Amor . . .

As a classically-trained chef who has written three books about Mexican food and the border region, I’m often asked, “Why Mexico? And for chrissakes, why Tijuana?” Sometimes I answer grandly, as some do about Everest, “Because it’s there.” (Barely 15 miles from my front door, as a matter of fact.) But the true answer is that after living in the sterile beehive of Southern California, I’m drawn to the honesty of a real city. I like the feel of being in a community where the sidewalks are crowded, you can shop and haggle, talk and laugh and stand up to eat next to strangers on the street—just like that! Like the medinas of North Africa that I visited years ago, that were the hearts of their community, Tijuana has a heart. A tough survivor’s heart; a streetwise, take-no-prisoners kind of heart, but a heart you can feel, and certainly one you can come to love.