female: [translated] "“Here is Chef Larry Banares, "who is popular in San Diego, California.

"He won three gold medals at the Culinary Olympics.

"Go ahead and prepare the table to taste the masterpiece of a master chef.

"” male: Executive chef just happens to be a very good friend of the show, Chef Larry Banares.

Larry Banares: Hi.

I'm Chef Larry.

Emeril Lagasse: Hey, and I'm Emeril Lagasse.

Bam.

Larry: Bam.

male: Chef Larry cost Jacho an additional 2,000.

Jay Jay Maniquis: Viejas Casino, a gourmet dining experience presenting diversed flavors.

Chef Larry Banares invites me to see how he gets creative with recipes that honor Philippine tastes and traditions.

His skills have allowed him to cook at destination properties and high end kitchens worldwide for big clients from Lea Salonga to Michael Jackson, sultans to presidents, but despite his one of a kind life story, his greatest achievement is the family he goes home to everyday.

Larry: There you go.

Come on in.

Jay Jay: Thanks for having me.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Jay Jay: Chef, thanks so much for having us here today.

Larry: Pleasure, man.

It's part of our culture, hospitality, right?

I'm the executive chef and food and beverage director here in Viejas Casino and Resort, in here to cook for you as a proud Filipino-American.

Jay Jay: And it's truly an honor, chef, that you are presenting us with the Filipino merienda.

And in Tagalog, merienda is a light meal throughout the day, right?

Larry: Absolutely, something to munch on.

In Filipino household, man, you got food going on all day long, and that's one of the beauties of our culture.

Jay Jay: You are the mastermind of all the restaurants here.

And we're at the steak house.

And, chef, I see this very beautiful spread here, but I also see these three beautiful medals that are not edible, by the way.

And you are a man of many awards.

Can you talk about a few of these awards and what this is?

Larry: Yeah, if I always have to explain to people, you know, three or four snapshots in my career, I think the first one would be working for my dad, very strict, Filipino, no nonsense guy, was the executive chef of the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club, learned how to cook in the Navy as an--as a steward, a navy cook and came out and parlayed that into a career as a chef.

And begrudgingly, I didn't want to go in the kitchen with him.

Another earmark for me was being selected as a member of the US culinary team.

It's a very exclusive family.

Seven hundred chefs try out every 4 years to be on the US culinary team.

They picked 27 of us.

Really to be the first Filipino-American chosen for team USA, then going over to Europe and winning three gold medals is something I really hold dear to my heart.

Jay Jay: It's really groundbreaking because you're saying in 1999 you got an article in the Union-Tribune in the local newspaper here in San Diego about Filipino fusion.

So you were a pioneer.

Larry: I will really commend and support and be an advocate of young Filipino-American chefs now because they're doing some great things.

And someday, you know, our food will be--you know, had the same resonance that Thai food or Japanese food or Chinese food.

You know, I like Filipino food to be mentioned in the same breath not by us 'cause we love our food, right, but by the mainstream dinner to say, "Hey, let's go have Filipino and go enjoy a great Filipino meal."

Jay Jay: And we are in front of the--we can reveal this now.

Larry: Let's do it.

Jay Jay: This is the presidential merienda.

Larry: These exact dishes as I presented to President Biden, served for him when he was here mid-March on a visit.

And had the honor to be invited to cook for him and presented his dish.

It was my opportunity, my platform to integrate Filipino-inspired cuisine.

Was $50,000 per person.

You know, really underscores that Filipino food, can very easily be taken to the next level.

Jay Jay: And what was your interaction with President Biden?

Larry: So very, very, you know, low key, very, very cool, asked a little bit about the food, but got to meet him, shake his hand, take a picture.

And I'm most proud of the fact that we were able to present food from our culture, done in a very elevated way for president and his supporters.

Jay Jay: Well, thank you for sharing this.

Larry: Oh, man, it's a pleasure.

Jay Jay: This awesome meal.

