Seeking Food - By Ketojinic

The latest trip down to Baja California with my girlfriends was super fun. We stayed at a really cute B&B in the Valle de Guadalupe called Casa Encinares and stumbled upon Big Gay Weekend and were welcomed into a fun filled crazy weekend. The three of us were the only estrogen in the group and also the most tired. How the heck do people have so much energy?? We had some time to ourselves and got away to check out Finca Altozano, another one of Javier Plascencia's restaurants. It was pretty much in the middle of nowhere, though the Valle de Guadalupe is pretty much in the middle of nowhere. But we were excited to find a cute little area with interesting outdoor seating made from giant barrels. The vista was incredible. We came right around when the sun was setting, which made for a beautiful dinner out, but not the best for pictures. The setup is basically outdoors, with the majority of the restaurant underneath a roof (but no walls). I...

One of the most amazing places I've eaten this year was in Baja California, in the Valle De Guadalupe , in an intimate garden restaurant called Corazón de Tierra , a restaurant that frequent Baja Bound foodie, Chuy Tovar, recommended. We had just done wine tasting at Vena Cava , the winery on the premises of the restaurant and the hotel Villa del Valle . The winery was an interesting space, with three different reclaimed fishing boats used as roofs. (photo courtesy of Dawn Kim) The architecture of Vena Cava was interesting to say the least. It's built underneath a hilltop, creating its own man-made cave . Eileen & Phil Gregory, ex-Hollywood producer and artist/musician from Los Angeles/Europe are the owners of the adjacent Villa del Valle hotel, Vena Cava winery, and the restaurant Corazón de Tierra (with chef Diego Hernández).   (photo courtesy of Dawn Kim) Underneath a reclaimed fishing boat roof.   (photo courtesy of Dawn Kim) All the wood here...

No one ever told me how distractingly beautiful the drive would be. I've asked around and people told me to take the "scenic" toll road or the Tecate HWY to get to Valle de Guadalupe, Baja California. Little did we know that once past the sketchy border rife with hitchhikers, the road would spread out before us and take us up and down these beautiful Big Sur-like cliffs. The weather was perfect - one of those top down, driving along the coast kind of days. Too bad we were in a hard-top Honda Fit. The drive was sort of like driving down Pacific Coast Highway, but BETTER. The roads cut across mountains like a knife through a piece of amazing Mexican cheese. After some girl talk and catching up, we were on the 3 HWY and started seeing these tiny pods along the cliff. We knew we arrived at the Endemico Eco Lodge ! We drove up the sandy pavement, were let in by the friendly guard, and parked along the dirt path on the level of the lobby. This was ...