed corn kernels, \u003ca href=\"https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/milk-crumb-382321\">milk crumbs\u003c/a> and caramelized banana slices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alice Ngo and Minh Pham first started making egg tarts at home during the COVID lockdown. “We got laid off and had nothing to do,” says Pham. “Alice got bored and started baking.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ngo taught herself how to make Portuguese egg tarts (aka pastéis de nata) by watching YouTube videos. After getting positive feedback from friends and family, the couple started selling the pastries to the public through Instagram and Facebook.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984906\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984906\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Alice-Ngo-and-Minh-Pham.jpg\" alt=\"An Asian woman and man in matching black hooded sweatshirts.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Alice-Ngo-and-Minh-Pham.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Alice-Ngo-and-Minh-Pham-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Alice-Ngo-and-Minh-Pham-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Alice-Ngo-and-Minh-Pham-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A&M founders Alice Ngo (left) and Minh Pham. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I wasn’t a baker, I was a cook,” says Pham. “But I enjoy pastries since I was born in France.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He moved to the United States in 2016 to pursue a tech career, but decided against working a desk job. Instead, he started working in restaurants and took cooking classes through the hospitality management program at Mission College. These days, Pham is the primary egg tart producer, juggling the pop-up with his day job as a baker at Alexander’s Patisserie. Meanwhile, Ngo uses her experience working at a hotel to handle the pop-up’s front-of-house operations and customer service.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The defining characteristic of a Portuguese-style egg tart is the custard filling’s blistered, caramelized top, which sets it apart from both British egg tarts and Cantonese \u003ca href=\"https://www.seriouseats.com/daan-tat-hong-kong-style-egg-tart-5208534\">dan tat\u003c/a> — the popular dim sum dish that is probably the best-known egg tart variation here in the Bay Area. Meanwhile, Macau, a former Portuguese territory, is known for egg tarts with a scorched custard that’s eggier and less sweet than pastel de nata. The distinctions between the styles have blurred over time, but originally British custard tarts used a shortbread crust and the others were made with puff pastry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984904\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984904\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Display-Case.jpg\" alt=\"Display case with 18 different varieties of egg tarts.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"924\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Display-Case.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Display-Case-160x74.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Display-Case-768x355.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Display-Case-1536x710.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">All 18 flavors in the display case at an A&M pop-up event in November 2025. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Ngo and Pham eventually shifted away from the traditional pastel de nata because they wanted their egg tarts to be lighter and less sweet. They make the puff pastry shell extra-crispy and flaky to complement their creamy custards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I wanted something in between so I took the best of both and created my own,” says Pham. “It’s not Macau. It’s not Portuguese. It’s A&M’s.”\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>But the biggest thing that sets A&M Pâtisserie’s egg tarts apart is the sheer variety of flavors. The menu is ever growing as the bakers draw inspiration from their favorite pastries and restaurant dishes. Their guava egg tart is modeled after the guava-and-cheese strudel at Porto’s, the legendary Los Angeles–based Cuban bakery. The corn cheese flavor was inspired by kon-chijeu, their favorite Korean banchan. A few of A&M’s egg tarts, like the honey-garlic flavor, even have savory elements. The bakery also sells cookies, macarons and canelés.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A&M’s first large pop-ups were at FoodieLand’s 2023 festival series, which spanned several cities including Sacramento, Berkeley and San Mateo. Now, the bakery’s busiest events of the year are SJMade’s November Holiday Fair and its Winter Wonder Market in December. “The first year, we brought 600 and sold out within three hours,” Pham says of the holiday fair. “Then, the second year we brought 800 and sold out by 2 p.m.” This year, they scaled up to 1,500 egg tarts for each day of the two-day event, which required an entire month of prep time. The most time-consuming component is the multi-layered puff pastry, which takes hours to assemble.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984903\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984903\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Line-of-customers-at-AM.jpg\" alt=\"Long line of customers waiting to buy egg tarts. A large banner overhead shows the different flavors available. \" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Line-of-customers-at-AM.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Line-of-customers-at-AM-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Line-of-customers-at-AM-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Line-of-customers-at-AM-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A long line of customers waiting to order at one of A&M’s pop-ups. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>During my visit to the A&M booth at last month’s SJMade Holiday Fair, I split a six-pack of egg tarts with my fiancée, my cousin and his girlfriend. After each bite, there was an audible “mmm” from each member of the party. We loved the classic egg tart custard’s glassy surface and creamy, light interior. My favorite was the yuzu egg tart, which had an intense acidity to balance the butteriness of the crust and strips of candied yuzu peel to mellow out the experience. A close second was the seasonal pistachio egg tart with chunks of pistachio on top for some crunch. Each person in the group had their own favorite.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bakery’s next step will be to experiment with savory egg tarts that have a quiche-like filling. Pham plans to introduce these to the menu once he figures out a way to bring an oven into their pop-up space, so he can serve them warm. He and Ngo are also constantly improving their existing flavors — the matcha egg tart is being upgraded to matcha mochi, and the s’mores tart will soon incorporate homemade marshmallow. The pop-up’s next seasonal special is a salted egg yolk tart that’s scheduled to release around Lunar New Year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have 18 flavors of egg tarts now,” says Pham. “I can say confidently we’re the only ones offering that many flavors.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\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/a.m.patisserie/\">\u003ci>A&M Pâtisserie\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> pops up at events around the Bay. The next pop-up is at the \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sanjosemade.com/pages/winter-wonder-market-2025\">\u003ci>SJ Made Winter Wonder Market\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> at South Hall (435 S. Market St., San José) on Dec. 13–14, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Located at the intersection of Tully and King roads, the Lion Plaza shopping center is in many ways San José’s original Little Saigon — a hub for homesick Vietnamese Americans since the mid-’80s, though it’s since been eclipsed by trendier malls like \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13904835/san-jose-immigrant-food\">Grand Century and Vietnam Town\u003c/a>. But in the mornings, the supermarket’s food court still fills up with hungry diners getting their phở or bó nè fix. And since August, there’s been an exciting new addition: Bột Chiên, a stall specializing in its namesake dish — \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/vietnamese-food\">Vietnamese\u003c/a> omelettes topped with fried rice cakes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bột chiên isn’t strictly a breakfast dish, but at around 9 o’clock on a recent Sunday morning, the dining hall’s tables filled up with hungry diners feasting on the lacy, golden-brown omelettes heaped with pickled vegetables and, often, stretchy melted cheese.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Owner Tu Nguyen hadn’t always planned on getting into the restaurant business. He’d been an auto damage appraiser for State Farm for 15 years when he decided to buy CreAsian Bistro, a Vietnamese fusion spot in Pittsburg, from a friend in 2016. Soon after that, he invested $150,000 to transform a Quiznos into another Vietnamese restaurant called Anh’s Kitchen. But running the two restaurants at the same time turned out to be more intense than he’d bargained for.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13983630\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13983630\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Tu-Nguyen-left-and-Lan-Vi-Tang-right.jpg\" alt=\"Asian American man and woman pose for a portrait. The man's black T-shirt reads, "I'm the Nicest Asshole You'll Ever Meet."\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Tu-Nguyen-left-and-Lan-Vi-Tang-right.