BajaNomad

Baja: The new Provence

dccf - 2-23-2008 at 03:10 PM

Right now, 2:00Pm on San Diego Public Television.

bancoduo - 2-23-2008 at 03:41 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by dccf
Right now, 2:00Pm on San Diego Public Television.
I didn't see it. What is the connection with France? A guess; something to do with vineyards.

dccf - 2-23-2008 at 04:06 PM

Program concerned the Laja Restaurant (see link), where they grow their own veggies and cook with a French influence. Visited a vineyard in the Guadalupe valley. Visited some restaurant kitchens where fresh fish is prepared.

I thought it would be pretty interesting but turned out not to be. You didn't miss anything about the true Baja. It was how the French were going to change Baja because of the favorable climate.

http://entertainment.signonsandiego.com/places/laja/

Forgot to attach the link

[Edited on 2-23-2008 by dccf]

Laja - a Recent Foodie Dicussion

Gypsy Jan - 2-23-2008 at 05:41 PM

Here's the link: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/458791

Lots of pro and con about the restaurant. I like it a lot.

Roberto - 2-23-2008 at 07:13 PM

As good as Laja may be, one restaurant does not make Provence. There are literally hundreds of restaurants in provence that Laja cannot hold a candle to. This is just silly.

DENNIS - 2-23-2008 at 07:16 PM

Producers got free meals.

bajabound2005 - 2-23-2008 at 09:42 PM

We just finished watching this episode -- have had it TIVOd for months!

Laja represents everything Baja CAN be! Notice how Jair has to grow his own veggies...well, he wouldn't HAVE to but it's the only way he can get what he wants. His meats...lamb comes from two different "farmers???" right near this restaurant. The most recent time we were there, lamb was part of the menu (this not a menu you get to order off of, it's a fixed menu....) The server brought what was supposed to be the lamb and we argued with him there was NO WAY this was lamb. It tasted nothing like lamb; we were 99% sure it was some kind of pork tenderloin....soon after, the server takes us back to the kitchen to meet Jair....and Jair shows us the different lamb cuts and explains why they taste different. They come from 2 different farms, they eat different things...but this was the mildest lamb ever served or eaten, I swear!

From there, a full kitchen tour, including the bakery in the back, a complimentary loaf of bread to take home...when all was said and done, we took at tour of the gardens to experience still on the stem, vine, root, whatever - what we'd just enjoyed on our plates.

This is still a favorite restaurant. And if someone on Chowhound thought it over-rated, they obviously live somewhere with unlimited quality restaurants....Laja rates with the best of NYC or San Francisco restaurants...and anything in between. It has STYLE! And it's right here in our backyard! (well, close....)

[Edited on 2-24-2008 by bajabound2005 for bad spelling]

[Edited on 2-24-2008 by bajabound2005]

vandenberg - 2-24-2008 at 12:26 PM

Quote:


His meats...lamb comes from two different "farmers???" right near this restaurant. The most recent time we were there, lamb was part of the menu (this not a menu you get to order off of, it's a fixed menu....) The server brought what was supposed to be the lamb and we argued with him there was NO WAY this was lamb. It tasted nothing like lamb; we were 99% sure it was some kind of pork tenderloin....soon after, the server takes us back to the kitchen to meet Jair....and Jair shows us the different lamb cuts and explains why they taste different. They come from 2 different farms, they eat different things...but this was the mildest lamb ever served or eaten, I swear!






Funny to hear that statement about the taste of the lamb.
Have been buying lamb here, Loreto, at the Sunday market.
Made some great stew out of it, ( can't distinguish cuts ) but it doesn't taste anything like the lamb I'm used to in California. It is definitely lamb. Can tell when browning it.
Anyone familiar with this and maybe had the same kind of experience.
Sorry if this hijackes the thread.:P

DENNIS - 2-24-2008 at 12:29 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by durrelllrobert
Never heard of it. Where it be:?::?::?::?:


Guadalupe Valley.

bajabound2005 - 2-24-2008 at 12:33 PM

www.lajamexico.com

Jair explained that is the taste had to do with what the lambs eat, so you get different flavors depending on what they are fed (or what's available for grazing).

DENNIS - 2-24-2008 at 12:36 PM

I hope they don't tie them up around the outhouse.