The Spirit of Baja wine pairing dinner last night was solid. Nothing earthshakingly new, but all of the four courses that were created by Javier Plascencia were unique, and good to very good. In order of serving, the celery aguachile with salt-cured nopales was flavorful and went well with a crisp chardonnay. (All of the other wines were red.) The corn tamale with wild mushrooms was sturdy. We thoroughly enjoyed the excellent duck confit with fig mole and sweet-pickled tomatillos, and also the delicious crispy short rib with charred onions, coffee aioli, and fermented pasilla juice.
The pre-dinner cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, especially the superb oysters with crema and caviar, as well as the desert were also very good. One of the two cocktails offered, which was made with mescal, celery syrup, and Suze liqueur, was a knockout. The hor’doeuvres and desert were prepared by the Westgate executive chef, Fabrice Hardel.
Well, of course all of the wine was from the Valle de Guadalupe. The chardonnay that I mentioned was a 2015 Monte Xanic, very brisk, clean, no oak, and with a hint of apple. It went well with the aguachile. A type of wine that I’ve never had before, a kerubiel (2012) from Adobe Guadalupe was served with the tamales. It was a very full-bodied, heavy wine with just a tad of salt to it. A good choice for pairing with the grainy flavor of the tamal. The duck came with a 2012 Paoloni nebbiolo, and was our favorite of the three reds. Very nicely balanced, interesting, smooth, and with a nice finish. Finally, the short rib was served with a 2013 Finca la Carrodilla shiraz. Here again, the wine was mellow and complex, with low tannin. All very good wines; good pairings, we thought.
In my reply to DD on the Bracero thread, I was intentionally brief, because this event while clearly related was somewhat tangential to that topic. Since my post has been moved into a separate thread, perhaps a few more comments are in order.
Javier Plascencia continues to please and amaze with his seemingly boundless capacity for culinary invention in this once-uncharted style of cuisine. This event was no exception, and the dishes he devised for us were true to form. Nothing was new in that sense; which is to say, I was expecting the unexpected and Plascencia delivered – as usual.
Plascencia’s compatriot at the Westgate, chef Hardel, as well as the staff at the bar where hor’doeuvres were served, clearly were seeking to make this a memorable evening, and it was. The service, especially considering it was a large group, was elegant, flawless, and professional.
I want to mention that there were two appetizers other than the one I liked best. One was a foie gras based liquid concoction drunk through a very short straw from a liqueur glass, and the other a raw tuna, ceviche-like creation. There was also a second cocktail, which I tasted but don’t recall details, except that it was served in a stemmed glass in which the rim had been dipped in a chili powder (perhaps ancho, not sure).
Also, dessert was served with a cocktail made of mezcal and tequila, in an almond (?) milk-like horchata, presented in a large martini glass. The dessert itself was a pear sorbet with guava caramel and lime meringue served in a large, extremely thin dark-chocolate shell. Very nice
So it probably was, in fact, ancho powder on the rim of the “other” cocktail. Here’s a photo of Ancho Reyes, an ingredient in the cocktail itself:
We didn’t take any photos of the dishes (I almost never do), but this was in the corner of one of the photos my companion took during dinner. It’s the duck confit. The fig mole sauce that’s puddled underneath was wonderful.
I meant to mention that, after the event, while we were all waiting outside for our respective rides, I had a brief chat with Javier. Among other things, I asked if he was planning anything new in town. This may not be news to anyone except me, but he said he was looking into Barrio Logan. If he does open a place there, I suspect it would be unique from Romesco and Bracero. I like the idea.
Get thee a bottle of Ancho Reyes, it…is…fabulous. The tequila store underneath El Agave carries it. You can add it to almost any cocktail and brings and interesting little kick without being over powering or hitting you over the head with heat
I suspect it will be like neither Romescos nor Bracero. My guess it will be more oriented towards street food since he’s a big fan of it.
I really and truly wish he’d bring Erizo NOB. His ceviche and marisco preparations would shake up the fish and seafood eating community. But then, we probably could afford in SD what he does at Erizo in TJ
We cook together every Saturday night. (I’m not much of a chef, but I do have some tasty creations. And we like to grill.) We also do what we call a “wine tasting” at the same time, a single bottle of some interesting wine we’ve never had (and there seem to be an infinite number of those). We don’t try to pair the wine with food, per se, except in broad terms.
So I really appreciate food that’s been prepared by knowledgeable chefs, and, when available, a wine that’s been suggested by the restaurant that goes well with the dish (or dishes) ordered.
Cooking once a week wouldn’t be enough for us (there is hardly anything more relaxing to cook something for dinner after a long work day and a longer cooking project on Sundays).
We cook 4 times a week and go out three times. I am curious how other posters split up their time between cooking and eating in a restaurant each week
I make things to eat when home (as I never order take-out or delivery) but does making PB&J amount to cooking? What about making spam fried rice? Or grilling fish? Or making dumplings? Hand-pulled Taiwanese beef noodles?