♪♪ Sbrocco: Innovative Indian cuisine at a Solano Avenue institution.

Vegan friendly comfort food in San Francisco.

And a mouthwatering marriage of Mexican and Persian cuisines in Albany.

Woman: Mm!

Sbrocco: On "Check, Please!

Bay Area."

Hazel: I could've brushed my teeth with the alu saag.

It was so good!

Sbrocco: Hi.

I'm Leslie Sbrocco.

Welcome to "Check, Please!

Bay Area," the show where regular Bay Area residents review and talk about their favorite restaurants.

We have three guests and each one recommends one of their favorite spots and the other two go check them out to see what they think.

Joining me at the "Check, Please!"

table today are food blogger Erika Hazel, cross-cultural author Joe Lurie, and business specialist Sri Srinivasan.

Welcome, everybody.

Are you ready to party?

Lurie: Ready to party.

Hazel: Yeah.

Sbrocco: Sri takes everyone she knows to her spot.

An Indian restaurant that offers a surprising twist on the food she grew up with.

Located on Solano Avenue in Berkeley, it's Ajanta.

♪♪ Pratik: Ajanta started in 1993.

This was initiated by Lachu Moorjani and he was the one who had this plan, this grand vision to continue on... Dhruva: We squeeze here.

Pratik: ...cooking different recipes from different parts of India.

So now it's been around 30 years and we're trying to continue the tradition.

And my dad, who owns this place with his partner, Ailsa Takai, are ahead of the business.

My name is Pratik.

I manage Ajanta.

That's my uncle Dhruva, and he's the executive chef.

Dhruva: So this is the best sauce for making green fish curry.

Pratik: I think the whole kitchen is a very close knit group of people.

Dhruva: So his name is Nanak.

He has been working here for before we bought this restaurant.

He is Dalvinder, so he is the one who makes all the naan bread and all the things.

She's Sabita, she's my wife.

She is my whole world.

This is our team.

We always work together to make everything go smoothly.

In Ajanta, we have two tandoori ovens.

One tandoori oven is dedicated only for making some dishes, and another is only for making naans and bread.

Because when you make naan, you need to have little low temperature then making the other dishes.

So we never compromise with the things.

That's why we get, like, rib sauce, a chicken tikka.

or assorted tandoori or salmon tandoor, is so tender, so soft.

People always say, oh, Indian food is food spicy, too oily, you know?

But here we do really light.

So we don't put all these spices in every dish.

We have limited, this is based on the season.

Food that is more innovative, lighter portions.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

Dhruva: My big thing is when the empty plates comes in the dish washing area, if I see the plates are all clean, it's all empty, it's all wiped off, then I feel, Oh, yeah, I did something good.

Rajen: Thank you so much.

Sbrocco: All right, Sri, before we start talking about your restaurant, I understand that you have a nickname from your friends, don't you?

I do.

My friends call me "Check, Please!

Sri."

And the reason is because if I find an amazing place, I just can't keep it to myself.

I have to talk about it and kind of create a little PR for that restaurant on my social media.

So they started calling me "Check, Please!

Sri."

And so it's just a full circle that I'm here delighted by this show.

Sbrocco: That's -- well, I'm thrilled to have you here, My twin, right?

Srinivasan: thank you.

Sbrocco: My twin.

Srinivasan: My honor.

My honor.

Sbrocco: I love it.

I love it.

Well, let's start off and talk about Ajanta and how you found it.

Srinivasan: I found it in that because I was looking for Indian restaurant and it has this beautiful, prefixed menu.

And that's not common in Indian restaurants.

You have buffets, you have a la carte.

And this was this beautiful plated meal.

So you're sitting there and then you have all these array of choices coming to you and the combination of the chutneys they serve with everything.

Yes.

Sbrocco: Favorite dishes?

Srinivasan: Okay.

The baadal jaam.

It's an eggplant dish and it is the most creamy eggplant that one can taste and not creamy, as in like milk-based cream and this little dollop of yogurt with the little mint leaf on it and it's beautifully spiced, so every bite into it feels like mysterious.

How did you make this?

