How Ancient Food Traditions Shape California Cuisine Today

This is a very special episode of Unpacked by Afar. Because this week we hosted Unpacked Live, a—you guessed it—live version of the podcast in partnership with Visit California in Boston, Massachusetts. (You can ⁠watch the full conversation on YouTube⁠.)

In 2022, Visit California launched Visit Native California, and the goal with the Boston live event was to celebrate California's diverse Native communities. Unpacked host Aislyn Greene was joined onstage by Christina Lonewolf Martinez, a Monterey-based private chef and founder of Chieftess Monterey Bay, who is reintroducing Indigenous ingredients and practices to California’s central coast.

On stage, Christina shared her early life and how working with local Central Coast tribes like the Esselen people, she is reviving and celebrating Indigenous ingredients like acorn flour and seaweed—and using her fine-dining training to bring them to life in brilliant new ways.

In this episode, we go deeper. Christina shares more of her family’s background, the Central Coast’s Indigenous foodways and living traditions, and where she loves to eat on a rare day off.

In this episode, you’ll learn

How Christina’s Mexican and Indigenous family roots shaped her earliest food memories and led her into professional kitchens

What “re‑Americanizing” American food looks like when Indigenous ingredients become the centerpiece

The labor and ritual behind processing acorns and how acorn flour tastes and performs in dishes

How Christina collaborates with local tribal members and community organizations to forage responsibly and honor place

Don’t miss these moments

[02:10] Watching a grandmother’s kitchen—where Christina’s food story begins

[09:40] From Denny’s to the Post Ranch Inn: the pivot into fine dining and foraging

[14:50] The first encounter with acorn blinis at Post Ranch and why acorns matter today

[23:30] Planning and performing the Chieftess table at Big Sur Food & Wine

[26:10] The Salmon People amuse: sea grapes, smoked salmon, and a river rock presentation

[33:00] Favorite local escapes: Point Lobos, Esalen hot springs, and Carmel Valley river picnics

Meet this week’s guest

Christina Lonewolf Martinez, private chef and founder of Chiefess Monterey Bay

Resources

Chieftess Monterey Bay — find pop‑ups, private dinner info, and event listings

Esselen Tribe — local tribal resources and cultural context

Big Sur Food & Wine — festival details and past programming

Explore Afar’s coverage of Big Sur and the Central Coast

Where Christina eats, drinks, and takes visitors

Alta Bakery

Ad Astra Bread Co

Carmel Valley Creamery

Stokes Adobe

Cella Monterey

Hacienda Hay & Feed

Esalen Institute

How to engage

Christina offers pop-ups via her Instagram account.

Check out Three Sisters garden and seed‑saving workshops (community colleges and local organizations) with Rowen White

Watch for college demos at Cabrillo College and UC Santa Cruz

Stay Connected

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Explore our other podcasts, View From Afar, about the people and companies shaping the future of travel, and ⁠Travel Tales⁠⁠⁠, which celebrates first-person narratives about the way travel changes us.

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