Laja @ Guadalupe valley

My Birthday dinner at Laja

Finally After 7 years of hearing about Laja, we are ready to try it. 

The front entrance of Laja

Bill and I went there for dinner for my birthday. (Thanks Bill for dinner and driving us there) 

Goofy selfie

When we first went to Vena Cava for wine tasting, we chatted with Phil the wine maker and owner from LA. And he said he first started coming down to the valley much earlier and Laja was one of the 2 restaurants at that time for fine dining. 

Laja have a vision of farm to table, fresh, French Mexican fusion that is way before it's popular in the world

Beautiful sourdough bread.. happy dance

Also, his wife owns Alveolar and we pick up her olive bread at farmers market for years. To me, it rivals any bread that I can find in Europe

What's interesting is while the valley has boomed in food and wine, Laja has never tried to become more competitive or market themselves aggressively . They are still quietly farming the gardens and making great produce and product. 

My impression of the food is well executed French technique with spicy laced as surprise notes. They didn't attempt to pair wine from the valley but more of a introduction to Mexican booze which is interesting. 

Our first course of the night is a cauliflower puree (very distinct cauliflower flavour) with radish. There are spicy jam on the side and a surprising small dollop of flavored salt. Fresh, slightly sweet and goes well with the spicy jam. It's paired with a white chardonnay from Henry that is down the road from them. I am definitely curious to visit that winery 

Cauliflower puree with cut radish, augmented with dollops of spicy jam

Our 2nd course is fresh yellow fin tuna with chunks of avocado and tomato. There's a scoop of salsa macha (mexican salsa that has nuts and sesame) that needs to be mixed in. It's an interesting way to introduce that salsa to a ceviche-sashimi dish. And surprisingly they pair it with a beer that's German pilsner that is quite good. I was surprised as I thought the 2 flavors will clash badly but they didn't.  

Yellow fin Tuna

The 3rd course is a potato puree with pulpo (squid) and chicharron. And they paired with a really smoky mezcal that is amazing but was too much for me to finish for a mid meal drink. This is a pairing that didn't quite work for me as the mezcal is a really strong flavor that didn't go as well. Plus i didn't want to be drunk before i can enjoy the other 2 courses =) 

But the dish is well executed and delicious

Pulpo with chicharron on a bed of potato puree. Served with homemade pita bread

The 4th course is the steak course which is great executed steak (but i expect no less) and they did carrots 2 ways to go with it. One is a carrot puree and another is roasted carrots. They paired it with a red wine that came from Tecate and it turns out to be his brother in law exclusive organic wine for Laja. What took me by surprise was the smoky finish of the wine that is unique (and no, it's not from the mezcal). I love the food but the wine is so different that I'm on the fence. 

Steak course paired with a smoky red

They have a palette cleaner which is frozen melon that is rubbed with spice. It's a good mild palette cleanser and the spicy rub works well with the melon. But eating with my hands and having the melon touch my face does not feel like a successful dish. I think if they had done it as a granita would be better. 

Palette cleanser of frozen melon with spicy rub

The dessert course is a Mexican flan with figs. Yum and my favorite pairing of the night with Pijoan port wine. The figs are great and the flan is well executed.

Dessert course of Flan and port wine

As it's my birthday, I got a goodie bag to go from them. It's a"breakfast for tomorrow" bag, filled with 2 tea bags, 1 english muffin, homemade jam and seasoned dates. Very thoughtful.