The South Bay’s First Nigerian Restaurant Takes Off in San José
A New San José Restaurant Offers the Largest Variety of Burritos in the Bay
A New Turkish Food Truck Serves Some of the Best Adana Kebab in the Bay Area
This San José Food Truck Is One of the Only Dominican Food Spots in the Bay
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
The Bay Area’s First Kerala-Style Chai Shop Opens in San José
At This San Jose Fusion Restaurant, Mexican and Jordanian Flavors Collide
San Jose’s New Late-Night Hot Spot Serves Smoky, Charcoal-Grilled Arepas
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"content": "\u003cp>When Folake Adewole first moved to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/san-jose\">San José\u003c/a> in 2017 to take a job as a travel nurse, there wasn’t a single Nigerian restaurant in the area. For the past 10 years, whenever she was craving beef suya or jollof rice, she had to drive up to Hayward — or, more likely, just cook it herself. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In March, Adewole finally decided to take things into her own hands: She opened \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/folafela001/\">FolaFela\u003c/a>, a small Nigerian restaurant tucked into a strip mall in East San José. It’s the South Bay’s first proper brick-and-mortar Nigerian restaurant.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The shop has only a handful of tables, along with a mini African grocery store in the back. But the menu is surprisingly expansive, featuring dishes like gizz dodo (fried gizzards and plantains) and asun coconut rice. The main draw is the assortment of fourteen Nigerian soups, served with starchy dough balls known as swallows or okele. Already, the thick, complex soups have been a hit, drawing flocks of diners from as far away as Santa Cruz.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Fola-Fela-storefront.jpg\" alt='Exterior of a Nigerian restaurant and market. The sign above, in large, stylized yellow letters, reads, \"FolaFela.\"' class=\"wp-image-13990680\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Fola-Fela-storefront.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Fola-Fela-storefront-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Fola-Fela-storefront-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Fola-Fela-storefront-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Open since March 2026, FolaFela also features a small African grocery store in back. (Octavio Peña)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Adewole didn’t have any restaurant experience before opening FolaFela, but she has been selling Nigerian dishes since her youth. Growing up in the city of Ile-Ifẹ, in Nigeria’s Osun state, Adewole would help her mother prepare and sell ofada rice — a rice dish topped with a crayfish and pepper stew that now serves at the restaurant, using the same recipe. Soon after she settled in San José, she decided to fill the culinary void by making Nigerian plates to share with coworkers and friends from church. By 2021, she was catering for events with as many as 300 guests. So, after much encouragement from her customers, she decided to open the restaurant while still juggling her day job as a registered nurse at the Stanford hospital. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Over the course of several visits to the restaurant, the jollof rice was my favorite dish on the menu. The tomato-infused rice tastes like it was cooked over a campfire due to its bold, smoky aroma — a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13960580/jollof-festival-oakland-west-african-food-competition-nigerian-sierra-leone\">signature of the Nigerian style\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of people think jollof rice can only be smoky if they burn it,” Adewole says. “But it doesn’t have to be like that.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Instead, Adewole develops layers of flavor by using a thoughtfully curated selection of smoked and toasted spices including ginger, garlic, rosemary, nutmeg and star anise. The jollof I ordered came with fried plantains and a maroon-colored chicken leg that melted off the bone. You can swap out the poultry for goat, fish or beef.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Egusi-soup-and-fufu.jpg\" alt=\"A bowl of egusi soup, served with a white ball of pounded yam on the side.\" class=\"wp-image-13990683\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Egusi-soup-and-fufu.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Egusi-soup-and-fufu-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Egusi-soup-and-fufu-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Egusi-soup-and-fufu-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The restaurant’s calling card is its selection of 14 different Nigerian soups. The egusi, pictured here with a ball of pounded yam, is the most popular. (Octavio Peña)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Most of FolaFela’s soups, on the other hand, highlight leaves and seeds native to Nigeria. The most popular one is a Yoruba dish called egusi soup, named after the dried ground melon seeds used to thicken it. Adewole’s version is specked with bitter leafy greens and served with poundo yam, a type of swallow made with yam flour. The stretchy, pillowy dough balls have been trending on social media lately, as \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/shorts/yo2E1uszAFs\">mukbang influencers\u003c/a> post videos of themselves dunking them in stew and theatrically chewing on each sauce-soaked bite. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Adewole decided to focus on soups because it’s a food that’s deeply nostalgic for West African people, in particular. Since the soups are often associated with celebrations and other large gatherings, she offers them in increments of up to four liters. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I have customers come in asking for particular soups that their grandma used to make,” Adewole says. Meanwhile, she recognizes that other customers might be having Nigerian cuisine for the very first time. For those newcomers, FolaFela can be a great place to learn about the origins of the food. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Folake-Adewole.jpg\" alt=\"A smiling Nigerian woman poses in front of an orange wall inside her restaurant.\" class=\"wp-image-13990684\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Folake-Adewole.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Folake-Adewole-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Folake-Adewole-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Folake-Adewole-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Folake Adewole has been cooking Nigerian food for friends and coworkers ever since she moved to San José in 2017. (Octavio Peña)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“A lot of Africans in the Bay Area are very scattered,” Adewole says. She sees her restaurant as a place for the community to congregate — where African immigrants can have conversations about what part of the continent their family is from and chat about their regional dishes. The grocery store section provides another point of connection, as Adewole travels to Los Angeles and Sacramento to stock the shop’s pantry and freezers with hard-to-find flours and spices. Her largest struggle is sourcing frozen and dried kote fish, or horse mackerel, which she serves fried and in stews.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Although FolaFela is still in its early stages, Adewole has ambitious ideas for where it’s heading next. Eventually, she hopes to open a second FolaFela location somewhere near Palo Alto to make Nigerian food more accessible to people on the Peninsula. And she is developing recipes to expand her menu to include dishes from other Nigerian ethnic groups like the Hausa. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“What I would love to do is bring more Igbo food onto my menu,” Adewole says. “I’m thinking of doing a white soup with cocoyam.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/folafela001/\">\u003cem>FolaFela\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> is open Tuesday to Saturday 11:30–9 p.m., and Sunday 3 p.m.–9 p.m. at 2762 Aborn Rd. in San José.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Fola-Fela-storefront.jpg\" alt=\"Exterior of a Nigerian restaurant and market. The sign above, in large, stylized yellow letters, reads, "FolaFela."\" class=\"wp-image-13990680\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Open since March 2026, FolaFela also features a small African grocery store in back.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Adewole didn’t have any restaurant experience before opening FolaFela, but she has been selling Nigerian dishes since her youth. Growing up in the city of Ile-Ifẹ, in Nigeria’s Osun state, Adewole would help her mother prepare and sell ofada rice — a rice dish topped with a crayfish and pepper stew that now serves at the restaurant, using the same recipe. Soon after she settled in San José, she decided to fill the culinary void by making Nigerian plates to share with coworkers and friends from church. By 2021, she was catering for events with as many as 300 guests. So, after much encouragement from her customers, she decided to open the restaurant while still juggling her day job as a registered nurse at the Stanford hospital. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Adewole didn’t have any restaurant experience before opening FolaFela, but she has been selling Nigerian dishes since her youth. Growing up in the city of Ile-Ifẹ, in Nigeria’s Osun state, Adewole would help her mother prepare and sell ofada rice — a rice dish topped with a crayfish and pepper stew that now serves at the restaurant, using the same recipe. Soon after she settled in San José, she decided to fill the culinary void by making Nigerian plates to share with coworkers and friends from church. By 2021, she was catering for events with as many as 300 guests. So, after much encouragement from her customers, she decided to open the restaurant while still juggling her day job as a registered nurse at the Stanford hospital. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Over the course of several visits to the restaurant, the jollof rice was my favorite dish on the menu. The tomato-infused rice tastes like it was cooked over a campfire due to its bold, smoky aroma — a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13960580/jollof-festival-oakland-west-african-food-competition-nigerian-sierra-leone\">signature of the Nigerian style\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Over the course of several visits to the restaurant, the jollof rice was my favorite dish on the menu. The tomato-infused rice tastes like it was cooked over a campfire due to its bold, smoky aroma — a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13960580/jollof-festival-oakland-west-african-food-competition-nigerian-sierra-leone\">signature of the Nigerian style\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“A lot of people think jollof rice can only be smoky if they burn it,” Adewole says. “But it doesn’t have to be like that.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Instead, Adewole develops layers of flavor by using a thoughtfully curated selection of smoked and toasted spices including ginger, garlic, rosemary, nutmeg and star anise. The jollof I ordered came with fried plantains and a maroon-colored chicken leg that melted off the bone. You can swap out the poultry for goat, fish or beef.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Instead, Adewole develops layers of flavor by using a thoughtfully curated selection of smoked and toasted spices including ginger, garlic, rosemary, nutmeg and star anise. The jollof I ordered came with fried plantains and a maroon-colored chicken leg that melted off the bone. You can swap out the poultry for goat, fish or beef.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Egusi-soup-and-fufu.jpg\" alt=\"A bowl of egusi soup, served with a white ball of pounded yam on the side.\" class=\"wp-image-13990683\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Egusi-soup-and-fufu.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Egusi-soup-and-fufu-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Egusi-soup-and-fufu-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Egusi-soup-and-fufu-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The restaurant’s calling card is its selection of 14 different Nigerian soups. The egusi, pictured here with a ball of pounded yam, is the most popular.