Rick's report on his latest eating and wine-tasting trip to northern Baja here.dasubergeek - 11-30-2015 at 12:47 PM
It would sure work a lot better if he got the names of the places right (it's La Guerrerense, not El, it's El Mazateño with a Z, and he didn't specify
whether his loyal followers should go to Tacos El Fenix or Puesto Fenix in Ensenada).tripledigitken - 11-30-2015 at 01:12 PM
Rumour has it while in San Diego he was looking for space in Little Italy to open a restaurant. pauldavidmena - 11-30-2015 at 03:57 PM
A lot of people make fun of Rick Bayless, but at least he's shown Americans that there's more to Mexican cuisine than tacos and burritos (not that
there's anything wrong with tacos and burritos).DENNIS - 11-30-2015 at 04:04 PM
Yes...of course. Now we have BajaMed.....whatever that is.AKgringo - 11-30-2015 at 04:53 PM
You gotta give Bayless a little slack on the errors, he did say that wine tasting was on the agenda!DanO - 11-30-2015 at 05:12 PM
Bayless has for sure been one of the better historians of Mexican cuisine, but at his restaurant Red O it'll cost you 28 bucks for half a roast
chicken, (plus 8 bucks for a side of rice to go with your Charro beans -- that's just pinto beans with garlic, onion and bacon, not the cuchi-cuchi
girl -- and 6 bucks for one Pacifico to wash it all down).
I haven't been to Red O, but I'd wager that the roast chicken at Dos Hermanos in Ensenada, which goes for a small fraction of that price, is just as
good if not better. Granted, the salsa at Dos Hermanos doesn't have melons in it, but that is to their credit. I guess Bayless has to pay the rent
somehow.
Street taco afficionado and Mexican food expert Bill Esparza absolutely murdered Bayless' food and the attitude at Red O when the first one opened.
Still a hilarious read.
Esparaza also called Bayless the Michael Bolton of Mexican cooking, which made me laugh (apologies to any Michael Bolton fans out there, but you need
help).
Didn't I see that episode already? Oh, that was that other guy. Seems like Guadalupe Valley is becoming a foodie destination. Won't be long before
some wealthy gringos plop down some nice houses and the roads are paved, hope not cause the wines from that area are really great even though I do not
drink much wine, compared to the snooty napa valley astringent, nasty crap that gives you dry mouth the LA Cetto 2012 Sirah was amazing.Bajahowodd - 11-30-2015 at 05:53 PM
Not wishing to bash Rick, but history shows that although he is from SoCal, he moved to Chicago, to avoid the SoCal competition.
Some of his food is really good. But, overall, I would give his Chicago restaurants 3 out of 5 stars. Been to both of them.DanO - 11-30-2015 at 06:48 PM
Here's the blog post in which Esparza makes the Michael Bolton reference. First-rate takedown.
I find it hysterical that the only places he has "exposed" in northern Baja have been those that Bill and I have written about. Ey güey, a consulting
fee wouldn't go amiss, hahaha.gsbotanico - 12-2-2015 at 09:58 AM
Some years ago five of us did the Rick Bayless taco crawl in Tijuana. We had to modify it because the taquerías are widely scattered. We did it in
taxis and walking. We included El Mazateño (a taxi up the hill and walking down) and La Ermita (a very long taxi ride), We added Kokopelli, which
was then located in the Food Garden on Sánchez Taboada. It had started with a food truck on Ocampo and Agua Caliente. Kokopelli now has a brick and
mortar location half a block off Sánchez Taboada. Take the old route to Rosarito using Paseo de los Héroes. Turn right a block before the 2nd
roundabout on Antonio Caso, cross Sánchez Taboada, and it's on the right just past the construction.
Thanks for the link to Bill Esparza. It's a blistering put down that I can agree with. Bayless relies on local "informants" and does a quick run
through. I don't know the LA and OC food scene, but have experience in TJ. I've watched some excellent modest restaurants in Tijuana with regional
cooking that sadly have gone out of business, including Aquí es Oaxaca, Real del Potosí, La Mansión del Quetzal, and La Lagartija. I would hate to
see Kokopelli go out of business. Give it a try. They serve some craft beers now in bottles.
--Jerry S.bajaguy - 12-2-2015 at 10:11 AM
And he misses a lot of the great small local placesbajaric - 12-2-2015 at 02:28 PM
