Always nice to support chefs, food writers and purveyors from the mainland when they’re in our SD/BC region. Opportunity tomorrow, Thursday, June 25, 6 to 8 pm at Casa Artelexia. Leslie Tellez of the Distrito Federal will be in SD to promo “Eat Mexico: Recipes from Mexico City’s Streets, Markets & Fondas.” Check it out, hope to see you there! http://bitly.com/1QzrZDm

The SD Union-Tribune hosted a free U-T Talks tonight, “Trends of Baja.” Here are a few of my key takeaways from this well-attended event:

“When I moved to San Diego, one of the things I found most fascinating was that SD is not only 15 minutes from Tijuana, but also just 15 minutes from the door to all of Latin America.” – Derrik Chinn, Turista Libre

 

“Through Rancho La Puerta, Deborah Szekely has given me the opportunity to accomplish the dreams of my life through food. And Baja’s varied terrain allows us to grow and catch any and all kinds of food locally.” – Denise Roa, Rancho La Puerta

 

“Although I set out to just do a fun show, Crossing South has provided a countervoice to the ‘what bleeds, leads’ mindset of traditional, mainstream media, which unfortunately, tends to play up the negative.” – Jorge Meraz, Crossing South

BRAVO, SDUT, for hosting this event!

We packed a ton of fun into this weekend! Arrived in Ensenada in time to hook up with family & see the trophy trucks start. Unfortunately, a Class 10 racer hit a utility pole on turn #2 – before he even got off road – which downed power lines, injured a few spectators & caused a race delay. Headed to Muelle 3 for lunch, but (bummer!) closed for special event. Landed at Mercado Negro for cocktel campechana, almejas gratinadas, fish & shrimp tacos. Wedged in a wonderful tasting @ Santo Tomas down IN Valle Santo Tomas with our fabulous host, David (and bought 3 bottles), then reunited with family just N of Santo Tomas to see the racers come through; dusty but FUN! Cleaned up @ Posada El Rey Sol & set off to find Restaurante Manzanilla in the port district. SUCCESS! Great place, wonderful dinner of shared abalone & yellowtail. Ensenada’s been called “Cinderella of the Pacific,” & Manzanilla is a hidden gem that I’ve heard about & longed to visit for YEARS; worth the search to find it! Topped all off with a great shrimp & veggie omelet poolside at Hotel Cortez/Las Bugambillas before our run for the border (SENTRI ROCKS!) TIP: Ensenada was setting up for a hongo (mushroom) festival on the main tourist drag when we left, looked like great fun. Maybe next year? And congrats to Carlos Lopez of Tecate, overall winner of the 2015 Baja 500!

We’ll be crossing south again this weekend to hook up with family for the Baja 500. We’ve been Baja aficianandos for decades, but never checked out the race until Bob’s sister Susie married a motorhead, and the entire family promptly latched onto the scene. It’s a ton of fun, so much energy, and Ensenada has always been my fave BC city. Gotta make the rounds to La Guerrerrense, Cafe Cafe, Hussongs, Boules, and we hope to visit Manzanilla this time. Some pics from last year, look for a report on 2015 festivities soon!

Isn’t it a bit ironic that Baja’s Valle de Guadalupe is finally getting much well-deserved attention (and seeing much growth), but is also dealing with being in its 5th yr of drought? How will this affect grape and wine production in this growing region? Read this informative U-T SD article by Michele Parente: http://bit.ly/1LG1wOj