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Most of FolaFela’s soups, on the other hand, highlight leaves and seeds native to Nigeria. The most popular one is a Yoruba dish called egusi soup, named after the dried ground melon seeds used to thicken it. Adewole’s version is specked with bitter leafy greens and served with poundo yam, a type of swallow made with yam flour. The stretchy, pillowy dough balls have been trending on social media lately, as \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/shorts/yo2E1uszAFs\">mukbang influencers\u003c/a> post videos of themselves dunking them in stew and theatrically chewing on each sauce-soaked bite. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Most of FolaFela’s soups, on the other hand, highlight leaves and seeds native to Nigeria. The most popular one is a Yoruba dish called egusi soup, named after the dried ground melon seeds used to thicken it. Adewole’s version is specked with bitter leafy greens and served with poundo yam, a type of swallow made with yam flour. The stretchy, pillowy dough balls have been trending on social media lately, as \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/shorts/yo2E1uszAFs\">mukbang influencers\u003c/a> post videos of themselves dunking them in stew and theatrically chewing on each sauce-soaked bite. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Adewole decided to focus on soups because it’s a food that’s deeply nostalgic for West African people, in particular. Since the soups are often associated with celebrations and other large gatherings, she offers them in increments of up to four liters. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Adewole decided to focus on soups because it’s a food that’s deeply nostalgic for West African people, in particular. Since the soups are often associated with celebrations and other large gatherings, she offers them in increments of up to four liters. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I have customers come in asking for particular soups that their grandma used to make,” Adewole says. Meanwhile, she recognizes that other customers might be having Nigerian cuisine for the very first time. For those newcomers, FolaFela can be a great place to learn about the origins of the food. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“I have customers come in asking for particular soups that their grandma used to make,” Adewole says. Meanwhile, she recognizes that other customers might be having Nigerian cuisine for the very first time. For those newcomers, FolaFela can be a great place to learn about the origins of the food. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“A lot of Africans in the Bay Area are very scattered,” Adewole says. She sees her restaurant as a place for the community to congregate — where African immigrants can have conversations about what part of the continent their family is from and chat about their regional dishes. The grocery store section provides another point of connection, as Adewole travels to Los Angeles and Sacramento to stock the shop’s pantry and freezers with hard-to-find flours and spices. Her largest struggle is sourcing frozen and dried kote fish, or horse mackerel, which she serves fried and in stews.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“A lot of Africans in the Bay Area are very scattered,” Adewole says. She sees her restaurant as a place for the community to congregate — where African immigrants can have conversations about what part of the continent their family is from and chat about their regional dishes. The grocery store section provides another point of connection, as Adewole travels to Los Angeles and Sacramento to stock the shop’s pantry and freezers with hard-to-find flours and spices. Her largest struggle is sourcing frozen and dried kote fish, or horse mackerel, which she serves fried and in stews.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Although FolaFela is still in its early stages, Adewole has ambitious ideas for where it’s heading next. Eventually, she hopes to open a second FolaFela location somewhere near Palo Alto to make Nigerian food more accessible to people on the Peninsula. And she is developing recipes to expand her menu to include dishes from other Nigerian ethnic groups like the Hausa. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Although FolaFela is still in its early stages, Adewole has ambitious ideas for where it’s heading next. Eventually, she hopes to open a second FolaFela location somewhere near Palo Alto to make Nigerian food more accessible to people on the Peninsula. And she is developing recipes to expand her menu to include dishes from other Nigerian ethnic groups like the Hausa. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“What I would love to do is bring more Igbo food onto my menu,” Adewole says. “I’m thinking of doing a white soup with cocoyam.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/folafela001/\">\u003cem>FolaFela\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> is open Tuesday to Saturday 11:30–9 p.m., and Sunday 3 p.m.–9 p.m. at 2762 Aborn Rd. in San José.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/folafela001/\">\u003cem>FolaFela\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> is open Tuesday to Saturday 11:30–9 p.m., and Sunday 3 p.m.–9 p.m. at 2762 Aborn Rd. in San José.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>When Folake Adewole first moved to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/san-jose\">San José\u003c/a> in 2017 to take a job as a travel nurse, there wasn’t a single Nigerian restaurant in the area. For the past 10 years, whenever she was craving beef suya or jollof rice, she had to drive up to Hayward — or, more likely, just cook it herself. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In March, Adewole finally decided to take things into her own hands: She opened \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/folafela001/\">FolaFela\u003c/a>, a small Nigerian restaurant tucked into a strip mall in East San José. It’s the South Bay’s first proper brick-and-mortar Nigerian restaurant.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The shop has only a handful of tables, along with a mini African grocery store in the back. But the menu is surprisingly expansive, featuring dishes like gizz dodo (fried gizzards and plantains) and asun coconut rice. The main draw is the assortment of fourteen Nigerian soups, served with starchy dough balls known as swallows or okele. Already, the thick, complex soups have been a hit, drawing flocks of diners from as far away as Santa Cruz.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Fola-Fela-storefront.jpg\" alt='Exterior of a Nigerian restaurant and market. The sign above, in large, stylized yellow letters, reads, \"FolaFela.\"' class=\"wp-image-13990680\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Fola-Fela-storefront.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Fola-Fela-storefront-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Fola-Fela-storefront-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Fola-Fela-storefront-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Open since March 2026, FolaFela also features a small African grocery store in back. (Octavio Peña)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Adewole didn’t have any restaurant experience before opening FolaFela, but she has been selling Nigerian dishes since her youth. Growing up in the city of Ile-Ifẹ, in Nigeria’s Osun state, Adewole would help her mother prepare and sell ofada rice — a rice dish topped with a crayfish and pepper stew that now serves at the restaurant, using the same recipe. Soon after she settled in San José, she decided to fill the culinary void by making Nigerian plates to share with coworkers and friends from church. By 2021, she was catering for events with as many as 300 guests. So, after much encouragement from her customers, she decided to open the restaurant while still juggling her day job as a registered nurse at the Stanford hospital. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Over the course of several visits to the restaurant, the jollof rice was my favorite dish on the menu. The tomato-infused rice tastes like it was cooked over a campfire due to its bold, smoky aroma — a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13960580/jollof-festival-oakland-west-african-food-competition-nigerian-sierra-leone\">signature of the Nigerian style\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of people think jollof rice can only be smoky if they burn it,” Adewole says. “But it doesn’t have to be like that.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Instead, Adewole develops layers of flavor by using a thoughtfully curated selection of smoked and toasted spices including ginger, garlic, rosemary, nutmeg and star anise. The jollof I ordered came with fried plantains and a maroon-colored chicken leg that melted off the bone. You can swap out the poultry for goat, fish or beef.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Egusi-soup-and-fufu.jpg\" alt=\"A bowl of egusi soup, served with a white ball of pounded yam on the side.\" class=\"wp-image-13990683\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Egusi-soup-and-fufu.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Egusi-soup-and-fufu-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Egusi-soup-and-fufu-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Egusi-soup-and-fufu-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The restaurant’s calling card is its selection of 14 different Nigerian soups. The egusi, pictured here with a ball of pounded yam, is the most popular. (Octavio Peña)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Most of FolaFela’s soups, on the other hand, highlight leaves and seeds native to Nigeria. The most popular one is a Yoruba dish called egusi soup, named after the dried ground melon seeds used to thicken it. Adewole’s version is specked with bitter leafy greens and served with poundo yam, a type of swallow made with yam flour. The stretchy, pillowy dough balls have been trending on social media lately, as \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/shorts/yo2E1uszAFs\">mukbang influencers\u003c/a> post videos of themselves dunking them in stew and theatrically chewing on each sauce-soaked bite. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Adewole decided to focus on soups because it’s a food that’s deeply nostalgic for West African people, in particular. Since the soups are often associated with celebrations and other large gatherings, she offers them in increments of up to four liters. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I have customers come in asking for particular soups that their grandma used to make,” Adewole says. Meanwhile, she recognizes that other customers might be having Nigerian cuisine for the very first time. For those newcomers, FolaFela can be a great place to learn about the origins of the food. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Folake-Adewole.jpg\" alt=\"A smiling Nigerian woman poses in front of an orange wall inside her restaurant.\" class=\"wp-image-13990684\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Folake-Adewole.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Folake-Adewole-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Folake-Adewole-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/Folake-Adewole-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Folake Adewole has been cooking Nigerian food for friends and coworkers ever since she moved to San José in 2017. (Octavio Peña)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“A lot of Africans in the Bay Area are very scattered,” Adewole says. She sees her restaurant as a place for the community to congregate — where African immigrants can have conversations about what part of the continent their family is from and chat about their regional dishes. The grocery store section provides another point of connection, as Adewole travels to Los Angeles and Sacramento to stock the shop’s pantry and freezers with hard-to-find flours and spices. Her largest struggle is sourcing frozen and dried kote fish, or horse mackerel, which she serves fried and in stews.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Although FolaFela is still in its early stages, Adewole has ambitious ideas for where it’s heading next. Eventually, she hopes to open a second FolaFela location somewhere near Palo Alto to make Nigerian food more accessible to people on the Peninsula. And she is developing recipes to expand her menu to include dishes from other Nigerian ethnic groups like the Hausa. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“What I would love to do is bring more Igbo food onto my menu,” Adewole says. “I’m thinking of doing a white soup with cocoyam.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/folafela001/\">\u003cem>FolaFela\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> is open Tuesday to Saturday 11:30–9 p.m., and Sunday 3 p.m.–9 p.m. at 2762 Aborn Rd. in San José.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "best-burritos-variety-cucos-san-jose-redwood-city",
"title": "A New San José Restaurant Offers the Largest Variety of Burritos in the Bay",
