The Brief

It’s getting cold outside. Sure, I can say that: I’ve spent almost all my life in sunny Los Angeles.

On a recent winter’s day, I stared down dismally at a sub-80-degree forecast on my weather app. I suddenly began to crave something. Something piping hot. Something delectable. Something that would lift me from the sorrow of a 4:30 p.m. sunset.

A cup of hot chocolate.

Anyone can “make” a microwaved, haphazard concoction of store-bought powder and warm milk. But there’s something extra festive about a real, delightful cup of chocolate goodness served in a ceramic mug. Extra points for a marshmallow.

So, where does one find the best hot chocolate in and around LA? Where does one even start?

With this list, of course.

A quick disclaimer: I am no expert here. Sure, I loved these hot chocolates — but there was no science to my process. It’d be irresponsible to claim these are the best of the best.

So, don’t come for me if your go-to cocoa didn’t make the list. Channel that energy to send me the address instead. I might even check it out and add it to this list.

With that out of the way, here’s my top picks:

Tierra Mia Coffee in Highland Park

The Chocolate Mexicano de Guadalajara at Tierra Mia is a light, simple choice for a sunny December afternoon.

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Ashley Rusch

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What to order: The Chocolate Mexicano De Guadalajara

Just a few blocks from Figueroa Street, wedged between Avenue 56 and Monte Vista Street, you’ll find a delightful little rectangular building accented with painted leaves and bold brown letters.

Tierra Mia is a perfect spot for a relaxing Sunday afternoon sip. Personally, I’m partial to the Highland Park location, but the beloved coffee retailer has over a dozen locations scattered across Southern California (including Echo Park, downtown LA, South Gate, and Lincoln Heights).

I ordered the classic Chocolate Mexicano de Guadalajara. Legend has it, they also have a mint and peppermint version, but I decided to keep it classic for the sake of this experiment. Let me tell you — I’m so glad I did, because now I have a reason to come back for more.

Tierra Mia’s hot chocolate was light and balanced, with notes of cinnamon lingering between sips. It was delightfully cozy without trying too hard. Compared to some of the more rich, overpowering cocoas I tried, I found it refreshingly simple and soft spoken.

Give it a try. If hot chocolate isn’t your cup of tea, there’s plenty of delicious coffee blends to enjoy instead.

Tierra Mia Coffee Company serves Latin-inspired coffees and beverages — and some amazing hot chocolates.

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Demitasse in Santa Monica

A cup of hot chocolate from Demitasse pairs nicely with a day of holiday shopping in Santa Monica.

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Ashley Rusch

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What to order: The Lavender Hot Chocolate

Maybe you’re wrapping up a long day at Santa Monica Pier, or doing some last minute gift shopping on Third Street Promenade (good luck with the parking).

Promise me one thing: you won’t leave without stopping by Demitasse.

I ventured to this little spot on a chilly Tuesday afternoon, tired from sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic. Slightly hangry and fully frazzled, the atmosphere inside Demitasse brought me a needed sense of calm, warmth, and familial comfort.

I settled on the lavender hot chocolate, fully equipped with a large marshmallow on top. The first sip was exquisite — rich and velvety, with light hints of lavender extract most prominent in the aftertaste. My favorite part, of course, was the slightly crispy, half-melted marshmallow, like a sponge filled with chocolate that melted in my mouth.

The cup was tiny, but it worked; too much more of this rich concoction would have been overpowering. I savored each sip alongside a slight December breeze, watching tourists dart from store to store a block away.

Don’t want to drive out to Santa Monica? Lucky for you, Demitasse sells lavender hot chocolate kits online.

Demitasse serves creative takes on espresso and coffee beverages, as well as other cozy drinks.

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Café Santo in Montebello

The delectable Oaxacan hot chocolate from Café Santo in downtown Montebello.

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Ashley Rusch

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What to order: The Oaxacan Hot Chocolate

This charming, Oaxacan-style café is perfect for a lovely, outdoor breakfast on a sunny morning. Café Santo honors regions such as Oaxaca, Chiapas, Guatemala, and Columbia, and roasts beans locally in Los Angeles. Order the Oaxacan Hot Chocolate for a truly delectable cup, brought to life with cinnamon and almond flavors.

While waiting for my chocolate, I took a peak behind the little shop to find a courtyard full of tables. Turns out, Café Santo belongs to BLVD Market, a community food court with mouthwatering options from LA Burrito Company to Los Taquero Mucho. It’s a perfect place to bring your friends with different palettes, or grab some good food to accompany your cocoa.

