
Arizmendi Bakery & Pizzeria, LUNA Mexican Kitchen, Shizen
Season 18 Episode 11 | 27m 11sVideo has Closed Captions
Check, Please! Bay Area reviews Arizmendi Bakery & Pizzeria, LUNA Mexican Kitchen, Shizen
First, diners try a rotating selection of satisfying seasonal pizzas and pastries at the worker-owned Arizmendi Emeryville Bakery & Pizzeria. Then, Campbell’s LUNA Mexican Kitchen serves up traditional Mexican dishes in cozy digs using fresh, carefully curated ingredients. Finally, San Francisco’s Shizen perfects their sushi rolls and izakaya favorites with an entirely vegan, plant-based twist.
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Check, Please! Bay Area is a local public television program presented by KQED

Arizmendi Bakery & Pizzeria, LUNA Mexican Kitchen, Shizen
Season 18 Episode 11 | 27m 11sVideo has Closed Captions
First, diners try a rotating selection of satisfying seasonal pizzas and pastries at the worker-owned Arizmendi Emeryville Bakery & Pizzeria. Then, Campbell’s LUNA Mexican Kitchen serves up traditional Mexican dishes in cozy digs using fresh, carefully curated ingredients. Finally, San Francisco’s Shizen perfects their sushi rolls and izakaya favorites with an entirely vegan, plant-based twist.
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipSbrocco: Artisan Bakes in Emeryville... Magome: You said the magic word -- umami.
Sbrocco: ...farm to table Mexican fare in Campbell... Muckel: It's a journey.
That dish is a journey.
Sbrocco: ...and sushi with nary a fish in sight in San Francisco.
Alexiou: The enoki mushrooms on there were the flavor bomb.
Sbrocco: Just ahead on "Check, Please!
Bay Area".
Phillips: This is my sugar rush for the morning.
Santos: Yeah, I can keep going.
Phillips: [ Laughs ] [ Indistinct talking ] Sbrocco: Hi, I'm Leslie Sbrocco.
Welcome to "Check, Please!
Bay Area", the show where Bay Area residents review and talk about their favorite restaurants.
Now, 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 retired communication officer Joy Alexiou, podcaster Johannes Muckel, and consultant and coach Betty Magome.
Welcome, everyone.
Alexiou: Thank you.
Sbrocco: Johannes gets us started with his favorite little slice of carb heaven.
It's a worker-owned cooperative where the star attractions are fruity scones, crusty loaves, and seasonal pizzas baked fresh daily.
Located in Emeryville, it's Arizmendi Bakery & Pizzeria.
♪♪ Guion: It's so good.
Arizmendi Bakery & Pizzeria is a worker owned cooperative that has been here for over 20 years.
Woman: They are four ounces.
Guion: Being a worker owner at Arizmendi Baker & Pizzeria, I'm not only an employee, I'm a worker-owner, and that means that I'm involved in every aspect of the bakery.
I've been here for 10 years, and we have members here that have been here for over 20 years.
Man: These are the loaf baskets.
Guion: We make over 100 breads a day, and that's including the baguettes, the sourdough, sandwich loaves, the batards, the X-rolls that we do.
We also have a special bread of the day as well.
We have pizza, we have scones, we have muffins.
we have cookies, focaccia breads, and we have cafe items.
And so yeah, the pizza is just -- We're just dreaming things up.
So, the salad pizza has walnuts, arugula, balsamic vinaigrette, gorgonzola cheese, and red onions.
So, I think when we combine all of these ingredients together, it just makes a bomb pizza.
Give me that pizza.
But the key thing is just that we're working together for one primary purpose, and that is to make our baked goods for the community.
Woman: And no boss, right?
Guion: No boss.
Yeah, there's no boss.
[ Laughs ] Worker owned cooperative means that there are no bosses here.
But when I come in to work, I see everything that I prepped yesterday.
If it's bread, if it's cookies, I get to see the products come out the next day, and I'm like, "Wow, we did this today."
Man: It's like magnetic.
Guion: We actually, like, made this happen.
Woman: The little ones?
Okay.
Guion: We just want to make sure that everyone is taken care of when they come to our bakery, and you can get whatever's in your wildest dreams.
Sbrocco: Now, Johannes, Arizmendi really -- they've been around a long time.
Muckel: Yeah.
Sbrocco: A couple of decades.
Muckel: Yeah.
20 years.
Sbrocco: Is there a particular item that when you first walked in, you went, "Oh, I've got to have that again and again"?