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Tu-Nguyen-left-and-Lan-Vi-Tang-right-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Tu-Nguyen-left-and-Lan-Vi-Tang-right-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Tu-Nguyen-left-and-Lan-Vi-Tang-right-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tu Nguyen (left) and Lan Vi Tang opened Bột Chiên in August of 2025. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I had a restaurant with 73 items,” says Nguyen. “I said, ‘What can I do to simplify this?’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nguyen decided to step away from his restaurants to focus on something simpler and more affordable. He and his wife, Lan Vi Tang, wound up opening the bột chiên stall because that had been Nguyen’s favorite childhood dish. His aunt had sold the rice cake omelettes while she was at a refugee camp in Malaysia in 1980, and he grew up eating her version of the dish, which he insists is better than what you can find at any restaurant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bột chiên is a simple dish, but Nguyen’s attention to the individual elements makes the process quite labor-intensive. While other Bay Area restaurants make bột chiên with packaged rice cakes, Nguyen commits two hours to make his from scratch. “The dough is where the money is,” he says, explaining that the starch in the rice cakes retrogrades rapidly when refrigerated or frozen. They’re noticeably more tender and chewy when freshly made.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13983631\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13983631\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Cheese-Bot-Chien-1.jpg\" alt=\"An omelette topped with fried rice cakes and melted mozzarella cheese.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Cheese-Bot-Chien-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Cheese-Bot-Chien-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Cheese-Bot-Chien-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Cheese-Bot-Chien-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nguyen’s cheese bột chiên adds stretchy melted mozzarella to the mix. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Nguyen’s rice cake recipe begins by hydrating rice flour and reducing the liquid on the stove over low heat while continuously stirring. Once the mixture transforms into a thick paste, it’s poured into a tray and steamed until it sets into a jiggly block. (An electric mixer would jam up as the batter thickened, so Nguyen does everything by hand.) The dough then gets cut into bite-size cubes, which are fried until they’re crispy on the outside yet chewy on the inside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13981935,arts_13975429,arts_13954983']\u003c/span>A popular street food in Saigon, bột chiên may have been originally inspired by chai tow kway, a stir-fried radish cake and egg dish from the Teochow people, who \u003ca href=\"https://ccs.city/en/anthology-of-chinese-diasporas/migration-of-the-teochew#:~:text=In%20the%20migratory%20movement%20of,served%20as%20a%20business%20port.\">migrated to Vietnam\u003c/a> from China’s Eastern Guangdong province starting in the 18th century. Unlike a French omelette that requires low heat and gentle folding, the eggs for bột chiên are cracked directly into a blistering hot pan around the crispy rice cakes, then scrambled vigorously until the underside of the omelette gets lightly crunchy and golden-brown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eating the dish is mainly a textural experience. You start by clasping the crispiest rice cake between your chopsticks before anyone else at the table can call dibs. You chisel it out of the omelette like an archaeologist, then pile on some pickled carrots and daikon for brightness and crunch. A dash of the accompanying sweet-and-savory soy sauce concoction is the finishing touch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nguyen offers three variations of the dish: classic, mozzarella and taro. My favorite is the mozzarella bột chiên, in which the melted cheese binds the scallions, pickled vegetables, egg and rice cakes together into one harmonious bite.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13983629\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13983629\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Beef-Carpaccio.jpg\" alt=\"Vietnamese-style beef carpaccio — thin slices of rare beef topped with slices of onion and jalapeño.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Beef-Carpaccio.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Beef-Carpaccio-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Beef-Carpaccio-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Beef-Carpaccio-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bột Chiên’s beef carpaccio is a holdover from Nguyen’s previous restaurant, CreaAsian Bistro. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While most of the restaurants in Lion Plaza mainly serve full-sized entrees, Nguyen likes to think of Bột Chiên as an appetizer spot with a small, focused menu. “At first I had 12 items,” says Nguyen. “Now, I’m down to eight.” In addition to the assorted bột chiên, those items include calamari, chicken wings and beef jerky papaya salad. He’s also carried over customer favorites from CreAsian like his Vietnamese beef carpaccio — paper-thin slices of beef briefly marinated in lime juice and topped with roasted peanuts, sliced chiles, mint, basil and fried onions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Nguyen, the decision to open in the Lion Plaza food court was a personal one. Growing up in San Francisco, he had fond memories of visiting the plaza when it was one of the Bay Area’s very first Vietnamese food hubs. He’s excited to feed the community and has started brainstorming new dishes like garlic noodles and meatball stew with bánh mì.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13983632\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13983632\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Bot-Chien-storefront.jpg\" alt='Exterior of a food court kiosk. A yellow banner overhead reads, \"Bột Chiên.\"' width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Bot-Chien-storefront.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Bot-Chien-storefront-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Bot-Chien-storefront-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Bot-Chien-storefront-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Bột Chiên kiosk is located inside the food court at Lion Plaza, one of San José’s oldest Vietnamese food hubs. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I’m hoping that in the future people know we’re here,” Nguyen says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So far, he says, people from as far away as Sacramento have made the journey to eat his bột chiên. A hundred-mile drive for an appetizer might seem like a lot, but that’s just the kind of dish it is. When the craving hits, you have to have it.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Bột Chiên is open Tuesday through Sunday 9 a.m.–5 p.m. inside the food court at Lion Plaza (1818 Tully Rd., San José).\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Located at the intersection of Tully and King roads, the Lion Plaza shopping center is in many ways San José’s original Little Saigon — a hub for homesick Vietnamese Americans since the mid-’80s, though it’s since been eclipsed by trendier malls like \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13904835/san-jose-immigrant-food\">Grand Century and Vietnam Town\u003c/a>. But in the mornings, the supermarket’s food court still fills up with hungry diners getting their phở or bó nè fix. And since August, there’s been an exciting new addition: Bột Chiên, a stall specializing in its namesake dish — \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/vietnamese-food\">Vietnamese\u003c/a> omelettes topped with fried rice cakes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bột chiên isn’t strictly a breakfast dish, but at around 9 o’clock on a recent Sunday morning, the dining hall’s tables filled up with hungry diners feasting on the lacy, golden-brown omelettes heaped with pickled vegetables and, often, stretchy melted cheese.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Owner Tu Nguyen hadn’t always planned on getting into the restaurant business. He’d been an auto damage appraiser for State Farm for 15 years when he decided to buy CreAsian Bistro, a Vietnamese fusion spot in Pittsburg, from a friend in 2016. Soon after that, he invested $150,000 to transform a Quiznos into another Vietnamese restaurant called Anh’s Kitchen. But running the two restaurants at the same time turned out to be more intense than he’d bargained for.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13983630\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13983630\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Tu-Nguyen-left-and-Lan-Vi-Tang-right.jpg\" alt=\"Asian American man and woman pose for a portrait. The man's black T-shirt reads, "I'm the Nicest Asshole You'll Ever Meet."\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Tu-Nguyen-left-and-Lan-Vi-Tang-right.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Tu-Nguyen-left-and-Lan-Vi-Tang-right-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Tu-Nguyen-left-and-Lan-Vi-Tang-right-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Tu-Nguyen-left-and-Lan-Vi-Tang-right-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tu Nguyen (left) and Lan Vi Tang opened Bột Chiên in August of 2025. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I had a restaurant with 73 items,” says Nguyen. “I said, ‘What can I do to simplify this?’