Larry: Yeah, it's a pleasure.

Jay Jay: And I can't wait to try it.

Larry: Got a couple of things to make still, but hoping that I can get your assistance on it.

Jay Jay: You just tell me what to do, and I'll do it.

Larry: We got one more to make.

This one is kind of near and dear to my heart.

I developed this one for this very special menu.

And to cross over to that mainstream, you've got to take certain things out of how we do it.

Number one, the family style dining, the big pot cooking, and to put it on much smaller plates as you see here, much smaller and more refined presentation.

So I have this dish that I love.

I love sotanghon, one of my favorites.

And I made a dish--I developed a dish with some glass noodles.

So in this bowl here I have the sotanghon along with some julienne peppers, shiitake mushrooms, bok choy, carrots, green onions, all kinds of great fresh vegetables in there.

It's almost like a noodle salad, but, again, paying homage to the Filipino culture by using the sotanghon or the glass noodles, right?

And also too I took and made a lobster dish for this.

Again, bringing it very upscale, but I made it ginataang style with coconut, with the ginger.

I actually did a traditional way of cooking the lobster with a little bit of Seven Up, believe it or not.

So a little sip.

We love sweet.

We love sweet and sour.

So a little bit of Seven Up, my coconut milk, my ginger, my garlic, my scallions in there, and I made this great dish.

Jay Jay: I grew up with sotanghon in the household.

My lolo used to make it for me and my mom did, but different types of meats and stuff-- so.

Larry: That's the beauty of it, man, because it's really-- a lot of us have memories attached to that, man.

I love this sotanghon soup myself.

And I'd like you to take this beautiful glass noodle of sotanghon salad and portion it into this container here.

Jay Jay: Portion it in?

Larry: Yeah.

Jay Jay: Should I put on an apron?

Larry: Let's do it, man.

You got to look official.

Especially here at Viejas you have to really look the part.

Jay Jay: Little tie here.

Larry: So I'll give you all the space you need to portion it.

Jay Jay: Uh-oh.

Larry: It's okay.

Jay Jay: Making a mess here.

Larry: That's okay.

Terrific, terrific.

Grab some of those terrific vegetables on the side and just garnish it on top, you know.

All really the ingredients you would put in a good pancit.

So I took liberties to use some of those ingredients here.

Look at that.

Did a great job.

Jay Jay: Thank you.

Larry: So now we're going to crown it with this terrific lobster.

So I'll let you do that as well and add the lobster tail on top.

Just one.

Jay Jay: Just one lobster tail.

Larry: Yeah.

Jay Jay: Okay.

Larry: Nicely done.

If you can just what we call nappage a little bit of sauce on top.

Jay Jay: Okay.

Nappage?

Larry: Nappage.

Means to just give it a nice little covering.

We all kind of have a connection.

All chefs have a connection to the French kitchen after all.

Perfect.

Now, can't send it out like that.

We got to do some special things to it.

So for our upscale merienda we're going to take some gold leaf and put it on there.

So we're just going to take a little piece of gold, pull it off, and just dab it on the side, okay?

Jay Jay: Okay.

Larry: Wow, nicely done.

That is a very, very high-end merienda.

If you want to put a little bit of chopped parsley on top-- That works fine.

So this is it, man.

This is one of our great merienda dishes we're going to be presenting today to our viewers.

And you know what it does for us as Filipino-Americans?

It makes our food more accessible to the mainstream audience, right?

It makes them most likely to take a look at this and say, "Man, I'd like to try that.

This is delicious.

But what is it?"

This really lightens it fortune wise and it really gives it an appeal, an appeal to mainstream people.

Jay Jay: And it's beautiful too.

The way you're presenting it is got a really-- Larry: That special key is to present our food, our culture, our heritage in a way that's exciting, innovative, and accessible, accessible to our mainstream diners.

But you know what?

The important thing when you cook, Jay Jay, is cook for the people that you love.

