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[Javier Plascencia] It's very rustic. It's open.
And it's a restaurant where the whole family can come. Kids, grandmas.
Big tables, family-style.
It's outdoors where we cook with a lot of wood fire.
You have wood-fired ovens, grills and so on.
[Chef Einav Gefen] Finca Altozano is in the heart of the valley,
surrounded by vineyards and a beautiful vegetable garden.
Not only the outdoor/indoor restaurant that he has here.
He has this pop-up coffee, sandwiches....
....Stop in an old train trailer....
And next to that, his next adventure of a beautiful sit-down ten-course dinner
under a 200 year old oak tree.
There is a serene feeling here....
that totally depicts who Chef Javier is.
His sense of calmness and super professionalism
is kind of embedded in every element of his setup here.
[Javier Plascencia] I think the Valley flavors — it's very rustic, it's very Mexican,
but Mexico from this side, like, very northern Mexico.
It's got a lot of surf and turf because we're so close to the ocean. We have the Pacific Ocean only 15 minutes from here.
So, we have a lot of produce from, you know, oysters and sea urchins and tunas and fish and clams.
So, you blend those with what we have here in the valley, like cheeses, lamb, goats....
[Ruth Alegria] ....Grilled meats, quail, seafood.
Innovative. Actually I hate to use the word "vegetarian,"
but his use of vegetables is so creative, so wonderful!
[Javier Plascencia] So, today we made one our top two sellers which is "pulpo de grases," which is octopus.
[Chef Einav Gefen] He gets the octopus — it has to be from a warm water source, because then the octopus is inherently softer.
He cooks it, he smokes it, and then he throws it on the grill.
But I think the highlight of the dish is not the octopus, per se, which was delicious and melt in your mouth.
It was the Asian sauce that he really served with it and...
It's an Asian twist, because he finished it with butter....
But the ponzu with ginger and lemongrass and mirin....
There is all this Japanese influence in the area that we've seen in the scene,
but I have not yet seen in the food so predominantly, as we've seen in that dish.
[Javier Plascencia] You should take on all the Asian influence that we have here in Baja, California.
So, being here, in this region, in this space outdoors....
With the liquid smoke and the firewood, everything. It's a really tasty dish that people really love.
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People come here to the valley, to the valley, to eat either lamb or quail or goat....
And here, the quail is very, very popular,
so we just marinated with lemon and oregano, sea salt, bay leaves, garlic and onion....
Then we grill it. It's very simple, but the mesquite....
That's what gives you the flavor.
And then we put a little bit of limonata, which is lemon juice with olive oil and a little bit of oregano....
And we sauté a little bit of chard or kale. Whatever you have in the garden that day.
And that's how we serve it. And you eat it with your hands....
....and with some salsa. We put some — little bit of beans on the side.
And flour tortillas or corn tortillas or fresh baked bread that we do here in house.
It's just great.
[Chef Einav Gefen] You weaved in his dishes, in his menu....
elements that I have not seen here yet.
A little bit more of interesting fusion of cuisine, that I guess that's the New Mexican cuisine.
Really reflecting what Baja is.
[Javier Plascencia] Here, we're very young, so we're just making it as we speak.
And I think that's what's great about it, about being a cook in this time....
We can be very creative, but we still have to be careful how we're gonna take this cuisine and where we want to go.
And we have so many ingredients that we're still learning about them, uh....
Our advice is just to get to know the producer, get to know the fishermen,
get to know everybody that produces something — get to know....
And just be very creative and tasting and tasting and talking to producers and....
That's how we roll, here. (chuckles)
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