I awoke suddenly as the bright Tijuana sun peered into our 7th floor hotel room, HC still sound asleep. The murky haze held their sway amongst quiet construction cranes, evidence that the real estate boom hadn't finished off its chops despite the global economic downturn. Our hotel room clock showed "8:10", just 50 minutes before we were to report to the lobby, so I jumped onto the phone to call Cathy is room 419. She sounded like she just woke up.
"Hey, we're late! I'll meet you in the fitness center in 10 minutes!" I exclaimed, reminding her of the agreement we would have to work out a bit before our ridiculous eating bonanza of a day.
"Do you know what time it is?" she said in a croaky voice. "8:11?" "It's 6:30! Sleep for another 45 minutes and I'll see you at 7:15!" before hanging up. Sheepish, I checked my phone, which showed 06:30 PST. Someone hijacked our alarm clock. HC jumped out of bed and headed to the pool for a morning workout while I turned on the TV to see Tyler Florence showing us how to make the Ultimate Shrimp Scampi. The American Network is a comforting collection of syndicated shows for the traveler who might feel like they miss home already, less than 5 miles from the border.
After burning 250 some calories on the treadmill (or about 25 minutes running), I quickly got ready to get some breakfast in the hotel. The schedule showed that we weren't going to be eating our first meal until 11:40AM, so I loaded up on a simple jamon y queso omelet in the hotel, sided with frijoles. It proved to be the only frijoles of the trip, while the other customary side of Spanish rice was not to be seen on a single dish. Count it.
First activity of the day was a roving bus tour of the town with a knowledgeable guide belting his recollection of the city on an open-top bus. We soaked in the sun while snapping photos of monuments, famous buildings such as Hotel Caesar's where the ubiquitous salad was purportedly invented, and those poor striped donkeys painted like zebras. We stopped at a Cuban products shop, being sure to indulge (legally) in some usually-forbidden products. Some aged Cuban rum, a couple o' cigars, and even a few shots of Cuban espresso, which was nothing remarkable in flavor but carried an illicit cachet that added to its charm.
Finally we hit lunch at a ragtag stand of red-checkered tables and red plastic chairs called Mazateno. We writers/tourists/gringos/etc were relegated to a room with benches, though the proximity to each other added to the early camaraderie. Each of us was served a half taco of smoked marlin and half taco of seasoned shrimp. A shrimp consomme (they use this term instead of broth in Mexico, though technically a consomme is clarified) containing rich aromatics came in small styrofoam cups as a soothing side.
The smoked marlin was fantastic - moist and flavored much like a more refined smoked salmon. The shrimp was also groundbreaking, seasoned to perfection in a blend of spices one could use on a myriad of foods. On a return visit I would consume at least 4 of these tacos.
We marched on to the next spot, Restaurant Lorca, an authentic (as in, true to the cuisine of the original country) Spanish restaurant where we were to have a textbook example of seafood paella. Sadly the excellent paella was overshadowed by a whole roasted suckling pig or lechon, which was presented whole before being diced into fifty some pieces for our table of 30 to devour. The crispy skin was somewhat sweet and crunched like an ideal kettle-fried potato chip, only pork flavored. The meat melted in one's mouth better than filet mignon, conjuring a nearly orgasmic burst of rosemary aromas, juices, and fat. Yes, pure baby pork fat, the stuff of a gourmand's most beautiful dreams. Of course, I was sure not to neglect the excellent paella, well cooked, moist and full of bright saffron, and studded with shellfish, chicken, and pork. We also received a massive plate of buttered potato slices. At the rate we were eating, we were headed toward somewhere between foodie hell and purgatory, a limbo of the mind's feeble resistance to more food and the stomach's gustatory throes for just one more bite.
Next was a meal at Cheripan, a Mexican-inflected Argentinean cuisine in an expansive, multi-tiered room that could easily pass for swanky in LA. We had an array of empanadas, some filled with cheese, others with meat. There was a cold heart of palm salad in a creamy dressing alongside a grillpan of fried sweetbreads. The favorite dish was a layout of skirt steak, beefy, rich and as flavorful beef could be. We finished off the meal with some gut-busting napoleons and chocolate gelato.
I faintly recalled reading Colman Andrews' report on Baja cuisine a few years ago in Gourmet Magazine though I was thrilled to finally dine at the seminal "Baja-Med" restaurant La Querencia, a modern bistro in the heart of the "gastronomy zone" of Tijuana. Chef Miguel Guerrero has spent years fusing Mediterranean techniques with Baja California's local products. We sampled a trio of carpaccios: beet carpaccio with chunks of creamy cheese and covered in a mint vinaigrette, slices of squash cover with capers and a chili oil, and beef tongue carpaccio with an uni sauce, chive, and frazzled onion flakes. The tongue and beet carpaccios stood out to me as delicious though the squash's only fault was perhaps a stale oil and a bit too many elements.