And that's our culture, is to cook for people we love and that we take care of.

Jay Jay: Chef, since this is the presidential merienda, you've cooked for Philippine presidents in the past, a bunch of them.

Larry: Been honored.

Yeah, I had quite an opportunity to cook for, oh, let's see, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, President Ramos, President Estrada, and first-- former first lady Imelda Marcos.

I stuttered a little bit because she scares me a little bit.

So you ready to take this to the table?

Jay Jay: Yeah, let's do it.

Larry: Okay, let's go.

Jay Jay: Well, let's dig into it.

What are we going to start off with here?

Larry: This, of course, is our ube blini.

So caviar and salmon and things like that are traditionally served with a blini, which is a Russian buckwheat pancake.

That's the kind of thing that you--if you wanted to pick it up and eat up the whole thing, it works very great well together.

Jay Jay: So I can use kamayan.

Larry: If you can, but if you want to be boujee and cut it in half.

Jay Jay: In Tagalog, kamayan is eating with your hands.

Larry: Eating with your hands one bite.

Yeah.

Go for it.

Jay Jay: So okay.

Larry: You see the banana leaf there.

I served it on the banana leaf for you just like kamayan.

Jay Jay: So I should just stuff it in.

Larry: Yeah, I made the blini, the pancake, with ube and, of course, added calamansi to season my cream fresh, to give that little nice fresh flavor and a little bit of a tart to it.

Jay Jay: I like the-- Larry: And you ate a flower, Jay Jay, by the way.

Jay Jay: Is that edible?

Larry: It's a very edible flower, yeah.

Jay Jay: That's what I figured.

Larry: Yeah, it was good.

So how was that?

That work for you?

Good, good.

Jay Jay: The salmon and the calamansi, I can see it all.

I can feel the flower on my teeth.

Larry: This is the ukoy.

So, again, a traditional merienda, but I made it slightly smaller and I served that with some greens as well as a red pepper aoli instead of the traditional vinegar dipping sauce that we use.

And that you could probably use a fork with just-- Jay Jay: You use the fork with this one.

Larry: Make sure you get the aoli with it.

But, again, a dish that I've done.

I've actually featured this dish on TFC.

They've asked me to come in and do a couple of dishes.

I did turon and I did my version of the ukoy.

And, again, shrimp--you can have shrimp in there.

You can have some seafood in ukoy.

You can have crab.

This one I made strictly vegetarian with tofu as well as shiitake mushrooms and calabaza and kamote, some sweet potato.

Jay Jay: That sauce is--yes, I like it.

Larry: That's two good ones.

I got two-- Jay Jay: This is-- Larry: Two thumbs up from Jay Jay.

Jay Jay: This was about $10,000 I just ate right here.

Larry: Let's have you try the bistek.

Jay Jay: Eat it like a skewer?

Larry: Yeah, eat it like a skewer, man.

Traditional bistek is cut very, very thin, sliced very thin, and simmered in soy, calamansi, garlic.

This is a little bit different.

And I did a prime tender loin of a beef.

So the best cut of beef you could buy just like a filet mignon.

Marinated it, made my sauce, made my glaze.

And beneath there is a salad, a kamatis salad made with tomatoes, little bit of patis, little bit of vinegar, just little bit amount of sugar in there, and some herb--so.

Jay Jay: Yeah, the presentation on this is beautiful.

And my mom just made bistek Tagalog over the weekend.

And it's basically a whole tray with the juices-- Larry: And the sauce.

Jay Jay: And tons.

She likes putting the onions.

Larry: And the sliced onions.

So I took the liberty to do a little fried onion on top instead of the sliced onions 'cause American palate doesn't really like a lot of raw onion on--sitting on top of anything.

So you're up to 30,000 now, my friend.

Jay Jay: Up to 30K.

And your real life job is taking care of your kids, right?

Larry: My most important job is being a father to four beautiful children, a beautiful grandchild and one on the way.

