R&K Insider: The Trip in Tijuana, the battle for Beirut

Design legend Edoardo Chavarin on reclaiming Mexican pride, and R&K reports from revolutionary Beirut. View this email in your browser Friends and readers— This week on The Trip podcast, we crossed the border at San Ysidro into Mexico (a journey that, going north to south, with the right color passport, is deceptively simple) to kick off a series of Tijuana episodes.   It's pretty hard to shut out talk of borders these days, this one in particular: footage of caravans, the shameful policy of separating families, a gallery of pointless (and ineffectual) prototypes of a wall that recall vanity projects of history's worst dictators, the constant throwing of dollars and rhetoric onto this arbitrary line in the sand, a monument to a cruel geographic lottery. But what about the people—U.S. citizens and Mexicans alike—living along this border, who could once upon a time cross back and forth to do laundry and buy milk or commute? With this series of episodes, we introduce listeners to the Tijuanenses: a people with one foot on either side of the wall, whose hustle and pride has helped transform Tijuana from one of the world's most dangerous cities to a must-visit destination for food, beer, wine, and beyond—in just a handful of years. As one of our Tijuana guests, chef Ruffo Ibarra puts it, a fortified border between San Diego and Tijuana feels a bit like putting up a wall between San Francisco and Oakland. Tijuana's gilded age was fuelled by catering to the vices of its northern neighbors, first during Prohibition, then later enticing American spring breakers with knock-off tequila shots and cheap pills. It fell into its most violent era partly for similar reasons, as criminals and cartels prospered from and fought, often lethally, over lucrative routes to supply the north's demand for stronger and more illegal vices. And while these problems are far from solved, Tijuana remains undefeated, ready to take its place as one of the world's great border towns. First, host Nathan Thornburgh sits down with design legend Edoardo Chavarin, the man behind Mexico's Naco clothing brand which grew from the concept of "a T-shirt nobody would wear" to an empire and a voice of reclaimed Mexican pride. Next, we talk about Tijuana's old and new golden ages with Ruffo Ibarra, who had to cross the border north after losing his brother to cartel violence, and now transforms Baja's agricultural bounty into culinary sorcery such as basil-fed lambs and electric palate-cleansing flowers.  "I am ruined for all other ruins." —Nathan Thornburgh, seeing the Temple of Bacchus in Baalbek, Lebanon. In other news, team R&K is in Beirut this week recording the next chapter of The Trip podcast. Over the years, we have been lucky to publish so many good stories from so many talented writers in this city, not to mention, a city guide that showcases all savvy of these writers. It's been a whirlwind trip of interviews with cooking legends, writers, musicians, and activists, rallies at Martyrs' Square, a road trip into the Beqaa Valley for the Temple of Bacchus—a 2,000-year old monument to the region's wine culture (tip: if you want a bargain on a Hezbollah T-shirt, buy it on your way out of the temple complex) and day-tasting with wine producers, and an overzealous dawn-crowing rooster. Nothing and nobody, it seems, has been left untouched by the revolution, or the question of whether or not things will be different this time. Tune in! On our site for excerpts, and by signing up with Luminary Media.  –Alexa Copyright © 2019 Roads & Kingdoms, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: 68 Jay St. #422 Brooklyn, NY 10013 Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.