Lurie: I had never had this dish before.

And let me tell you, it was my favorite.

Srinivasan: I have shamelessly tried to recreate this dish and I am a passionate cook, but I've decided they do it better.

Sbrocco: Erika, what did you have?

Hazel: The chana masala knocked my socks off.

It was so flavorful and it wasn't spicy, like hot spicy.

They ask you, "What level of spice do you want?"

I said, "Mild," and it was absolutely fantastic.

And it was a it was a dream come true.

It was awesome.

Srinivasan: And the other dish that I love is their salmon and green curry.

Oh, that was like unbelievably flavorful.

And it's a south Indian flavor.

And that was very interesting for me because I just spoke about it.

They bring the baadal jaam from the north and now there is the salmon curry, which is made with coconut.

And it's had this interest Sbrocco: A completely different flavor profiles.

Srinivasan: Yeah, which makes it nice to take someone because you just took them on a tour of India and you showed them the west and the north and the south.

Lurie: I'm a big fan of Tandoori, so the mix of shrimp, chicken, lamb.

Now, I did make a mistake, Sri.

I brought it home takeout.

So what I missed was the tandoori that sizzles on the plate.

The quality of the meat was great, but I said I need to go back and have it on the sizzling plate.

Srinivasan: It's like a fajita where you will have those bell peppers and onions, but it's made out of ghee and butter.

And so you've got to smell that when the sizzle came in.

And so I had the lamb chops and it's an experience to eat it right there.

So I would highly suggest go back for the sizzles.

Sbrocco:And that's really good because now with everybody doing take out, you lose so much of it sometimes, with so many restaurants.

Hazel: Same.

I had the same experience.

The first time I did take out, and I had the sabzi rangarang.

I had the alu saag and I had the garlic naan.

Now I wasn't impressed with the garlic naan, I think, I think there was no garlic when I tasted it, but the basmati rice with the alu saag I could've brushed my teeth with the alu saag, it was so good!

And when I went back I also got dessert.

I had a little sparkling wine as well when I went back.

Sbrocco: Sri, any other dishes to recommend?

Srinivasan: I've also had the kofta in the past and the kofta is like a meatball.

Lurie: Yeah.

Srinivasan: You could have it the vegetarian or the vegan way and you could have it with meat and they have a pumpkin kofta, which is a beautiful blend of sweet, spicy, and tangy textures.

One other dish that we finished off this time was the cardamom gelato.

It was the perfect dessert after a spicy meal, and it was the perfect portion size.

Sbrocco: And did you feel like you got value for your -- Lurie: Oh, absolutely.

Sbrocco: Money.

Lurie: Yeah, absolutely.

And also the the ambiance so welcoming and the empathy of the staff with the customers was striking.

Hazel: Yeah, it felt like the neighborhood spot to be at on a Saturday night, I loved it.

Sbrocco: Alright.

If you would like to try Ajanta, it's located on Solano Avenue in Berkeley.

And the average dinner tab per person without drinks is around $35.

♪♪ As a vegan, Erika is always on the hunt for plant-based dishes that don't compromise on flavor and texture.

She feels her restaurant knocks it out of the park, especially when it comes to their hand tossed New York style pizzas.

In San Francisco's Sunset neighborhood, it's Cybelle's Front Room.

♪♪ Timmy: Hi, Eddie.

I started my first pizza job in 1975.

♪♪ When I was young, I was able to flip behind my back.

♪♪ Lennie: He was my best friend in high school.

So obviously everyone helps your best friend.

So as we got older, I married my best friend and I'm still helping here today.

Timmy: She's stuck with me.

[ Laughter ] Our family involvement of the restaurant is the main reason why we are still here.

I guess I owe my daughter Krista a big gratitude because in my history of running this restaurant, 2017 was the worst year, in terms of performance.

And we need to do something.

We either retire early, sell the restaurant, or we need to change the format.

But right when we talk about that idea our daughter call us from Chicago, and she said, "I've become a vegan, so I'll help you add a vegan item onto your menu."

So I asked my daughter, what is vegan?

