AMPI - Rosarito

Atraidos por la Codorniz picante, el ceviche de atun y lo mejor de Mexico; tacos de pescado, las luces de ensenada y después de ahí viajar hacia el sur

De Mayo de··2010 By·Peter Jon Lindberg - Traducido por Victor Loza

Ensenada y el cercano Valle de Guadalupe, en el norte de Baja California, son conocidos fuera de México por tres cosas: la floreciente escena del vino local, que ha sido exagerada hasta el infinito, la comida, que no se ha publicitado lo suficiente, y los caminos espectacularmente malos, que todo mundo te advierte sobre ellos, aunque dificilmente se les cree. 

Realmente, nunca piensas en lo mal que puede ser?  Y continuas en las sombras de la noche, retomando un atajo en la oscuridad inocentemente en el valle y la unidad Hyundai alquilada y querer cruzar el cauce del río. Un río seco, pero en fin un cauce.

Usted y su compañero igualmente desconcertado pasamos los proximos 40 minutos girando las llantas del coche en lo que bien podría ser arena movediza, y despues de atascados, cavar frenéticamente, y luego, entrar en pánico, luego de excavar y girar un poco más, hasta que finalmente decidimos abandonar el coche y caminar los tres kilómetros de vuelta a la carretera - las maletas hundiendose en la grava, la arena metiendose en los calcetines. Y los coyotes auyando detras de las montañas y piensas que tal vez debiste haber prestado mas atencion al camino.

"Ah, el atajo !", Dijo nuestro posadero, Phil Gregory, cuando, a la conclusión de dicha prueba, nos recogió y colecto nuestras pertenencias polvorientas aun lado de la carretera 3. "No fue una buena idea!" dijo nuestro anfitrion, hemos tenido fuertes precipitaciones la semana anterior, explicó; la lluvia inundo la carretera llevándose un trozo entero exactamente donde se atasco nuestro vehiculo.

Las huellas de los neumáticos que había seguido a través de la arena del río creyendo que hera el mejor curso, había sido dejado por una retroexcavadora enviada a reparar la carretera. Nadie se molesto en poner una señal y mucho menos en construir una valla que percatara del peligro. "Honestamente, esto sucede todo el tiempo", dijo Gregory en camino a la posada sacudido por el camino de terraceria lleno de baches. Dijo en forma tranquilizante "vamos a que descansen, les dare un poco de vino y mañana iremos a sacar tu carro".

el tono de Gregory era extrañamente astillador, tal vez esto sucede todo el tiempo? Después de un ducha, nos dispusimos a degustar un tempranillo de la casa junto a una chimenea crepitante de mesquite en el salón.¿No es el espécimen más suave, pero funcionó: dos copas más tarde me di por vencido en preocuparme por el Hyundai.

Los vinos del Valle de Guadalupe reciben la mayor parte de la atención aquí. Pero fue el alimento lo que me atrajo a este rincón de Baja California, a 90 minutos al sur de San Diego.

Mis Amigos han delirado sobre las abundantes ostras huarache de Ensenada, el dulce abulon y el atún de aleta azul. En los foros de Baja como el chowhound.com, que estudió minuciosamente las descripciones de puestos de codorniz asada y los vendedores ambulantes de erizo del mar, mieles y quesos de granja sin filtrar de Ojos Negros en el Valle de la Trinidad.

Devoré los puestos de street Gourmet (cuyo verdadero nombre es Bill Esparza), un músico de Los Angeles, que parece estar todo el día comiendo a su manera en todo el norte de Baja California, a continuación publicando a todos los usuarios de Chowhounds sus descubrimientos, incluyendo un ceviche de un puesto en Ensenada, "que cambiará su vida". (La Secretaria de Turismo debería poner este tipo en la nomina).

Lo más tentador de todo, fueron los tacos de pescado. La merienda favorita de Ensenada, inventada por los marineros Japoneses que emigraron en el siglo 20 e introdujo la cocina tempura para la región.

Hoy en día los tacos de pescado, una tormenta perfecta de peces doble fritos con repollo, pico de gallo, jugo de limón y mayonesa en una tortilla de maíz caliente, se vende en cada esquina.

Ensenada había estado en mi imaginación desde que Warren Zevon describio los cuadros de la ciudad en su balada en 1976 "Carmelita". Me imagine siempre un aroma a jazmín, idilio hippie-bohemio, una especie de calle de las tentaciones del Sur, donde señoritas bailaban descalzas en las playas al ritmo de la guitarra española. (Aquellos de ustedes que han visitado Ensenada puede parar de reír ahora.)  Agitado por las visiones de las ostras, los tacos, el sol caliente y el frío hielo de las micheladas, · invité a mi amigo Adam a que se uniera junto conmigo por cuatro diaz de aventura.

¿Que pudiera ir mal?

