La Noche de la Conquista - Evento Gastronomico 2013

We were fortunate enough to be in Loreto for it's annual fund raising event, this year, benefiting it's local firefighters. The little town square, near the 112 year old mission is transformed for a night of food, wine, music and philanthropy.  It was promoted by all the restaurants in the weeks leading up to the event which resulted in a sold out affair.  We heard there were approximately 300 attendees.

We arrived to a beautiful setting of linen tablecloths and candlelit tables on cobblestone streets at around 6PM.  Eighteen local restaurants were represented and wine flowed freely. Several variations of chocolate clams (chocolate colored shells), the local specialty were presented.  Grilled fish, pork and beef were also plentiful, well prepared and delicious.  Luckily we left a little room for the yummy desserts and pastries also available.

The weather was perfect, the mosquitos were at bay.  The lovely evening was further enhanced by local live music, a raffle (we did not win :-() and a traditional clam bake demonstration, complete with a loin-clothed clam cocinero.


It was a fun night and an enjoyable kick-off for our friends from Seattle who had arrived earlier in the day for a week's stay with us.  The organizers seemed pleased with the amount of money raised by the evening toward a good cause.

La Vida Mexicana

When last we left our tireless travelers...we had just arrived at our Loreto Bay.  While the casita had the basic cooking utensils including a nicely appointed kitchen and outdoor grill, our next adventure was to find the town of Loreto and a grocery for some food and other necessary provisions.

Turns out there are two "major" grocery stores in Loreto.  Based on our other trips to Mexico, these were smaller, but both still very well stocked with mostly local fare.  It seemed like we were in the store a very long time reading signs in Spanish and calculating the peso to dollar equivalent on each item dropped into the cart. Our first trip included a whole fresh chicken, a pork slab of of some kind, salad veggies, avocados, limes, coffee, milk, cereal, yogurt and gallons of fresh water. Of course, sampling the local fare at some of the many restaurants in Loreto would supplement meals at home.  In Mexico, your chicken come with feet.  I did not have a tried and true preparation for chicken feet so I discarded them.

From guidebook research, we also knew of a weekly farmer's market held each Sunday in an open arroyo near town that was a common source for fresh food and flea market items.  We were looking forward to finding additional food items at this venue as well.  Unfortunately, due to the recent rains in Mexico, that market was displaced to another location.  We would scout for its new location on the next Sunday.

Since there is a large influx of American and Canadian expats each year to Loreto Bay, there are some specialty markets that have cropped up to serve American tastes such as a wine/gourmet food items.  The wine selection was limited but decent, prices a little high.

Our first meal at home was simple using just a few fresh ingredients and very tasty.

Roasted pork loin, salad and wine

  
There was only one restaurant open in the Loreto Bay Village upon our arrival as the "gringo" season had not yet begun so we also enjoyed dinner and drinks out at the Agave Restaurant on their opening night that was quite enjoyable.

    

Oooh, Mexico...where not even the sun is in a hurry

We are here for another 30 days.  This is Loreto Bay, Baja California Sur Mexico!  It is a desert climate located about halfway down the Baja peninsula.

The hidden gem of The Villages of Loreto Bay is tucked between the Giganta Mountains and the azsure Sea of Cortez approximately 7 miles North on Mexico Hwy 1.  We ended up here through a friend of Mike's who had offered us a favorable multi-month rental on a 2 bedroom casita he owns in the community.  Mike and I have spent several vacations in Mexico and enjoy the culture, the vibe, the food, sun and sand that is unique to Mexico.  This is our first trip to the Baja.

Upon our arrival in late September to the small, but very new airport we were confronted with the reality that English, when spoken loudly with extreme enunciation is not any more understood by the local taxi driver than speaking English at a normal volume.  The years of high school Spanish have served me well.  Key words and phrases are still stuck in my feeble brain even after my recent birthday, who knew?  We obtained a "collectivo" (group taxi) at the airport and made the journey to the Villages of Loreto Bay.  While trying to make Spanglish small talk with the taxi driver enroute, we began to acclimate ourselves with the two lane highway that would take us to town, including the various free-range horses and other animals grazing on the roadside. By free-range I mean, no fences anywhere.  Watch for animal signs dotted the road, large animals...bigger than your car, good safety type.  

The Loreto Bay complex was...in a word... "vacant" when we arrived.  Another couple of words would be "ghost town".  The taxi driver dropped us off at our unit with the help of a security guard and our Mexican adventure had begun.  The first few minutes were spent unpacking, assessing the contents of the cute little casita and then we embarked on a recognizance walk in search of an open restaurant.  Not an easy task at a resort area whose season does not really start until mid-October.  

After a fairly long walk through the complex in 85 degree heat and literally not seeing another living soul, we began to wonder about our lodging choice for the next 47 days.  Oh ye of little faith.  We saw an open door at the Loreto Bay real estate office.  A chance conversation with Orlando, yielded some basic info on our new community, a map of Loreto with street names and key points of interest such as the two major grocery stores, bank, wine and liquor store and well known restaurants clearly marked.  A local bar that shows NFL games was also part of Oralando's intel... pay dirt.
 
Orlando was getting texts from his co-workers to come join them for happy hour.  It was 3PM in the afternooon,  just one of the many reasons to like Mexico.  Friendly Orlando offered us a lift to the Loreto Bay Golf Resort and Spa on his golf cart as he was on his way over.  It was basically our only chance to get some grub so we jumped aboard.

Orlando delivered us as promised and left us to join his amigos.  We sat down to a late lunch of fish tacos and a burger with this view.  In the immortal words of Coach Levy, "Where would you rather be than right here, right now?"

Hasta Luego!