The early bird gets the worm – or in this case, the paella and wine! The inaugural, sold out SD International Paella & Wine Fest took place yesterday from noon to 6pm at Embarcadero Marina Park South. Thirty-some booths prepared and served various versions of the rice and seafood dish, with a number of wineries from Baja to Napa represented, offering tastes including some wines made with grapes from France & Spain. Because paella is not a fast food, at any given time a number of booths were not serving; instead, new pans of paella were on the fire. Eatdrinkbaja was excited to see Tijuana’s venerable Chiki Jai represented, but sad to be faced with an empty paella pan once we got to the head of the line. Prettiest paella? Booth 29, Los Azafranes, decked out with whole octopus and flower-like bell peppers. Haven’t heard yet who the celebrity judges chose as winners. BUMMER: some wineries didn’t bring enough product; Valle de Guadalupe’s Las Nubes was one of a few that were OUT as early as 2pm. Best wines in our book?  Both from Napa – the Delgadillo 2006 Cab Sauv (retail: $85!) and the Encanto Cab Sauv (retail: $75) were superb. But also enjoyed tastes from the Valle’s Lomita (love the Pagano), Baron Balche & Monte Xanic. Kudos to the SD Regional Chamber for bringing a Paella Fest to SD; I’m confident they will learn from this year’s experience and tweak to improve next year!

OK, this is a first-time event, but insider sources have told me it’s being produced by the folks who put on the annual Valle de Guadalupe paella fest each August, which sells out in mere minutes and I can personally vouch for being FABULOUS. Enjoy a taste of Baja (and Napa/Sonoma) w/o crossing the  border this Saturday, noon to 6 pm. Especially if you’re a Chamber member, it’s a great deal, and so close to home! HINT: Have a light breakfast. DETAILS & TICKETS 

We really look forward to the Rosarito Art Fest, always held Saturday and Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. This year, however, we were extraordinarily busy, with Steve Poltz tix on Friday, wanting to visit with Bob’s son Jamie Saturday evening before he headed back to Oahu, and (YES!) tix for the Rolling Stones on Sunday. But we managed to work in a quick run to ‘Rito for a delicious breakfast on the oceanfront deck of my fave, Los Pelicanos (omelet de rajas de chile poblano, elote y queso, and TIP: don’t forget to ask for “toreados,” the sweated serrano chiles! And if there’s a better margarita – en las rocas sin sal, por supesto – in Rosarito, I haven’t found it.) The Art Fest didn’t let us down – it’s getting better every year. On the main drag, Boulevard Juarez, in front of Festival Plaza, it’s free, there’s music, entertainment and eating & drinking opptys. We sipped Tango Pasion, a delicious Nebbiolo from Vintango, the boutique winery of our longtime Baja buddy, JoAnn Knox-Martino, while we perused the art and visited with artisans before we had to make a run for the border.

Because our buddy, Tommy Beaudwin, feels fortunate to have been born on Cinco de Mayo, he traditionally celebrates in Baja and invites friends to join the fun. We connect with him on the annual adventure whenever we can! This year we met up with Tommy’s entourage in downtown Rosarito Beach, where we did some shopping and dropped into the venerable Papas & Beer (first time I’ve been to Papas in more than a decade! We were far too mellow and WAY too early for drunken debauchery.) Later we hooked up with Team Tommy at the beautiful new cliffside restaurant at Castillos del Mar, just south of town, where Tommy was staying. It was the night of the big Mayweather-Pacquiao fight, so things were a bit crazy. Bob and I loved our shared grilled pulpo (octopus – outrageous looking, huh?) and I was intrigued by these Out of Mexico spices!

In April we made the journey to Hotel Coral, just north of Ensenada for the Festival de las Conchas y el Vino Nuevo. Apparently it’s been held annually, but this was the first time we heard about it. Ticket were available online, and once I was able to convince Wells Fargo that the charge to a Tijuana-based promotion agency was not fradulent, we scored. With the currency conversion fee, worked out to about $35 per person. What a great event! Probably 40 Baja restaurants offering oyster, clam, mussel and abalone tastes; at least as many wineries pouring delicious vino. Chef Javier Plascencia was on hand representing my fave, Finca Altozano; reconnected with Javier Martinez of Ensenada’s Boules; was stoked to meet Drew Deckman and Natalia Badan. Lots of open space and tables; not too crowded when searching out samples. Cooking demos, too! A good value, lovely venue down by the Coral’s marina and a great way to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon. TIP: BYO wine glass or you’ll need to buy one; it’s not included in the ticket price.