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We're part of many things that make a good name for Tijuana
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Food has no walls when no tourists are coming.
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We said let's make food for the.
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It has been a labor that connects us to the rest of the world
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we dining in or do real people cooking the bees are our wa and
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the chef is laugh like your finger is good because we're about
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to see what good, what's good in your hood is what happens when
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you combine your life's work into an experience to share with
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And today we're south of the border in Tijuana, Mexico to meet
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a duo that's changing the food game and rebuilding Tijuana
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Just a literal stone's throw from San Diego.
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It's got a reputation for being a bad place, but it's honestly
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magical and it's buzzing again.
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Tijuana is unique in its fluid border culture language cuisine
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What's up everybody?
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It's Dean and I'm in Tijuana, Mexico at Telefonica Gastro
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It's a smorgasbord of flavors brews and new waves of let's
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A culinary revolution is happening in the heart of this controversial
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city and Telefonica Gastro Park is at the epicenter.
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I'm from San Diego, but I come every weekend because the food
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here, I like the food better and there's more variety.
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There's actually a lot of Instagram spots here.
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You can go anywhere in this place.
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I believe every single corner here and you can have a pretty
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thick Instagram shot.
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How pretty are these?
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Fuck, like many of us who take a winding road to our futures
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and prosper out of necessity.
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And Tony came up during hard times.
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Well, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm from born and raised in Tijuana.
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Parents are from Tina also I always love, love food and the
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culture here I come from various backgrounds.
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So I, I work in the, for many years, eventually I started as
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well to venture into the music business.
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Uh I still have an electronic music label called disco but
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music, you know, and, and all of that kind of, you know, to food
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you know, and, and, and beer.
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So we ended up meeting, working together and developing the
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brewery alongside it.
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It has, it has, it has, it has not been easy talk to me about the
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dark times of Tijuana.
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Well, the dark times are the beginning of the bright times
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because when bad things were happening in Tijuana, that's
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when Tijuana took it up to the next level.
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And that's where the culinary scene took off.
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All of the good things that make uh place shine started because
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Tijuana said, we, we have to take over the narrative.
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We're, we're coming nothing worse because of the bad publicity
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I think that's when the beginning of the bright times came
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When we said, well, let's make food for ourselves, not for
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And now we are finding out that the food and beer that we like
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uh everybody likes and what was it like when the tourist left
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Was that really hard economically?
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Even the, you know, didn't come anymore.
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It went away, it just went away.
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It was too uh difficult for people to come and trust that nobody
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No, nothing was gonna happen.
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Yeah, that's also another thing, you know, people think that
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the Tijuana and San Diego don't talk to each other.
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It's totally the other way around.
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You know, the the business side of the San Diego and Tijuana
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are always every day talking to each other, how we can connect
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because Tijuana is like a border city.
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Tijuana has always been characterized as being a place for
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Tijuana is a melting pot.
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You know, for many people within Mexico, you know, you have
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people from Sinaloa, from Mexico City, from Guadalajara
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You know, uh and if you add, you know, people who are coming
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from other parts of the world, no, that's part of the of the
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spice that Tijuana is having in India.
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Tijuana is always has an open hearts for everyone.
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Tijuana is, is a city that, that has no walls and food translate
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into that into that like food has no walls, food transcends
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You guys don't seem like bad hombres.
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You seem like pretty awesome hombres.
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This border town is historically fluent in American culture
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with some of its residents working and going back and forth
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to school in the States.
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This tag team is changing the way that food is consumed and
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appreciated in Tijuana and real talk, the food is next level
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and definitely worth sharing.
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So the first thing you see when you walk into Telefonica is
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They make an amazing octopus taco, you know, with, with and
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But you know, they have like American style cheeseburgers
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mac and cheese, you know, the works very good.
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If you have the munchies, you know, the place that Exactly
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we have, which is, you know, incredible Mexican style ramen
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That's definitely the Mex of Ramen.
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Yeah, we have uh which is like one of the best places where you
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could get seafood here in Tijuana.
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If I before you know, everyone thought about Baja California
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and the baja med style, the whatever was doing it beforehand
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you know, he's like original gangster old school is the new
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school Telefonica is not only a, a playground for kids, you
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know, it was ambition as a playground for adults as well.