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nguyen decided to step away from his restaurants to focus on something simpler and more affordable. He and his wife, Lan Vi Tang, wound up opening the bột chiên stall because that had been Nguyen’s favorite childhood dish. His aunt had sold the rice cake omelettes while she was at a refugee camp in Malaysia in 1980, and he grew up eating her version of the dish, which he insists is better than what you can find at any restaurant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bột chiên is a simple dish, but Nguyen’s attention to the individual elements makes the process quite labor-intensive. While other Bay Area restaurants make bột chiên with packaged rice cakes, Nguyen commits two hours to make his from scratch. “The dough is where the money is,” he says, explaining that the starch in the rice cakes retrogrades rapidly when refrigerated or frozen. They’re noticeably more tender and chewy when freshly made.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13983631\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13983631\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Cheese-Bot-Chien-1.jpg\" alt=\"An omelette topped with fried rice cakes and melted mozzarella cheese.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Cheese-Bot-Chien-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Cheese-Bot-Chien-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Cheese-Bot-Chien-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Cheese-Bot-Chien-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nguyen’s cheese bột chiên adds stretchy melted mozzarella to the mix. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Nguyen’s rice cake recipe begins by hydrating rice flour and reducing the liquid on the stove over low heat while continuously stirring. Once the mixture transforms into a thick paste, it’s poured into a tray and steamed until it sets into a jiggly block. (An electric mixer would jam up as the batter thickened, so Nguyen does everything by hand.) The dough then gets cut into bite-size cubes, which are fried until they’re crispy on the outside yet chewy on the inside.\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>A popular street food in Saigon, bột chiên may have been originally inspired by chai tow kway, a stir-fried radish cake and egg dish from the Teochow people, who \u003ca href=\"https://ccs.city/en/anthology-of-chinese-diasporas/migration-of-the-teochew#:~:text=In%20the%20migratory%20movement%20of,served%20as%20a%20business%20port.\">migrated to Vietnam\u003c/a> from China’s Eastern Guangdong province starting in the 18th century. Unlike a French omelette that requires low heat and gentle folding, the eggs for bột chiên are cracked directly into a blistering hot pan around the crispy rice cakes, then scrambled vigorously until the underside of the omelette gets lightly crunchy and golden-brown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eating the dish is mainly a textural experience. You start by clasping the crispiest rice cake between your chopsticks before anyone else at the table can call dibs. You chisel it out of the omelette like an archaeologist, then pile on some pickled carrots and daikon for brightness and crunch. A dash of the accompanying sweet-and-savory soy sauce concoction is the finishing touch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nguyen offers three variations of the dish: classic, mozzarella and taro. My favorite is the mozzarella bột chiên, in which the melted cheese binds the scallions, pickled vegetables, egg and rice cakes together into one harmonious bite.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13983629\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13983629\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Beef-Carpaccio.jpg\" alt=\"Vietnamese-style beef carpaccio — thin slices of rare beef topped with slices of onion and jalapeño.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Beef-Carpaccio.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Beef-Carpaccio-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Beef-Carpaccio-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Beef-Carpaccio-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bột Chiên’s beef carpaccio is a holdover from Nguyen’s previous restaurant, CreaAsian Bistro. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While most of the restaurants in Lion Plaza mainly serve full-sized entrees, Nguyen likes to think of Bột Chiên as an appetizer spot with a small, focused menu. “At first I had 12 items,” says Nguyen. “Now, I’m down to eight.” In addition to the assorted bột chiên, those items include calamari, chicken wings and beef jerky papaya salad. He’s also carried over customer favorites from CreAsian like his Vietnamese beef carpaccio — paper-thin slices of beef briefly marinated in lime juice and topped with roasted peanuts, sliced chiles, mint, basil and fried onions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Nguyen, the decision to open in the Lion Plaza food court was a personal one. Growing up in San Francisco, he had fond memories of visiting the plaza when it was one of the Bay Area’s very first Vietnamese food hubs. He’s excited to feed the community and has started brainstorming new dishes like garlic noodles and meatball stew with bánh mì.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13983632\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13983632\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Bot-Chien-storefront.jpg\" alt='Exterior of a food court kiosk. A yellow banner overhead reads, \"Bột Chiên.\"' width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Bot-Chien-storefront.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Bot-Chien-storefront-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Bot-Chien-storefront-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Bot-Chien-storefront-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Bột Chiên kiosk is located inside the food court at Lion Plaza, one of San José’s oldest Vietnamese food hubs. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I’m hoping that in the future people know we’re here,” Nguyen says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So far, he says, people from as far away as Sacramento have made the journey to eat his bột chiên. A hundred-mile drive for an appetizer might seem like a lot, but that’s just the kind of dish it is. When the craving hits, you have to have it.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Bột Chiên is open Tuesday through Sunday 9 a.m.–5 p.m. inside the food court at Lion Plaza (1818 Tully Rd., San José).\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Every October, \u003ca href=\"https://www.fanhs-national.org/filam/filipino-american-history-month-2025\">Filipino American History Month\u003c/a> honors more than a century of Filipino presence in the United States. In the Bay Area, that legacy runs deep: Cities such as San José, Milpitas and Daly City have long served as hubs for the Filipino diaspora. San José alone is home to around 109,000 Filipino residents, making it one of the 10 largest Filipino communities in the country, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of census data.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So it makes sense that San José plays host to a slew of cultural events this month — such as \u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/4th-annual-kababayan-drag-brunch-tickets-1762716465399\">Kababayan Drag Brunch\u003c/a>, which returns for its fourth year on Saturday, Oct. 18 at Strike Brewing Company. First organized in 2021, this drag brunch has become a South Bay fixture during Filipino American History Month, reflecting the area’s vibrant intersection of Filipino and LGBTQ+ culture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hosted by drag performers Manang and Tori Tia, the all-ages event blends Filipino food, queer artistry and community pride in an afternoon of performance. “Bring your lola (grandma), bring your auntie, and bring your parents who may be supportive of queerness but don’t usually go to nightclubs,” says Manang.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13982479\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2160px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/10/F26E7C14-0C46-4F54-B262-ED8AD753F263.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13982479\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/10/F26E7C14-0C46-4F54-B262-ED8AD753F263.jpg\" alt=\"five drag queens in colorful outfits stand on a stage under a neon sign that reads 'mama kin'\" width=\"2160\" height=\"2345\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/10/F26E7C14-0C46-4F54-B262-ED8AD753F263.jpg 2160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/10/F26E7C14-0C46-4F54-B262-ED8AD753F263-2000x2171.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/10/F26E7C14-0C46-4F54-B262-ED8AD753F263-160x174.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/10/F26E7C14-0C46-4F54-B262-ED8AD753F263-768x834.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/10/F26E7C14-0C46-4F54-B262-ED8AD753F263-1415x1536.jpg 1415w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/10/F26E7C14-0C46-4F54-B262-ED8AD753F263-1886x2048.jpg 1886w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2160px) 100vw, 2160px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Manang, Kashewpeia, Tala, John Feddellaga and Tori Tia at Kababayan Drag Brunch 2023. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Manang)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This year’s show features six performers, including \u003cem>Drag Race Philippines\u003c/em> season three’s John Fedellaga, widely known online as the “Omegle Queen.” DJ Ayumi Please provides the soundtrack, while Filipino bites come courtesy of Gnosh Confections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is a great event to bring people together to celebrate being Filipino, to have fun, to see queer joy,” adds Manang. “We hope Filipinos show up like we always do — yelling, cheering, laughing. It’s a big party for our community to celebrate the month and to celebrate queer joy, especially at a time when that is under threat.