I grew up in a generation where our parents wanted us to assimilate.

Jay Jay: Yes.

Larry: They did not speak the native languages at home.

They wanted you to be as American as you could and assimilate.

Jay Jay: And at what age did you want to learn more about your Filipino side and get in touch with your roots more?

Larry: We were performers when we grew up.

That's another side of my family.

And I think when we started doing Philippine folk dancing, I was introduced to Samahan and I danced with Samahan, a Filipino folk dance.

There was a sense of pride.

There was a sense of belonging, a sense of being.

And then later on my kids began dancing with PASACAT, another Philippine dance troupe very well known here in San Diego, and they all together owned a dance studio called The Box Dance Studio in Chula Vista.

They want the Filipino folk dance.

They want the--to know more about their culture, about their roots.

This is the crab.

This is the crab with the mango, avocado puree, and the ginger mayonnaise or ginger aoli.

So the luya.

I stand by the dish machine when the plates come back after a service and I see what's eaten, and that's my report card.

If everything and the plates are clean--everything's gone and the plates are clean, I've done my job as a chef.

Fifty thousand coming at you, baby.

Jay Jay: This is the 50K on the way.

Larry: Fifty thousand coming at you, brother.

Jay Jay: This is your Filipino presentation right here.

Larry: So the banana leaves are there.

That's our sotanghon noodles, our glass noodles salad.

Jay Jay: Right here.

Larry: Look at that fork.

Jay Jay: I like that.

Larry: That's very Filipino, by the way.

Jay Jay: And then the giant one is in my acting dining room table.

Larry: You have the giant one.

We all have the giant one hanging at home.

There's the miniature one you're going to eat your dish with.

I love it.

Jay Jay: Nice.

All right.

That lobster, these glass noodles are amazing.

Larry: Try it, man.

Well, you remember.

I think that's the bowl that you put those in.

I think you wind up enjoying this-- the dish you helped me make.

Jay Jay: The one I made?

Nice.

Larry: Yeah.

Jay Jay: Wow.

Larry: Ain't that a good dish?

Jay Jay: That is such a great dish.

How did they approach you to do this?

Larry: I'm kind of the guy they call when big events come into town.

I have that--I guess that cachet that people know me and I can orchestrate a big dinner.

Being Filipino is always kind of been something that-- you know, we work hard.

We are ambitious.

We don't need to be told twice.

It's just--it's within our culture, how we were raised.

I think we owe that to our parents.

Jay Jay: Chef, it was such an honor and a privilege to try out this presidential merienda.

I did not come thinking that this was going to be presented today.

So thank you so much and thanks for sharing your story about your Filipino heritage.

Larry: It's been a pleasure, man.

It's really been a great opportunity to be here.

Jay Jay: And you are a world-wide acclaimed chef.

So many awards.

So many medals.

Chef, you're a celebrity in your own right.

Maraming salamat.

Larry: Walang anuman.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Rio Villa Ezell: Meet Jeff Roberto, the Filipino-American sushi chef behind Sushi on a Roll.

His catering business spans Bonita to Hollywood and is sweeping food competitions and setting world records.

He started in the '90s, a time before the sushi boom really kicked off in Southern California.

He preps for his events at his local Japanese store which has been in National City since the '60s.

Jeff is an artist in the kitchen who also prioritizes giving back to the community he's from.

Before we get into rolling some sushi, Jeff shows me how he cuts the fish.

Rio: It's really interesting for me to sit here and actually watch how you do this with fish being such a big part of Filipino cuisine, Asian cuisine.

Jeff Roberto: Well, my dad was in the Navy.

So he was a cook, right, like a lot of Filipino dads are the cook in the Navy.

Rio: Some of our first relatives here in the US were fishermen.

Jeff: Oh, yes, yes.

Rio: Up in Alaska.

Jeff: Okay.

Oh, wow.