Lennie: I actually Googled it just to see exactly what the food is.

Timmy: This my daughter, Krista, the one who invented all the vegan menu.

Lennie: It started with one slice.

We let her do one slice.

No one came for a few weeks until this one girl walked in and said she wants to try it.

And we were so happy.

Timmy: I've been working with cheese since 1975.

This is the only vegan cheese that to me it behave like the real cheese.

This cheese will melt just like the regular mozzarella cheese.

Very gooey.

It turned out I love vegan customers.

You know, they are the nicest people, the kindness people in this world.

We have two menus.

One is strictly vegan and the other one is non-vegan.

And we know the importance not to let that cross by accident in any means.

♪♪ If I have to choose between vegan or regular, I would have to choose the vegan now.

Our vegan items is quite tasty.

It's come a long way.

Wow.

Lennie: My favorite.

Timmy: But I still really enjoy a piece of steak and we have a really nice boneless rib eye prime rib that we serve on the weekend, and I'm very proud of that.

Only House of Prime Rib could be better than ours, in San Francisco.

We have the second best on prime rib.

I always tell my employees what makes a good business is three major components happy customer, happy employee, and happy boss.

Any one of those missing is not a good business.

Sbrocco: Now, it's interesting, Erika, that the background of Cybelle's, you know, there used to be a lot of them all.

Hazel: All over the bay.

Sbrocco: And so I first found Cybelle's Front Room on social media.

They were hosting pop ups.

And I really love that place because it's so family oriented.

It's such a cozy place.

And one thing I have to give my hat off to Krista, is that she -- it's just pure witchcraft.

There's no way any of this stuff could be vegan because it's so amazing.

There are all of her own recipes and creations.

Number one, this is the place to go for beignets.

If you've ever had Cafe Du Monde's, you know, New Orleans beignets, they can go toe to toe.

That is how great they are.

I get the beignets either a two piece order or a four piece order with the cookie butter and they are these hot, pillowy dough, just perfection.

And I get my knife and I slather them in cookie butter or I dip them and you have to eat them hot and fresh inside the restaurant.

That's a must.

Sbrocco: So for savory dishes, what do you do?

Hazel: So I had the plant millionaire pizza, which comes with all the different crumbles, like Impossible meat Beyond sausage with the gooey vegan cheese.

And I know that's like a vegan stereotype.

The cheese doesn't move it's so stiff.

No, this cheese melts.

Sbrocco: Because it's tricky.

I mean, I've I've tried many vegan cheeses and, you know, you go, I don't know, is that cheese really?

Lurie: Erika, I also tried the plant millionaire pizza, which was really striking for me because I didn't anticipate that vegan cheese would be like so much like mozzarella.

Hazel: Right.

Lurie: I wasn't used to the thickness because I'm a New Yorker and I'm used to thin slices.

Hazel: Right.

Lurie: But the creamy cheese, the vegan cheese took it over the top.

Hazel: I'm happy you loved it.

Lurie: The other thing that was unusual, did you try the Caesar?

Hazel: I get the Caesar salad every time I go, because you can't tell.

There's no anchovy... Lurie: Exactly.

Hazel: ...in that dressing.

Lurie: And I ask them what happened?

How is it possible this tastes like Caesar?

And you know what they said "We replaced the anchovies with...?

Hazel: I don't know.

Lurie: Capers.

Hazel: Oh, that's a fun switch.

Sbrocco: Mic drop right there.

Lurie: There you go.

I learned something.

Hazel: And the croutons are housemade.

It's so good.

You get this really nice big plate with tongs so you can share it with a friend.

It's my go-to every time.

I can't live without that.

Sbrocco: Alright, you're going to make Joe a vegan, I can tell right now, I'm not sure you -- What did you have?

Srinivasan: Well, I went with my little girl there and we had the truffle gnocchi.

Hazel: Ooh.

Lurie: Oh!

Srinivasan: And, oh, my God.

This place knows texture.

Hazel: Through the roof.

Yes.

Sbrocco: Because these are all from the vegan side of the menu.

Srinivasan: Yes.

