LA PAZ, BAJA CALIFORNIA SUR. Those in the industry often hotly contest the title of "chef". Many believe that the reverent nomenclature is earned only through intensive study at a major culinary institution and the awarding of a degree. Others argue that the entitlement belongs to anyone who designs a menu and effectively runs most aspects of a restaurant's kitchen.
Chef Carlos Valdez of famed La Paz eatery Buffalo BBQ never received formal culinary training, and in fact, graduated university years ago with a degree in civil engineering. He is a completely self-taught cook, initially driven by his love for the culinary arts and availability of excellent product in his home state of Sonora widely considered to have the best beef in all of Mexico. Valdez relocated from Sonora to La Paz nearly 30 years ago and quickly became enamored with the availability of fresh seafood here.
Mexican food writer Bill Esparza deemed chef Valdez the "master of Mexican Surf and Turf" and assisted Andrew Zimmern in selecting the location for a 2010 episode of Bizarre Foods, which put the chef and his restaurant on the Mexico foodie map. Valdez also has mad respect from Baja California culinary stars and peers Benito Molina, Javier Plascencia and Miguel Angel Guerrero. With credentials like these, there is no doubt in this writer's mind, that Carlos Valdez is more than qualified to claim the title of chef.
Our mutual friend, Patty Villareal of ThinkBlu Seafood in Baja California, introduced me to the chef via Facebook. After operating Buffalo BBQ in La Paz for nearly 15 years, the chef is opening a new location in Puebla in September, and closer to home in Ensenada this August. I was honored to receive an invitation from chef Valdez during my family vacation here to meet for an exclusive first look at his Ensenada menu.
Chef Valdez is currently utilizing his brother Miguel Humberto's grill in central La Paz, La Buffalito BBQ, as a sort of mesquite patio laboratory, where he's experimenting with flavor combinations for his new Puebla and Ensenada menus. We were greeted at the comfortable, rustic outdoor location by the chef and his brother, and introduced to various family members, who lounged in the shaded twilight with cold Mexican beers after a typically scalding La Paz summer day.
Chef Carlos Valdez with his brother Miguel Humberto at Buffalito Grill, La Paz. Photo agringoinmexico.com
"I'm excited to open our Ensenada location," the chef shared. "I have many friends in Baja California, and you can't beat the availability of fresh product from organic vegetables to seafood. Also, two things we don't have here in La Paz are the Valle de Guadalupe wines and the many good craft beers and microbrews."
Chef excused himself and joined the staff of Buffalito in the outdoor kitchen to begin preparing our meal. First up was a refreshing sashimi of pompano served in its own roe with dill, serrano chiles, and lemon in olive oil. Although pompano isn't native to the nearby Sea of Cortez Valdez imports the fish from the eastern Pacific the delicate slices of sashimi tasted as fresh as if the fish had just been swimming in the ocean that morning. The olive oil and lemon complemented the dish perfectly.
Sashimi of pompano with its own roe. Photo agringoinmexico.com.
Next up was pompano served as a Peruvian style tiradito with cucumber, avocado and radish in soy and olive oil. This dish was just as fresh and delicious as the sashimi, with the larger cubes of pompano providing a more pronounced taste of the fish. The brine-infused roe was redolent of the ocean, and we couldn't decide which of the two pompano preparations we preferred.
I walked over to the open kitchen to find the chef squeezing a bit of garden lemon onto our next course, a grilled chile Caribe stuffed with baby scallops. The grilling mellowed the typically hot pepper and the entire affair floated in a salty combination of soy and red onion. The baby scallops were nicely cooked within the chile and took on some of its piquant flavor. Muy rico!
Chile Caribe stuffed with baby scallops. Photo agringoinmexico.com.
The next dish was one of the highlights for me, as I'm a big fan of Mexican style offal. Chef Valdez had prepared tripas de chicharrón, or cleaned, boiled, and fried beef small intestine. I've had plenty of tripas in my taqueria adventures both in Tijuana and Mexico City, but this was the first time I'd had it as chicharrón. Chef loaded the tripa onto a kale flour tortilla with grilled shrimp and a round of griddled farmer's cheese in the style of a quesataco, adding white and red onions and spicy sliced serrano. The taco was served with moronga, or dried beef blood, which provided a rich taste of iron when the taco was dredged through it.
Taco de tripa de chicharrón and grilled shrimp. Photo agringoinmexico.com.
Chef checked in with us to make sure we were ready for his pièce de résistance, whole grilled lenguado (sole) served in a salsa verde cruda of tomatillo, purslane, and epazote with garlic, lemon, and olive oil. This fish was super-meaty and we loved and dug into each tender, fleshy bite. The salsa verde provided a nice herby flavor and it was the most unique grilled pescado I've ever enjoyed.
Lenguada (Sole) in salsa verde of tomatillo, purslane, and epazote. Photo agringoinmexico.com.
And of course, it's a BBQ, so there's the beef. We'd eaten at Buffalo BBQ earlier in the week when the chef was checking in on his location in Puebla. I enjoyed the 21-day dry-aged ribeye with mashed potatoes and fresh, local vegetables. Aged steaks can begin to taste a little "cheesy" to me when aged for too long, but my ribeye was not only kept for just the right amount of time, but also grilled to perfection.
21-day dry aged ribeye, grilled to perfection. Photo agringoinmexico.com.
Chef Valdez plans on moving to Puebla full-time and will also open a new location in La Paz in addition to the Buffalo BBQ locations in the capital city and Ensenada. He'll spend about a week every month in Ensenda, overseeing the restaurant's launch, so keep an eye out for this most iconic of Baja California Sur chefs. And once you've tried his menu, you'll agree that without a doubt the über- talented Carlos Valdez has earned the title of chef.
Buffalo BBQ Ensenada opens in August on Calle Octavo in Ensenada Centro, near the Café Bicicleta. For more information, follow their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/Buffalo-BBQ- La-Paz- Mexico-200230727344.
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