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"content": "\u003cp>If \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/burrito\">burrito\u003c/a> eating were a professional sport, I would probably be one of the highest-ranked players in the league. I’ve eaten hundreds of burritos across the Bay Area, usually sitting in my car with salsas spread across the dash. But even a pro eater might be intimidated by the staggering selection at \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/cucosburritos/\">Cuco’s Burritos\u003c/a>, which offers more than 14 different specialty styles — the most I’ve ever encountered in the Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On my first visit to the restaurant’s brand new location in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/sanjosefood\">San José\u003c/a>, I couldn’t decide between a wet burrito drenched in mole and another that was smothered in bright green tomatillo salsa. I went for both and added a secret menu option I’d heard about for good measure — a burrito stuffed with smoky al pastor and a whole chile relleno oozing molten cheese.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The dining room was a lot nicer than the interior of my Civic, with homey tile flooring and sleek wooden tables that quickly filled up with an entire fleet of burritos drizzled with vibrant salsas and zigzagging crema. Each burrito was both absolutely packed and perfectly balanced; no single ingredient outshined the rest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988696\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988696\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Top-to-bottom_-Asada-fries-suiza-burrito-chile-relleno-al-pastor-burrito-and-chipotle-shrimp-burrito.jpg\" alt=\"Overhead view of a spread of burritos and carne asada fries.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1125\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Top-to-bottom_-Asada-fries-suiza-burrito-chile-relleno-al-pastor-burrito-and-chipotle-shrimp-burrito.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Top-to-bottom_-Asada-fries-suiza-burrito-chile-relleno-al-pastor-burrito-and-chipotle-shrimp-burrito-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Top-to-bottom_-Asada-fries-suiza-burrito-chile-relleno-al-pastor-burrito-and-chipotle-shrimp-burrito-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Top-to-bottom_-Asada-fries-suiza-burrito-chile-relleno-al-pastor-burrito-and-chipotle-shrimp-burrito-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Top-to-bottom_-Asada-fries-suiza-burrito-chile-relleno-al-pastor-burrito-and-chipotle-shrimp-burrito-1200x675.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A massive burrito feast at the new Cuco’s Burritos in San José. Pictured from left to right: carne asada fries, suiza burrito, chile relleno–al pastor burrito and chipotle shrimp burrito. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Owner Mariela Peralta was practically raised in a restaurant kitchen. Her parents opened their first food truck in Redwood City in 1988, when she was an infant. By age 12, she was buttering bread and passing out sodas. When she was 18, her father gave her a food truck of her own. She ran it for five years before quitting to try out careers in the medical field and bridal makeup. Ultimately, she found that her true passion was food and returned to manage her parents’ four trucks and two restaurants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Peralta collaborated with her father, Don Cuco, to open the original Cuco’s location in Redwood City in 2019. She named the restaurant after him, and in return he shared his recipes and helped her remodel the space before he passed away in 2023. Open for about a month now, the new San José location replaced Tacos El Rancherito, a restaurant that her mother, Doña Lupe, ran for 25 years before deciding to retire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13979641,arts_13958466,arts_13904835']\u003c/span>\u003c/span>Of course, the Bay Area has no shortage of burrito restaurants, but Peralta decided to distinguish her business from established taquerias by doubling down on burritos even more — by offering a more extensive selection than anyone else. Many of Cuco’s wet burritos, in particular, are inspired by regional Mexican dishes like \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaurants/article/tortas-ahogadas-oakland-san-jose-21122878.php\">tortas ahogadas\u003c/a> from Jalisco, enchiladas suizas from Mexico City, aporreadillo from Michoacan and mole from Oaxaca. The restaurant also serves regional styles popular in other parts of the United States, like San Diego’s California burrito, which comes stuffed with fries, or Arizona’s deep-fried burrito (aka a chimichanga). There’s also some influence from our own region’s massive \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101910084/why-the-mission-style-burrito-defines-the-bay-area\">Mission burritos\u003c/a> — although Peralta says she’s never eaten a burrito in the Mission herself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988697\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988697\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Angel-Peralta-left-and-Mariela-Peralta-right.jpg\" alt=\"A man and woman pose for a portrait inside a restaurant.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Angel-Peralta-left-and-Mariela-Peralta-right.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Angel-Peralta-left-and-Mariela-Peralta-right-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Angel-Peralta-left-and-Mariela-Peralta-right-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Angel-Peralta-left-and-Mariela-Peralta-right-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mariela Peralta (right) is the owner of Cuco’s Burritos. She runs the new San José shop along with her brother, Angel (left). \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The large variety of burrito styles — including six different breakfast burritos — has earned the restaurant a cult following and \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/projects/2025/best-burrito-sf-bay-area/\">critical acclaim\u003c/a>. The hyperfocus on burritos doesn’t come across as a gimmick, though. Instead, it has simply given Peralta a new way of highlighting family recipes that have been popular for over 40 years. In fact, Peralta says her burrito fillings are all dishes she grew up eating at home. The moles, for example, were handed down through multiple generations of women in her family going back to her great-grandmother.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I want to continue the legacy that my parents started so many years ago,” Peralta says. “It’s my mission to see the restaurant flourish and have more people try my family’s recipes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In some cases, Peralta adds her own flourish to her family’s recipes — by creating vegetarian versions of al pastor and chorizo that combine tofu with her dad’s adobo, as well as a vegetarian mole burrito.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988694\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988694\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Chile-Relleno-Al-Pastor-Burrito.jpg\" alt=\"A woman in a pink cardigan holds a burrito in her hand, ready to take a bite.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Chile-Relleno-Al-Pastor-Burrito.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Chile-Relleno-Al-Pastor-Burrito-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Chile-Relleno-Al-Pastor-Burrito-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Chile-Relleno-Al-Pastor-Burrito-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">This off-menu “secret” burrito features smoky al pastor and a whole chile relleno. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Many of the customers at the San José Cuco’s are familiar with the original restaurant in Redwood City. The menus at both locations are largely the same, but Peralta says she does have some San Jose exclusives in the works, like tacos dorados and carne asada fries, both developed by her brother, Angel Peralta. She’s also considering adding seasonal burritos like one inspired by chile en nogada, a stuffed poblano drowned in a creamy walnut sauce that’s typically served around Mexican Independence Day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although she has a head chef who does most of the day-to-day cooking at the two restaurants, Peralta herself frequently steps into all the roles, including cashier, cook and server. Although she’s already thinking about her next move, she doesn’t have any grand ambitions to turn Cuco’s into a giant chain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t know how much of me I can pour into more locations,” she says. “Maybe one more and all done.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/cucosburritos/\">\u003ci>Cuco’s Burritos\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> (1729 McKee Rd., San José) is open Monday through Saturday 11 a.m.–6 p.m. \u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>If \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/burrito\">burrito\u003c/a> eating were a professional sport, I would probably be one of the highest-ranked players in the league. I’ve eaten hundreds of burritos across the Bay Area, usually sitting in my car with salsas spread across the dash. But even a pro eater might be intimidated by the staggering selection at \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/cucosburritos/\">Cuco’s Burritos\u003c/a>, which offers more than 14 different specialty styles — the most I’ve ever encountered in the Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On my first visit to the restaurant’s brand new location in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/sanjosefood\">San José\u003c/a>, I couldn’t decide between a wet burrito drenched in mole and another that was smothered in bright green tomatillo salsa. I went for both and added a secret menu option I’d heard about for good measure — a burrito stuffed with smoky al pastor and a whole chile relleno oozing molten cheese.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The dining room was a lot nicer than the interior of my Civic, with homey tile flooring and sleek wooden tables that quickly filled up with an entire fleet of burritos drizzled with vibrant salsas and zigzagging crema. Each burrito was both absolutely packed and perfectly balanced; no single ingredient outshined the rest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988696\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988696\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Top-to-bottom_-Asada-fries-suiza-burrito-chile-relleno-al-pastor-burrito-and-chipotle-shrimp-burrito.jpg\" alt=\"Overhead view of a spread of burritos and carne asada fries.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1125\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Top-to-bottom_-Asada-fries-suiza-burrito-chile-relleno-al-pastor-burrito-and-chipotle-shrimp-burrito.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Top-to-bottom_-Asada-fries-suiza-burrito-chile-relleno-al-pastor-burrito-and-chipotle-shrimp-burrito-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Top-to-bottom_-Asada-fries-suiza-burrito-chile-relleno-al-pastor-burrito-and-chipotle-shrimp-burrito-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Top-to-bottom_-Asada-fries-suiza-burrito-chile-relleno-al-pastor-burrito-and-chipotle-shrimp-burrito-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Top-to-bottom_-Asada-fries-suiza-burrito-chile-relleno-al-pastor-burrito-and-chipotle-shrimp-burrito-1200x675.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A massive burrito feast at the new Cuco’s Burritos in San José. Pictured from left to right: carne asada fries, suiza burrito, chile relleno–al pastor burrito and chipotle shrimp burrito. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Owner Mariela Peralta was practically raised in a restaurant kitchen. Her parents opened their first food truck in Redwood City in 1988, when she was an infant. By age 12, she was buttering bread and passing out sodas. When she was 18, her father gave her a food truck of her own. She ran it for five years before quitting to try out careers in the medical field and bridal makeup. Ultimately, she found that her true passion was food and returned to manage her parents’ four trucks and two restaurants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Peralta collaborated with her father, Don Cuco, to open the original Cuco’s location in Redwood City in 2019. She named the restaurant after him, and in return he shared his recipes and helped her remodel the space before he passed away in 2023. Open for about a month now, the new San José location replaced Tacos El Rancherito, a restaurant that her mother, Doña Lupe, ran for 25 years before deciding to retire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/span>Of course, the Bay Area has no shortage of burrito restaurants, but Peralta decided to distinguish her business from established taquerias by doubling down on burritos even more — by offering a more extensive selection than anyone else. Many of Cuco’s wet burritos, in particular, are inspired by regional Mexican dishes like \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaurants/article/tortas-ahogadas-oakland-san-jose-21122878.php\">tortas ahogadas\u003c/a> from Jalisco, enchiladas suizas from Mexico City, aporreadillo from Michoacan and mole from Oaxaca. The restaurant also serves regional styles popular in other parts of the United States, like San Diego’s California burrito, which comes stuffed with fries, or Arizona’s deep-fried burrito (aka a chimichanga). There’s also some influence from our own region’s massive \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101910084/why-the-mission-style-burrito-defines-the-bay-area\">Mission burritos\u003c/a> — although Peralta says she’s never eaten a burrito in the Mission herself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988697\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988697\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Angel-Peralta-left-and-Mariela-Peralta-right.jpg\" alt=\"A man and woman pose for a portrait inside a restaurant.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Angel-Peralta-left-and-Mariela-Peralta-right.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Angel-Peralta-left-and-Mariela-Peralta-right-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Angel-Peralta-left-and-Mariela-Peralta-right-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Angel-Peralta-left-and-Mariela-Peralta-right-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mariela Peralta (right) is the owner of Cuco’s Burritos. She runs the new San José shop along with her brother, Angel (left). \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The large variety of burrito styles — including six different breakfast burritos — has earned the restaurant a cult following and \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/projects/2025/best-burrito-sf-bay-area/\">critical acclaim\u003c/a>. The hyperfocus on burritos doesn’t come across as a gimmick, though. Instead, it has simply given Peralta a new way of highlighting family recipes that have been popular for over 40 years. In fact, Peralta says her burrito fillings are all dishes she grew up eating at home. The moles, for example, were handed down through multiple generations of women in her family going back to her great-grandmother.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I want to continue the legacy that my parents started so many years ago,” Peralta says. “It’s my mission to see the restaurant flourish and have more people try my family’s recipes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In some cases, Peralta adds her own flourish to her family’s recipes — by creating vegetarian versions of al pastor and chorizo that combine tofu with her dad’s adobo, as well as a vegetarian mole burrito.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988694\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988694\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Chile-Relleno-Al-Pastor-Burrito.jpg\" alt=\"A woman in a pink cardigan holds a burrito in her hand, ready to take a bite.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Chile-Relleno-Al-Pastor-Burrito.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Chile-Relleno-Al-Pastor-Burrito-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Chile-Relleno-Al-Pastor-Burrito-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Chile-Relleno-Al-Pastor-Burrito-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">This off-menu “secret” burrito features smoky al pastor and a whole chile relleno. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Many of the customers at the San José Cuco’s are familiar with the original restaurant in Redwood City. The menus at both locations are largely the same, but Peralta says she does have some San Jose exclusives in the works, like tacos dorados and carne asada fries, both developed by her brother, Angel Peralta. She’s also considering adding seasonal burritos like one inspired by chile en nogada, a stuffed poblano drowned in a creamy walnut sauce that’s typically served around Mexican Independence Day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although she has a head chef who does most of the day-to-day cooking at the two restaurants, Peralta herself frequently steps into all the roles, including cashier, cook and server. Although she’s already thinking about her next move, she doesn’t have any grand ambitions to turn Cuco’s into a giant chain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t know how much of me I can pour into more locations,” she says. “Maybe one more and all done.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/cucosburritos/\">\u003ci>Cuco’s Burritos\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> (1729 McKee Rd., San José) is open Monday through Saturday 11 a.m.–6 p.m. \u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>I have a rule where anytime I spot a busy \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/food-truck\">food truck\u003c/a>, I’ll make a brief detour to check it out, even if it means pulling across three lanes on the highway — much to the dismay of my passengers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s how I first discovered \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/chefmuskebab/\">Chefmus\u003c/a>, a modest-looking Turkish food trailer wedged between a gas station and tire shop in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/mountain-view\">Mountain View\u003c/a>. From the main street, you can’t see the dining tables or the crowd of customers swarming the trailer. But when I peeked inside the window, I saw a full-on pyrotechnics show: a variety of meat kebabs, jalapeños, tomatoes and onions grilled over a live flame until they were heavily charred.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The menu features only three items: lamb shish kebab, chicken shish kebab and, the truck’s biggest claim to fame, the minced lamb skewers known as Adana kebab. These glistening kebabs are scorched on the grill until they develop a crunchy shell, then tightly wrapped in a flour tortilla along with tomatoes, onion and a spritz of lemon juice. The meat is so tender it hardly requires chewing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13987760\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13987760\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/chefmus-jalapenos.jpg\" alt=\"Jalapeños, tomatoes and Adana kebab on a hot grill.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/chefmus-jalapenos.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/chefmus-jalapenos-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/chefmus-jalapenos-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/chefmus-jalapenos-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Adana kebab, tomatoes and jalapeños are cooked over a live fire until they’re nicely charred. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Brothers Seyhumus and Emir Artik moved to the US from their hometown of Istanbul, Turkey, in 2021. Although the city of Adana is on the other side of the country, the Artiks grew up eating Adana-style kebabs as it’s one of the most popular street foods all across Turkey. Still, Seyhumus says he was never taught how to make the kebabs when he attended culinary school in Istanbul. Instead, he picked up the skill while working at a hotel restaurant in Taksim.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the brothers opened Chefmus this past December, their goal was to share the depth of Turkish cuisine with the Bay Area. Familiar grilled meats like kebabs and köfte seemed like a good place to start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Turkish people come for Adana kebab because it’s hard to find in the Bay Area,” Seyhumus says. While the dish is a staple on Turkish restaurant menus, proper Adana — fire-roasted and intensely lamby, with meticulously ground meat — is incredibly rare. In the Bay Area, most restaurants make their Adana with lamb scraps or a mix of lamb and beef instead of grinding the proper cuts of lamb, he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13987771\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13987771\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/chefmus-emir.jpg\" alt=\"A man poses in front of a food truck.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/chefmus-emir.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/chefmus-emir-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/chefmus-emir-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/chefmus-emir-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Co-owner Emir Artik poses in front of the Chefmus food truck. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>So, Seyhumus decided that Chefmus should focus on mastering Adana kebab. The dish is traditionally made by \u003ca href=\"https://vimeo.com/6169932?turnstile=0.6MbAj6ED8-MOqJ-8nemaMegVknEExUAXZBRGso7jdyRzbt42N0DnBvRZHZgjM5BPyzPXiRGgJ8n0KA6tWfyIIb9f2J8vuUDB5HKd32pdHD9ofyZRWjhasOx6sJQmW4-B5JtaZbnlLYODW_7UksD5qrQp20WGFvE-z4KbQAqeu24GxyLDnWMU4AxyUlBFJLEZ6_7exnTQUDdc-41scc9G6zUcYHmazq3FIYOv8J2kjX_1IZbfmszOiN1DGfGevMAoNlG3QPg78zro1zOTmeLRQ8FAh0flb_oKocasUSVeJPBXwdY-vxjA4WEw1ikPYRTqjoPLUnB7652g8v6GWcQ0VVGsS4LC7jds1JICnFqhWeimbTFJMMOUca8VMy-xwyF-GQxTRtYo1jD890NPHIUcmcIaYYLjvHj0McJdG3zI6YWvUGxega6L4KBYt85Vc2yePvrQKho5AnwBM2UzbRfsDTkU0H483LHnHtr_5mPmodRXbEdIZvVlCGwufagUU4SV_OZY_1r7Xz8_lZSqxQYO9OENzWomgpwUA9GbKwqDUPuOqMX8LfDbOPSY03h_HQqZbP-Qnt3MusO0vSTEB55glsAAVsds5Kj9fYfktnFOfzh6fHZcGOalXZMX3wK2jN8HVCejdPsROM9JI1eV--UeT61VudCe_lFiGCNAPrLGmPWxMKC6A5MFMINP0-XAtWNBPymTFLNzaEXQ4V9xEu6L1k2m-8_c0mjCq4vUoGQy2H7sFIEZuKucggaz4vb1zjXGVdJMIybuoduALsdo3z95YWxp5v1WjYtahcgKRqmLdq2gkE6YNzuwJceDHTiEDdpbdF3L6HG0k5AJxNpMXU_mRhSjpr-jczCTNERuM4BSIkWvOkd6Tm_91cREcmtA4oc29sROdlULPnUHPVOmpeUBg6JceL6DLoQNI1eY92BNZtk7kjzmIsAaAethBQ-Ppr6w.OG5UkLg4O3O8GIAA4-WXrw.61f5f4cba33a76b70b13c208efa6cab31d9da2cf089e005b0cad52afe8f178c8\">mincing lamb\u003c/a> with a curved blade known as a \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXY59BZnH-4\">zirh knife\u003c/a>. Seyhumus uses the zirh he ordered from Turkey to finely chop a minimum of 10 pounds of halal lamb each day. Even though a lot of other kebab shops use a machine to grind their meat, Seyhumus is opposed to that shortcut because it produces a dense, chewy texture akin to sausage. Chefmus’ coarsely chopped lamb — a mix of shoulder and rib meat — is looser and more tender. It’s only salted and lightly seasoned with red pepper to allow the flavor of the lamb to shine. The ground meat is massaged onto a long, blade-like skewer known as a shish). After grilling, the kebabs are juicy with a hint of smokiness. They’re served wrapped in flour tortillas, as the Artiks have yet to find a source for pide, the traditional Turkish flatbread. Even still, this is the best Adana-style kebab I’ve had in the Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The brothers tag-team the food trailer — Seyhumus takes the first shift to prepare the meats, and Emir takes over in the afternoon to cook until they sell out. Emir was working as an Uber driver and decided to get into the food business to support his brother even though he never had any prior restaurant experience. Both brothers say they see Chefmus as more than just a business venture. It’s a way to connect with people in the community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Right now, 50% of our customers are Turkish,” says Emir. “Others have never tried Turkish food.” Many customers tell the brothers they feel like they’re eating a meal in Turkey.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13987762\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13987762\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/chefmus-kofte-kebab.jpg\" alt=\"A kofte keba sandwich, opened to show the meat, tomatoes, and onions inside.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"924\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/chefmus-kofte-kebab.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/chefmus-kofte-kebab-160x74.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/chefmus-kofte-kebab-768x355.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/chefmus-kofte-kebab-1536x710.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chefmus’ köfte kebab is a recent addition to the menu. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Chefmus also offers rotating dishes like sütlaç (rice pudding) and mercimek çorbası (lentil soup). On the first day of Ramadan this year, Seyhumus prepared lamb shanks that he cooked for four hours. “I’m not sure if these things will be on the menu permanently,” says Emir, noting that they’ll usually announce these specials on their \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/chefmuskebab/\">Instagram page\u003c/a>. “We’re always going to do new things, but not every day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13965475,arts_13979641,arts_13961613']\u003c/span>\u003c/span>If a dish is extremely popular, like their recent beef köfte, it’ll join the permanent roster. Seyhumus declined to share any of the fourteen secret spices he uses in his köfte, but the results speak for themselves: Grilled over the flame, these meatballs were earthy and aromatic, and especially tasty when tucked into a crunchy baguette with sliced onions and tomatoes. The advantage of having a limited menu is being able to focus on each dish. The chicken kebab, for example, is marinated for 24 hours.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Emir and Seyhumus already have plans for opening a second Chefmus location in Santa Clara later this year and perhaps eventually a restaurant. Meanwhile, Seyhumus says his true passion has always been desserts — specifically, San Sebastian cheesecake (aka Basque cheesecake) topped with Belgian chocolate. Before opening the food truck, he’d dreamed of starting a cheesecake business. He held off on selling desserts at the food trailer due to lack of space, but he says he’s eager to return to his roots as a pastry chef someday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Maybe I will open a coffee shop with desserts,” he says. “First, I want people to know us and what we sell.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/chefmuskebab/\">\u003ci>Chefmus\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is open Monday through Saturday 11 a.m.–10 p.m. and Sunday 1–8 p.m. at 101 E. El Camino Real in Mountain View.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>I have a rule where anytime I spot a busy \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/food-truck\">food truck\u003c/a>, I’ll make a brief detour to check it out, even if it means pulling across three lanes on the highway — much to the dismay of my passengers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s how I first discovered \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/chefmuskebab/\">Chefmus\u003c/a>, a modest-looking Turkish food trailer wedged between a gas station and tire shop in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/mountain-view\">Mountain View\u003c/a>. From the main street, you can’t see the dining tables or the crowd of customers swarming the trailer. But when I peeked inside the window, I saw a full-on pyrotechnics show: a variety of meat kebabs, jalapeños, tomatoes and onions grilled over a live flame until they were heavily charred.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The menu features only three items: lamb shish kebab, chicken shish kebab and, the truck’s biggest claim to fame, the minced lamb skewers known as Adana kebab. These glistening kebabs are scorched on the grill until they develop a crunchy shell, then tightly wrapped in a flour tortilla along with tomatoes, onion and a spritz of lemon juice. The meat is so tender it hardly requires chewing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13987760\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13987760\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/chefmus-jalapenos.jpg\" alt=\"Jalapeños, tomatoes and Adana kebab on a hot grill.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/chefmus-jalapenos.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/chefmus-jalapenos-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/chefmus-jalapenos-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/chefmus-jalapenos-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Adana kebab, tomatoes and jalapeños are cooked over a live fire until they’re nicely charred. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Brothers Seyhumus and Emir Artik moved to the US from their hometown of Istanbul, Turkey, in 2021. Although the city of Adana is on the other side of the country, the Artiks grew up eating Adana-style kebabs as it’s one of the most popular street foods all across Turkey. Still, Seyhumus says he was never taught how to make the kebabs when he attended culinary school in Istanbul. Instead, he picked up the skill while working at a hotel restaurant in Taksim.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the brothers opened Chefmus this past December, their goal was to share the depth of Turkish cuisine with the Bay Area. Familiar grilled meats like kebabs and köfte seemed like a good place to start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Turkish people come for Adana kebab because it’s hard to find in the Bay Area,” Seyhumus says. While the dish is a staple on Turkish restaurant menus, proper Adana — fire-roasted and intensely lamby, with meticulously ground meat — is incredibly rare. In the Bay Area, most restaurants make their Adana with lamb scraps or a mix of lamb and beef instead of grinding the proper cuts of lamb, he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13987771\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13987771\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/chefmus-emir.jpg\" alt=\"A man poses in front of a food truck.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/chefmus-emir.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/chefmus-emir-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/chefmus-emir-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/chefmus-emir-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Co-owner Emir Artik poses in front of the Chefmus food truck. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>So, Seyhumus decided that Chefmus should focus on mastering Adana kebab. The dish is traditionally made by \u003ca href=\"https://vimeo.com/6169932?turnstile=0.6MbAj6ED8-MOqJ-8nemaMegVknEExUAXZBRGso7jdyRzbt42N0DnBvRZHZgjM5BPyzPXiRGgJ8n0KA6tWfyIIb9f2J8vuUDB5HKd32pdHD9ofyZRWjhasOx6sJQmW4-B5JtaZbnlLYODW_7UksD5qrQp20WGFvE-z4KbQAqeu24GxyLDnWMU4AxyUlBFJLEZ6_7exnTQUDdc-41scc9G6zUcYHmazq3FIYOv8J2kjX_1IZbfmszOiN1DGfGevMAoNlG3QPg78zro1zOTmeLRQ8FAh0flb_oKocasUSVeJPBXwdY-vxjA4WEw1ikPYRTqjoPLUnB7652g8v6GWcQ0VVGsS4LC7jds1JICnFqhWeimbTFJMMOUca8VMy-xwyF-GQxTRtYo1jD890NPHIUcmcIaYYLjvHj0McJdG3zI6YWvUGxega6L4KBYt85Vc2yePvrQKho5AnwBM2UzbRfsDTkU0H483LHnHtr_5mPmodRXbEdIZvVlCGwufagUU4SV_OZY_1r7Xz8_lZSqxQYO9OENzWomgpwUA9GbKwqDUPuOqMX8LfDbOPSY03h_HQqZbP-Qnt3MusO0vSTEB55glsAAVsds5Kj9fYfktnFOfzh6fHZcGOalXZMX3wK2jN8HVCejdPsROM9JI1eV--UeT61VudCe_lFiGCNAPrLGmPWxMKC6A5MFMINP0-XAtWNBPymTFLNzaEXQ4V9xEu6L1k2m-8_c0mjCq4vUoGQy2H7sFIEZuKucggaz4vb1zjXGVdJMIybuoduALsdo3z95YWxp5v1WjYtahcgKRqmLdq2gkE6YNzuwJceDHTiEDdpbdF3L6HG0k5AJxNpMXU_mRhSjpr-jczCTNERuM4BSIkWvOkd6Tm_91cREcmtA4oc29sROdlULPnUHPVOmpeUBg6JceL6DLoQNI1eY92BNZtk7kjzmIsAaAethBQ-Ppr6w.OG5UkLg4O3O8GIAA4-WXrw.61f5f4cba33a76b70b13c208efa6cab31d9da2cf089e005b0cad52afe8f178c8\">mincing lamb\u003c/a> with a curved blade known as a \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXY59BZnH-4\">zirh knife\u003c/a>. Seyhumus uses the zirh he ordered from Turkey to finely chop a minimum of 10 pounds of halal lamb each day. Even though a lot of other kebab shops use a machine to grind their meat, Seyhumus is opposed to that shortcut because it produces a dense, chewy texture akin to sausage. Chefmus’ coarsely chopped lamb — a mix of shoulder and rib meat — is looser and more tender. It’s only salted and lightly seasoned with red pepper to allow the flavor of the lamb to shine. The ground meat is massaged onto a long, blade-like skewer known as a shish). After grilling, the kebabs are juicy with a hint of smokiness. They’re served wrapped in flour tortillas, as the Artiks have yet to find a source for pide, the traditional Turkish flatbread. Even still, this is the best Adana-style kebab I’ve had in the Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The brothers tag-team the food trailer — Seyhumus takes the first shift to prepare the meats, and Emir takes over in the afternoon to cook until they sell out. Emir was working as an Uber driver and decided to get into the food business to support his brother even though he never had any prior restaurant experience. Both brothers say they see Chefmus as more than just a business venture. It’s a way to connect with people in the community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Right now, 50% of our customers are Turkish,” says Emir. “Others have never tried Turkish food.” Many customers tell the brothers they feel like they’re eating a meal in Turkey.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13987762\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13987762\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/chefmus-kofte-kebab.jpg\" alt=\"A kofte keba sandwich, opened to show the meat, tomatoes, and onions inside.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"924\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/chefmus-kofte-kebab.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/chefmus-kofte-kebab-160x74.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/chefmus-kofte-kebab-768x355.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/03/chefmus-kofte-kebab-1536x710.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chefmus’ köfte kebab is a recent addition to the menu. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Chefmus also offers rotating dishes like sütlaç (rice pudding) and mercimek çorbası (lentil soup). On the first day of Ramadan this year, Seyhumus prepared lamb shanks that he cooked for four hours. “I’m not sure if these things will be on the menu permanently,” says Emir, noting that they’ll usually announce these specials on their \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/chefmuskebab/\">Instagram page\u003c/a>. “We’re always going to do new things, but not every day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/span>If a dish is extremely popular, like their recent beef köfte, it’ll join the permanent roster. Seyhumus declined to share any of the fourteen secret spices he uses in his köfte, but the results speak for themselves: Grilled over the flame, these meatballs were earthy and aromatic, and especially tasty when tucked into a crunchy baguette with sliced onions and tomatoes. The advantage of having a limited menu is being able to focus on each dish. The chicken kebab, for example, is marinated for 24 hours.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Emir and Seyhumus already have plans for opening a second Chefmus location in Santa Clara later this year and perhaps eventually a restaurant. Meanwhile, Seyhumus says his true passion has always been desserts — specifically, San Sebastian cheesecake (aka Basque cheesecake) topped with Belgian chocolate. Before opening the food truck, he’d dreamed of starting a cheesecake business. He held off on selling desserts at the food trailer due to lack of space, but he says he’s eager to return to his roots as a pastry chef someday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Maybe I will open a coffee shop with desserts,” he says. “First, I want people to know us and what we sell.”\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/chefmuskebab/\">\u003ci>Chefmus\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is open Monday through Saturday 11 a.m.–10 p.m. and Sunday 1–8 p.m. at 101 E. El Camino Real in Mountain View.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "dominican-republic-food-truck-san-jose-mofongo-el-fogon-dgeny",
"title": "This San José Food Truck Is One of the Only Dominican Food Spots in the Bay",
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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": "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>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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"title": "At This San Jose Fusion Restaurant, Mexican and Jordanian Flavors Collide",