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Kababayan Drag Brunch takes place Saturday, Oct. 18, from 1 to 4 p.m. at Strike Brewing Company & Warehouse Taproom (2099 S 10th St #30, San Jose). Free; more information \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/4th-annual-kababayan-drag-brunch-tickets-1762716465399\">\u003ci>here\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003c/i>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Every October, \u003ca href=\"https://www.fanhs-national.org/filam/filipino-american-history-month-2025\">Filipino American History Month\u003c/a> honors more than a century of Filipino presence in the United States. In the Bay Area, that legacy runs deep: Cities such as San José, Milpitas and Daly City have long served as hubs for the Filipino diaspora. San José alone is home to around 109,000 Filipino residents, making it one of the 10 largest Filipino communities in the country, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of census data.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So it makes sense that San José plays host to a slew of cultural events this month — such as \u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/4th-annual-kababayan-drag-brunch-tickets-1762716465399\">Kababayan Drag Brunch\u003c/a>, which returns for its fourth year on Saturday, Oct. 18 at Strike Brewing Company. First organized in 2021, this drag brunch has become a South Bay fixture during Filipino American History Month, reflecting the area’s vibrant intersection of Filipino and LGBTQ+ culture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hosted by drag performers Manang and Tori Tia, the all-ages event blends Filipino food, queer artistry and community pride in an afternoon of performance. “Bring your lola (grandma), bring your auntie, and bring your parents who may be supportive of queerness but don’t usually go to nightclubs,” says Manang.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13982479\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2160px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/10/F26E7C14-0C46-4F54-B262-ED8AD753F263.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13982479\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/10/F26E7C14-0C46-4F54-B262-ED8AD753F263.jpg\" alt=\"five drag queens in colorful outfits stand on a stage under a neon sign that reads 'mama kin'\" width=\"2160\" height=\"2345\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/10/F26E7C14-0C46-4F54-B262-ED8AD753F263.jpg 2160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/10/F26E7C14-0C46-4F54-B262-ED8AD753F263-2000x2171.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/10/F26E7C14-0C46-4F54-B262-ED8AD753F263-160x174.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/10/F26E7C14-0C46-4F54-B262-ED8AD753F263-768x834.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/10/F26E7C14-0C46-4F54-B262-ED8AD753F263-1415x1536.jpg 1415w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/10/F26E7C14-0C46-4F54-B262-ED8AD753F263-1886x2048.jpg 1886w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2160px) 100vw, 2160px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Manang, Kashewpeia, Tala, John Feddellaga and Tori Tia at Kababayan Drag Brunch 2023. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Manang)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This year’s show features six performers, including \u003cem>Drag Race Philippines\u003c/em> season three’s John Fedellaga, widely known online as the “Omegle Queen.” DJ Ayumi Please provides the soundtrack, while Filipino bites come courtesy of Gnosh Confections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is a great event to bring people together to celebrate being Filipino, to have fun, to see queer joy,” adds Manang. “We hope Filipinos show up like we always do — yelling, cheering, laughing. It’s a big party for our community to celebrate the month and to celebrate queer joy, especially at a time when that is under threat.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Kababayan Drag Brunch takes place Saturday, Oct. 18, from 1 to 4 p.m. at Strike Brewing Company & Warehouse Taproom (2099 S 10th St #30, San Jose). Free; more information \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/4th-annual-kababayan-drag-brunch-tickets-1762716465399\">\u003ci>here\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003c/i>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "The Bay Area’s First Kerala-Style Chai Shop Opens in San José",
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"content": "\u003cp>At \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/chayakada.us/?hl=en\">Chayakada\u003c/a> in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/san-jose\">San José\u003c/a>, chai baristas juggle a meter-long stream of tea through the air like master \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGy0kbk6gYc\">waterbenders\u003c/a>, effortlessly filling each cup to the brim with hot, frothy chai.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On a recent Sunday afternoon, the shop was buzzing with late-2000s pop hits while friends sipped chai huddled around tables loaded with egg puffs and boardgames. Open since June, the cafe takes its name from the chaya kada, a kind of small tea shop or tea stall found in the state of Kerala, India. Chayakada \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DKosIfpxmuB/\">claims to be the first one\u003c/a> in the United States — a small slice of South India tucked away in a South San José strip mall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Owner Aleena Thomas got her start in the food business in 2023, when she quit her job as a program manager at Meta to open Bread Bae, a San José–based ghost kitchen operation focused on baked goods and chai from Kerala. Thomas grew up in Kuwait, but has fond memories of visiting her grandparents and uncles in Kerala. She became nostalgic for the food from her childhood and wanted to share it with others who might be feeling the same way. And while there were \u003ca href=\"https://tastecooking.com/the-rise-of-kerala-cuisine-in-america-cannot-go-unnoticed/\">other restaurants\u003c/a> specializing in the food of Kerala, there weren’t any Kerala-style chai bars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We didn’t have a single chaya kada in all of America. I was like, ‘Wow, this is crazy,’” says Thomas. “How come we don’t have one? I wanted to have that in the U.S.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13981957\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13981957\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Saffron-Meter-Chai.jpg\" alt=\"Overhead view of a cup of very frothy chai.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Saffron-Meter-Chai.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Saffron-Meter-Chai-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Saffron-Meter-Chai-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Saffron-Meter-Chai-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The special, meter-high pouring technique results in an extra-frothy cup of chai. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Chaya kadas are known for meter chai, a style of tea preparation that involves pouring the tea from a great height to aerate the drink. Thomas suggests the pouring method may have started as a way to attract customers to the tea stalls. But the technique isn’t just for show — it helps create a thick layer of froth in the chai glass, imparting a smoother mouthfeel. The height of the pour also \u003ca href=\"https://www.thekitchn.com/does-pouring-height-make-a-difference-in-coffee-taste-255299\">cools the drink\u003c/a> to a temperature where the tongue can detect more flavors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Before we had coffee machines and frothers, you needed to get air into your beverages,” says Thomas. “Most of the people who do it are taller than I am and have longer arms. So their arm actually goes up to a meter. I don’t know if my wingspan is that large. We try to get it as far as we can.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It isn’t just the eye-catching pour that makes Chayakada’s drinks special. The cafe is one of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13932089/indian-coffee-roaster-kaveri-berkeley\">few Bay Area spots\u003c/a> sourcing its tea and coffee from small farms in India. The coffee is from \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/lemilscoffee/\">Le Mils\u003c/a>, a Bay Area roastery that gets its coffee beans from the owners’ family farm in Chikmanglur. Chayakada is also one of the only shops in the Bay Area that serves traditional Indian filter coffee, a sweet, chicory-infused drink.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13981958\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13981958\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Egg-Puffs.jpg\" alt='A display tray of crispy, golden-brown pastries labeled \"Egg Puffs.\"' width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Egg-Puffs.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Egg-Puffs-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Egg-Puffs-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Egg-Puffs-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A tray of egg puffs, one of the traditional Kerala-style street snacks served at Chayakada. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As for the Kerala-style chai, Thomas believes a lot of people don’t see the full spectrum of the drink. “If somebody asks, ‘What’s your favorite chai?’’’ she says. “You’re like, I’m not really sure, what Starbucks gives me?” She wants people to understand that, as with coffee, you can alter a chai’s flavor intensity, roast level and sweetness. At Chayakada’s chai counter, you can also get your tea flavored with saffron, masala, white chocolate or salted caramel. For customers looking to take their chai game to the next level, Thomas offers tea blending and tasting workshops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chayakada serves the same street food snacks typically found in a traditional chaya kada in Kerala. Specifically, the menu is reflective of the cuisine of the Malayali people who are native to Kerala and make up a majority of its population. The most popular dish is a puff pastry that envelops a boiled egg and caramelized onions. A close second is the pazhampori, which Thomas likens to a plantain tempura. Heartier options include goat biryani, fish cutlets and slow-roasted beef sandwiches. There’s also a large selection of curries served alongside Kerala staples like porotta (a flaky flatbread) and kappa puzhukku (mashed tapioca).\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13981959\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13981959\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Roast-beef-sandwich.jpg\" alt=\"Toasted sandwich filled with saucy shredded beef.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1126\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Roast-beef-sandwich.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Roast-beef-sandwich-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Roast-beef-sandwich-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Roast-beef-sandwich-1536x865.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Kerala-style sandwich filled with shredded, slow-roasted beef. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“There’s no other place doing this,” says Thomas. “So, I want to make sure authentic food is served first. Eventually, we could add some fusion flare. Right now, I want people to understand I’m not just Indian, we’re Malayali.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13955884,arts_13912706,arts_13969923']\u003c/span>Thomas is a walking encyclopedia when it comes to the history of chaya kadas in Kerala. The tea shops first appeared in Kerala during the 19th century, when \u003ca href=\"https://www.keralatourism.org/munnar/munnar-history.php\">tea plantations were established in the rural town of Munnar\u003c/a>, and soon spread all across Kerala. “For every chaya kada, there’s a community that is built with it,” says Thomas. In particular, the tea stalls in Kerala have a history of being places of congregation where patrons commonly read the newspaper out loud, making them places for lively social and political discourse. The intermingling of people from different castes at chaya kadas is even credited with helping to ease caste barriers in the region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thomas continues the tradition of chaya kadas being more than a place to sip tea. “I have a 4-year-old,” says Thomas. With that parental mindset, she designed Chayakada so that guests of all ages could enjoy it. The shop features a mini library, foosball, boardgames and carrom — a popular Indian tabletop game. She has a Bring-Your-Own-Boardgame policy to encourage crowds to come in and kick back. She’s even hosted Charades nights, tea party–themed birthday parties and an Onam celebration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13981960\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13981960\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Aleena-Thomas-Owner.jpg\" alt='A woman poses in front of a green plant wall with a neon sign that reads, \"Chai yeah.\"' width=\"2000\" height=\"1126\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Aleena-Thomas-Owner.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Aleena-Thomas-Owner-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Aleena-Thomas-Owner-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Aleena-Thomas-Owner-1536x865.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Thomas poses for a portrait inside Chayakada, her San Jose tea shop. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Chayakada is only a few months old, but it has already hooked a community of regulars who pack the dining room during high tea for a late-afternoon snack. Thomas says that half of her customers come in already familiar with chaya kadas and Malayali cuisine. She enjoys having the opportunity to introduce the food to those unfamiliar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“America is considered a coffee country,” says Thomas. “There’s millions of people who are tea drinkers. I really want to get chai to where coffee stands.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/chayakada.us/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Chayakada\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> (117 Bernal Rd. Ste. 80, San Jose) is open Wednesday through Monday, 9 a.m.–9 p.m., except Mondays when the shop closes at 7 p.m.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>At \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/chayakada.us/?hl=en\">Chayakada\u003c/a> in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/san-jose\">San José\u003c/a>, chai baristas juggle a meter-long stream of tea through the air like master \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGy0kbk6gYc\">waterbenders\u003c/a>, effortlessly filling each cup to the brim with hot, frothy chai.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On a recent Sunday afternoon, the shop was buzzing with late-2000s pop hits while friends sipped chai huddled around tables loaded with egg puffs and boardgames. Open since June, the cafe takes its name from the chaya kada, a kind of small tea shop or tea stall found in the state of Kerala, India. Chayakada \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DKosIfpxmuB/\">claims to be the first one\u003c/a> in the United States — a small slice of South India tucked away in a South San José strip mall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Owner Aleena Thomas got her start in the food business in 2023, when she quit her job as a program manager at Meta to open Bread Bae, a San José–based ghost kitchen operation focused on baked goods and chai from Kerala. Thomas grew up in Kuwait, but has fond memories of visiting her grandparents and uncles in Kerala. She became nostalgic for the food from her childhood and wanted to share it with others who might be feeling the same way. And while there were \u003ca href=\"https://tastecooking.com/the-rise-of-kerala-cuisine-in-america-cannot-go-unnoticed/\">other restaurants\u003c/a> specializing in the food of Kerala, there weren’t any Kerala-style chai bars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We didn’t have a single chaya kada in all of America. I was like, ‘Wow, this is crazy,’” says Thomas. “How come we don’t have one? I wanted to have that in the U.S.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13981957\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13981957\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Saffron-Meter-Chai.jpg\" alt=\"Overhead view of a cup of very frothy chai.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Saffron-Meter-Chai.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Saffron-Meter-Chai-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Saffron-Meter-Chai-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Saffron-Meter-Chai-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The special, meter-high pouring technique results in an extra-frothy cup of chai. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Chaya kadas are known for meter chai, a style of tea preparation that involves pouring the tea from a great height to aerate the drink. Thomas suggests the pouring method may have started as a way to attract customers to the tea stalls. But the technique isn’t just for show — it helps create a thick layer of froth in the chai glass, imparting a smoother mouthfeel. The height of the pour also \u003ca href=\"https://www.thekitchn.com/does-pouring-height-make-a-difference-in-coffee-taste-255299\">cools the drink\u003c/a> to a temperature where the tongue can detect more flavors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Before we had coffee machines and frothers, you needed to get air into your beverages,” says Thomas. “Most of the people who do it are taller than I am and have longer arms. So their arm actually goes up to a meter. I don’t know if my wingspan is that large. We try to get it as far as we can.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It isn’t just the eye-catching pour that makes Chayakada’s drinks special. The cafe is one of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13932089/indian-coffee-roaster-kaveri-berkeley\">few Bay Area spots\u003c/a> sourcing its tea and coffee from small farms in India. The coffee is from \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/lemilscoffee/\">Le Mils\u003c/a>, a Bay Area roastery that gets its coffee beans from the owners’ family farm in Chikmanglur. Chayakada is also one of the only shops in the Bay Area that serves traditional Indian filter coffee, a sweet, chicory-infused drink.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13981958\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13981958\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Egg-Puffs.jpg\" alt='A display tray of crispy, golden-brown pastries labeled \"Egg Puffs.\"' width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Egg-Puffs.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Egg-Puffs-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Egg-Puffs-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Egg-Puffs-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A tray of egg puffs, one of the traditional Kerala-style street snacks served at Chayakada. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As for the Kerala-style chai, Thomas believes a lot of people don’t see the full spectrum of the drink. “If somebody asks, ‘What’s your favorite chai?’’’ she says. “You’re like, I’m not really sure, what Starbucks gives me?” She wants people to understand that, as with coffee, you can alter a chai’s flavor intensity, roast level and sweetness. At Chayakada’s chai counter, you can also get your tea flavored with saffron, masala, white chocolate or salted caramel. For customers looking to take their chai game to the next level, Thomas offers tea blending and tasting workshops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chayakada serves the same street food snacks typically found in a traditional chaya kada in Kerala. Specifically, the menu is reflective of the cuisine of the Malayali people who are native to Kerala and make up a majority of its population. The most popular dish is a puff pastry that envelops a boiled egg and caramelized onions. A close second is the pazhampori, which Thomas likens to a plantain tempura. Heartier options include goat biryani, fish cutlets and slow-roasted beef sandwiches. There’s also a large selection of curries served alongside Kerala staples like porotta (a flaky flatbread) and kappa puzhukku (mashed tapioca).\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13981959\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13981959\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Roast-beef-sandwich.jpg\" alt=\"Toasted sandwich filled with saucy shredded beef.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1126\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Roast-beef-sandwich.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Roast-beef-sandwich-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Roast-beef-sandwich-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Roast-beef-sandwich-1536x865.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Kerala-style sandwich filled with shredded, slow-roasted beef. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“There’s no other place doing this,” says Thomas. “So, I want to make sure authentic food is served first. Eventually, we could add some fusion flare. Right now, I want people to understand I’m not just Indian, we’re Malayali.”\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>Thomas is a walking encyclopedia when it comes to the history of chaya kadas in Kerala. The tea shops first appeared in Kerala during the 19th century, when \u003ca href=\"https://www.keralatourism.org/munnar/munnar-history.php\">tea plantations were established in the rural town of Munnar\u003c/a>, and soon spread all across Kerala. “For every chaya kada, there’s a community that is built with it,” says Thomas. In particular, the tea stalls in Kerala have a history of being places of congregation where patrons commonly read the newspaper out loud, making them places for lively social and political discourse. The intermingling of people from different castes at chaya kadas is even credited with helping to ease caste barriers in the region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thomas continues the tradition of chaya kadas being more than a place to sip tea. “I have a 4-year-old,” says Thomas. With that parental mindset, she designed Chayakada so that guests of all ages could enjoy it. The shop features a mini library, foosball, boardgames and carrom — a popular Indian tabletop game. She has a Bring-Your-Own-Boardgame policy to encourage crowds to come in and kick back. She’s even hosted Charades nights, tea party–themed birthday parties and an Onam celebration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13981960\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13981960\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Aleena-Thomas-Owner.jpg\" alt='A woman poses in front of a green plant wall with a neon sign that reads, \"Chai yeah.\"' width=\"2000\" height=\"1126\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Aleena-Thomas-Owner.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Aleena-Thomas-Owner-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Aleena-Thomas-Owner-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Aleena-Thomas-Owner-1536x865.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Thomas poses for a portrait inside Chayakada, her San Jose tea shop. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Chayakada is only a few months old, but it has already hooked a community of regulars who pack the dining room during high tea for a late-afternoon snack. Thomas says that half of her customers come in already familiar with chaya kadas and Malayali cuisine. She enjoys having the opportunity to introduce the food to those unfamiliar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“America is considered a coffee country,” says Thomas. “There’s millions of people who are tea drinkers. I really want to get chai to where coffee stands.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\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/chayakada.us/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Chayakada\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> (117 Bernal Rd. Ste. 80, San Jose) is open Wednesday through Monday, 9 a.m.–9 p.m., except Mondays when the shop closes at 7 p.m.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Lowriders — American-made muscle cars customized with chrome plates, glossy paint and pristine rims — comprise an art form that neatly represents the ideals of this country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The cars are products of engineering and ingenuity, as well as community and culture. With candy paint and gold rims, the mobile masterpieces come from a long tradition that’s been stigmatized and even criminalized.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, lowriding culture is being celebrated on the highest national level.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Friday, Sept. 26, the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington D.C. will open the exhibition \u003ca href=\"https://americanhistory.si.edu/explore/exhibitions/corazon-y-vida-lowriding-culture\">\u003cem>Corazón y vida\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, honoring more than 80 years of lowriding culture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13981674\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13981674 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/iwJihpZQ.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"794\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/iwJihpZQ.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/iwJihpZQ-160x79.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/iwJihpZQ-768x381.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/iwJihpZQ-1536x762.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">El Rey, a vintage 1963 Chevrolet Impala, has been named Lowrider of the Year three times by Lowrider Magazine. \u003ccite>(National Musuem of American History)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The exhibition includes photographs from artists like \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfmoma.org/artist/Lou_Dematteis/\">Lou Dematteis\u003c/a> and posters from the \u003ca href=\"https://library.harvard.edu/collections/royal-chicano-air-force-posters\">Royal Chicano Air Force\u003c/a>. Artifacts such as plaques, jackets, a tool box and a “No Cruising” sign from Sacramento help fill in important context.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And of course, there’s the legendary vehicles. Those include “\u003ca href=\"https://www.petersen.org/vehicle-spotlights/1963-chevrolet-impala-el-rey\">El Rey\u003c/a>,” Albert de Alba, Sr.’s 1963 cherry-and-sherbet-colored Chevrolet Impala, and “\u003ca href=\"https://www.petersen.org/vehicle-spotlights/1964-chevrolet-impala-gypsy-rose\">Gypsy Rose\u003c/a>,” a 1964 Chevrolet Impala hand-painted with a floral design by the late Jesse Valadez Sr..\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Yes, the car is the star,” exhibition curator Steve Velasquez tells me in a recent phone interview. “But it takes a community to build it. It takes a community to show it. It takes the community to really appreciate it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That community of lowrider lovers that Velasquez references is largely Latino. As the federal government makes it a point to accost, harass and deport immigrants — specifically Latino people — \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/09/23/nx-s1-5550915/trump-immigration-judges\">without due process\u003c/a>, \u003cem>Corazón y vida\u003c/em> comes at an interesting time, to say the least.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Add to that this administration’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/trump-executive-order-to-force-changes-at-smithsonian-institution-targeting-funding-for-programs-with-improper-ideology\">meddling into the Smithsonian\u003c/a>, an institution under threat of a “\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/09/22/nx-s1-5517973/smithsonian-document-citizen-historians\">comprehensive internal review\u003c/a>” to weed out “improper ideology” and “divisive narratives.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The exhibition has been in the works since the end of Trump’s first term, but it comes at the right time, says Velasquez, adding that it’s “the right thing to do” regardless of who’s in power.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Long before the current administration, lowriding and the culture from which it emerged faced harsh critiques, over-policing and biased legislation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RAavisatXA\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In January of last year, \u003ca href=\"https://lataco.com/california-cruising-law\">California’s Assembly Bill 436\u003c/a> took effect, ending a more than 25-year ban on “cruising zones” throughout the state. And while changing laws is a major accomplishment, changing people’s minds is a separate hurdle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s taken a lot of work, from a lot of people, to change the perception of lowriding as criminal and to make it more of an expression of culture,” says Velasquez.