So tell us a little bit more about Mel's Drive-In.

Yeah, so the building was built in 1959 when it was the Penguin Coffee Shop.

And it sits at the western terminus of Route 66, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary right now.

So it was a coffee shop slash restaurant for many decades.

And then at one point...

The glory kind of faded and it actually became a dentist office in the 90s up until around 2016 when the Weiss family took it over.

Now they own the Mel's drive-in chain and then they really kind of brought it back to sort of its original glory.

And tell us why preservationists want to keep it from being demolished.

How are things looking more recently here?

It was a tough one, you know, 2025.

Last year's wildfires, the immigration raids, tariffs, and a downturn in local tourism.

It was crisis after crisis, and the ICE raids had a huge impact on this community.

I mean, you and I both remember how scary it was out there.

Restaurants are the largest private employer in California, and the immigrant population who worked inside of restaurants, they were scared to leave their house.

They were scared to get groceries, let alone show up to their work shift.

I still think about that food to this day.

But for those who don't know, can you just describe what it is?

So back in 2013, while living in New York, he created a ramen burger.

Two buns made of sort of a nest of fused together ramen noodles and then a beef patty with some sauce.

It's just delicious.

So he's back in the O.C. now.

working out of a ghost kitchen in Irvine, of all places, across the street from the John Wayne Airport.

The ramen itself takes him about two weeks from start to finish to make all of the components, the broth, the noodles, the vegetable accompaniment.

But OK, what else do you have for us?

What happened?

Yeah, so Rite Aid went bankrupt last year and closed all of its stores, so it looked like the ice cream was going to be gone for good with all of that.

But actually, it survived.

It was bought out of bankruptcy by an investment group that was actually tied to monster energy of all people.

And now it can be found in lots of supermarkets like Ralph's, which is where I got this one today.

And the plant itself is still running in El Monte and has been in the same location since the 1970s.

So all Thrifty's ice cream comes from that plant in El Monte, which I think is just wild.

Tell us everything.

How did you first come across what Daniel's been up to?

So I met Daniel last year when he tragically lost his home in the Palisades fire, and we have just stayed in touch with each other.

But he hit me up and he told me about this new series, Better Than Your Mom, and I was instantly intrigued.

So it's this docuseries that deals with family recipes turned into tacos.

So when he told me that, I was like, What? Stuff like gefilte fish, Filipino oxtail, which actually comes from a former bachelor contestant.

It was personal, though.

There was no gimmicks, real recipes, real families.

so ready.

Okay, so what is the first one that you want to tell us about?

So let's start in the arts district.

It's called Bengara, and it's started by Chef Tyler Burgess and Phil Mireles.

They have another successful restaurant in Tahoe called Smoke Door.

They brought something over to L.A. called a Jensen Yaki, and it's a type of food.

Fire pit, I guess, is the best way to explain it.

So it's this ancient cooking device, and you fill it with Japanese charcoal called bichotan.

Okay, but what about the other restaurant that you tried?

Tell us more.

Yeah, so this is actually a little bit of a personal subject for me.

I lived in Spain back in 1999.

I was 16 years old, and that was actually the legal drinking age there at the time.

So... got a full exposure to Spanish drinking culture.

I learned a lot and I'm always looking for examples of it here in Los Angeles.

So I wanted to start with the vermouth.

Like a nightcap or something.

What is it called?

Yeah.

So it's called Kuze and it's a new bakery on Wilshire Boulevard located in the Miracle Mile neighborhood.

And it's owned by Chef Sahar Shomali.

And she offers 25 different breads, each tied to a specific Iranian providence built from her own research and talking to friends and learning about their descriptions rather than relying on family recipes, which is amazing.

Can you describe it while I try it, please?

Yeah, so this is Iran's most iconic bread.

So it's long, oval, golden crust, soft, chewy interior.

So let's start at SoFi Stadium, or I think what FIFA is calling Los Angeles Stadium, right? Where should fans go around there?

First place I want to recommend is Woody's BBQ on Market Street.

If you're anywhere near this place...

You will smell it.

I like to classify it as the unofficial smell of the neighborhood.

But my favorite part is they have these great lunch specials there with these cute names.

One of them is called the Inflation Fighter for $10.95. They've been going strong since 1975.

What is going on there?

Let's start with that.

Yeah, so it has to do with the MEHKO program, which stands for micro enterprise home kitchen operations.

And what it means basically is that residents can get a permit to sell food that they cook out of their homes.

And Long Beach just became the 19th jurisdiction in California to authorize them.

And what makes Long Beach's version a bit notable is that renters don't have to get their landlord's permission to operate.

So this is a big deal for the city because we're about 60% renters in terms of the populations.

Tell us about Lynxd.

Yeah, so Lynxd just got added to the Michelin guide for California last week, and it's only been open since March.

What do you mean?

I mean, for me, my process when I think about food, basically it comes down to it's all experiential, right? And to me, eating a good dish is simply like a symphonic experience, you know? You're getting elements of a little bit of everything as far as that goes, you know? And Alex and Elvia of Evil Cooks is a perfect example.

You know, they'll be out here in a little bit to talk about their experience.

But they are a heavy metal taqueria, you know? I mean, they can make that connection, and they pioneered the idea of being a roving group of chefs, like you would be a touring band or something like that-

Mm

... uh, the fact that he came to our town and, you know, really kind of saw what this wonderful restaurant was doing.

And in the article, he mentioned M.F.K. Fisher, who was also from Whittier.

He mentioned Richard Nixon, who also was from Whittier.