El viaje comenzó bastante bien. Al norte de Ensenada la costa es muy hermosa en verdad, Me hizo recordar Oregon o California: Zacate vividos de color verde simiendose con el azul plata del pacifico. Nuestra primera parada fue en Casa Natalie, un hotel boutique íntimo de siete habitaciónes sobre una playa rocosa seis millas al norte de la ciudad, nos pasamos dos noches aquí y dos en el Valle de Guadalupe, a 30 minutos hacia el interior.

Con su hermosa piscina y un bar junto al mar iluminado, Casa Natalie fue un inicio prometedor: aquí usted puede convencerse de que Ensenada es un bastión de sofisticación y estilo.

Well. The reality was decidedly less dreamy, with blocks of sleaze and tackiness between the occasional nice parts. Most of Ensenada’s 325,000 residents are employed in fishing or shipping (this is Mexico’s second-busiest port), but in the compact, low-rise downtown, you might think everyone works as a mariachi, a souvenir vendor, a strip-club tout, or a pharmacist. Dozens of farmacias·line the main drag, their billboards advertising cheap prescription drugs: Ultram, Cialis, Propecia. (Orange County retirees seem to be the primary target.) It’s a reminder that Ensenada is still a border town, albeit a slightly more refined one.

Fortunately our meals made up for it. We tasted raw perfection at·La Guerrerense, Street Gourmet LA’s beloved ceviche cart, where just-caught shrimp, octopus, and pismo clams are marinated in lime and soy sauce—another gift from Japan—then dressed with avocado and·pico de gallo·and served on crisp tostadas.

The bill: $3. (We discovered a near-identical cart down the street, called·Mariscos El Gordito, that was just as good if not better.) And at·Tacos Mi Ranchito La Fenix, a corner stand no uninformed visitor would think to stop at, we found what may be the best fish taco ever.

·It’s a DIY affair: they give you the tortilla and double-fried nuggets of·angelitoshark, then you build the rest from a counterful of trimmings—though it hardly requires a thing, so moist and flavorful is the fish. (A note for nervous eaters: food from busy street stalls is generally a safe bet, given the high turnover.)

The trip highlight, however, was a four-hour lunch at·Manzanilla, owned by acclaimed chef Benito Molina. The Mexico City native started his career in Boston, working under Todd English at Olives, where he fell in love with the bold, direct flavors of the Mediterranean. Returning to Mexico, he found in northern Baja a Med-worthy combination of rustic wines and stellar ingredients from land and sea.

Molina takes full advantage. Local Manila clams arrive in a bacony broth tinged with saffron. Baby·abulón,·farmed in nearby San Quintin, is sliced into thin disks and seared on a hot rock, ·

then sauced with mesquite-smoked tomato and cream; the delicate flesh is nothing like the outsize abalone so cherished in Asia.

Tender grilled rib eye is seasoned with rosemary and served with strong mustard (how Mediterranean is that?); on the side come buttery morsels of fat, twice-cooked to resemble crispy·chicharrones.

After nine years downtown, Manzanilla moved last year to an industrial garage in the shipyard district, which makes a funky stage set: raw-concrete floors offset by zany canvases and pink Plexi chandeliers.

It’s a fine place to while away the day. Adam and I were due to check in that afternoon at·La Villa del Valle—Phil Gregory’s inn in the Valle de Guadalupe—but we wound up lingering at Manzanilla over chamomile·panna cotta·and didn’t reach the valley until after sunset.

That was our first mistake. Our second mistake was taking that left in the dark. Only now do I realize (a) how insane we were to attempt a shortcut, and (b) how lucky we were not to wind up someplace worse. Oh, and (c) how foolish it was to take a two-wheel-drive Hyundai Sonata on a road trip in Baja.

Back in San Diego, our rental company had charged us an extra $25 a day in mandatory insurance just to bring the car into Mexico.

At the time this struck me as suspect. Now, with our Hyundai in the riverbed, $25 a day seemed entirely fair.

We hiked back to the car the next morning, accompanied by Gregory, his handyman Juan Paredes, and four shovels. It took a half-hour to uncover the wheels.

Finally we were able to push the car forward a few feet—and then it promptly sank back into the sand, unmovable. Clearly we needed a tow.

But what vehicle could negotiate the riverbed? Paredes suddenly pointed at a distant plume of smoke. “Retro excavadora!” he cried.

·A backhoe—likely the same one whose tracks we’d followed the night before. So off we trudged, across a mile of floodplain, to enlist the operator’s help.

I offered him $50 to haul us out (in Baja there’s probably a going rate for backhoe rescues), and soon the Hyundai was bouncing and rattling down the pitted valley roads once again.

The Valle de Guadalupe’s terrain alternates between harsh (cacti and agave; acres of dust) and graceful (olive and citrus groves; grapevines receding into the hazy distance).

·Watching skinny horses graze in scrubby fields, I was reminded of Tuscany’s Maremma.

Needless to say, the valley is far more attractive than Ensenada itself.