Muckel: As a German, bread is very particular to me.
And so, it started kind of with the bread and kind of the X-rolls and kind of morphed into pastries and then the pizzas.
But the star is the gorgonzola, red onion, walnut, balsamic vinaigrette pizza, especially when it's fresh from the oven.
Amazing.
Amazing.
It doesn't feel like on paper that I would like it because of the gorgonzola, but it just works.
Sbrocco: Because Gorgonzola is very pungent.
Muckel: Yeah, but it's sourdough crust, I believe.
It's, like, perfectly balanced because the balsamic vinegar is just getting a little sweetness to it.
Alexiou: You're right.
So balanced with that little sweetness of the balsamic, the red onion even, and then a nice crunch from the walnut.
You get these little walnut bites every once in a while.
Sbrocco: Because nuts on a pizza, you don't typically think.
Alexiou: Yeah, you didn't expect it.
And it was just delightful.
The crust is cooked just perfectly.
The bottom's nice and brown.
It just -- Everything about it was fabulous.
Magome: And the pizzas change every day, as well as the soups.
And they're all vegetarian, which is great.
Sbrocco: But it's just one pizza.
Alexiou: One pizza a day.
I think cheese is always available, but one pizza a day changes every day.
And so, you know, you've got to look at the menu for the week.
If you want that gorgonzola one again, you know, go back on the day it served.
Sbrocco: That's right.
Did you have pizza as well, Betty Magome: No, I had baked goods.
I'm a sucker for sweet food, so I love the current scones and the blueberry muffins.
The currant scone is just perfect.
There's a sugar layer on the outside, kind of crunchy, but then very soft and moist in the middle, and it's just perfect with a cup of coffee in the morning, like kind of your splurge when you're working.
So, I eat that throughout the day.
and the blueberry muffin is such a treat, and it's also very moist.
The blueberries are fresh.
Alexiou: We tried the cherry scone, and the same thing with the sprinkle of sugar.
We shared it, but it was really good.
Muckel: Another thing that changes every day is the X-rolls.
It's always kind of a mystery -- Sbrocco: X as in X?
Muckel: X as in X.
So it's sour dough bread with cheese rolled up, and it's a nice cheese with a bite, so you can feel, like, bite and flavor.
Alexiou: It's a nice chewy roll.
We liked it, but we also said it would be great to take home and warm up in the oven and have it that way.
Nice taste, flavor, texture, everything about it.
Magome: That's a treat for me.
I normally wouldn't get that kind of cheese bread, and I tasted it, and it was so delicious.
The cheese was just really phenomenal, and then the inside again was very soft, wonderful.
Alexiou: They know their breads at that place.
Yeah, they really do.
Muckel: So the last time I went, they had spinach in it.
So it was a little cheesy, a little green spinach-y.
My personal favorite is when they add mushrooms.
Sbrocco: That sounds nice.
Muckel: And that just works because it adds a little more umami.
Magome: You said the magic word -- umami.
I'm definitely going to try it now.
Muckel: [ Laughs ] Yes.
Magome: Yes.
Now, another thing I tried that I've never had before there is the green sauce.
Have you tried the green sauce?
Alexiou: No, I did not.
Muckel: Oh, my God.
The green sauce is amazing.
Yeah, you can get it on the side, and it's spicy, tangy.
Sbrocco: Is it peppers?
Muckel: I think it's jalapeños, maybe, and cilantro.
I don't know.
Secret recipe.
But yeah, first time we tried it, and it was a revelation.
I was like, "Where has this been in my life?"
Sbrocco: Okay.
Muckel: Because it's complementing the sourdough really, really well.
Sbrocco: Did you have anything to drink?
Muckel: Yeah, I had, like, an iced spicy mocha.
It's dark chocolate, so it's not, like, super sweet, but then it has this kick that just kind of hits you.
Sbrocco: Perfect.
And did you feel like the price was good?
Muckel: Oh, it's great.
Magome: Very reasonable.
Alexiou: Very reasonable.
Muckel: Yeah.
If you're lucky and come at the right time, like, they have day old pizzas, which is like the secret because you can take them home and bake them back -- Sbrocco: The secret's out now.
Muckel: I know.
But it's, like, heavy discount.
You can take them home and finish them in the oven.
It's so good.
It's such a good value.
Sbrocco: And in terms of service, I mean, this is not a sit down, sort of take a long time and enjoy it, right?
Magome: It's casual.
It's very family oriented.
People come order, large pizzas to take home and, you know, feed their families.
