Chef Stephan Sandoval on Baja Roots, Bluefin Tuna & His Famous Tostada

San Diego-raised, Chicago-based chef Stephan Sandoval joins us live to make the dish that put him on the map — a Baja-style bluefin tuna tostada built on Japanese knife technique, a scratch-made ancho-morita salsa macha, and three sauces that quietly hit every corner of the palate. Stephan talks about growing up between San Diego and Tijuana, the Japanese and Chinese immigrant influences baked into Baja food culture, why sauces are his real superpower (and his biggest production nightmare), and how mentorship under Rick Bayless shaped the kind of chef — and person — he wanted to be. He also gets into his upcoming concepts Trino and Entre Suenos, and why he's always been an open book in the kitchen. Topics covered:• Butchering a Pacific Baja bluefin tuna loin live on stage• Making salsa macha from scratch — chili selection, the nut debate, and his 4:1 ancho-to-morita ratio• The three-sauce system behind his signature tostada• Baja's Japanese and Chinese culinary influences• Kitchen mentorship, managing people, and the "open book" philosophy• Rick Bayless, The Homecoming, and what's coming next