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Arts & Culture

SAVOR SAN DIEGO: Season 2: Spa Food: It All Began At Rancho La Puerta

Chef Su-Mei Yu (right) cooks with Rancho La Puerta co-founder and owner Deborah Szekely (left).
Courtesy of Savor San Diego
Chef Su-Mei Yu (right) cooks with Rancho La Puerta co-founder and owner Deborah Szekely (left).

Airs Thursday, July 28, 2016 at 8:30 p.m. on KPBS TV

Food is at the heart of many of San Diego’s most fascinating stories. Our food community is vibrant, diverse and unique, full of history, passionate people and delicious treasures. Join Su-Mei Yu, noted local cook, author and restaurant owner, as she explores and cooks her way around San Diego sharing the captivating tales of our culinary bounty on SAVOR SAN DIEGO.

Chef Su-Mei Yu (right), Arturo Santana (center) of Valle 34, and Rancho La Puerta chef Denise Roa (left) at Valle 34 Goat Farm.
Courtesy of Savor San Diego
Chef Su-Mei Yu (right), Arturo Santana (center) of Valle 34, and Rancho La Puerta chef Denise Roa (left) at Valle 34 Goat Farm.
Goat cheese from Valley 34.
Courtesy of Savor San Diego
Goat cheese from Valley 34.
Chef Su-Mei Yu's Tom Kha Soup
Courtesy of Savor San Diego
Chef Su-Mei Yu's Tom Kha Soup

Recipes

Get the latest recipes from chef Su-Mei Yu and make them at home!

"Spa Food: It All Began At Rancho La Puerta" - Just across the border in Tecate, the legendary Rancho La Puerta continues under the guidance of founder Deborah Szekely, a pioneer of spa cuisine. Deborah guides host Su-Mei Yu on an exploration of the luxurious Ranch and shares decades of its storied history.

From Rancho La Puerta, Su-Mei visits nearby Valle 33, an artisan goat cheese producer, to learn about the art of making cheese.

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Episodes of SAVOR SAN DIEGO will be available for online viewing following the broadcast.

SAVOR SAN DIEGO is on Facebook, and you can follow @saffronsd on Twitter. Su-Mei Yu is the owner of the award-winning Saffron Thai Grilled Chicken, San Diego’s first authentic Thai restaurant.

ABOUT CHEF SU-MEI YU

Su-Mei Yu, a celebrated San Diego chef, restaurateur and cookbook author.
Courtesy of Savor San Diego
Su-Mei Yu, a celebrated San Diego chef, restaurateur and cookbook author.

Su-Mei Yu is a celebrated San Diego chef, restaurateur and cookbook author. Her cookbooks include "Asian Grilling," the 2000 IACP Award-winning "Cracking the Coconut," and "The Elements of Life: A Contemporary Guide to Thai Cooking and Traditions for Healthier Living."

Su-Mei is a frequent contributor to Fine Cooking magazine, the Bangkok Post, and the U-T San Diego. She is chef-owner of the acclaimed Saffron restaurants in San Diego, California and has made numerous appearances on national television programs such as the Today Show, Good Morning America, and Martha Stewart Living. She is a regular and popular morning show guest on local news programs as well because of her outgoing and high energy personality along with her delicious and healthful cooking tips.

Born of Chinese parents in Thailand, she came to America to attend boarding school at the age of fifteen, and worked as a social worker and as an assistant professor at San Diego State University before opening Saffron, one of San Diego’s first authentic Thai restaurants in Mission Hills in 1985.

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Su-Mei later expanded the Saffron brand with Saffron Noodles & Sate, a comfortable eatery with indoor and outdoor seating. Located next to each other, both restaurants have become San Diego favorites featuring traditional Thai dishes made from recipes Su-Mei learned as a child in Thailand. Saffron’s menus offer guests delicious and affordable fare prepared with Su-Mei’s philosophy of “food for the mind, body and soul.”

Savor San Diego Season Two