People eat there on the spot.
Small tables outside.
It's kind of a hangout for a little bit or take it home.
Woman: Hi, how are you?
Alexiou: I had a bunch of questions having never been to one before.
The girl at the counter was just so helpful.
Very patient with me.
Sbrocco: But again, this idea of a cooperative, when it's worker owned, they've got skin in the game, and that makes a difference.
Alexiou: Yeah, I think so.
There's pride in being part of that.
Yeah.
You can tell.
Sbrocco: So, you'd go back?
Magome: Definitely.
Alexiou: I have friends in the East Bay.
So, if I'm up there and we decide pizza, I'm telling them that's where we need to go.
Sbrocco: Alright.
If you would like to try Arizmendi Bakery, it's located on San Pablo Avenue in Emeryville, and the average tab per person without drinks is around $10.
Guion: Mm-hmm.
Sbrocco: Joy's got a strong appreciation for restaurants that take pride in made from scratch cooking, with no cans or microwaves in sight.
It's no wonder her favorite is a Mexican eatery where masa is made with methods dating back to the Aztecs.
Located in Campbell, it's LUNA Mexican kitchen.
♪♪ Woman: Oh, my -- Whoo!
Lerma-Lopez: LUNA Mexican Kitchen is an acronym for Local, Unrefined, Natural, and Authentic.
For us, connecting with people is through food, and really, you see it in our restaurant when people are laughing and talking and we're all energy.
Welcome to the Bay.
Man: It's so good.
This is amazing.
Lerma-Lopez: You just feel something.
You feel that warmth, and that is people connecting.
My father grew up working in the fields in Central Valley and I got into nutrition really wanting to heal my father.
The main goal was to get him off prescription medication, borderline diabetes, borderline high blood pressure, and I started to really learn about food as medicine, and I truly believe that food heals us.
It can make us sick or it can make us well.
Every ingredient that we put in to our food has intention, and that intention is to heal people.
In Mexico, beans, corn, and chili are the trinity where these are in all of our dishes.
Mole, we wanted to keep it very traditional.
So, it actually has, like, 27 ingredients that we toast separately, and it's very labor intensive.
We make our tortillas by hand, from scratch, from an ancient method of nixtamalization.
This will be tomorrow's tortillas.
History will tell you our ancestors would go to a river and just rub the corn on limestone and break down the corn and release nutrients.
And it's such a beautiful method that we get to do here every single day.
I want people to feel something that they didn't even know that they needed to feel.
That is the goal every time, and that's true hospitality.
Sbrocco: So the thing that draws you to LUNA really is that no microwaves, no cans.
It's all fresh.
Alexiou: So many of her dishes and ingredients, like, the salsas, are all house made.
The tortillas are house made.
So, then the chips come from the tortillas and house made, and just that freshness of the food there is, I think, exceptional.
Sbrocco: And do you have a dish that you start with?
Alexiou: Yes.
The camote, sweet potato wedges that are charred and served with a little dipping sauce on the side.
Just the right amount of char on the outside, and then nice and sweet and mushy inside.
Magome: It was amazing.
I have never had sweet potato cooked this way.
It just was charred perfectly, crispy on the outside, so sweet on the inside.
And then they had a side aioli sauce.
You don't even need the sauce.
Muckel: Yeah, it's great.
It's a journey.
That dish is a journey.
It's like textures galore, all over the place.
Alexiou: They do a cauliflower dish as well as an appetizer, fried cauliflower with the similar aioli on the side, and again, with purple and white cauliflowers.
Simple dish.
You look at it, but then it's just a little flavor bomb, you know?
Magome: We had a salad along with the camote, and the salad was interesting.
I was wondering what it was on the inside, and it kind of, like, had a slimy texture, but it tasted delicious.
And I had to ask the server and she said, "Oh, it's cactus."
And I go, "How interesting."
Muckel: We had the queso flameado with chorizo.
Alexiou: Yeah, we did too.
Muckel: And it's this cute little ramekin piping hot with melted cheese and then chorizo on the bottom, and I was a fan of the cheese.
The chorizo didn't really come through, unfortunately for me.
Sbrocco: Meaning not strong enough flavor.
Muckel: Yeah, yeah.
Alexiou: It's not as spicy as chorizo typically is, but I like it because I don't really like the spicy so much.
And so to me, it just adds a savory taste to the cheese.
I was with men in our family, and a boy, and so we did the mixed grill because they liked their meats.
You know, it comes on this pedestal, hot iron plate on top, steamy when it gets there, and they have a flame underneath to keep it warm.
