Just across the border: Treasures of Tecate
Quiet town features upscale restaurant, world-famous spa and much more
By Wendy Lemlin, Special to the U-T
6:21 p.m., April 19, 2012
Updated 6:21 p.m.
As I passed back into the U.S, from Tecate, Baja California, the Customs and Immigration officer asked why I had been in Mexico. When I answered that I was checking out the interesting places around the town, he looked at me incredulously and asked, “Really? What is there to do in Tecate?”
As Mexican border towns go, Tecate may be Baja’s best-kept secret.
What many don’t know is that this quiet town, just 45 scenic minutes from downtown San Diego, is home to a fabulous upscale restaurant, a world-famous fitness spa and cooking school, a serenely rustic country retreat, and a fascinating Kumeyaay museum and cultural center — as well as some impressive mountain scenery.
Those who deride Mexican border towns as primarily noisy, dangerous, and slum-scarred, will be as pleasantly surprised by what they won’t find in Tecate, as by what they will. There’s no “tourist ghetto” with tacky bars and cheap souvenir shops, and it is definitely not party central. Instead, Tecate is a tidy, quiet, safe town of comfortable, modest homes and families who live and work there — a slice of “real” Mexico with warm and welcoming residents.
On a recent afternoon at Tecate’s Asao Restaurante, sunlight glinted on the goblets of excellent vintages from nearby Adobe Guadalupe winery. Lunch was an indulgence of contemporary Mexican cuisine, combining local ingredients and classic Mexican flavors with international influences and avant-garde techniques. On my plate, slices of house-cured tuna carpaccio, festively garnished with a confetti mix of diced jicama, pineapple and red onion, were topped with an avocado sorbet that delighted my taste buds with its smooth iciness. Other plates on the elegant table held comparable culinary treasures: succulent fruit and nut-crusted jumbo shrimp with hibiscus flower molé, rich duck confit in sweet-sour tamarind sauce, and juicy-rare chunks of rib-eye paired with a silky smooth coffee cream sauce. The superb food and the excellence of service rivaled that of any of Southern California’s four-star eateries — but at a three-star price.
Asao’s beautifully landscaped restaurant complex, which includes a conference center and brand new luxury hotel, sits high on a hill, commanding a scenic view south toward the verdant Valle de Guadalupe, Baja’s wine country. It epitomizes the hopes of this picturesque area for becoming a tranquil getaway destination for wine, food and nature.
With its mountain backdrop, Tecate is a great town for strolling around and walking off the calories consumed at Asao. Visitors can while away some time in Parque Hidalgo, the center of town life, or make their way over to the newly opened Tecate Community Museum, an interactive testament to the lives of indigenous Kumeyaay people for thousands of years before the coming of Europeans and other non-natives.
Perhaps the most well-known destination in Tecate is Rancho La Puerta, the award-winning luxury health resort and spa founded in 1940 by current San Diego resident Deborah Szekely and her late husband Edmund. With its top-notch fitness program, spa amenities, lush gardens, organic farm and La Cocina Que Canta — the spa’s cooking school, where some of the most famous chefs in the U.S. and Mexico teach classes on healthy gourmet cuisine — “The Ranch” has become the gold standard of exclusive destination spas. Most guests opt for the one-week program, but for area residents, the monthly “Saturday at the Ranch” program is an ideal introduction to this slice of heaven on Earth. The full-day experience includes round-trip transportation from San Diego, fitness classes, free time for exploring or relaxing by several pools, hiking, tennis, spa treatments (additional cost), gourmet lunch, and a three-hour hands-on culinary experience at La Cocina Que Canta, where you get to savor the results of the class.
About 15 minutes east of Tecate, on the free road to Mexicali, is a gated dirt road that winds past an organic apricot orchard whose flowers flutter like white puffs of cotton candy in the spring air. This is the entrance to Rancho Los Chabacanos (apricots), a hacienda-style center of peaceful respite nestled into a hill-ringed valley. Take a yoga class, walk the stone labyrinth, cleanse your soul in the sweat lodge, unwind with a massage or herbal mud bath. Make it a weekend getaway or stay for a six-day anti-stress program. Accommodations are in colorful casitas full of rustic charm, and healthy meals can be included in your stay.
When it is time to return to the U.S., forget hours-long waits at the border á la Tijuana or Otay. On weekdays the wait to drive back across is usually only about 15-30 minutes, or mere minutes to walk through. On busy weekends the wait will be much longer, as there are only two gates, but still shorter than at other ports of entry.
That is, until the word gets out, so please, let’s just keep Tecate our little secret.
http://www.utsandieg...ures-of-tecate/
Just across the border: Treasures of Tecate
Started by HK70, Apr 20 2012 10:12 PM
1 reply to this topic
#2
Mary Ellen
-
- Advanced Member
- 245 posts
Valued Contributor
- Gender:Female
- Location:Playas de Rosarito, BC, Mexico
- Interests:American single female living in Baja for the past 2 years; 1 year in Tijuana and 1 year in Rosarito with my dogs. Not the typical American as I've traveled all over the world to 20+ countries and consider myself a citizen of the world.
Posted 02 June 2012 - 02:52 PM
Unfortunately, if your price range is not in the 3+ star range, there's not much to see or do in Tecate. There are many othermore interesting places that cost less to visit and more to see and do. UTSanDiego seems to cater more to the minority of affluent tourists/travelers rather than the average person who doesn't have $$$$$$ to spend.
QUOTE (HK70 @ Apr 20 2012, 10:12 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Just across the border: Treasures of Tecate
Quiet town features upscale restaurant, world-famous spa and much more
By Wendy Lemlin, Special to the U-T
6:21 p.m., April 19, 2012
Updated 6:21 p.m.