Rio: So I definitely have respect for fishermen and the people who catch the fish and obviously also the people who prepare it for us.

Jeff: That's--so that's sustainability, right, when they catch it.

The fishermen catch it, right, so versus the nets and all that stuff.

So even to this day I try to buy from the fishermen guys that catch it, you know, rod-and reel-versus the nets.

So you just want to just respect the fish and you want eat all parts of it, right?

It gives us life for all of it.

So, you know, whether you catch it on your own or you get it from a fishmonger, these fishermen are taking-- they respect the fish in how you handle it out there as well, right?

Rio: I actually heard that during the Great Depression in the United States Filipinos and Asians survived pretty well because they would eat parts of the fish and parts of the meat that Americans weren't very interested in.

Yeah, so we use all parts of it.

Jeff: So that's your hamachi toro, hamachi belly from Japan, right, this is the tail, you can kind of eat that later, and this is the shoulder.

So this is what the piece that you want.

But you can see the different pieces, right?

So it's all the belly that has the lining is what you want.

So when you go to a sushi bar and they're cutting that, that's what you want, right?

So you got hamachi, you got salmon, you have pacu, albacore, and then halibut.

Rio: Beautiful.

Jeff: Yeah.

Rio: So you set a world record in 2019, right?

Jeff: Yes, yes.

Yeah, we did almost 30,000 pieces in a 24-hour period cutting, like, 1,500 pounds of fish.

Rio: So can you teach me how to roll some sushi?

Jeff: Yeah, next--we'll go next door and we can roll some sushi.

Rio: That sounds great.

Jeff: Definitely.

Perfect.

♪♪♪ Jeff: Have you rolled sushi before?

Rio: Just at home.

Jeff: Just at home?

Ah, well, that's good.

Rio: Casually.

Jeff: The more you do it, the easier it gets, but it's all about the rice.

And it takes about 2 hours to make.

We do 50 cups.

So it takes-- Yeah, so it's got to cook, it's got to steam, and then you got to cool it.

Rio: You can't just throw it in the rice cooker like we do at home?

Jeff: No, yeah, well, we'll do like a California roll.

So it's just the crab stick, right?

Let me teach you a crab stake that you could use.

And this is how you practice, right, kind of inexpensive.

Rio: I like that you're having me start with the cheaper stuff.

Jeff: Yeah, the basic stuff.

That's how we learn, right?

Rio: We don't touch the good fish that you just cut.

Jeff: We'll touch that later.

Put a nice Hass Avocado here from California.

So we take this.

So it's actually made out of a white fish called Pollack up in Alaska.

So this is what we use first.

So there's a rough side here.

There's a shiny side and the rough side.

Rough side we just put the rice on it and binds better.

Rio: Wait.

Show me that again.

There's a shiny side?

Jeff: Yeah, see the rough side.

So you got a little texture versus the shiny side.

Rio: And that's the one you want on the outside.

I didn't know that they kind of put lines in it already to show you where to fold it.

Jeff: Exactly, and there is your rice there to grab.

We start on the left here, and then you go right down the center to the other side.

And you want to kind of loose.

So it's okay.

Then we're going to take it here.

I start at the top left, spread the rice and try not to smash it.

Just kind of spread it.

Rio: Just spreading on the sheet.

Jeff: Yeah, covering the whole sheet of nori.

There you go.

So you're going to flip it over right on top of the mat, so two pieces of avocado right down the center, and then your two pieces of crab.

It's the number one seller is most sushi bars.

Rio: I mean, it's good.

Jeff: Yeah.

Rio: But it's not very traditional?

Jeff: It's not.

It's not at all, not at all.

So in Japan they probably don't have avocados.

They have to import them, right?

So that California roll in Japan will probably be like 20 bucks.

Rio: Wow.

Jeff: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Rio: We take it for granted.

Jeff: Exactly.

You take it, you go over the top, going, and then right there, then you tuck.

Tuck right there.

Stay right there.