And then you get a spare rib, carnitas, carne asada, and chicken, and you get shrimp wrapped in bacon and a sausage on the mixed grill.
Sbrocco: And does it come with any sides?
Alexiou: It comes with little tortillas and then the guacamole and sour cream and salsa, as well as rice and beans.
Very delicious.
The guacamole is really chunky, which I like, and with those chips that are made there too -- I mean, it's just all good.
Sbrocco: You were kind of shaking your head on the guac.
Magome: Yes, the guacamole and chips.
Everything is made there.
It's fresh.
I mean, you have to stop yourself from eating so much so you don't get full for the main course.
Alexiou: Yeah.
Sbrocco: And so what was your main course?
Magome: Chicken mole, and I'm not a huge mole person, but I have to say, this restaurant, I love their mole, and the chicken was cooked perfectly and so tender.
Muckel: We also had the chile relleno de picadillo, which is a chile relleno with shredded beef.
And I'm kind of a chile relleno purist, like, just plain cheese works, but the beef -- it was, like, super tender, flavorful, and it comes with that sauce that really added a kick and spices.
And we did order some burritos for lunch the next day to go, and we had the salsa verde one, which was, like, as big as my forearm.
It was insane, but it was very good, very flavorful.
And the salsa verde, we got some to go.
Like, if they bottle that stuff, I'll get it because it's so good.
It's creamy.
Sbrocco: And what about something to sip along?
I mean, they have quite an incredible list of tequilas and mezcals and mocktails.
Magome: I had the agua fresca, which was delicious.
The watermelon juice with the nonalcoholic drink.
It was so fresh.
Muckel: We also tried the spicy piña.
Sbrocco: Which is nonalcoholic, right?
Muckel: Exactly.
And again, super balanced.
Like, it felt like an alcoholic drink, but it wasn't, and that was kind of trippy in a way.
Alexiou: It was nice.
I had the Pomegranate Lunarita, which is a take on a margarita, and they have different flavors available.
They change seasonally.
But then I also often do a bourbon based margarita, where I have them replace the tequila with bourbon and lime juice and agave sirup, and then a little orange liqueur on top.
And that's that's my favorite.
Sbrocco: It's the Joyrita.
Alexiou: It could be.
Yes.
[ Laughter ] Sbrocco: Any desserts?
Any room?
Alexiou: We did because we had a 12-year-old with us and he wanted churros, and it comes in a nice little basket.
They're nice and fluffy with the crisp outside, and they do a little sprinkle of sugar on those on top, and it's served with a chocolate sauce and whipped cream on the side.
Muckel: We went by the server's recommendation and had the chocoflan.
Sbrocco: Oh, yeah.
Muckel: It's beautifully plated.
It's this nice square of chocolate cake and flan.
It was sweet with some fruit, which were much needed.
Like, they cut through the sweetness.
It was great.
Alexiou: Yeah.
Sbrocco: And you'd go back?
Would you try it again?
Magome: Absolutely, and I would order the camote every time.
Sbrocco: Yeah, it sounded like you all loved that.
Alright, if you would like to try LUNA Mexican Kitchen, It's located on South Bascom Avenue in Campbell, and the average tab per person without drinks is around $35.
And now it's time for Betty's spot.
It's a Japanese sushi bar and izakaya with an incredibly unique twist.
From ramen and rolls, to gyoza and nigiri, everything on the menu is 100% vegan.
Located in San Francisco's Mission District, it's Shizen.
♪♪ Woman: Gyoza?
Woman #2:Yes.
Wang: The restaurant's name is Shizen.
It means nature in Japanese.
And then we are a 100% plant based vegan restaurant.
There you go.
Have a kaarage here for you.
We used to work in a regular sushi restaurant.
We were doing sustainable sushi back in the day, but I think the idea of doing plant based, because that might be the ultimate sustainability for going forward.
"Izakaya" in Japanese means "everything should be shared".
We serve small bites, specialty rolls, and ramen.
Shojin style sushi or shojin style food in Japanese means "monk food", but us, we do it slightly different.
We use marinade, grill, seasoning, all that to our vegetables, and then we do use house-made vegan mayonnaise.
So we do come up with new ideas.
We're using different methods.
Like, it could be a touch of the Western style.
Some of the sushi item, we do require a torch or stuff like that because someone's always taking picture, taking videos of there.
I believe there's not much restaurants that are doing 100% plant based with Japanese style.
The goal, it's doing less harm for the environment.