There’s also plenty of seating out front, inviting you to relax and enjoy the ambience of downtown Montebello.

Café Santo highlights Oaxacan flavors and culture through a variety of coffee and chocolate options.

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Playa Provisions in Playa del Rey

A cup of hot chocolate served by the beach at Playa Provisions in Playa Del Rey.

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Ashley Rusch

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What to order: The Hot Chocolate

A great hot chocolate takes you back. I have fond memories sipping it on a Morro Bay beach with my grandma after a morning of sailing, warming my frigid fingers and tiny nose against the cardboard cup. Since then, there’s always been something about beach hot chocolate that feels like home.

For that reason, I couldn’t wait to try the cozy blend at Playa Provisions, which is literally across the street from Playa Del Rey beach. Ocean air and beautiful scenery complimented a perfectly creamy hot chocolate. Of all the options I tried, I’d have to say this one had my favorite milk-to-chocolate ratio: not too frothy, but not too heavy either. I also felt energized after drinking it, rather than sluggish and sleepy.

Despite Playa Provisions’ fairly large menu, its approachable ambiance makes it perfect for a quick coffee or tea. The pleasant outdoor seating, combined with the overall energy of beach-going customers, created a truly wonderful Monday afternoon.

If you’re tempted to try it, just remember to pack your sunscreen. Like I said, the beach is right there.

Playa Provisions is a beachside spot for anything from a quick coffee to an extravagant brunch.

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Ashley Rusch

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Amara Café in Pasadena

Amara Café is known for its Venezuelan style dark chocolate blend, especially popular during the holidays.

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Ashley Rusch

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What to order: The Venezuelan Hot Chocolate

A brownie in a cup. That’s the best way to describe the decadent magnificence that is Amara Café’s signature Venezuelan hot chocolate.

This one snuck up on me. Despite the little café being two blocks from LAist’s offices on Raymond Avenue in Pasadena, I’d never stepped foot in Amara. When I finally did, an otherwise routine lunch break was transformed into a scrumptious, transformative experience that left me questioning everything I thought I knew about hot chocolate.

Imagine a gourmet chocolate cake melted down, mixed by hand, and delicately poured into a cup, layer by layer. I’d never had a hot chocolate so rich, so bold in its flavor — yet defiantly simple in its presentation. The consistency was so thick that I lost my lunch appetite, but that’s more a compliment than a complaint.

I just wish I could experience this one for the first time again. If that’s you, count yourself lucky.

A word of advice: Never neglect the hot chocolate right under your nose. The best you've had could be right down the street.

Amara Café serves Venezuelan breakfast and brunch, but don't miss the hot chocolate.

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The logic behind electric vehicles benefiting public health has long been solid: More EVs means fewer internal combustion engines on the road and a reduction in harmful tailpipe emissions. But now researchers have confirmed, to the greatest extent yet, that this is indeed what’s actually happening on the ground. What’s more, they found that even relatively small upticks in EV adoption can have a measurably positive impact on a community.

Whereas previous work has largely been based on modeling, a study published in January in the journal Lancet Planetary Health used satellites to measure actual emissions. The study, conducted between 2019 and 2023, focused on California, which has among the highest rates of EV use in the country, and nitrogen dioxide, one of the gases released during combustion, including when fossil fuels are burned. Exposure to the pollutant can contribute to heart and lung issues or even premature death. Across nearly 1,700 ZIP codes, the analysis showed that for every increase of 200 electric vehicles, nitrogen dioxide emissions decreased by 1.1%.

“A pretty small addition of cars at the ZIP code level led to a decline in air pollution,” said Sandrah Eckel, a public health professor at USC’s Keck School of Medicine and lead author of the study. “It’s remarkable.”

The group had tried to establish this link using Environmental Protection Agency air monitors before, but because there are only about 100 of them in California, the results weren’t statistically significant. The data also were from 2013 through 2019, when there were fewer electric vehicles on the road. Although the satellite instrument they ultimately used only detected nitrogen dioxide, it did allow researchers to gather data for virtually the entire state, and this time the findings were clear.

“It’s making a real difference in our neighborhoods,” said Eckel, who said a methodology like theirs could be used anywhere in the world. The advent of such powerful satellites allows scientists to look at other sources of emissions, such as factories or homes too. “It’s a revolutionary approach.”

