Announcing the Melting Spots Podcast

“There are some dishes that are so quintessentially San Francisco—garlic noodles, sourdough bread, cioppino, tea leaf salad, to name a few—that it’s impossible to imagine the City today without them. And it's impossible to trace the origins of these dishes without their immigration stories.”
       
          – Katy Long, Founder and Melting Spots Co-Host

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You asked and we listened— our interactive Melting Spots map is now a podcast!

In the 8-episode miniseries, co-hosts Katy Long and Gaby Santas take you on a journey through San Francisco’s rich immigrant food history, weaving together 38 “bite-sized” stories from the city’s immigrant chefs, restaurants, and iconic dishes.

Spanning more than two centuries of San Francisco’s culinary history, Melting Spots maps how immigrants have shaped the city and fed its residents—from the Gold Rush Saloons to a Malaysian Instagram pop-up, chop suey to the burrito, and everything in between.

Alongside first-person narratives from chefs and business owners, Melting Spots considers how belonging and food intersect in local San Francisco neighborhoods with stories of memory and ambition, family traditions, and the power of food as a universal language.

“These local stories speak to wider conversations happening across the US and even the world: about how immigrants shape our communities, what it means to live and belong in multicultural cities, and what we encounter along the way.”

        – Gabrielle Santas, Director of Research  & Melting Spots Co-host

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Melting Spots is our first podcast miniseries from the California Migration Museum. The first two episodes are out today, and new episodes drop every week through early December. Melting Spots is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. Listen now, and explore the interactive map and special print edition (a great holiday gift for the bay area foodie in your life!).

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EPISODE 1: BEGINNINGS

San Francisco was a foodie city right from the start. How did those first dishes take shape? And who were the immigrants that brought them to California? Chefs, bartenders and restaurateurs from Comstock Saloon, Boudin Bakery, Dandelion Chocolate and Sam Wo Restaurant share stories of beginnings.

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EPISODE 2: FAMILY

When you begin a new life far from home, family is so important: honoring the people and traditions left behind, and building something new for generations to come. In this episode of Melting Spots, chefs and owners from Bi-Rite Market, Yank Sing, R&G Lounge, Estrellita’s Snacks, and Lavash share stories of building a family business, working together across generations, and passing on the family legacy.

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