The bulk of the region’s few visitors come for the wineries—more than 60 of them along a stretch of Highway 3 known as La Ruta del Vino.

The valley’s arid microclimate, cooled by ocean breezes, is near ideal for wine cultivation, and though the product is still mostly uneven, the wineries, farm stands, and restaurants of the Valle de Guadalupe form a remarkable little foodie universe.

We savored buttery diver scallops, seared bluefin tuna, and local roast lamb at Laja, the valley’s most famous restaurant.

Amid the orange groves at convivial ·Restaurante Los Naranjos, ·we feasted on spicy Guadalupe quail and slow-cooked pork shank marinated in tequila, beer, red wine, garlic, orange juice, and rosemary.

There was fig jam and tangy Real del Castillo·cheese from the humble provisions shop·Cremería Los Globos·in the one-stoplight village of San Antonio de las Minas. And for breakfast there were eggs collected that morning from the coop at La Villa del Valle.

Poised on a lone hilltop with 360-degree views, La Villa del Valle occupies a handsome, two-story hacienda that was built in 2002 but looks as if it has belonged here forever.

Phil Gregory and his wife, Eileen, imbue the place with thoughtful touches: bottles of mint-infused water at bedside; sprigs of lavender on your pillow. Guest rooms are basic, but the public areas are gorgeous, especially the main living room, with its cowhide ottomans, pressed-tin lamps, and burnished-oak bookcases filled with bird-watching and wine guides.

As the sun descends, cool air sails in from the mountains, carrying the scent of rosemary, mint, and citrus blossoms up the hill to the inn, where it mingles with the primal aroma of mesquite burning in the hearth. No better time to take a snifter of·tequila·reposado·to your balcony and gaze out at those Georgia O’Keeffe hills.

In the fading evening light you can trace the trajectory of the riverbed in the near distance—which, really, looks so much nicer from up here.

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GUIDE TO ENSENADA

Getting There

Fly to San Diego’s Lindbergh Field and rent a car for the 90-minute drive south to Ensenada. Be prepared for long waits at the border—up to 90 minutes—on your return. Note: most rental companies permit only certain vehicles to cross the border and add a premium for Mexican insurance (around $25 per day).

Safety Advisory

The climate in Ensenada is more secure than some border areas, but travelers should exercise caution. For more information, visit·travel.state.gov.

Stay

GREAT VALUE·Casa Natalie Hotel Boutique·Book the waterfront Agave Suite or the sprawling, second-floor Yuca Suite. Km 103.3, Hwy. 1, El Sauzal de Rodríguez; 52-646/174-7373;·casanatalie.com; doubles from $250, including breakfast.

GREAT VALUE·La Villa del Valle·Km. 89, Rancho San Marcos, Camino a Toros Pintos, Ejido Francisco Zarco, Valle de Guadalupe; 818/207-7130 or 52-646/156-8007;lavilladelvalle.com; doubles from $195, including breakfast.

Eat and Drink

Casa de Piedra Winery·Km. 93.5, Hwy. 3, San Antonio de Las Minas, Valle de Guadalupe; 52-646/ 156-5268 or 52-646/155-3097,·vinoscasadepiedra.com.

Cremería Los Globos·Humble shop selling local cheese, wine, honey, olives, and jams. Km. 92, Hwy. 3, San Antonio de Las Minas, Valle de Guadalupe; 52-646/120-5092.

La Guerrerense·Corner of Avda. Alvarado and First St., Ensenada; 52-646/174-2114; open 10:30 a.m. until late afternoon; lunch for two $7.

Mahi-Mahi·Tacky maritime interior; sublime oysters and seafood coctels (try the octopus). 33 Paseo Hidalgo, Ensenada; no phone; lunch for two $36.

Mariscos El Gordito·Corner of Avda. Ruíz and Avda. Ryerson; no phone; open daily from morning to mid-afternoon; ceviche for two $6.

Muelle Tres·On the boardwalk near the fish market, Benito Molina’s casual seafood joint has a daily changing chalkboard menu; come for mussels and local wine. 187 Teniente Azueta, Ensenada; 52-646/176-0318; lunch for two $28.

Restaurante Del Parque·Chic new downtown restaurant with an olive tree–shaded terrace and an excellent wine shop. 623 Avda. Moctezuma, Ensenada; 52-646/178-8587; dinner for two $25.

Restaurante Laja·Km. 83, Hwy. 3, Valle de Guadalupe; 52-646/155-2556; prix fixe dinner for two $87.

Restaurante Los Naranjos·Km. 82.5, Hwy. 3, Valle de Guadalupe; 52-646/155-2522; lunch for two $31.

Restaurante Manzanilla·139 Teniente Azueta, Ensenada; 52-646/175-7073;·rmanzanilla.com; dinner for two $50.

Tacos Mi Ranchito El Fenix·Corner of Espinosa and Avda. Juárez, Ensenada; no phone; tacos for two $6.