Mary Johnson, who researches environmental health at Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health and was not involved in the study, said she’s not aware of a similar study of this size, or one that uses satellite data so extensively. “Their analysis seems sound,” she said, noting that the authors controlled for variables such as the COVID-19 pandemic and shifts toward working from home.

The results, Johnson added, “totally make sense” and align with other research in this area.

When London implemented congestion pricing in 2003, for example, it reduced traffic and emissions and increased life expectancy. That is the direction this latest research could go too.

“They didn’t take the next step and look at health data,” she said, “which I think would be interesting.”

Daniel Horton, who leads Northwestern University’s climate change research group, also sees value in this latest work.

“The results help to confirm the sort of predictions that numerical air quality modelers have been making for the past decade,” he said, adding that it could also lay the foundation for similar research. “This proof of concept paper is a great start and augurs good things to come.”

Eckel hopes that, eventually, advances in satellite technology will allow for more widespread detection of other types of emissions too, such as fine particulate matter. That could even help account for some of the potential downsides of EVs, which are heavier and could therefore kick up more tire or brake dust than their gasoline counterparts. On the whole, though, she believes the picture overwhelmingly illustrates how driving an electric car is better not just for the planet but for people.

Research like this, she says, underscores the importance of continued EV adoption, the sales of which have slumped recently, and the need to do so equitably. Although lower-income neighborhoods have historically borne the brunt of pollution from highways and traffic, they can’t always afford the relatively high cost of EVs. Eckel hopes that research like this can help guide policymakers.

“There are concerns that some of the communities that really stand to benefit the most from reductions in air pollution are also some of the communities that are really at risk of being left behind in the transition,” she said.

Previous research has shown that EVs could alleviate harms such as asthma in children, and detailed data like this latest study can help highlight both where more work needs to be done and what’s working.

“It’s really exciting that we were able to show that there were these measurable improvements in the air that we’re all breathing,” she said.

Another arguably hopeful finding was that the median increase in electric vehicle usage during the study was 272 per ZIP code.

That, Eckel says, means there is plenty of opportunity to make our air even cleaner.

As water agencies across California grapple with the increasingly extreme effects of climate change, they’re also facing another problem: the incoming “silver tsunami.”

That’s the phrase coined by the industry to illustrate the fact that much of the workforce — largely baby boomers — that keeps our water flowing and safe are getting ready to retire.

Nationwide, about a third of the nation’s water workforce is eligible for retirement within the next decade, “the majority being workers with trade jobs in mission critical positions,” the Environmental Protection Agency wrote in a 2024 report.

Climate resilience needs a workforce

To deal with how pollution in our atmosphere is driving longer, hotter droughts, as well as increasingly intense rain when it does come, water agencies across Southern California are working to boost aging infrastructure and invest in more diverse water supplies, such as recycled water.

The lack of people to staff those changes is a problem for pretty much every water agency, urban and rural.

L.A. is the second-largest city in the nation and is spending billions on water recycling and stormwater capture, for example, but it has been struggling to fill needed positions at its four wastewater treatment plants.

The city of L.A. plans to clean all wastewater that flows to the Hyperion plant.

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Eric Garcetti via Flickr

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The city plans to treat nearly all of the Hyperion wastewater facility’s water to drinkable standards in the coming decades. To support that massive expansion, Hi-Sang Kim, the operations director at Hyperion, told LAist in 2022 the facility will need to boost its workforce by at least 30%.

For less urban water agencies, the challenge is even greater. The Eastern Municipal Water District serves close to 1 million people (and growing), as well as agricultural customers in western Riverside County and northern San Diego County.

They estimate as much as half of their workforce could retire within five years.

“Not only are we investing in new infrastructure, but we have aging infrastructure, so we are in dire need of technical skill sets to operate, maintain everything from treatment plants to pipelines, to pump stations,” said Joe Mouawad, the water district's general manager.

Jobs in the water industry — potable water and wastewater treatment operators, engineers, managers, skilled maintenance, public relations and more — are well paid and secure, Mouawad said, but it’s hard to fill the needed positions.

“We are finding it more challenging to backfill retirees,” he said. “It's not so much a lack of interest — I think it's a lack of awareness.”

Building a pipeline for water jobs

Those job gaps are why Eastern Municipal has become a leader in building the water workforce pipeline. For decades, the water district partnered with local schools to provide education about water conservation and what they do. But over the last decade, as the retirement forecast grew more dire, the agency has shifted to prioritize skills-based programming and partnerships with local high schools.

