If you’ve been to a big San Diego food event and there’s a whole tuna getting broken down in front of a crowd, there’s a good chance Jeff Roberto is somewhere nearby. Roberto has been making sushi in San Diego for 38 years, back when there were only seven sushi restaurants in the county. Now, through Sushi on a Roll, he and his nephew Austin have become one of the city’s go-to teams for high-end traditional sushi catering—and tuna breakdowns big enough to stop a party in its tracks.
On this week’s Happy Half Hour, Jeff and Austin join Troy and Jackie to talk about the evolution of sushi in San Diego, from the arrival of the California roll and the rise of oversized American sushi to the city’s growing appreciation for traditional cuts and whole-fish preparation. They also bring along some seriously unusual bites from their winning Omakase Open entry, including tuna spinal-cord “bone marrow” topped with smoked yuzu ponzu, rare kama toro, and an old-school pressed sushi that traces back to one of sushi’s earliest forms.
The conversation is part sushi history lesson, part tuna master class, and part family handoff. Roberto talks about cutting hundreds of pounds of tuna for massive events, while Austin explains how learning alongside his uncle has shaped his approach to traditional sushi, and why the competition dish was designed around Roberto’s strengths.
This summary was provided to you by AI. To hear from the humans, listen to Happy Half Hour wherever you get your podcasts.
