Rosarito, Mexico

Rosarito, the small town just south of Tijuana,  lies 30 minutes from the U.S. San Diego border crossing and is home to a large expat community largely made up of Americans and Canadians. The town is also a quick getaway for the California vacationers, surfers and retirees that own beachside places to hang their hat for a recharge. Rosarito is known for it’s quaint laid-back feel, riding horses on the sand, Papas & Beer and the famed Rosarito Beach Hotel.

The food in this little community has not been a big draw. You have the metropolitan foodie scene in Tijuana sucking up much of the media attention which is also diverted to the super hot and trendy wine valley to the south, Valle de Guadalupe. Lobster at Puerto Nuevo and even the little fishing village of Popotla get more play for its food culture than Rosarito.

2 Days in the Valle de Guadalupe

An evening to benefit a local organization giving new hope to orphaned youth also gave guests a chance to mix and mingle with the (Michelin) stars of the Valle Fest at this VIP reception the night before the big shindig. Chef Drew Deckman hosted the event at Deckman’s in El Mogor and it was spectacular.

Chef Javier Plascencia, celeb guest chef, Ambassador of Baja Cuisine, Mexican George Clooney... all these are tags for the laid-back, super chido chef who claims Tijuana and San Diego as home. The chef everyone loves to hang with and cook with has come up with one new, cool project touting both sides of the border like usual.

Chef loves a good Dirty Martini but he says can’t have more than a couple on a hot Valle kind of day so he came up with a solution. Why not make a Dirty Martini Beer? Javier chatted with his buddies at Bitter Brothers Brewing Company about the creation and after much deliberation decided that they were up for the challenge.

Bitter Brothers Brewing Company thought it would be a good idea to hook up with a Baja brewery to assist in the test brew for the delicate and complicated brew so thatChef could swing over, taste things, get a feel for the beer during the process and put his stamp of approval on things when needed. The brewers and owner from Bitter Brothers and Cerveceria Transpeninsular and Chef Plascencia spent countless hours in “R & D” ensuring they got the flavor profiles down and sourced the right ingredients for the Martini brew. After concocting a suitable base and bit by bit adding the botanicals and additional flavor boosters to the process, the team came thru with a perfectly crisp, slightly briny beer that hit the spot for the balance of what Chef Javier was looking for. As an homage to one of the murky legends of the Martini origins, Chef Javier named his beer the MARTINEZ.