Local high school students tour Eastern Municipal Water District facilities in Perris.

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In 2013, they launched the Youth Ecology Corps program, for young adults between 18 and 24. Many who went through the program and paid internships are now full-time employees, said Calen Daniels, a spokesperson for the agency, who himself went through the program.

In recent years, the water agency has focused on younger potential future employees through a variety of Career and Technical Education programs at local high schools, including in automotive tech, engineering, agriculture, construction and information systems, said Erin Guerrero, Eastern Municipal’s public affairs manager overseeing its education programs.

“We're starting earlier and getting these kids real world experience,” Guerrero said.

Michelle Serrano teaches a two-year pre-apprenticeship Environmental Water Resources program at West Valley High School in Hemet. Students leave the program equipped to take the state-level certification exam for a job as a water treatment operator or water distribution operator once they turn 18.

Clayton Gordon, GIS mapping administrator at EMWD, talks to West Valley High students in the GIS Engineering certification summer program.

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Courtesy Eastern Municipal Water District

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Already more than 200 students have gone through the program since it launched last year. While local community colleges have similar Career and Technical Education programs, this is the first program of its kind targeting high schoolers in the region. Eastern Municipal hopes to expand to other area schools as well.

“Once the kids get out of the program, they're set if this is the direction they want to go,” Serrano said. “We have these students set for a job or a career for the rest of their life.”

She said the program is a gamechanger for students who don’t see themselves going to college or who are unsure of their future career path.

“We really are pushing hard for college, and that's a good push,” Serrano said. “However, we have kids who don't see themselves going to college.  It's opening up an amazing path for students who otherwise may not see a job direction.”

They’re not only finding a stable career path, she said, but fulfilling roles necessary to our society, Mouawad said.

“It's working for us,” he said, “and we want to see this serve as a model for the rest of the industry.”

It takes an icon to know an icon. If you haven’t seen the new Harry Styles video, check it out and you’ll recognize downtown’s Westin Bonaventure in a starring role. The hotel has been in plenty of movies — including True Lies — and now it’s the stage for Styles’ music video for his new single, “Aperture.” Fiona Ng takes you behind the scenes.

Speaking of cool movie settings, Kristen Stewart bought the abandoned Highland Theatre and plans to restore it to its original grandeur. Good news for film lovers.

On tap in the music space this week, Licorice Pizza recommendations include new wave goddess Dale Bozzio and her Missing Persons at the Whisky, rock goddess Melissa Etheridge at the Canyon Club in Agoura or Roxy Music’s Phil Manzanera in conversation onstage at the Roxy — all on Wednesday. Thursday, experimental hip-hop group Clipping is at the Observatory, Atmosphere is at the Novo, UK singer-songwriter Erin LeCount plays the Roxy and Long Beach Dub All Stars & Bedouin Soundclash hit the stage at the Wayfarer. Plus, Aloe Blacc kicks off the first of four nights at the Blue Note.

Elsewhere on LAist, you can find out about the push to make local beaches into a national park, read up on Sinners producer Sev Ohanian’s rise in Hollywood and find the best spots for a fun Galentine’s Day.

Events

Game Night

Tuesday, February 10, 7:30 p.m.
Cheerio Collective
5917 N. Figueroa Street, Highland Park 
COST: $25; MORE INFO

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Nik

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Channel family game night with new friends over drinks in Highland Park at this classic board game night with Cat Darling Agency and Asian American Collective. Play Connect Four, Jenga and Uno while meeting some folks and enjoying a free drink!

Concert reading of Dogfight

Through Sunday, February 15
The Morgan-Wixson Theatre 
2627 Pico Plvd., Santa Monica 
COST: $23; MORE INFO 

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Joel Castro

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Morgan-Wixson Theatre

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Before there was The Greatest Showman, there was Dogfight. Benji Pasek and Justin Paul’s musical about a group of young Marines in San Francisco on the eve of the war in Vietnam is presented in a concert reading at Santa Monica’s Morgan-Wixson Theatre. Dogfight “explores themes of love, loss, and coming of age.”

OXY LIVE! with Robin Coste Lewis in conversation with Alexandra Grant

Tuesday, February 10, 7 p.m. 
Thorne Hall 
Thorne Road, Occidental College 
COST: FREE; MORE INFO

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Courtesy Oxy Arts

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National Book Award winner and former Poet Laureate of Los Angeles Robin Coste Lewis visits Occidental College for poetry and conversation with Oxy Live's host, celebrated visual artist and cultural collaborator Alexandra Grant (you may recognize her from excellent grantLove series… and her red carpet photos with beau Keanu Reeves). A book signing hosted by beloved Pasadena bookstore Octavia’s Bookshelf will follow, and attendees will have the opportunity to have their books signed by the author.

