Talk about farm to table food--you are almost sitting in the farm when you eat at Corazón de Tierra in Baja's Valle de Guadalupe.
There it is (above), so close that breezes bring in refreshing green scents, and there is no need for flowers on the table. Just look outside, or at your food, which is decorated with a hollyhock petal here, a sunflower petal there.
A salad that shows the style (above) combines kale, arugula and beet leaves with translucent slices of French radish, pine nuts, a golden sunflower petal and dots of beet puree.
Lunch meanders over many courses for two hours or longer. What you get depends on what the land has produced that day.
Toward the end of June, the starters were smoked yellowtail on a tostada sliver with avocado puree and seaweed dust, then a single oyster with chard and Ramonetti cheese from Ojos Negros (above).
Next, geoduck clam with aguachile, a spicy liquid made with olive oil, onion and serrano chiles (above). The green leaf at top is from a nasturtium. The pretty blue flower is a borage blossom.
Greens you might throw away at home aren't wasted here. Radish leaves are at the bottom of a bowl that contains three types of cucumber (above). Hollyhock flowers provided the red strands on top. The server said the sauce was made with lettuce and dates.
Turnip leaves go into a green sauce at the side of seabass (above). The presentation includes a common garden weed, purslane, as well as a squash blossom. Strong bursts of flavor come from tiny dice of preserved lemon. Seared flying fish eggs coat the fish.
At first glance, I thought the brown swirl at the left was bean puree, but this wouldn't go with halibut. Instead, it's shiitake puree. Crisp green beans and mizuna leaves add fresh textures to the fish, which is topped with a beef reduction.
Now it was time for a palate refresher, an unusual ice made from pixtle, the seed of the mamey fruit, set on a bed of chilacayote marmalade (above).
Dessert proper was star anise ice cream with epazote sauce and a square of ginger cake on black radish cream (above). To make the dish even more complex, the kitchen added a caramelized radish strip and a crisp, caramelized chard stem.
When you're in wine country, it's smart to order lunch paired with beverages, which at Corazón de Tierra will include local craft beers as well as wines. You'll also get water infused with herbs such as rosemary, mint and lavender. It's like drinking the garden.
To show what the pairing is like, my lunch included two beers and three wines. The wines were Marella, which is a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay from Sinergi Viticultura; a Viognier from Vinart Winery, and a Rosé and Cabernet Sauvignon from Vena Cava.
Eileen and Phil Gregory, who own the inn La Villa del Valle and Vena Cava winery, are partners in Corazón de Tierra with executive chef Diego Hernández (above). Here Hernández greets a guest.
Breathing in the soft country air as you eat is like a week's vacation in a brief afternoon. Leaving was the only downside to lunch at Corazón de Tierra, and so I turned for a last look as I walked away.
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