And it was so interesting for me to see how they can mimic texture through and through because the gnocchi had a little chicken wing on top again, vegan.

Hazel: Yeah.

Srinivasan: And the bone was a piece of sugarcane.

The way they mimic meat, it was just mind blowing through the dish and the garlic knots.

I have to mention the garlic knots because this one is so flaky on the outside and it's got this amazing feeling.

Hazel: And the ranch I know the Caesar dressing knocked your socks off, but the ranch it is, oh, my gosh, I dip all my pizzas in it.

So I went back and I had the vegan chicken on the green.

It was amazing because instead of a red sauce, it was a nice green pesto-y sauce with the soy vegan chicken on top and the red bell peppers.

And of course, I had to dunk it in ranch multiple times.

Lurie: Have you either you had the vegan mermaid sandwich.

Hazel: With the crispy shrimps on top?

No, I have not.

But -- Lurie: You know about it.

Hazel: I do.

Lurie: So you have introduced me so that I could introduce you.

Hazel: Please school me.

Lurie: With vegan shrimp that tastes like shrimp.

Hazel: It's crispy.

Lurie: With garlic aioli, coleslaw on a pretzel bun.

Hazel: Out of this world.

Sbrocco: Fantastic.

I mean, did you feel like this was, again, a good value?

Srinivasan: Yes, totally.

And the reason I took my carnivorous daughter to a total vegan place is because if it passes her verdict, then it'll pass anybody's verdict.

Sbrocco: Agreed?

Lurie: Yeah.

Sbrocco: Mr. Vegan, may I introduce Mr. Vegan?

Hazel: Future, Mr. Vegan.

Lurie: You know, I'm giving -- There's no question I would try vegan again.

Hazel: Perfect.

Lurie: Right.

Hazel: That's all I could ask for.

Sbrocco: Alright.

Mission accomplished, I think, Erika.

Hazel: Yeah!

Sbrocco: If you would like to try Cybelle's Front Room, it's located on 9th Avenue at Juda in San Francisco's Sunset neighborhood.

The average tab per person without drinks is around $35.

♪♪ From Mexican moles and chili verdes to Persian kabobs and stews, Joe's spot offers a rare cross-cultural connection.

There's a world of flavorful fare in Albany at Syma's Mexican Grill & Persian Cuisine.

Dehestani: Now it is ready to serve.

♪♪ My tomato, turn it.

Right in the middle.

Syma's Mexican Grill & Persian Cuisine has all about passion.

I love to make something good for everyone.

So if you want some traditional food of both types, Persian or Mexican, try here.

It looks so good.

Ready to go?

In each pot, there is a little secret that comes from the family.

Just a cap of orange blossom in there can make your day.

When I was a little kid, I grew up near two great chefs.

My mom and my aunt.

And when we were playing, I can smell the aroma of this saffron cumin, rose water, orange blossom and I always want to know what they were doing.

And that was a time determined I'm gonna have one day, a place of my own and have everything that I learned and I taste when I was a kid.

No competition, Andy, the teamwork.

That's how it works here.

Before I was running this business, it was Mexican food.

People were happy with it.

But Persian in Albany, we don't have any.

The purple-ish color is very important.

So I felt this is the right place to put them together.

It looking good.

See, my mouth is already watering.

Dip it in there.

Mm!

So good.

We have a lot of different tacos.

We have all different burrito, of burrito bowls.

We have huge menu.

A lot of customer asking me, "How can you do this?"

Yes, we can.

We have the beef kebab and the chicken kebab here.

Chicken kebab.

I love it.

We use onion, saffron, salt and pepper.

You go like pinch.

And we counted to 13, and that's it.

And we cook it in the grill.

Okay, this is good.

We'll take this one.

Just garlic powder.

Now you know all my recipes.

Oh, my God.

Lemon.

I enjoy both cultures a lot because I meet more people, and this is great for me.

Like, wow, look at this.

Like, I have all different type of people sitting here eating, talking different language.

This is my dream.

Sbrocco: You know, Joe, it's so interesting because we just came from this restaurant that had two menus and your restaurant has two distinct cuisines.

