Only Here Podcast: A Chef Returns To His Border Roots – KPBS

Photo by Valorie Darling

Above: Chef Ruffo Ibarra Arellano is pictured in this undated photo.

Ruffo Ibarra Arellano is a pedigreed chef.

With his resume, he could be working at some of the fanciest Michelin-star restaurants in the world.

But instead, he chose to return to his border roots and open a restaurant in Tijuana.

Arellano loves his hometown. And a lot of the food he cooks is inspired by the blend of ingredients found in the border land he grew up in.

In a new episode of Only Here, a KPBS podcast about the unexplored subcultures, creativity and struggles at the U.S.-Mexico border, host Alan Lilienthal continues his conversation series by talking to Arellano about how the border has influenced his food and how the chef is navigating the coronoavirus pandemic.

Kinsee Morlan

Podcast Producer & Project Coordinator

I’ve lived across the border. I’ve covered art and culture at the border for more than a decade. But I still have so many questions when it comes to how the wall touches people’s lives. I bet you have questions, too. I want to know what you want to know about border culture.

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