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many car clubs serve the community by volunteering at hospitals, speaking to the incarcerated and organizing food drives, Velasquez says. Along with hanging fuzzy dice on the rear-view and installing hydraulics to make their cars hop, lowrider groups for years have filled the gaps created by a lack of city services and other social institutions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13923205/best-of-roll-with-us-a-sisterhood-of-lowriding\">Dueñas\u003c/a>, an all-women, intergenerational collective from the South Bay led by Angel Romero, exemplifies the changing perception of lowriders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since their founding more than five years ago, the collective has turned heads at car shows, organized holiday toy drives for kids and performed philanthropic work throughout the South Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13981668\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13981668\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Duen%CC%81as_2-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"An intergenerational group of Latina women pose for a photo.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Dueńas_2-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Dueńas_2-2000x1333.jpeg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Dueńas_2-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Dueńas_2-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Dueńas_2-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Dueńas_2-2048x1365.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dueńas car club, pictured in 2021, is an intergenerational collective of women from the South Bay. \u003ccite>(Renée Lopez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Now, an image of Dueñas will be included in the Smithsonian exhibition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I never thought that lowriding, in general, would be this widely accepted,” says Romero. “Especially in times like this, where we’re facing a lot of different things going on in our communities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those “different things” include a widespread federal crackdown on immigration, which sharply increased after Trump’s spending bill, approved in July, dedicated a staggering $75 billion to ICE enforcement over the next four years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To see our culture and our history highlighted in the Smithsonian,” Romero says, “it shows that no matter what, we will always be here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The image of Romero’s car club included in the Smithsonian exhibit was created by Northern California-based photographer \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/misslopezmedia/?hl=en\">Renée Lopez\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Lopez got final confirmation of the exhibition, she printed the image and hand-delivered it to the car club members. “I was like, ‘Hey, by the way, y’all are about to be in Smithsonian,’” Lopez says. “We all cried, it was amazing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13981669\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13981669 size-medium\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Miss-Lopez-2000x2667.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2667\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Miss-Lopez-2000x2667.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Miss-Lopez-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Miss-Lopez-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Miss-Lopez-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Miss-Lopez-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Miss-Lopez-scaled.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Renée Lopez, seen here at work in Oakland, has documented lowrider culture for years, with a specific focus on women. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Miss Lopez Media)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://unscriptedphotographers.com/misslopezmedia\">A photographer\u003c/a> who’s spent the past six years documenting lowrider culture, specifically the women in the scene, Lopez says the inclusion in the exhibit is a huge honor, and something that she’s still trying to wrap her head around.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t get paid,” she says about her cultural documentation, “I do it out of love.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lopez’s mission to center women in lowriding underscores a significant shift within the culture. “We were really only allowed to be passengers,” Lopez says, in reference to older ways of thinking. “Now,” she says, “women have money to buy their own cars, they’re building their own cars and painting their own cars.” Two years ago, for the first time, she saw a woman compete in a hop contest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is what I’ve been working for, to push the culture forward,” says Lopez. “For it to be at this time, with what’s happening in this country right now, it is so special. I can’t even explain it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lopez, who is currently working on a documentary about women in lowriding, plans to make the trip to the nation’s capitol for this weekend’s opening.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Lowriding has been happening for a long time, and it’s always about resistance and resilience, right?” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For it to be shown right now, I feel like the timing couldn’t have been better.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Corazón y vida’ opens Friday, Sept. 26, at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington D.C. \u003ca href=\"https://americanhistory.si.edu/explore/exhibitions/corazon-y-vida-lowriding-culture\">Details and more information here\u003c/a>. The touring exhibition \u003ca href=\"https://www.sites.si.edu/s/tour-schedule?exhibit=Lowrider%20Culture%20in%20the%20United%20States%20%2F%20Cultura%20Lowrider%20en%20los%20Estados%20Unidos\">visits three cities in California\u003c/a>: Anaheim, Port Hueneme and Fresno. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Lowriders — American-made muscle cars customized with chrome plates, glossy paint and pristine rims — comprise an art form that neatly represents the ideals of this country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The cars are products of engineering and ingenuity, as well as community and culture. With candy paint and gold rims, the mobile masterpieces come from a long tradition that’s been stigmatized and even criminalized.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, lowriding culture is being celebrated on the highest national level.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Friday, Sept. 26, the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington D.C. will open the exhibition \u003ca href=\"https://americanhistory.si.edu/explore/exhibitions/corazon-y-vida-lowriding-culture\">\u003cem>Corazón y vida\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, honoring more than 80 years of lowriding culture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13981674\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13981674 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/iwJihpZQ.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"794\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/iwJihpZQ.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/iwJihpZQ-160x79.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/iwJihpZQ-768x381.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/iwJihpZQ-1536x762.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">El Rey, a vintage 1963 Chevrolet Impala, has been named Lowrider of the Year three times by Lowrider Magazine. \u003ccite>(National Musuem of American History)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The exhibition includes photographs from artists like \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfmoma.org/artist/Lou_Dematteis/\">Lou Dematteis\u003c/a> and posters from the \u003ca href=\"https://library.harvard.edu/collections/royal-chicano-air-force-posters\">Royal Chicano Air Force\u003c/a>. Artifacts such as plaques, jackets, a tool box and a “No Cruising” sign from Sacramento help fill in important context.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And of course, there’s the legendary vehicles. Those include “\u003ca href=\"https://www.petersen.org/vehicle-spotlights/1963-chevrolet-impala-el-rey\">El Rey\u003c/a>,” Albert de Alba, Sr.’s 1963 cherry-and-sherbet-colored Chevrolet Impala, and “\u003ca href=\"https://www.petersen.org/vehicle-spotlights/1964-chevrolet-impala-gypsy-rose\">Gypsy Rose\u003c/a>,” a 1964 Chevrolet Impala hand-painted with a floral design by the late Jesse Valadez Sr..\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Yes, the car is the star,” exhibition curator Steve Velasquez tells me in a recent phone interview. “But it takes a community to build it. It takes a community to show it. It takes the community to really appreciate it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That community of lowrider lovers that Velasquez references is largely Latino. As the federal government makes it a point to accost, harass and deport immigrants — specifically Latino people — \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/09/23/nx-s1-5550915/trump-immigration-judges\">without due process\u003c/a>, \u003cem>Corazón y vida\u003c/em> comes at an interesting time, to say the least.