For example, bluefin tuna.
It's one of the greatest things a sushi restaurant could have, but tuna is going to extinct soon.
Having a sustainable restaurant, it's for a better future for everyone.
Sbrocco: Alright, Betty, a vegan sushi spot.
Now, are you vegan?
Magome: I'm not vegan.
Sbrocco: You're not?
Magome: No, and actually, I'm of Japanese descent, so I eat Japanese food, sushi, all of that, and I love it, but their take on different dishes is so beautifully presented.
So delicious.
Sbrocco: Do you gravitate toward something first?
Magome: Well, I first get Sapporo Beer because I also want that with my appetizers, and my go-to appetizers are edamame and agedashi tofu.
Then the Spicy Tofuna roll, and it's an appetizer.
And I have to say, that texture, it is like tuna.
I mean, it's not as fishy, and it just tasted delicious.
Muckel: Yeah, we had the veggie tempura, and the tempura was great.
It was really nice and flaky, creamy, and the little dip was awesome.
Magome: So on our way up, my brother-in-laws were part -- We got a reservation for four, and more than half way to San Francisco, they realize we're going to a vegan sushi restaurant, and they want to know if they can get out, right?
"Is it too late for us to bail on you?"
I said, "It is too late for you to bail on me."
So we went.
They just kept ordering.
They loved it, right?
They couldn't believe how good it was.
And we started with the tempura, but we also had the mushrooms, and the enoki mushrooms on there were the flavor bomb.
Oh, my God.
We all were fighting over them to eat those because they give you about three different kinds of mushrooms on the plate.
It was just fabulous.
Magome: Yeah, we had the Boddy and Soul specialty roll and it was so delicious.
It's fried like a tempura, but it had tofu, togarashi spice.
So, rice quality is actually important.
The rice quality is spot on.
And they had fresh wasabi and fresh pickles.
And looking at it, it was just like a work of art.
People need to experience this.
It's like an experience.
Alexiou: Yeah, it really is.
Sbrocco: Did you have anything else?
Muckel: Yeah, I had specialty rolls.
We had the Candlestick and the Secret Weapon.
The thing that drew me to the Candlestick, like, on the menu, it says a bunch of ingredients and then "fire".
And I was like, "Okay, let's see what that is."
And it comes on this plate and there's literally fire on it.
Magome: Oh, nice.
Muckel: And the Secret Weapon had pickled pineapple on it and pickled jalapeño, then in the roll, it had mushrooms and the shredded tofu again.
So, it had some creaminess and some crunchiness.
Again, it's like a nice journey of texture.
And what you were saying, like, works of art.
They're really, really, really beautiful.
Sbrocco: Their names are so great, of their rolls.
Alexiou: Yeah, we tried the Foxy Scarlet specialty roll that is a combination of sweet potato puree, panko crusted beancurd topped with one of my favorite things that we tried, black truffle hummus, and it is just so tasty and so creative.
Magome: Yes.
Alexiou: We also had the Proud Peacock, which had a lot of ingredients in it, and those included cucumber, eggplant, mango, and then it finished with the seaweed pearls.
And they were just unusual, flavorful, and really fabulous.
Muckel: And for dessert, we had the matcha donut holes that came with a banana marshmallow ice cream.
The matcha mochi donut holes were the perfect balance of crispy and chewy and earthy.
Muckel: On the plate, they had some fruit, so again, they balanced out everything really nice.
Sbrocco: And so what did you feel -- With this sort of visual appeal and complexity and uniqueness, was the price fair?
Muckel: Yes, and I think the visual complexity and beautifulness, it's not on the plate exclusively.
It's also the space.
Sbrocco: The aesthetics of the place.
Yeah.
Muckel: The place is really, really nice.
It has that A-frame construction inside, wooden beams.
It looks really pretty.
It has this moss on the walls.
It's really, really pretty.
Sbrocco: It's an event to go out.
Muckel: Yeah.
Magome: Yes.
It's truly an experience.
Alexiou: It is an experience, and I thought it was well worth it, yeah, to go, and I'd definitely -- we'd all -- they all want to plan another time to go.
[ Laughter ] So, my carnivore brother-in-laws want to go again.
Sbrocco: Alright, if you would like to try Shizen, it's located on 14th Street in San Francisco, and the average tab per person without drinks is around $40.
Wang: Are you doing okay?
Woman: It's better than okay.
Wang: It's better than okay.
Thank you so much.
Sbrocco: And now, reporter Cecilia Phillips braves the fog in San Francisco's Outer Sunset to find more Bay Area bites you've just got to try.
