but i didn t stay in mexico. i went back to the states, looked for a job in the kitchen. my boss saw something in me, and she told me, you have a gift. you can do this for a living. and that kind of sank in, you know? and i was like, this is what i want to do. and with time, i just fell in love with it. - yeah. - and here i am. - wow, that s amazing. i m gonna cry. [laughs] - don t. it s a happy story. - it is a happy story, but it just shows you, like, you just need one person to give you permission to be great. - yeah. i think they re ready. - okay. - let s taste it. - mmm. - mmm. - oh, my gosh. i love it. - imagine this with parmigiano-reggiano on the top. - mmm. it does have the texture of a pasta. - right? - yeah. like a vegetarian pasta. - i love it. - oh, my god. i love it. - no calories. - no calories? - no saturated fat. maybe a few calories from the olive oil. - and it s so filling.
whatever looks good to my eyes. and i take it back. - yeah. - you don t have something fixed, though, in your mind? - no, no, no, no. that s what s so beautiful and stressful about my job. because that makes it even more stressful. - lalo always lets mother nature dictate which produce to pick. and i think she s just had a word. - you re gonna have verdolaga today. - and what is it? - in english, it s purslane. - purslane. - yeah. as soon as it starts to rain, you ll see this grow everywhere. - how do you know you re not getting a weed? - well, we probably are, but we ll clean it. - oh, we probably are. - and honestly, there s no agrochemicals here, no fertilizer. so even if we do eat a little bit of weed, i mean, it d still be good for us. - what does it taste like? - to me, it s - it tastes like watercress. - it does have that texture. - mm-hmm. - but you know what? this our ancestors here in mexico have been eating this for hundreds and hundreds of years. you can have it in
- you don t know my friend ricardo. - we like it. - [laughs] - okay. so - so how do you say salud in japanese? - kanpai. - kanpai. - kanpai. - kanpai. oh, my god. what is that? - it s tapioca. - tapioca. - and squid ink. - this is genius. edo uses tapioca pearls, popular in japanese cooking, in place of corn to make his signature tostadas, which he tops with grilled chicken and serrano chili. - so we have yakitori tapioca tostada. - arigato. look at that. mmm. sweet and savory. - savory. it s very savory. - but you know what i like? the take on the mexican tostada. - yeah, right? - yeah. - like, has the chili at the end, like - kanpai. - kanpai. [light music] - i m really curious to try this next dish, a classic skewer with a very mexican touch.
- i do? - yeah. - oh, good. i m doing it right? elbow up? [laughs] chilangos take their tacos very seriously, with passionate opinions about where to find the perfect ones. i m on my way to meet a taco authority who s gonna show me his new favorite. so i m meeting my friend ricardo. he s the reason i even know mexico city. the first time i ever came to mexico city was because of my friend ricardo. and he s also the guy who introduced me to my husband. he always knows the new hot spot. like, if it just opened, he s already been. and today, he s showing me a new taco place, and i am always up for a new taco place. - hola. [laughs] - how long have i been coming to mexico city? - for 17 years now. - that s how long we ve known each other. don t you think the food scene has changed? - oh, it s changed a lot. everything s changed. - well, remember when i would come,
and i said the only thing i want to eat. - tacos? - is tacos. - yeah. - and we would go to all the little stands. - yeah. - but now it s like tacos have gotten fancy. - and now this place is like it s a high-end chef. - yeah. - doing, like, street tacos. why don t we go eat some tacos? - yeah, let s go check it out. - yeah. - i m so excited. so this is new tacos? - yeah. - the trendier - the better. - the better. [laughter] [upbeat music] tacos los alexis is sizzling hot in the taco world right now. hola! - how are you? welcome! - hi. - welcome. - this is alexis. - a pleasure. alexis ayala. - eva. nice to meet you! its owner, alexis, uses his five-star culinary training to transform traditional recipes from his childhood into gourmet tacos to die for. - my mother was from north mexico, and my father was from mexico city. this represents my two parts of life, norteño and chilango. - so you re a chilango. - yeah, i m a chilango. yeah. - so what are we eating today? - a cheese chich