Lurie: Right.

So when I read about a restaurant that was Persian and Mexican, have you ever heard of a restaurant like that?

Srinivasan: No.

Hazel: No.

Lurie: Okay.

You know, I had never had chili relleno before, and I thought, listen, you're going to go to a cross-cultural restaurant.

Let me try it.

Fabulous.

If you've never had chili relleno and I'm sorry, but the cheese is cheese.

Hazel: You know?

Lurie: But we respect each other.

Hazel: We do.

We're friends now, and I love that.

Dehestani: Mix them together.

Lurie: So I am a Persian rice fanatic.

I try to try every single possible Persian rice that I can find.

Sbrocco: Yes.

Lurie: Just think about this, orange peel, almonds, currants, carrots, saffron -- it looks like a rainbow on your plate.

Dehestani: Yeah, it's extra work, but the taste is so good.

Lurie: So I found and Persian rice dish that I'd never had before, which, believe it or not, infused with cherry sauce.

On the menu it's called albaloo polo which comes with cornish hen.

Now, if you're not a cornish hen fan, you can substitute it with a chicken koobideh, which is like a kabob and or a meat kabob.

Srinivasan: I did try their albaloo polo with the chicken koobideh and it is amazing because with a kabob you can slice it into smaller pieces and try it with the rice, which was beautifully balanced with the sweetness of the cherry sauce and the spices.

Lurie: Yes.

Srinivasan: It was a match made in heaven.

Lurie: Lovely.

Hazel: I had the ghormeh sabzi that came with the saffron rice, which was like the perfect marriage of this amazing, rich, flavorful stew that I think I talked to Sima's daughter while I was eating there.

Yes.

And she was like, we add artichokes and we add this and that.

And it was so good with the saffron rice.

Yeah.

And I have to thank you, Joe, because I had never had saffron rice before I came here.

So you've just put me on to a brand new rice dish.

So I'm a junior fanatic.

[ Laughter ] Sbrocco: Or we like to say a fanatic in training.

Hazel: Oh, even better.

Srinivasan: So the assortment also had a saffron and turmeric marinade, which was an unusual combination for me when I tasted it.

Because turmeric gives that yellow color, the saffron gives a yellow color, but also the taste.

So the salmon with the dill rice and the flavors of turmeric and saffron was amazing.

We also had the mast-o moosir which is their yogurt dip and -- Lurie: With garlic.

Srinivasan: Yeah.

And if that yogurt dip was in a pool, I want to go nose dive into it.

Lurie: Thank you.

Thank you.

Srinivasan: And soak in it the whole day.

Lurie: That's it.

That's it.

Exactly right.

Sbrocco: Just slather it on your skin.

Lurie: That's right.

Yeah.

Srinivasan: Yogurt spa.

Sbrocco: Yeah.

Srinivasan: I've also had their amazing sherbet, which was this cucumber and mint drink.

They make the mint syrup from scratch.

It is so tasty and flavorful with that homemade syrup.

Hazel: For me, the chips and guac.

I could swim in a pool of their chips and guac.

It was so good.

The guacamole had the red onion, the cilantro it was -- Lurie: Blended.

Hazel: Perfect.

And I was surprised that it was also a market place on the inside with so many different Persian items that I was like, "Oh, I want to try that.

I want to try this.

Srinivasan: And the marketplace has ice creams, these are not regular ice creams.

You have saffron ice cream and rose ice.

Hazel: And they're local.

Srinivasan: Pomegranate.

And it's this exotic market place to go try.

Hazel: Yeah, I didn't have any dessert, and I think I should have, like, peeked a little bit more to see what might have been dairy free.

I had a lime margarita.

Now, kind of tasted like a kind of a large glass of sugar.

But I definitely would go back and try to see if they had any other flavors of Margarita.

Lurie: And then they make a flan, a homemade flan.

Hazel: Oh, wow.

Lurie: What I appreciated about this, this is was fulsome without drowning you in sugary taste.

It's homemade not to be missed.

Srinivasan: They also have these Turkish delights in their marketplace.