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"content": "\u003cp>Located on a quiet corner of South \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/san-jose\">San Jose\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/asimexicanfusion/?hl=en\">Así Mexican Fusion Bistro\u003c/a> would be easy to miss if it weren’t for the vibrant butterfly mural on the wall — one of the butterfly’s wings is a Mexican flag, and the other is a Jordanian flag. Inside, where customers sip on micheladas and catch sports on the TV, the restaurant feels like a standard Mexican spot until the basket of pita chips and tortilla chips arrives at the table: Instead of guacamole, you dip the chips in hummus topped with salsa macha.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The dip is typical of Así’s hybrid approach, which supplements the restaurant’s traditional Mexican menu with dishes that incorporate Middle Eastern ingredients in surprisingly delicious ways. Mini blue tostadas come topped with ribbons of beef shawarma, toum (garlic sauce) and sumac pickled onions. The shakshuka a la Mexicana, meanwhile, is a cross between traditional shakshuka and huevos rancheros, combining eggs, salty cheese, cilantro and a sumac-spiced tomato sauce — again, all on top of a tostada.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Owner Lourdes Barraza quit her job as a Group Supervisor at Santa Cruz Juvenile Hall to start a taco catering business in August 2018. “I’m a mom of three girls,” says Barraza, noting that catering allowed her to keep a flexible schedule. “For me, having my career was important, but being a mom was always number one.” Six years later, in January 2024, Barraza opened Así Mexican Fusion Bistro along with her eldest daughter, Isabella Astorga, who manages the restaurant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13979657\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13979657\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Lourdes-Barraza-Isabella-Astorga-Ana-Colin-and-Sophia-Gallo%CC%81n-Left-to-right.jpg\" alt=\"Four women pose for a portrait in front of a mural.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1125\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Lourdes-Barraza-Isabella-Astorga-Ana-Colin-and-Sophia-Gallón-Left-to-right.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Lourdes-Barraza-Isabella-Astorga-Ana-Colin-and-Sophia-Gallón-Left-to-right-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Lourdes-Barraza-Isabella-Astorga-Ana-Colin-and-Sophia-Gallón-Left-to-right-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Lourdes-Barraza-Isabella-Astorga-Ana-Colin-and-Sophia-Gallón-Left-to-right-1536x864.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">From left to right: Lourdes Barraza and her daughters Isabella Astorga, Sophia Gallón and Ana Colin. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Así Mexican Fusion Bistro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For the brick-and-mortar, the mother and daughter wanted to go beyond traditional Mexican food. “We thought, ‘Let’s do Middle Eastern fusion,’” says Barraza. As it turns out, Astorga’s partner is from Jordan, and as she became more familiar with that country’s cuisine, she was intrigued by how similar it was to Mexican food — and how well the two cuisines’ spices and cooking techniques blended together. The fusion dishes at Así don’t come across as a gimmick, then, but rather a love letter to both cultures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’re also a lot of fun. Some of the restaurant’s most creative fusion creations include a falafel-stuffed burrito and fries loaded with chicken shawarma, black beans, feta and pickled turnips.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recipe development starts by breaking dishes down into their components and examining potential twists. For example, if a Mexican dish has oregano, the chefs consider fortifying that earthy flavor by adding Middle Eastern spices like za’atar or sumac. “It’s trial and error,” says Barraza. “As we go, we make changes we feel necessary. It seems to be working, people seem to love it.” One of their greatest hits is the tahini-chipotle crema, which serves as a nutty, smoky complement to grilled meats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13979658\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13979658\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Pollo-Al-Pastor-Kebab-Plate.jpg\" alt=\"Chicken kebab, grilled tomatoes, cucumber salad and various sauces on a plate.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1126\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Pollo-Al-Pastor-Kebab-Plate.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Pollo-Al-Pastor-Kebab-Plate-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Pollo-Al-Pastor-Kebab-Plate-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Pollo-Al-Pastor-Kebab-Plate-1536x865.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Así’s take on al pastor is like a deconstructed chicken kebab skewer. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It’s worth noting that there’s a long history of Mediterranean and Mexican fusion. Al pastor was created thanks to Lebanese immigrants who \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2018/02/08/584057034/building-a-latino-muslim-coalition-with-tacotrucksateverymosque\">introduced spit-roasted meat to Mexico in the 1930s\u003c/a>. Así shakes things up a bit by serving both chicken shawarma (cooked on a traditional vertical spit) and a pollo al pastor plate that’s essentially a deconstructed kebab: big, kebab-like chunks of spiced chicken paired with charred tomatoes, onion and a heaping pile of cucumber salad. The experience of loading up a freshly made corn tortilla with chicken kebab, tzatziki, toum and salsa verde is something you’re unlikely to find anywhere else in the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13977033,arts_13971280,arts_13976236']\u003c/span>\u003c/span>Así is also a fusion of the family’s experiences and skills. Barraza brings her cooking experience as well as knowledge of family recipes — Así’s salsas are the same ones her father served at his taqueria in Southern California. Meanwhile, Astorga puts her communications degree to use by running an efficient floor and creating a strong sense of community with customers. Barraza’s youngest daughter helps out as a server and makes \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DAl2EuYSxlV/?hl=en\">social media videos\u003c/a> for the restaurant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although Así is relatively new, it has already earned a dedicated following, with some customers stopping in as many as five times a week. “We’ve become a pillar in the short time we’ve been in the community,” Astorga says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13979656\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13979656\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Shakshuka-a-la-Mexicana-tostada.jpg\" alt=\"Tostada topped with egg cooked in tomato sauce.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1126\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Shakshuka-a-la-Mexicana-tostada.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Shakshuka-a-la-Mexicana-tostada-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Shakshuka-a-la-Mexicana-tostada-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Shakshuka-a-la-Mexicana-tostada-1536x865.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Shakshuka a la Mexicana’ is a cross between traditional shakshuka and huevos rancheros. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The success can be attributed in part to Barraza’s willingness to adapt. When she noticed that a majority of Así’s customers were Muslims who had concerns about cross-contamination from pork, she decided to remove it from the menu. Now, all of the food they serve is halal. Meanwhile, Barraza says many Latino customers have been hesitant to try the restaurant’s Middle Eastern–influenced dishes. She hopes to entice them by pairing those items with more familiar Mexican dishes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The family has bright hopes for the restaurant’s future, with plans to eventually open a nicer sit-down location with full table service. However, they’re in no rush to expand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The restaurant is in its toddler stages,” Barraza says. “Before we open another location, I need it walking on its own.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/asimexicanfusion/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Así Mexican Fusion Bistro\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is located at 6239 Santa Teresa Blvd. in San Jose.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Located on a quiet corner of South \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/san-jose\">San Jose\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/asimexicanfusion/?hl=en\">Así Mexican Fusion Bistro\u003c/a> would be easy to miss if it weren’t for the vibrant butterfly mural on the wall — one of the butterfly’s wings is a Mexican flag, and the other is a Jordanian flag. Inside, where customers sip on micheladas and catch sports on the TV, the restaurant feels like a standard Mexican spot until the basket of pita chips and tortilla chips arrives at the table: Instead of guacamole, you dip the chips in hummus topped with salsa macha.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The dip is typical of Así’s hybrid approach, which supplements the restaurant’s traditional Mexican menu with dishes that incorporate Middle Eastern ingredients in surprisingly delicious ways. Mini blue tostadas come topped with ribbons of beef shawarma, toum (garlic sauce) and sumac pickled onions. The shakshuka a la Mexicana, meanwhile, is a cross between traditional shakshuka and huevos rancheros, combining eggs, salty cheese, cilantro and a sumac-spiced tomato sauce — again, all on top of a tostada.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Owner Lourdes Barraza quit her job as a Group Supervisor at Santa Cruz Juvenile Hall to start a taco catering business in August 2018. “I’m a mom of three girls,” says Barraza, noting that catering allowed her to keep a flexible schedule. “For me, having my career was important, but being a mom was always number one.” Six years later, in January 2024, Barraza opened Así Mexican Fusion Bistro along with her eldest daughter, Isabella Astorga, who manages the restaurant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13979657\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13979657\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Lourdes-Barraza-Isabella-Astorga-Ana-Colin-and-Sophia-Gallo%CC%81n-Left-to-right.jpg\" alt=\"Four women pose for a portrait in front of a mural.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1125\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Lourdes-Barraza-Isabella-Astorga-Ana-Colin-and-Sophia-Gallón-Left-to-right.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Lourdes-Barraza-Isabella-Astorga-Ana-Colin-and-Sophia-Gallón-Left-to-right-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Lourdes-Barraza-Isabella-Astorga-Ana-Colin-and-Sophia-Gallón-Left-to-right-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Lourdes-Barraza-Isabella-Astorga-Ana-Colin-and-Sophia-Gallón-Left-to-right-1536x864.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">From left to right: Lourdes Barraza and her daughters Isabella Astorga, Sophia Gallón and Ana Colin. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Así Mexican Fusion Bistro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For the brick-and-mortar, the mother and daughter wanted to go beyond traditional Mexican food. “We thought, ‘Let’s do Middle Eastern fusion,’” says Barraza. As it turns out, Astorga’s partner is from Jordan, and as she became more familiar with that country’s cuisine, she was intrigued by how similar it was to Mexican food — and how well the two cuisines’ spices and cooking techniques blended together. The fusion dishes at Así don’t come across as a gimmick, then, but rather a love letter to both cultures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’re also a lot of fun. Some of the restaurant’s most creative fusion creations include a falafel-stuffed burrito and fries loaded with chicken shawarma, black beans, feta and pickled turnips.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recipe development starts by breaking dishes down into their components and examining potential twists. For example, if a Mexican dish has oregano, the chefs consider fortifying that earthy flavor by adding Middle Eastern spices like za’atar or sumac. “It’s trial and error,” says Barraza. “As we go, we make changes we feel necessary. It seems to be working, people seem to love it.” One of their greatest hits is the tahini-chipotle crema, which serves as a nutty, smoky complement to grilled meats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13979658\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13979658\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Pollo-Al-Pastor-Kebab-Plate.jpg\" alt=\"Chicken kebab, grilled tomatoes, cucumber salad and various sauces on a plate.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1126\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Pollo-Al-Pastor-Kebab-Plate.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Pollo-Al-Pastor-Kebab-Plate-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Pollo-Al-Pastor-Kebab-Plate-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Pollo-Al-Pastor-Kebab-Plate-1536x865.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Así’s take on al pastor is like a deconstructed chicken kebab skewer. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It’s worth noting that there’s a long history of Mediterranean and Mexican fusion. Al pastor was created thanks to Lebanese immigrants who \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2018/02/08/584057034/building-a-latino-muslim-coalition-with-tacotrucksateverymosque\">introduced spit-roasted meat to Mexico in the 1930s\u003c/a>. Así shakes things up a bit by serving both chicken shawarma (cooked on a traditional vertical spit) and a pollo al pastor plate that’s essentially a deconstructed kebab: big, kebab-like chunks of spiced chicken paired with charred tomatoes, onion and a heaping pile of cucumber salad. The experience of loading up a freshly made corn tortilla with chicken kebab, tzatziki, toum and salsa verde is something you’re unlikely to find anywhere else in the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/span>Así is also a fusion of the family’s experiences and skills. Barraza brings her cooking experience as well as knowledge of family recipes — Así’s salsas are the same ones her father served at his taqueria in Southern California. Meanwhile, Astorga puts her communications degree to use by running an efficient floor and creating a strong sense of community with customers. Barraza’s youngest daughter helps out as a server and makes \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DAl2EuYSxlV/?hl=en\">social media videos\u003c/a> for the restaurant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although Así is relatively new, it has already earned a dedicated following, with some customers stopping in as many as five times a week. “We’ve become a pillar in the short time we’ve been in the community,” Astorga says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13979656\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13979656\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Shakshuka-a-la-Mexicana-tostada.jpg\" alt=\"Tostada topped with egg cooked in tomato sauce.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1126\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Shakshuka-a-la-Mexicana-tostada.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Shakshuka-a-la-Mexicana-tostada-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Shakshuka-a-la-Mexicana-tostada-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Shakshuka-a-la-Mexicana-tostada-1536x865.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Shakshuka a la Mexicana’ is a cross between traditional shakshuka and huevos rancheros. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The success can be attributed in part to Barraza’s willingness to adapt. When she noticed that a majority of Así’s customers were Muslims who had concerns about cross-contamination from pork, she decided to remove it from the menu. Now, all of the food they serve is halal. Meanwhile, Barraza says many Latino customers have been hesitant to try the restaurant’s Middle Eastern–influenced dishes. She hopes to entice them by pairing those items with more familiar Mexican dishes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The family has bright hopes for the restaurant’s future, with plans to eventually open a nicer sit-down location with full table service. However, they’re in no rush to expand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The restaurant is in its toddler stages,” Barraza says. “Before we open another location, I need it walking on its own.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/asimexicanfusion/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Así Mexican Fusion Bistro\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is located at 6239 Santa Teresa Blvd. in San Jose.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>On a recent Saturday night, I was food-truck-hopping in East \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/san-jose\">San Jose\u003c/a> when the aroma of charcoal lured me to a small food stand on Alum Rock — a Colombian arepa joint called \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/salpikitos.usa24/?hl=en\">Salpikitos\u003c/a>, it turned out. I felt like I had stumbled into a family’s backyard barbecue. There was an assembly line of cooks. One tended to a simmering pot of speckled quail eggs; another fanned the flames while searing a batch of arepas on the grill. It was nearly midnight and every table was packed with customers chowing down on charred masa cakes and sipping bottles of Colombiana cola.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For research purposes, I ordered the fattest arepa on the menu, the desgranada, which overflowed with beef, corn, plantain, avocado, chicharron and quail eggs skewered on toothpicks. I loved the contrast between the crisp, brittle masa and the creamy filling. It was one of the tastiest arepas I’ve come across in the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Edward Tovar and Vivian Sanchez opened the San Jose location of Salpikitos last December, but the business was born in Villavicencio, Colombia, in 2008. Tovar’s brother, Carlos Kaleet, started out selling arepas from a street stall and eventually expanded to a brick-and-mortar location in Villavicencio and another in Bogota. Tovar and Sanchez worked alongside Kaleet back in Colombia and got his blessing to continue the family business when they moved to the United States three years ago. Over the last six months, they’ve transformed Salpikitos from a simple food stall that had a few scattered tables to something more like an outdoor restaurant, complete with a walled-off, fully built-out kitchen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13977046\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13977046\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripin%CC%83a-on-Grill.jpg\" alt=\"An arepa topped with shredded cheese and pinapples cooking over a charcoal grill, alongside a sausage link.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña-on-Grill.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña-on-Grill-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña-on-Grill-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña-on-Grill-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña-on-Grill-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña-on-Grill-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña-on-Grill-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Salpikitos’ calling card is that it cooks its arepas on a charcoal grill, imparting the corn cakes with a smoky flavor. Pictured here are the components of the choripiña. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13971280,arts_13954112,arts_13939388']\u003c/span>\u003c/span>Of course, the food stand’s specialty is its arepas, which are a kind of masa cake that originated in Colombia and Venezuela. There’s a growing number of Colombian and Venezuelan food businesses in San Jose that make these stuffed corn cakes, but almost always on an indoor griddle. What makes the arepas at Salpikitos special is that they’re grilled over charcoal to impart a smoky flavor and a light char. Plus, the cooks make the masa from scratch using white corn kernels. “Before we had an electric machine,” says Sanchez, “but right now, we’re grinding it by hand. It takes about two and a half hours for the thirty pounds of masa we make per day.” The arepas are sturdy enough to encase an incredible amount of filling and have a subtle corn flavor that serves as a blank slate for a diverse cast of ingredients.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The couple spent years studying the recipes at the original Salpikitos to replicate the flavors as precisely as possible. “The spices, amounts and ingredients are all the same we used in Colombia,” says Sanchez. There are over a dozen varieties of stuffed arepas on the menu. The top seller is the aforementioned desgranada. Sanchez’s personal favorite is the shrimp arepa filled with gooey cheese, tomatoes, red onions, avocado and paprika.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13977043\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13977043\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Edward-Tovar-and-Vivian-Sanchez.jpg\" alt=\"A man and woman, both dressed in black, pose for a portrait next to a fence.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1126\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Edward-Tovar-and-Vivian-Sanchez.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Edward-Tovar-and-Vivian-Sanchez-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Edward-Tovar-and-Vivian-Sanchez-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Edward-Tovar-and-Vivian-Sanchez-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Edward-Tovar-and-Vivian-Sanchez-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Edward-Tovar-and-Vivian-Sanchez-1536x865.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Edward-Tovar-and-Vivian-Sanchez-1920x1081.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Owners Edward Tovar and Vivian Sanchez. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>On the other hand, Tovar says his favorite dish isn’t a stuffed arepa at all. It’s the choripiña — a plain, unstuffed arepa topped with melted cheese and chunks of macerated pineapple, and served with a grilled Colombian chorizo link on top. All of the flavors come together incredibly well — the smoke-infused corn flavor of the grilled masa, the tart sweetness of the pineapple, the richness of the cheese, and the savoriness of the spice-infused chorizo. It’s also just a fun eating experience, since you can wrap the arepa around the sausage and bite into the whole thing as if it were a large stuffed taco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tovar and Sanchez say their menu is identical to the one at the Salpikitos locations in Colombia, so I was surprised to see dishes inspired by American and Mexican cuisine. The rancher burger arepa is filled with traditional burger toppings along with the addition of corn and quail eggs. Those two aren’t ingredients I would ever typically consider adding to my burger, but I can confirm that the combination works exceptionally well, especially with the hard sear the beef patty gets on the grill. The Mexicana, on the other hand, features beans, jalapeño, tomato, avocado, cheese and meat with a tangy red salsa.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13977044\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13977044\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Desgranada.jpg\" alt=\"A cheesy, overstuffed arepa on a paper plate.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Desgranada.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Desgranada-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Desgranada-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Desgranada-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Desgranada-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Desgranada-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Desgranada-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The fat, overstuffed desgranada is the bestseller. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13977045\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13977045\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripin%CC%83a.jpg\" alt=\"Arepa topped with chopped pineapple and a sausage link.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The choripiña isn’t stuffed — instead, chopped pineapple and a grilled chorizo link are placed on top. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When asked about their favorite menu item, every Salpikitos employee recommended something different. In other words, it’s the type of place where there’s something for everyone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Salpikitos isn’t visible from the street, and it’s tucked directly in the middle of the food truck park. Which is to say, the place isn’t easy to come across accidentally, yet the tables fill up nearly every night of the week, and the owners say they sell around 150 arepas a day. It’s become a popular late-night spot for diners in the mood for Colombian barbecue who gather near the fire as the cold night air fills with smoke and chatter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We feel customers come here because of the flavor of the arepa,” says Sanchez. “Customers tell us the flavor is unique because of the charcoal. It’s the essence of the arepa.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/salpikitos.usa24/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Salpikitos\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is open Monday through Friday 7 p.m.–12 a.m. and Saturday to Sunday 5 p.m.–midnight at 1948 Alum Rock Ave. in San Jose.