There were many things that drew me to California. There was the sunshine, of course, as well as the endless coastline and vibrant culture. But what I remember being most blown away by was the food - in particular, the Mexican food. Much like Tex-Mex, Cal-Mex varies all over the state, and every area has reimagined the specialties in its own way. One of the best examples is San Francisco's Mission-style burrito - a ginormous, foil-wrapped mammoth filled with meat, rice, beans, and more.
Perched halfway across the span of a pedestrian bridge inside the Japan Center mall, there's a well-worn but charming restaurant where hundreds of tattered volumes of manga line the walls. In the kitchen, proud Japanese-American chef Mitsuhiro Nakamura spends three days preparing luscious pots of Shinjuku-style curry, to be ladled liberally over crispy chicken katsu and rice. Out front, his wife Yolanda takes orders and ferries plates of mentaiko spaghetti and okonomiyaki pizza to diners' tables.