So that may be a vegan thing if you look into their ingredients.

Hazel: I will go back.

Srinivasan: Yeah, that's something we always pick on our way out.

Hazel: Nice.

I'm going to have to go back because they also had a fireplace there that I got to sit next to.

So I'll have to have some Turkish delight by the fireplace next time.

Sbrocco: If you would like to try Syma's Mexican Grill & Persian Cuisine, it's located on San Pablo Avenue in Albany.

The average tab per person is around $30.

Dehestani: This was with these.

Sbrocco: And now reporter Cecilia Phillips brings us more Bay Area bites.

You've just got to try.

Tormey: People think of Half Moon Bay's as being artichokes, pumpkins, and the occasional Christmas tree.

But there's this really specific, wonderful microclimate out here where an awful lot grows, but on a really small scale.

Woman: And some beautiful lettuce.

Look at that.

Tormey: Here at the Coastside Farmer's Market in Half Moon Bay, we are all about community.

Love: I started my farm with three crates of Dahlia tubers, and now we have, like an acre and a half, and it's like this gnarly little thing.

Anybody can grow it.

You'll have this big, beautiful plant that's chock full of gorgeous, sturdy blooms.

Phillips: So who is wild enough to do ceviche at a farmer's market?

Michelle: YoSoyCeviche!

We have a tamancha shrimp.

The tamancha is a sauce that we make based out of tamarindo and a Peruvian aji panca pepper.

Fresh juicy, citrusy.

It's a party in my mouth.

Pagan: Hi, we're Rosalind Bakery, We're based out of Pacifica, California.

We do assortments of different sourdough breads.

We have a walking stick, which is just croissant dough braided up, real extra flaky with everything seasoning.

Phillips: I think your shirt says it best, "Support Your Local Bakery" eat a walking stick.

Brining, pickling one of the oldest forms of food preservation.

Why is it so important?

Rogers: So many cultures have done it since the beginning of time, but it's also delicious.

So it has seasoned brown rice and then a little bit of our kimchi and some chili paste.

Phillips: I feel like I'm eating something really good for myself.

Yeah, you get some probiotics in there.

All the good stuff.

Cook: So we focus on regenerative grazing techniques and move the cattle every day to two days to maintain and improve soil health.

And we use all the top round and Sirloin cuts for our beef jerky.

Phillips: Oh, look at this.

Cook: Cheers.

Naseem: Roti is from Pakistan.

I learned from my mom and I try to introduce to the world what house Pakistani food tastes like.

So we cook spinach in our traditional way with onions and, you know, all the spices.

Phillips: Mm!

Woman: I just came to the market just to buy this chocolate.

My husband is so addicted.

Hohenthal: Most people, when I start telling them about our product, they say, "You had me a chocolate.

You don't have to say another word."

Phillips: Here we go.

Perfect crunch and the lightest marshmallow you're ever going to have in your entire life.

So, so, so good.

Hohenthal: In 2016, I was inducted into the Candy Hall of Fame.

Phillips: Take that, Willy Wonka.

[ Laughter ] ♪♪ Sbrocco: I have to thank my terrific guests on this week's show, Erika Hazel, who craves a vegan Caesar brimming with croutons at Cybelle's Front Room in San Francisco, Joe Lurie, who savors the shirin polo at Syma's Mexican Grill & Persian Cuisine in Albany.

And Sri Srinivasan, whose nostalgic pick is the green fish curry at Ajanta in Berkeley.

Join us next time when three more guests will recommend their favorite spots right here on "Check, Please!

Bay Area."

I'm Leslie Sbrocco, and I'll see you then.

Cheers.

Hazel: Cheers.

Srinivasan: Cheers.

♪♪ s, they always ask "What is baadal jaam?"

Okay, baadal is the clouds, and the jaam It's kind of a jam, you know.

So it's a cloudy eggplant that looks like a baadal jaam.

Timmy: You want it to start as round as possible, so it'll be easier when you toss it.

Dehestani: Most of the time when I cook something so delicious, I'm tapping my shoulder, I say, "Good job, Sima.

Good job."

[ Laughs ]