Dance at the Odyssey

Through Sunday, February 15
2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., West L.A.
COST: $28; MORE INFO 

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Courtesy of Dance at the Odyssey

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Next weekend is the last weekend of Odyssey Theatre’s six-week-long Dance at the Odyssey festival, which features two world premieres: Silent Fiction from Intrepid Dance Project in Odyssey 2, and One World from choreographer Hannah Millar and her Imprints company in Odyssey 3.

Author Lindsay Jill Roth with Dr. Laura Berman

Thursday, February 12, 6 p.m. 
Zibby’s Bookstore
1113 Montana Ave., Santa Monica 
COST: FREE; MORE INFO

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Courtesy Zibby's

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It’s almost Valentine’s Day, and author Lindsay Jill Roth has the questions that will make your new (or long-term!) relationship last. Her new book, Romances & Practicalities, lays out 250 questions you should ask each other to make your love a time- and challenge-tested success — alongside Roth’s own long-distance love story and interviews with couples of all stripes. She’s in conversation with love, sex and relationship therapist Dr. Laura Berman at Zibby’s in Santa Monica.

An evening in conversation with Silversun Pickups’ Brian Aubert & Producer and Musician Butch Vig

Wednesday, February 11, 7 p.m. 
Sid the Cat 
1022 El Centro Street, South Pasadena
COST: $32.75; MORE INFO

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Hometown heroes Silversun Pickups are back with a new album and tour — catch them this week for free at Amoeba’s in-store show on Monday. Then dive deep at this conversation at the new Sid the Cat venue between singer Brian Aubert and producer and musician Butch Vg about the making of their new album, Tenterhooks. Plus, Lyndsey Parker of Licorice Pizza (friend of Best Things to Do) will moderate the chat.

Stronger Together: Nurturing Mind, Body, and Spirit

Monday, February 9, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
St. Monica Catholic Community Grand Pavilion 
725 California Ave., Santa Monica
COST: FREE; MORE INFO 

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Courtesy St. John's Foundation

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Recovery is an ongoing process, and the medical and spiritual communities of L.A. are reminding you they're here to help. Providence Saint John’s Health Center and St. Monica Catholic Community are marking the anniversary of the Palisades and Eaton fires with an evening of community, commemoration and healing.

Victor Villa brought his taco cart to Bad Bunny's Super Bowl Halftime performance.

Los Angeles residents likely know the name — Villa's Tacos is an award-winning taco business based in Highland Park. Villa began in his grandmother's front yard and now has brick-and-mortar locations in Highland Park, off Figueroa Avenue, and at Grand Park in downtown Los Angeles.

The restaurant has won L.A. Taco's Taco Madness championship three times (2021, 2022 and 2024) and earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand award for three consecutive years for its signature quesotacos.

A celebration of Latino culture

The entire performance was a celebration of Latin American culture's prominence in the United States, with Bad Bunny taking a moment to recognize Spanish-speaking countries worldwide.

Villa appeared during the opening number, "Tití me preguntó" from Bad Bunny's 2022 album "Un verano sin ti." In the sequence, Bad Bunny visits a piragüero cart — piraguas are iconic Puerto Rican shaved ice treats shaped like pyramids — before the camera pans to Villa and his cart, where Bad Bunny hands him the frozen treat. The moment bridges two beloved Latin American street food traditions: Puerto Rico's piraguas and L.A.'s taco culture.

'An absolute honor'

After the performance aired, Villa took to Instagram to express his thanks and call it a historic moment, He traced his journey from selling his first taco more than eight years ago to the Super Bowl stage.

"I want to give a huge thank you to @badbunnypr for hand selecting me & allowing me to represent my people, my culture, my family & my business," Villa wrote on Instagram.

'A product of immigrants'

As a first-generation Mexican American, he dedicated the moment to the immigrants who made it possible, emphasizing that Villa's Tacos is a product of immigration and that he is honored to represent his culture and all taqueros and Latinos everywhere. The post closed with shoutouts to Puerto Rico, Mexico, and all Latinos.

In August last year, Villa appeared on a Food Friday segment on LAist 89.3's AirTalk, bringing his freshly cooked tacos for host Josie Huang.