Showing posts with label javier plascencia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label javier plascencia. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Special Tasting at Mision 19: Baja California Culinary Festival 2011

The Baja California Culinary Festival, coming to Baja on October 11-14, includes special dinners at Baja's best restaurants with guest chefs from all over Mexico and the US. Last year I attended the dinner at Javier Plascencia's Mision 19 in Tijuana with these guest chefs. A 10-course tasting menu ensued.

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First was a Tiradito de Hamachi with rabanos, charales, chicharron, preserved lemon, habanero, black salt from Chef Angel Vazquez of Puebla. This was paired with one of the best Baja wine, a JC Bravo Palomino 2010
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Next was an outstanding roasted bone marrow from Chef Javier Plascencia himself (Tuetano de Res Rostizado) topped with tuna, tobiko, and serrano "air"
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We've had plenty of bond marrow before, but none topped with tuna and it was a unique and wonderful combo!

This was paired with a cocktail from LA's mixologist Julian Cox: Negrito Sandia
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Thursday, July 5, 2012

LA Street Food Fest Summer Tasting, Back on July 21

The LA Street Food Fest returns to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on Saturday, July 21. The full vendor lineup hasn't been released yet, but usually the vendors from previous years would come back, so check out last year's highlights to know what to expect!

The term "Street Food Fest" has been defined pretty loosely, since now it's not just food carts/stalls/trucks, but also various restaurants and dessert shops participating.

And it's not just LA, the Food Fest also brought some of the best from Baja, including the uni tostada from La Guerrerense in Ensenada. They may just be making a repeat appearance this year. This little seafood cart has been featured many TV shows recently, so if you haven't had the time to drive down to Baja, try it locally at the food fest!

One of the best chefs in Baja, Javier Plascencia is also coming back this year. Last year he brought a lot of goodies, including these grilled oysters topped with sea asparagus. I don't know why the line wasn't longer at this booth, but hey, better for me.

Friday, January 20, 2012

Cebicheria Erizo (Tijuana, Mexico)

Chef Javier Plascencia from Tijuana can be likened to Wolfgang Puck in Los Angeles, dominating the Tijuana dining scene with numerous restaurants. Capping off the weekend-long Baja Culinary trip this past year was a tasting at one of these restaurants, Cebicheria Erizo, specializing in fresh seafood (including, of course, ceviches). Seafood from fish to octopus to clams are displayed in refrigerated cases as you enter; daily specials written on the blackboard above it. For our visit, though, we left it up to Chef Plascencia to serve us whatever he wanted.

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To whet our appetite was a shot of leche de tigre with cucumber, fish jerky, and sea urchin (erizo de mar, the restaurant's namesake) hidden at the bottom.
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Following up was a bowl of lightly spicy callo de hacha, Baja scallops with chicharrones
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Instead of scooping up ceviche with tortilla chips, why not take it to the next level with chicharrones? Better yet, can we replace salad croutons with chicharrones from now on?

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Top Chef Korean Food Challenge: from OC to Tijuana

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In a campaign to increase exposure about Korea in the US, the Korean Tourism Organization sponsored a Korean cooking challenge, pitting top non-korean chefs from OC, La Jolla, and Tijuana to see who has the best interpretation of classic korean dishes. The contest was hosted by Cathlyn Choi (from the TV cooking show Cathlyn's Korean Kitchen), and sponsored by buzz KOREA, the tourism organization's global campaign.
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Competing chefs: Javier Plascencia and Adria Montano (Villa Sorriso, Tijuana), Bernard Guillas and Ron Oliver (Marine Room, La Jolla), Brian Hirsty (Bluewater Grill Tustin) and Graham Norton (Bluewater Grill Redondo Beach).

The show will air on SoCal PBS station KOCE April 7 at 9 pm and starting the first week of March, you can vote for the chefs team that you think should win on the Buzz Korea website. To help you decide on who should win, below is a recap of my experience during the shooting, tasting the different dishes, etc. I can't tell you who won though.

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