MIXTURA: ADDING YET ANOTHER RESTAURANT TO THE MIX IN MEXICO’S BOOMING WINE COUNTRY
The Cost - $24 per person
The Atmosphere – Set just down a dirt road from the main wine tasting area of Relieve Vinicola in Valle de Guadalupe, this restaurant is another aesthetically pleasing restaurant located on a vineyard in Mexico’s wine country. With a DJ present during Happy Hour and dinner hours, this place is definitelypopular with the 20s, 30s and 40s crowd that has had their fair share of cabarnets over the course of the day.
The number of vineyards, restaurants and hotels that have opened up in the last ten years in Valle de Guadalupe, Mexico is amazing considering it was just a small village not too long ago. On my latest trip, I went to try one of those restaurants, Mixtura, an open air restaurant located inside of Relieve vineyard that opened in 2015.
The Order - Mezcalita, Hummus & Naan, Roasted Broccoli & Tahini, Tostadas de Jurel and Shrimp Mac and Cheese.
The Great - The Tostadas de Jurel (Yellowtail) was the best dish of the night. Incredible yellowtail in an avocado emulsion with sweet pieces of ginger and leek on tostadas combined to make a flavorful and fresh dish representative of high end, modern, Baja California cuisine. The Shrimp Mac & Cheese was also a great dish. Large macaroni with Gouda cheese, chipotle and grilled shrimp, the dish hit all the right spots.
The Good - The Mezcalita, their version of the typical margarita-made-with-mezcal cocktail, was done with licor de ancho reyes (chile liquor), orange and passion fruit juice. The cocktail had a strong orange taste but I didn’t really feel the passionfruit and was disappointing that it wasn’t spicy. The Hummus & Naan was not a typical Valle de Guadalupe menu find but the grilled naan was tasty. The hummus was just okay though and needed more tahini.
The Okay - Where the hummus might have been lacking in tahini, the Roasted Broccoli & Tahini was not. Cooked with olive oil and lemon juice, the combination of flavors should have worked but the finished product was not anything to write home about. The dish would be better suited as a side rather than a stand alone appetizer.
The Verdict - Mixturas is a good addition to the Valle scene. It won’t blow you away like some of the other Valle restaurants but the price point is good and the setting is beautiful. Worth a visit.