A REVIVAL OF LANDMARK RESTAURANT CORAZóN DE TIERRA IS RETURNING TO VALLE DE GUADALUPE

An acclaimed Valle de Guadalupe restaurant that shuttered more than four years ago is coming back to the region where its next iteration will reopen at a site that contributed mightily to the area’s early culinary renaissance. Chef Diego Hernández, who recently opened Parador Mercedes in San Antonio de Las Minas, is continuing a return to his roots by bringing Restaurant Diego Hernández to the former Laja space.

Launched 25 years ago by chef Jair Téllez, Laja was one of the handful of early modern Mexican restaurants and the first to establish Valle de Guadalupe cuisine. The trailblazing Téllez, who now operates establishments in Mexico City, grew his own vegetables and sourced meat and seafood locally, setting a foundation for subsequent restaurants like celebrated campestre-style Fauna, Villa Torél, and Animalón where world class cuisine is cooked over wood fire and paired with Mexican wine. Laja, which continued on without Téllez, eventually shuttered, with a seasonal pop-up from chef Javier Plascencia and chef Oscar Torres of Animalón Baja ending its run at the site just last month.

Hernández officially picked up the keys to Laja last Friday, with plans to open the first phase of Restaurant Diego Hernández in June. With partners that include rancher Orlando Platt, it will offer a la carte options, bar bites, and a “Corazón de Tierra-style” tasting menu. By January, the chef hopes to complete the build-out, which will include a 60-seat dining room and terrace, 40 seats at the bar for walk-ins, and a 15 seat chef’s counter.

“We are going to have the Corazón [de Tierra] menu as a different experience,” says Hernández. His landmark restaurant, which opened in 2011, was the first Valle de Guadalupe restaurant to land on Latin America’s 50 Best, earning the 40th position in 2013. Corazón de Tierra was known for delicate, minimalist dishes with roasted beetroot, and turnips, or local duck, and fish served with purees and seasonal vegetables plucked from the garden.

Previously located on the Villa del Valle hotel property, Corazón de Tierra held its last service in March 2020. Given the precarious economic situation induced by the pandemic and limited of resources at the time, Hernández chose to focus his attention on opening La Bête Noir in Ensenada.

Hernández tells Eater that he’ll continue a personal quest to research the cuisine of the region and get back to the spirit of its early days.

“I’m going to continue exploring the Valle, continuing the style of cooking that made famous this region,” says Hernández, who credits both Laja and Manzanilla as the inspiration and roots of his forthcoming restaurant. Hernández will be buying whole animals and offering lesser known cuts to reduce food waste. For the native Tijuanan chef, the emphasis will be on sustainability, which Hernández feels is missing in the runaway growth in Valle de Guadalupe that’s occurred over the past 10 years.

“I want to bring [back] the real farm to table cooking,” says Hernández.

2024-05-06T18:51:34Z dg43tfdfdgfd