Just tuck from left to right.

Go up and down.

Right, right, right.

Then lift it.

There you go.

Perfect.

Then make your square.

Going to press the whole bottom, hold the top, making your square, and then you're going to go here, tap that side, right?

Rio: Okay.

Tap it?

Jeff: Yes, there you go, and then you going to open up to the other side.

Rio: Slide it over?

Jeff: Yes.

Nice.

So we need 400 more of those.

Rio: I'm going to start with one.

Jeff: Yes, yes.

So the reason why we cut and make a square is the bottom becomes flat.

So when we cut it, it doesn't roll.

Rio: Okay.

Jeff: Right?

Rio: Make sense.

I'm pretty proud of that roll.

Jeff: Yeah, it is very nice.

Rio: It looks pretty good.

Jeff: Your first one.

Rio: After Jeff's tutorial on the trusty California roll, Jeff teaches me a few tricks on how to make the perfect spicy tuna hand roll.

♪♪♪ Jeff: And then you take rice on the top around your corner as your glue, and here are your hand rolls.

So maki, temaki, okay?

Rio: Maki and temaki.

Jeff: Rito, taco.

Rio: In the time has taken me to make two you've made six.

Jeff: I can do better.

About 300 per hour.

Rio: Amazing.

Jeff: You take it like this, catch like that, all right?

There you go.

Rio: Then nigiri from the fresh fish he just cut, salmon from the Faroe Islands, albacore from Tahiti, and hamachi from Japan.

Jeff: I'll tip you.

With all that oil, you just rub it on your face.

I'm actually 83 years old.

No, no, no, no, no.

Rio: That's how you look young?

Jeff: No.

Rio: Fish oil.

Jeff: Yes.

Yeah.

So when you eat this, just smear more wasabi on top if you want.

You can pick it up with your fingers, it's okay.

You dip it upside of the soy sauce, and you eat it upside down so the fish is on your tongue and not the rice.

Rio: I did not know that.

Jeff: Right?

Rio: Why?

So that you can really taste the fish?

Jeff: Fish first before you taste the rice.

Exactly.

Exactly.

Rio: Learning new things today.

Jeff: Parents were in the military.

My dad was in the military.

So both Filipino.

They lived in the same neighborhood like seven houses away.

Rio: What neighborhood?

Jeff: Yeah, Bataan, Orani, Bataan, right?

So come here, and my dad cooked in the military, but we've been in this area since 1969.

A long time.

Went to junior high here and met some friends, and now we do sushi all around town.

Rio: So you actually helped Junior Seau open a restaurant.

Apart from Junior Seau you've also worked with other well-known athletes in town, right, like Tony Gwynn and Tony Hawk also.

Jeff: Tony Hawk.

Yeah.

We did an event with him up in LA.

So Hollywood was a big client of ours, at least studios Fox and Sony Studios.

So we even did Titanic down south.

It was up here for a little bit.

It was real.

So we're able to do a lot of these events.

But Tony Hawk, we did a charity event with him before we bought the store and no one really knew who we were, right, except the executive chefs 'cause we really don't cater to the public.

And that was my main focus, was to kind of doing like SeaWorld zoo, convention center.

We did Super Bowl.

We did, like, almost 55,000 pieces for Super Bowl.

This was our 30th year and-- Rio: Congrats.

Jeff: Thank you.

You're hired.

That oil kind of gets in there.

Cheers.

Rio: Cheers.

Oh my God.

Jeff: And that's what you want, right?

I mean, it will be the same just like that.

Rio: Really good.

Thank you for showing me.

Jeff: You're welcome.

You're welcome, good job.

Rio: Let's go eat some more.

Jeff: Yes, exactly.

Rio: I gotten to hear a lot about what you do.

But I'm curious who are you outside of sushi?

Jeff: I'm all about sushi.

It's just been fun.

We got a lot of friends we kind of grew up together, right, since junior high.