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Add to that this administration’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/trump-executive-order-to-force-changes-at-smithsonian-institution-targeting-funding-for-programs-with-improper-ideology\">meddling into the Smithsonian\u003c/a>, an institution under threat of a “\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/09/22/nx-s1-5517973/smithsonian-document-citizen-historians\">comprehensive internal review\u003c/a>” to weed out “improper ideology” and “divisive narratives.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The exhibition has been in the works since the end of Trump’s first term, but it comes at the right time, says Velasquez, adding that it’s “the right thing to do” regardless of who’s in power.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Long before the current administration, lowriding and the culture from which it emerged faced harsh critiques, over-policing and biased legislation.\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/9RAavisatXA'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/9RAavisatXA'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>In January of last year, \u003ca href=\"https://lataco.com/california-cruising-law\">California’s Assembly Bill 436\u003c/a> took effect, ending a more than 25-year ban on “cruising zones” throughout the state. And while changing laws is a major accomplishment, changing people’s minds is a separate hurdle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s taken a lot of work, from a lot of people, to change the perception of lowriding as criminal and to make it more of an expression of culture,” says Velasquez.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many car clubs serve the community by volunteering at hospitals, speaking to the incarcerated and organizing food drives, Velasquez says. Along with hanging fuzzy dice on the rear-view and installing hydraulics to make their cars hop, lowrider groups for years have filled the gaps created by a lack of city services and other social institutions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13923205/best-of-roll-with-us-a-sisterhood-of-lowriding\">Dueñas\u003c/a>, an all-women, intergenerational collective from the South Bay led by Angel Romero, exemplifies the changing perception of lowriders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since their founding more than five years ago, the collective has turned heads at car shows, organized holiday toy drives for kids and performed philanthropic work throughout the South Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13981668\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13981668\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Duen%CC%81as_2-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"An intergenerational group of Latina women pose for a photo.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Dueńas_2-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Dueńas_2-2000x1333.jpeg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Dueńas_2-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Dueńas_2-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Dueńas_2-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Dueńas_2-2048x1365.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dueńas car club, pictured in 2021, is an intergenerational collective of women from the South Bay. \u003ccite>(Renée Lopez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Now, an image of Dueñas will be included in the Smithsonian exhibition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I never thought that lowriding, in general, would be this widely accepted,” says Romero. “Especially in times like this, where we’re facing a lot of different things going on in our communities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those “different things” include a widespread federal crackdown on immigration, which sharply increased after Trump’s spending bill, approved in July, dedicated a staggering $75 billion to ICE enforcement over the next four years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To see our culture and our history highlighted in the Smithsonian,” Romero says, “it shows that no matter what, we will always be here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The image of Romero’s car club included in the Smithsonian exhibit was created by Northern California-based photographer \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/misslopezmedia/?hl=en\">Renée Lopez\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Lopez got final confirmation of the exhibition, she printed the image and hand-delivered it to the car club members. “I was like, ‘Hey, by the way, y’all are about to be in Smithsonian,’” Lopez says. “We all cried, it was amazing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13981669\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13981669 size-medium\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Miss-Lopez-2000x2667.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2667\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Miss-Lopez-2000x2667.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Miss-Lopez-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Miss-Lopez-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Miss-Lopez-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Miss-Lopez-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Miss-Lopez-scaled.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Renée Lopez, seen here at work in Oakland, has documented lowrider culture for years, with a specific focus on women. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Miss Lopez Media)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://unscriptedphotographers.com/misslopezmedia\">A photographer\u003c/a> who’s spent the past six years documenting lowrider culture, specifically the women in the scene, Lopez says the inclusion in the exhibit is a huge honor, and something that she’s still trying to wrap her head around.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t get paid,” she says about her cultural documentation, “I do it out of love.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lopez’s mission to center women in lowriding underscores a significant shift within the culture. “We were really only allowed to be passengers,” Lopez says, in reference to older ways of thinking. “Now,” she says, “women have money to buy their own cars, they’re building their own cars and painting their own cars.” Two years ago, for the first time, she saw a woman compete in a hop contest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is what I’ve been working for, to push the culture forward,” says Lopez. “For it to be at this time, with what’s happening in this country right now, it is so special. I can’t even explain it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lopez, who is currently working on a documentary about women in lowriding, plans to make the trip to the nation’s capitol for this weekend’s opening.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Lowriding has been happening for a long time, and it’s always about resistance and resilience, right?” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For it to be shown right now, I feel like the timing couldn’t have been better.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Corazón y vida’ opens Friday, Sept. 26, at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington D.C. \u003ca href=\"https://americanhistory.si.edu/explore/exhibitions/corazon-y-vida-lowriding-culture\">Details and more information here\u003c/a>. The touring exhibition \u003ca href=\"https://www.sites.si.edu/s/tour-schedule?exhibit=Lowrider%20Culture%20in%20the%20United%20States%20%2F%20Cultura%20Lowrider%20en%20los%20Estados%20Unidos\">visits three cities in California\u003c/a>: Anaheim, Port Hueneme and Fresno. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"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?",
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"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
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"possible": {
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"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
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"info": "A two-time Peabody Award-winner, Radiolab is an investigation told through sounds and stories, and centered around one big idea. In the Radiolab world, information sounds like music and science and culture collide. Hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, the show is designed for listeners who demand skepticism, but appreciate wonder. WNYC Studios is the producer of other leading podcasts including Freakonomics Radio, Death, Sex & Money, On the Media and many more.",
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"title": "Rightnowish",
"tagline": "Art is where you find it",
"info": "Rightnowish digs into life in the Bay Area right now… ish. Journalist Pendarvis Harshaw takes us to galleries painted on the sides of liquor stores in West Oakland. We'll dance in warehouses in the Bayview, make smoothies with kids in South Berkeley, and listen to classical music in a 1984 Cutlass Supreme in Richmond. Every week, Pen talks to movers and shakers about how the Bay Area shapes what they create, and how they shape the place we call home.",
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"soldout": {
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"title": "SOLD OUT: Rethinking Housing in America",
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"info": "Tech Nation is a weekly public radio program, hosted by Dr. Moira Gunn. Founded in 1993, it has grown from a simple interview show to a multi-faceted production, featuring conversations with noted technology and science leaders, and a weekly science and technology-related commentary.",
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"tagline": "Local news to keep you rooted",
"info": "Host Devin Katayama walks you through the biggest story of the day with reporters and newsmakers.",
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