Last Friday evening, after a great day in the valley, SWMBO and I dined at Corazon de Tierra located adjacent to La Villa del Valle. To really
appreciate the following review, you need to understand that while we enjoy fine dining as much as the next guy, we are definitely not foodies. Keep
in mind that the wines, included in the price, were their house wine and we had as much as we wanted. They may have kept track and charged
accordingly. There is no menu, you eat whatever they cook that day and according to our server, everything comes from their garden, the local farms
surrounding them or the fish market that day.
$200, -merican, and a couple of hours will get two of you the following:
1. appetizer of a corn chip with a piece of grilled and flaked sword fish. Outstanding. Rose wine for this.
2. Oyster on the half shell on a bed of warm sea salt. SWMBO considers raw oysters no different that snot-on-a-rock so I got both, sweet. Although,
now that I think about it, maybe she was hoping for the rumored affect on the male libido. Whatever. Chardonnay all around.
3. A field salad of various greens and edible flowers. Very nice and perfectly placed in the order of things. Continuing with the Chard.
4. Grilled oil fish. Not oily fish, but Oil Fish. Something that the server says is caught in deep water and is very, very oily and must be
prepared to remove much of the oils. A firm fleshed fish and quite tasty. SWMBO continues with the chard while I go to a red of some sort, pretty
typical Guadalupe blend but good and 'easy' to drink. Not a tannin in sight.
5. Sorbet of thinly sliced and iced cucumber. Perfect pallet cleanser.
6. What the server called partridge but was clearly duck. As a duck lover, this was outstanding.
7. Dirt. Yes, dirt. Sprinkled on ice cream, but still, we ate dirt. SWMBO wanted to know how one cleans dirt as the very word indicates this cannot
be done. The question hung in the air, un-answered. We both ate it all as the very name of the place indicates that the land is very important to
them and to prove it, we are going to feed it to you. During the crunching SWMBO commented that since we both grew up in Bakersfield, this would not
be far out of our experience. Touche.
We both were glad of the experience but I noticed that the next night, we ate from a place where we could order from a menu. elgatoloco - 3-29-2015 at 10:50 AM
LMAO - thanks! You have a way with words. Can hardly wait to eat there. skipowell - 3-30-2015 at 08:19 AM
One of our CDT is one of our favorites in the wine county. But it is a special occasion place as it is a bit pricey. Cant beat the views and I love
watching them harvest the garden while eating
A more afforable place with outstanding food and has both choice menu or chef's menu option is Drew Deckman's place at El Mogor winery. All outside
seating.
But I am also still a fan of Laja the original high end restaurant in my mind in the valley.
Love going to the valley for food. THe wine is okay but the food is outstanding.
Guadalupe Valle Wine and Dine
bajaguy - 3-30-2015 at 08:25 AM
Wine - Lechuza
Dine - Finca AltozanoSantiago - 3-30-2015 at 11:35 AM
My wife and I spent a three night weekend at Hotel Las Rosas in the same suite we have been staying in for the past five years, on Friday night we
went to Finca Altozano in Valle de Guadalupe wine country for dinner, for starters we were introduced to a very refreshing mint-lemon-vodka drink...
it was great because the night before we had a couple of bottles of champagne and we were feeling the effects of it... then the waiter brought us the
house bread with an assortment of sauces to dip in, the bread was great and it had the taste of smoke which we just loved!! Our entrees were: "Tuetano
Rostizado" (roasted marrow bones), m, mm, mmm!... and "Calabazas Rellenas de Queso Oreado" (zucchini stuffed with dry cheese)... really good, The
main courses: she ordered "Pollo Organico al Ladrillo" (roasted organic chicken)... obviously she just loved it! I had never seen her clean those
chicken little bones before!!!... our waiter (very polite) suggested I try "Pulpo del Pacifico a las Brazas" (grilled pacific octopus)... bad, bad
choice! it was so, but so very sour I could not handle it! I requested it be taken away and replaced it with "Asado de Nueva York de Rancho 17"
(grilled new york steak from ranch 17...???) This steak was supposed to be from a cattle ranch (rancho 17) in Sonora that breeds the best beef in that
area... well let me tell you, I like my steak rare and juicy, this steak was rare but NOT juicy because I think it was not fresh as I was led to
believe and had been frozen for some time (long time) before grilling it, so there I am, stucked with my second choice and making the best of it...
the waiter brought us the house salad: greens from their own garden: just great!! (olive oil, lemon and sea salt)... the ambiance is really relaxing,
there was a big crowd but it didn't matter because it's an outside setting so it doesn't feel crowded, the service is great and the setting also. The
only thing is getting there, it's kind of difficult finding the entrance from the road, specially at night, but the great thing is you can always call
them on the phone and they're very helpful guiding you... Here's a couple of helpful links:
[Edited on 3-30-2015 by carlosg]BajaBlanca - 3-30-2015 at 01:04 PM
I can't get over eating dirt!
Finca
bajaguy - 3-30-2015 at 01:23 PM
Carlosg......
Sorry to hear of your bad experience at Finca
For the last 3 years that has been a special place for my wife and I and we try and go 3 or 4 times a year. We usually split a salad, a NY steak,
their roasted Brussels Sprouts and have the corn cake with vanilla ice cream for dessert.
I hope you made a comment regarding the Pulpo and the steak to the management......they take those things very seriouslycarlosg - 3-30-2015 at 01:50 PM
For the last 3 years that has been a special place for my wife and I and we try and go 3 or 4 times a year. We usually split a salad, a NY steak,
their roasted Brussels Sprouts and have the corn cake with vanilla ice cream for dessert.
I hope you made a comment regarding the Pulpo and the steak to the management......they take those things very seriously
Hi bajaguy,
I did make it a point of telling my server, who was very polite and worried about the outcome, when I mentioned the extreme sourness of the octopus he
took it back and came back to say they would take care of it, but I told him that I would rather have something else, but if I was to pay for the
octopus then I would just not order nothing else, this started a back and forth until "it was approved" by someone in the back of the house, I
thought this was not appropriate and in some way very rude, they should just taken the plate back, apologized and offer to correct the situation, the
server mentioned to me that the cook told to him that "he did not have the time to taste the dish before leaving the kitchen..." even the cook was
aware of the extreme sourness of the dish after he had a taste of it... So when my steak arrived my wife was very concerned about the situation that I
decide to drop it and just get on with it and make the best of it... it was a great night anyway. We have dined at the Placencia's restaurants in Tj
many times and never had any issues. We will certainly return to Altozano and will try "Corazon de Tierra" and "La Laja" as well.
