Javier Plascencia is a chef from

Tijuana Tijuana ( ,"Tijuana"
(US) and < ...

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, considered the most famous

chef A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the director or head of a kitche ...

of the city and of all chefs, the one whose cuisine most helped define a new cuisine,

Baja Med Baja Med is a term conceived by Chef Miguel Ángel Guerrero that refers to fusion cuisine of Mexican cuisine, such as chicharrón and cotija cheese, with those of Mediterranean, such as olive oil, and Asian cuisine, such as lemongrass. Baja Med dish ...

Plascencia and Baja Med cuisine

In 2011, Plascencia told the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' that the mission of his signature restaurant Misión 19 was to "revitalize the food scene in Tijuana", and to "revitalize the city itself". In the interview, he called his cuisine " Baja Mediterranean", combining ingredients from the region. Examples of this style include duck skewered with licorice and sprinkled with guava dust; risotto topped with salt-cured nopalitos (prickly pear cactus) and charred octopus; and slow-cooked short ribs bathed in a mission fig syrup on top of a black mole sauce."Master of a New Tijuana", ''New York Times'', Josh Kun, March 8, 2011
/ref>

Early life

Born to – according to Plascencia – "hard-working and entrepreneurial" parents (Juan José Plascencia, aka: Don Tana), Javier started his culinary experience as a child alongside his brothers Juan Jose (aka; Tana), Margu and Julián in the kitchens of the family's restaurants, first at Giuseppis, later at

Caesar's Caesar's is a restaurant on Avenida Revolución in Tijuana, Mexico, famous as the home of the Caesar salad. Restaurateur Caesar Cardini, an Italian immigrant, opened the restaurant in 1923, and it is now under chef Javier Plascencia, leading ...

(birthplace of the

Caesar salad A Caesar salad (also spelled Cesar and Cesare) is a green salad of romaine lettuce and croutons dressed with lemon juice (or lime juice), olive oil, egg, Worcestershire sauce, anchovies, garlic, Dijon mustard, Parmesan cheese, and black pepper ...

) and then at Saverios. In his teens, he began his career as a chef studying in culinary arts schools in San Diego, California (immediately across the U.S.–Mexico border from Tijuana) and upon graduation, he worked in hotels and restaurants in the area. Plascencia told the ''Times'' that he would "later travel the world in search of flavors, ingredients and different types of cuisine, before returning to Tijuana to consolidate what would become my own style."

Restaurants

Tijuana

, birthplace of the

, since its reopening in 2010 * Caffé Saverios, Italian cuisine, cafe and wine bar * Casa Plascencia * Cubo Bistro at CECUT

Tijuana Cultural Center The Tijuana Cultural Center (CECUT) is a cultural center in the Zona Río district of Tijuana, Mexico. The center opened 20 October 1982, and accommodates more than a million visitors per year. Nowadays this iconic Tijuana institution has diffe ...

* Misión 19 Cocina de Autor ("chef-driven cuisine"), and neighboring Bar 20, (located in the first

LEED Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, construction ...

-certified building in northern Mexico)"A TASTE OF TIJUANA: JAVIER PLASCENCIA PROGRESSIVE MEAL", Chad Deal, ''San Diego Reader'', July 23, 2013
/ref> * Erizo, specializing in Baja seafood and fish tacos. * Khao San, Thai street food * Villa Saverios"First Bite: Javier Plascencia, Our Man in Tijuana", ''LA Reader'', Jonathan Gold Wed., Oct. 20 2010
/ref>

Elsewhere on the Baja California peninsula

* Finca Altozano,

Valle de Guadalupe The Valle de Guadalupe (Guadalupe Valley) is an area of Ensenada Municipality, Baja California, Mexico that is an increasingly popular tourist destination for wine and Baja Med cuisine. It is located north of the City of Ensenada and southeas ...

. Outdoor "country grill" restaurant with grilled meat and international cuisine. * Finca La Divina, Bed and Breakfast. Valle de Guadalupe * Jazamango,

Todos Santos, Baja California Sur Todos Santos (; "All Saints") is a small coastal town in the foothills of Mexico's Sierra de la Laguna Mountains, on the Pacific coast side of the Baja California Peninsula, about an hour's drive north of Cabo San Lucas on Highway 19 and an h ...

, organic food, opened 2018

United States

* (Closed): Bracero Cocina de Raíz. Cuisine of "Mexican roots" in

Little Italy, San Diego Little Italy is a neighborhood in Downtown San Diego, California, that was originally a predominantly Italian and Portuguese fishing neighborhood. It has since been gentrified and is now a popular neighborhood full of Italian restaurants and groce ...

(opened 2015, closed 2017). Nominated in 2016 for a

James Beard Award The James Beard Foundation Awards are annual awards presented by the James Beard Foundation to recognize chefs, restaurateurs, authors and journalists in the United States. They are scheduled around James Beard's May 5 birthday. The media award ...

for best new restaurant. * Pez (opened February 2019), Tijuana-style seafood and fish tacos in

Downtown Miami Downtown Miami is the urban city center of Miami, Florida. The city's greater downtown region consists of the Central Business District, Brickell, the Historic District, Government Center, the Arts & Entertainment District, and Park West. It ...

* Romesco, Bonita in

Greater San Diego San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634, making it California's second-most populous county and the fi ...

from its opening in 2009; Plascencia ended his association with Romesco in 2017

Books

*
The Soul of Baja
', 2017

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Plascencia, Javier Living people Culture in Tijuana People from Tijuana Chefs of Mexican cuisine Mexican chefs Year of birth missing (living people)