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I wanna see what it's like on the inside, let's do it.
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And as you know, Cesar salad was invented here in Tijuana.
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You know, we have a little, little caesars here and then we
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So this is the, this is the cheese spot.
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This is the cheese spot, mainly the cheese spot.
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This is like a little window to the baja.
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So we try to promote uh local producers of baja different types
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of food, especially the cheese.
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Yes, I'll be here and waiting for you.
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Let's see what's next wine.
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So this is our wine shop, you know, wines from all over, all
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over Baja Guadalupe.
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We have a food truck that sells, you know, coffee desserts
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And this is the jewel of the crown.
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This is the reason why Telefonica is at this new place and it's
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because we have our own brewery and this is, this is we're gonna
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be soon part of the Baja craft beer scene which is making, you
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know, waves all across the world making your own beer.
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Hello is one of the most sought out food trucks here at Telefonica
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And today we're gonna find out how to make one of their most
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This is my good friend Giovanni, owner of um we're gonna do
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It's sort of like a hot dog sandwich.
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The pork that sounds banging.
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Let's find out how to make it.
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So this is a half beef, half pork sausage.
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That's why it's called the pork.
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We have to like sort of like pan fry them over here.
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So they get nice and brown and crispy on the outside.
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So after that, the bread is over here, we grill the bread and
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it smells like really good.
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So we have to fill it up.
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So every bite always comes with a sausage.
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That's very thoughtful.
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I appreciate when the sandwich comes already cut in half.
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So this is pulled pork, pulled pork low and slow.
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And after that, it comes the barbecue sauce, pickled red cabbage
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lot of sauerkraut on top.
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And after that, we have over here sweet corn and then we have
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papi cheese and then you have it.
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This is the pork OK?
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It's so good and then there's more pork on top of it and you get
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the crunchiness of the veggies and the barbecue sauce.
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Super messy but super do pretty worth it.
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My friends, the beautiful cultural exchange that is Tijuana
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is marred with negative stereotypes brought on by some politicians
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They say that Mexico only brings its worst to the US.
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But are these the bad hombres that some are worried about?
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I'm at the border and I just met some law students that are actually
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learning about immigrant law.
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They're on the other side and we're gonna do a border handshake
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some people think that coming to Tijuana is not that safe or
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it's not worth it or it's not gonna be that cool of experience
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But once you come here and you live it by yourself, you can experience
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a lot of cool things.
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Stay tuned for the big reveal.
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Now, Tony, some people come to see one at a party so we come up
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with the perfect hangover.
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Just make it happen.
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Well, starters, we're gonna have a, we put some local olives
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off the thing and then we'll have the freshest shrimp here
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from the bay and it's, this is a a and then, well, you need some
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So 100% ground rib eye and then of course, you got to go to sleep
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So you need a French toast from Mao.
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So breakfast and then back to sleep, Tony, I'm gonna go get
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a hangover so I can have it all in a sense.
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Tijuana's bad reputation is what's protecting its rebirth
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But word is getting out what we did here is uh incubator for
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young chefs that maybe didn't have the money or the resources
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to put a brick and mortar restaurant and roll the dice on having
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Our first businesses we're here in.
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So we're growing together and growing.
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You are because we have another location uh in Tijuana.
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And uh we're gonna go, uh we're going to go with the gringos
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now to flip the tortilla and also go to San Diego and open a place
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like this over there.
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It's, it's, it's a testament of, of the creativity, you know
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overflowing, you know, across the border Telefonica.
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And today's Tijuana symbolize a shift that's happening with
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changing attitudes, perceptions and adding to the already
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rich food landscape of Mexico and the world is starving for
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But Tijuana is being reborn through the people with a new vision
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of what Tijuana could and should be no longer the on the streets
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It's becoming a vibrant city of innovation and change for
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And Valenti are leading that change through.
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What is Telefonica Gastro Park?
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Thank you so much for showing me Telefonica.
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I can't wait to see what you guys have in store for the future
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Everything here is amazing.
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Thank you very much for coming to Telefonica for coming to
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I hope it has given you a pretty good idea of what life at the
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I thought there's still so much more to explore in Tijuana
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and that's what's good in your hood.
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Next time on what's good in your hood.
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We're heading to the A TL where we'll explore the south in a
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way that you've never seen it.
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