[ Jazz music playing ] Man: Bump it, bump it.
Phillips: We're here at the Outer Sunset Farmers Market and Mercantile.
What is this amazing place all about?
Lau: Well, just growing up here, it's really sleepy.
Like, a lot of people don't even really consider this part of San Francisco sometimes.
So it's so nice to have developed something here where you can find a lot of engagement and activities.
Local musicians, artists.
We try to cultivate the market to be as diverse as possible, to make sure that we have every type of food available.
Phillips: So, gumbo social -- it's kind of in the name, but what are you all about?
Ball: We're trying to make gumbo America's national dish.
We're doing it one bowl at a time.
Phillips: You came just for gumbo today?
Girl: Yes.
Phillips: [ Laughs ] Ball: I think the thing that makes our gumbo really special is the soul that's in it.
You're going to get really nice spice, some good heat level.
You should know the okra's there, but you shouldn't be afraid of it.
Phillips: Alright, here we go.
Ball: I always smell it first.
Phillips: Mmm.
Oh, there is some spice in there.
Ball: Right.
Phillips: [ Laughs ] Finger-licking good?
Ball: You happy?
Phillips: I'm very happy.
Are you happy?
Ball: That's all we're trying to do.
I'm always happy.
Phillips: What's the name of your business?
Thapa: Happy Himalayan Mo:Mo.
Momo is basically meat or any kind of filling wrapped in a wrapper.
We steam them and then we can fry them or we can make them a chili.
Phillips: Okay, so why are your momos happy?
Thapa: Our momos are happy because when you eat them, you reach a zen point, you know?
Phillips: Alright, I'm ready to go.
Here we go.
Thapa: Mmm.
Phillips: Mmm.
Thapa: We love our own momos.
Phillips: [ Laughs ] What makes a really good smash burger?
Ponzurick: The crust that you get on the smash burger, the nice dark color -- this is where our name comes from, is with the Maillard reaction.
And then we use shallots under our burgers so it gives it a little more umami flavor.
Good flavor.
Good crust.
♪♪ Phillips: Mwah.
Ponzurick: Awesome.
Kubota: My business name is Kunugi Noodle.
Phillips: So on a cloudy, foggy day like this... Kubota: This is San Francisco.
Phillips: Yeah.
[ Laughs ] The soup is really good.
Kubota: So we got shrimp udon and homemade soup stock, soy sauce, mushroom, seaweed, bonito.
[ Slide whistle blows ] Phillips: [ Laughs ] Santos: A malasada is a Portuguese, Hawaiian style donut.
Phillips: So tell me more about the flavors that you do.
Santos: So we do haupia, which is a coconut pudding, lilikoi, which is passion fruit, ube, purple yam, and guava.
Phillips: Alright, here we go.
A little taste of the islands.
I'm going to get sugar everywhere.
[ Chuckles ] Santos: Yeah.
Phillips: So good.
They're so fluffy.
I mean, we normally cover food, but these look super delicious.
Good enough to eat.
Woman: I'm wearing my figs today.
[ Both laugh ] [ Jazz music playing ] Lau: I know so many people who have said that they never really talked to their neighbors before until they started coming to this market.
You know, they've developed that camaraderie.
So, I think it's really important to just have this focal point in our little area.
[ Jazz music playing ] [ Cheers and applause ] Sbrocco: I have to thank my fantastic guests on this week's show -- Joy Alexiou, a lover of the Lunaritas at LUNA Mexican Kitchen in San Jose, Johannes Muckel, who thinks the mushroom X-rolls are marvelous at Arizmendi Bakery in Emeryville, and Betty Magome, who always gets the spicy tuna roll at Shizen in Campbell.
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, everyone.
Alexiou: Cheers.
Magome: Cheers.
Yay!
Sbrocco: Which of these spots do you want to try?
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Phillips: What is your go-to food for a foggy, cloudy day when you just want something comforting?
Man: Korean barbecue.
Woman: Something brothy, like a ramen or udon.
Woman #2: What's yours?
Woman #3: Some spicy ramen.
Man #2: Coffee is like my comfort food.
Woman #2: My very own rendition of Zuppa Toscana from Olive Garden.
Phillips: And how about you?
Is it gumbo?
Thapa: It's almost like an ad to go to the Himalayas, you know, "Go to Nepal."
Man: You'll eat whatever, right?
Phillips: Her little mouth.
Man: She'll eat whatever.
Phillips: I love you.
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