From KCRW, I'm Evan Klyman, and today on Good Food, we're going on a field trip.

Hey, good morning, ladies, Jim, and once again, this is Amtrak 566, Southbound and rail to San Diego.

At this time, the conductors are coming through collecting and scanning tickets,

so please have your tickets out and ready. Please have your tickets out and ready.

If you live in Southern California, the border between the U.S. and Mexico is not a political abstraction. It's the fluid, often amorphous cultural reality that affects our daily lives, even if we don't recognize

it. We eat the food, we interact with the people and the culture constantly. The vibes flow

north and south and are complicated, but immaculate. Today I'm talking to you from a southbound

Amtrak train with a view so quintessentially

SoCal that they've dubbed it the surfliner. Most of the trip glides along the coastline and when I

look at the window, all I see is the Pacific Ocean, and yes, the occasional surfer. We're en route to San Diego to meet Claudette Zapata.

Cladette is known as a top chef star and Iron Chef Mexico finalist, but she's also a first-generation

border kid who was raised in San Diego. When her new book, Cooking the Borderlands, came across our desk, we thought,

why not go down to San Diego and meet her to get the flavor of a border that is right

there, a mere 18 miles away? Our destination is Santa Fe Depot, the last stop on the surfliner.

And from there, we'll make our way to Klaudez's office, and I really hope

she's going to take us to eat some food because I'm pretty hungry.

So, uh, when you come in, just go ahead and step into the elevator, and I will call it up.

Okay, thanks a lot.

We take the elevator up to Claudette's office, but we're starving,

and she generously offers to drive us for a bite at what is arguably this borderland's most famous talkeria.

Hi, Claudette Zapida.

Hi.

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