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>On a recent Saturday night, I was food-truck-hopping in East \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/san-jose\">San Jose\u003c/a> when the aroma of charcoal lured me to a small food stand on Alum Rock — a Colombian arepa joint called \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/salpikitos.usa24/?hl=en\">Salpikitos\u003c/a>, it turned out. I felt like I had stumbled into a family’s backyard barbecue. There was an assembly line of cooks. One tended to a simmering pot of speckled quail eggs; another fanned the flames while searing a batch of arepas on the grill. It was nearly midnight and every table was packed with customers chowing down on charred masa cakes and sipping bottles of Colombiana cola.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For research purposes, I ordered the fattest arepa on the menu, the desgranada, which overflowed with beef, corn, plantain, avocado, chicharron and quail eggs skewered on toothpicks. I loved the contrast between the crisp, brittle masa and the creamy filling. It was one of the tastiest arepas I’ve come across in the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Edward Tovar and Vivian Sanchez opened the San Jose location of Salpikitos last December, but the business was born in Villavicencio, Colombia, in 2008. Tovar’s brother, Carlos Kaleet, started out selling arepas from a street stall and eventually expanded to a brick-and-mortar location in Villavicencio and another in Bogota. Tovar and Sanchez worked alongside Kaleet back in Colombia and got his blessing to continue the family business when they moved to the United States three years ago. Over the last six months, they’ve transformed Salpikitos from a simple food stall that had a few scattered tables to something more like an outdoor restaurant, complete with a walled-off, fully built-out kitchen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13977046\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13977046\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripin%CC%83a-on-Grill.jpg\" alt=\"An arepa topped with shredded cheese and pinapples cooking over a charcoal grill, alongside a sausage link.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña-on-Grill.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña-on-Grill-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña-on-Grill-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña-on-Grill-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña-on-Grill-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña-on-Grill-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña-on-Grill-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Salpikitos’ calling card is that it cooks its arepas on a charcoal grill, imparting the corn cakes with a smoky flavor. Pictured here are the components of the choripiña. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/span>Of course, the food stand’s specialty is its arepas, which are a kind of masa cake that originated in Colombia and Venezuela. There’s a growing number of Colombian and Venezuelan food businesses in San Jose that make these stuffed corn cakes, but almost always on an indoor griddle. What makes the arepas at Salpikitos special is that they’re grilled over charcoal to impart a smoky flavor and a light char. Plus, the cooks make the masa from scratch using white corn kernels. “Before we had an electric machine,” says Sanchez, “but right now, we’re grinding it by hand. It takes about two and a half hours for the thirty pounds of masa we make per day.” The arepas are sturdy enough to encase an incredible amount of filling and have a subtle corn flavor that serves as a blank slate for a diverse cast of ingredients.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The couple spent years studying the recipes at the original Salpikitos to replicate the flavors as precisely as possible. “The spices, amounts and ingredients are all the same we used in Colombia,” says Sanchez. There are over a dozen varieties of stuffed arepas on the menu. The top seller is the aforementioned desgranada. Sanchez’s personal favorite is the shrimp arepa filled with gooey cheese, tomatoes, red onions, avocado and paprika.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13977043\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13977043\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Edward-Tovar-and-Vivian-Sanchez.jpg\" alt=\"A man and woman, both dressed in black, pose for a portrait next to a fence.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1126\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Edward-Tovar-and-Vivian-Sanchez.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Edward-Tovar-and-Vivian-Sanchez-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Edward-Tovar-and-Vivian-Sanchez-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Edward-Tovar-and-Vivian-Sanchez-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Edward-Tovar-and-Vivian-Sanchez-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Edward-Tovar-and-Vivian-Sanchez-1536x865.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Edward-Tovar-and-Vivian-Sanchez-1920x1081.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Owners Edward Tovar and Vivian Sanchez. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>On the other hand, Tovar says his favorite dish isn’t a stuffed arepa at all. It’s the choripiña — a plain, unstuffed arepa topped with melted cheese and chunks of macerated pineapple, and served with a grilled Colombian chorizo link on top. All of the flavors come together incredibly well — the smoke-infused corn flavor of the grilled masa, the tart sweetness of the pineapple, the richness of the cheese, and the savoriness of the spice-infused chorizo. It’s also just a fun eating experience, since you can wrap the arepa around the sausage and bite into the whole thing as if it were a large stuffed taco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tovar and Sanchez say their menu is identical to the one at the Salpikitos locations in Colombia, so I was surprised to see dishes inspired by American and Mexican cuisine. The rancher burger arepa is filled with traditional burger toppings along with the addition of corn and quail eggs. Those two aren’t ingredients I would ever typically consider adding to my burger, but I can confirm that the combination works exceptionally well, especially with the hard sear the beef patty gets on the grill. The Mexicana, on the other hand, features beans, jalapeño, tomato, avocado, cheese and meat with a tangy red salsa.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13977044\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13977044\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Desgranada.jpg\" alt=\"A cheesy, overstuffed arepa on a paper plate.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Desgranada.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Desgranada-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Desgranada-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Desgranada-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Desgranada-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Desgranada-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Desgranada-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The fat, overstuffed desgranada is the bestseller. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13977045\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13977045\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripin%CC%83a.jpg\" alt=\"Arepa topped with chopped pineapple and a sausage link.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Choripiña-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The choripiña isn’t stuffed — instead, chopped pineapple and a grilled chorizo link are placed on top. \u003ccite>(Octavio Peña)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When asked about their favorite menu item, every Salpikitos employee recommended something different. In other words, it’s the type of place where there’s something for everyone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Salpikitos isn’t visible from the street, and it’s tucked directly in the middle of the food truck park. Which is to say, the place isn’t easy to come across accidentally, yet the tables fill up nearly every night of the week, and the owners say they sell around 150 arepas a day. It’s become a popular late-night spot for diners in the mood for Colombian barbecue who gather near the fire as the cold night air fills with smoke and chatter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We feel customers come here because of the flavor of the arepa,” says Sanchez. “Customers tell us the flavor is unique because of the charcoal. It’s the essence of the arepa.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/salpikitos.usa24/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Salpikitos\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is open Monday through Friday 7 p.m.–12 a.m. and Saturday to Sunday 5 p.m.–midnight at 1948 Alum Rock Ave. in San Jose.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
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"marketplace": {
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"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
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"mindshift": {
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"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
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"order": 12
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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": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
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"info": "The economy explained. Imagine you could call up a friend and say, Meet me at the bar and tell me what's going on with the economy. Now imagine that's actually a fun evening.",
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"politicalbreakdown": {
"id": "politicalbreakdown",
"title": "Political Breakdown",
"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"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.",
"airtime": "THU 6:30pm-7pm",
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"possible": {
"id": "possible",
"title": "Possible",
"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.",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Possible-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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},
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},
"pri-the-world": {
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"title": "PRI's The World: Latest Edition",
"info": "Each weekday, host Marco Werman and his team of producers bring you the world's most interesting stories in an hour of radio that reminds us just how small our planet really is.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 2pm-3pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-World-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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},
"radiolab": {
"id": "radiolab",
"title": "Radiolab",
"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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},
"reveal": {
"id": "reveal",
"title": "Reveal",
"info": "Created by The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX, Reveal is public radios first one-hour weekly radio show and podcast dedicated to investigative reporting. Credible, fact based and without a partisan agenda, Reveal combines the power and artistry of driveway moment storytelling with data-rich reporting on critically important issues. The result is stories that inform and inspire, arming our listeners with information to right injustices, hold the powerful accountable and improve lives.Reveal is hosted by Al Letson and showcases the award-winning work of CIR and newsrooms large and small across the nation. In a radio and podcast market crowded with choices, Reveal focuses on important and often surprising stories that illuminate the world for our listeners.",
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"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/reveal300px.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.revealnews.org/episodes/",
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"link": "/radio/program/reveal",
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"rss": "http://feeds.revealradio.org/revealpodcast"
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},
"rightnowish": {
"id": "rightnowish",
"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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"order": 16
},
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},
"science-friday": {
"id": "science-friday",
"title": "Science Friday",
"info": "Science Friday is a weekly science talk show, broadcast live over public radio stations nationwide. Each week, the show focuses on science topics that are in the news and tries to bring an educated, balanced discussion to bear on the scientific issues at hand. Panels of expert guests join host Ira Flatow, a veteran science journalist, to discuss science and to take questions from listeners during the call-in portion of the program.",
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