Either way, they were inventive and imaginary. We also had a "chorizo de abulun", normally made with abalone but made in this instance with clam, white corn, tomato, and a few droplets of caviar nestled in a carved out cucumber along with those onion flakes. We finished with a "carrot cake" made with cornbread, inflections of carrot, shrimp, and caramelized shallot. The dishes here were among some of the most creative of the trip, boldly pushing the boundaries of "Mexican cuisine".
Though we were exasperated at this point, we gathered on the patio of La Diferencia, within walking distance of La Querencia, for some appetizers on skewers and small bites. We had a mexican-style caprese with queso and nopales, chicken skewers in a sweet glaze, empanadas, and a stellar crepe of cuitlacoche, the much-maligned dark corn fungus. The cuitlacoche was comforting and almost sweet, smooth and tender to the bite like long-braised mushrooms. Eddie of Deep End Dining claimed it was the best version he'd ever tasted.
We marched onward to Cien Anos, another "alta cocina" restaurant featuring more high-end presentation of Mexican fare, including mini-tostadas of nopales, shrimp with mango relish, shrimp ceviche, smoked marlin, sauteed octopus, and seasoned whole shrimp. The diminuitive portions in an air-conditioned dining room were welcome comforts for weary diners, though an aperitif of floral damiana might've been the restorative elixir.
There was a brief stop at L'Abricot, a genuine Parisian-style bistro on a sun-soaked part of town. No building blocked an overwhelming afternoon sun though a trio of dishes kept our stomaches from overflowing. A mini-ramekin of french onion soup, a tiny poached quail egg, and a bite-size creme brulee were their offerings. We cheered to a light-bodied claret produced in the local Valle de Guadelupe. The charming chef Maribel Villareal, who spent two years in Paris learning the cuisine before opening this restaurant.
To take a break from all the food, we wandered around the loud and rambunctious 5th Annual International Tijuana Beer Festival featured craft and microbrews from Baja and even some visitors from the US such as Stone BrewCo. We were sure to have a taste of Bucanero lager, a crisp, refreshing Cuban beer. A better known brewery called Cucapa had a strong beer called chupacabras that was as hoppy as Stone's Arrogant bastard. We lingered for a while with a loud metal band adding to the festivities until our bus came to pick us up for our last stop of the day.
Dinner was Villa Saverios, another Baja-Med style restaurant with an expansive and well-appointed dining room. We were settled in a separate dining room with a long table for our party of writers and bloggers. We started out with yet another tamarind martini, this time wit a whole pod as a garnish. An excellent octopus carpaccio started out the meal, with a trio dish with mussel consomme as the notable taste. A mole poblano covered well braised short ribs and a sweet roasted fig as a third course. I was too full to even consider dessert.
And that was pretty much the story of this day, me regretting that I had eaten so much at various points without saving room for the excellent meals that we had. There were some highly notable dishes like the smoked marlin tacos, shrimp tacos, lechon, tongue carpaccio, and mole short ribs. All I remember at this point was crashing out and hoping I would be rested for the next day for our 7:15AM call time. Thankfully, the rest was deep, the bed was comfortable, I was refreshed, and ready to eat again.
La Villa del Tabaco
Avenida Revolucion 868
Zona Centro, Tijuana
(664) 688-3920.
Mariscos El Mazateno
Calzada Tecnologico, No. 473-E
Colonia Tomas Aquino, Tijuana
Restaurante Espanol Lorca
Calle Brasil 8630
Colonia Cacho, Tijuana
(664) 634-0366.
Cheripan
Escuadron 201, No. 3151 Colonia Aviacion
Zona Gastronimca, Tijuana
(619) 308-7656.
La Querencia
Escuadron 201, No. 3110, Local 1 and 2
Colonia Aviacion, Zona Gastronomica, Tijuana.
(664) 972-9935.
La Diferencia
Blvd. Sanchez Taboada 10611-A
Zona Rio, Tijuana
(664) 634-3346.
Cien Anos
Jose Maria Velazco 1407
Zona Rio, Tijuana
(664) 634-3039.
L'abricot
Avenida Antonio Caso 1910
Zona Rio, Tijuana
(664) 634-0643.
Villa Saverios
Blvd. Sanchez Taboada, corner Escuadron 201, No. 3151
Zona Rio, Tijuana
(664) 686-6442.