We opened so many restaurants and sushi bars together.

We just--and it's about eating, going out, right?

And if I'm not working or if I get a day off or time off, we just go eat.

We go somewhere and kind of support our friends.

Rio: So when you're not making food, you're out there eating it-- Jeff: Yeah, 'cause it's also about researching too, right?

See what the ingredients are out now, what you got to use today, what do you got to use tomorrow, what's available to you.

Rio: You also teach kids how to eat healthy, right?

Jeff: Yeah, so with our chef association we do a lot of stuff with the kids.

And before COVID we were feeding like 150 kids and we would bring ingredients to them.

We do a video, and then they'd either watch it then or watch it live, and they would make food at home, right, and just healthy stuff.

We did like the boys and girls club with quite a bit.

To see the kids, to show them what sushi is about, right, 'cause some don't even know what Japan is.

Rio: Well, I love that you are a Filipino person from this community teaching kids how to eat healthy.

And I think that's awesome.

So who are some of the people on your team?

Jeff: Oh my goodness, you'll meet them.

Rio: Are they here?

Jeff: They had a client.

I think they're here.

They're here.

You guys here?

Don, you're here?

Come on.

Rio: Good, because we need to--we made some food.

Don Williamson: What's up, chef?

Jeff: What's up, chef?

How are you doing?

Don: Good to see you, man.

Jeff: Aw, and Dave.

Dave, what's up?

What's up?

How are you doing, man?

Long time no see.

Rio: Good.

How are you?

Jeff: David has been with me for a long time.

Rio: I'm glad you're here so you can help us eat some of the sushi.

You can't tell which ones I made, so.

Jeff: She made the other half over there.

David Yee: Oh, that's awesome.

Rio: How do you all know each other?

Jeff: Oh my gosh, David is been working for me.

He--honestly to this day I don't think I hired him.

He just kind of showed up at the door and working for me.

Exactly.

And then Don's our president of our chef association.

So we go way back as well, but we do a lot of different events together, and he's the one that gets all the grants and kind of get all the charity events with the kids and stuff like that together-- it's interesting.

Don: Yeah, I taught culinary for 8 years at the community college district.

And Jeff used to come in and show our students how to roll sushi.

So we've been rolling ever since.

Jeff has got the biggest heart I know.

Sometimes I tell him it's too big.

But if you need something, he'll be there, if he says it's going to be--it's going to happen at a certain time, it will.

Besides being a master sushi chef, I remember when Jeff started there were only seven sushi restaurants in San Diego.

Now there are hundreds.

And he's trained many of the sushi chefs here in town.

So competency, yes, food, yes, but big heart the real thing.

David: Well, he's my mentor.

So whatever I put out is taught by Jeff, Chef Jeff.

Rio: Love it.

All right, so we--shall we eat some sushi?

Jeff: Yeah.

David: Yeah.

Rio: While we eat sushi, the guys laugh and share stories about their time together, the different issues uniting them in their community, and the diversity in food and culture that makes National City beautiful.

Jeff: Grab that soy sauce.

Rio: All right, cheers.

Jeff: Yeah, yeah.

It's so good.

Rio: Thank you so much for joining us and sharing this food all together, and I just feel really honored to sit at this table with the three of you.

So thank you for having me.

Cheers.

Jeff: Cheers.

Rio: Cheers.

Jeff: Cheers.

Cheers.

Cheers.

Hey.

Jeff: So I told people I thought I'd been a dog whisperer for a long time 'cause all the dogs, they don't bite, and they come up to me and they lick my fingers and palms up.

Rio: Okay.

Jeff: And then some people say I smell like fish.

So it's because I smell like fish is why the dogs don't bite.

Rio: They're like you got the good stuff-- Jeff: Yeah, exactly.

Rio: Coming to you.

Jay Jay: I heard there's a story about Michael Jackson and you in a helicopter having to get some food.

Larry: We kind of screwed up one of his meals.

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