As I passed back into the U.S, from Tecate, Baja California, the Customs and Immigration officer asked why I had been in Mexico. When I answered that I was checking out the interesting places around the town, he looked at me incredulously and asked, “Really? What is there to do in Tecate?”
As Mexican border towns go, Tecate may be Baja’s best-kept secret.
What many don’t know is that this quiet town, just 45 scenic minutes from downtown San Diego, is home to a fabulous upscale restaurant, a world-famous fitness spa and cooking school, a serenely rustic country retreat, and a fascinating Kumeyaay museum and cultural center — as well as some impressive mountain scenery.
Those who deride Mexican border towns as primarily noisy, dangerous, and slum-scarred, will be as pleasantly surprised by what they won’t find in Tecate, as by what they will. There’s no “tourist ghetto” with tacky bars and cheap souvenir shops, and it is definitely not party central. Instead, Tecate is a tidy, quiet, safe town of comfortable, modest homes and families who live and work there — a slice of “real” Mexico with warm and welcoming residents.
On a recent afternoon at Tecate’s Asao Restaurante, sunlight glinted on the goblets of excellent vintages from nearby Adobe Guadalupe winery. Lunch was an indulgence of contemporary Mexican cuisine, combining local ingredients and classic Mexican flavors with international influences and avant-garde techniques. On my plate, slices of house-cured tuna carpaccio, festively garnished with a confetti mix of diced jicama, pineapple and red onion, were topped with an avocado sorbet that delighted my taste buds with its smooth iciness. Other plates on the elegant table held comparable culinary treasures: succulent fruit and nut-crusted jumbo shrimp with hibiscus flower molé, rich duck confit in sweet-sour tamarind sauce, and juicy-rare chunks of rib-eye paired with a silky smooth coffee cream sauce. The superb food and the excellence of service rivaled that of any of Southern California’s four-star eateries — but at a three-star price.
Asao’s beautifully landscaped restaurant complex, which includes a conference center and brand new luxury hotel, sits high on a hill, commanding a scenic view south toward the verdant Valle de Guadalupe, Baja’s wine country. It epitomizes the hopes of this picturesque area for becoming a tranquil getaway destination for wine, food and nature.
With its mountain backdrop, Tecate is a great town for strolling around and walking off the calories consumed at Asao. Visitors can while away some time in Parque Hidalgo, the center of town life, or make their way over to the newly opened Tecate Community Museum, an interactive testament to the lives of indigenous Kumeyaay people for thousands of years before the coming of Europeans and other non-natives.
Perhaps the most well-known destination in Tecate is Rancho La Puerta, the award-winning luxury health resort and spa founded in 1940 by current San Diego resident Deborah Szekely and her late husband Edmund. With its top-notch fitness program, spa amenities, lush gardens, organic farm and La Cocina Que Canta — the spa’s cooking school, where some of the most famous chefs in the U.S. and Mexico teach classes on healthy gourmet cuisine — “The Ranch” has become the gold standard of exclusive destination spas. Most guests opt for the one-week program, but for area residents, the monthly “Saturday at the Ranch” program is an ideal introduction to this slice of heaven on Earth. The full-day experience includes round-trip transportation from San Diego, fitness classes, free time for exploring or relaxing by several pools, hiking, tennis, spa treatments (additional cost), gourmet lunch, and a three-hour hands-on culinary experience at La Cocina Que Canta, where you get to savor the results of the class.
About 15 minutes east of Tecate, on the free road to Mexicali, is a gated dirt road that winds past an organic apricot orchard whose flowers flutter like white puffs of cotton candy in the spring air. This is the entrance to Rancho Los Chabacanos (apricots), a hacienda-style center of peaceful respite nestled into a hill-ringed valley. Take a yoga class, walk the stone labyrinth, cleanse your soul in the sweat lodge, unwind with a massage or herbal mud bath. Make it a weekend getaway or stay for a six-day anti-stress program. Accommodations are in colorful casitas full of rustic charm, and healthy meals can be included in your stay.
When it is time to return to the U.S., forget hours-long waits at the border á la Tijuana or Otay. On weekdays the wait to drive back across is usually only about 15-30 minutes, or mere minutes to walk through. On busy weekends the wait will be much longer, as there are only two gates, but still shorter than at other ports of entry.
That is, until the word gets out, so please, let’s just keep Tecate our little secret.
http://www.utsandieg...ures-of-tecate/
Quiet town features upscale restaurant, world-famous spa and much more
By Wendy Lemlin, Special to the U-T
6:21 p.m., April 19, 2012
Updated 6:21 p.m.
As I passed back into the U.S, from Tecate, Baja California, the Customs and Immigration officer asked why I had been in Mexico. When I answered that I was checking out the interesting places around the town, he looked at me incredulously and asked, “Really? What is there to do in Tecate?”
As Mexican border towns go, Tecate may be Baja’s best-kept secret.
What many don’t know is that this quiet town, just 45 scenic minutes from downtown San Diego, is home to a fabulous upscale restaurant, a world-famous fitness spa and cooking school, a serenely rustic country retreat, and a fascinating Kumeyaay museum and cultural center — as well as some impressive mountain scenery.
Those who deride Mexican border towns as primarily noisy, dangerous, and slum-scarred, will be as pleasantly surprised by what they won’t find in Tecate, as by what they will. There’s no “tourist ghetto” with tacky bars and cheap souvenir shops, and it is definitely not party central. Instead, Tecate is a tidy, quiet, safe town of comfortable, modest homes and families who live and work there — a slice of “real” Mexico with warm and welcoming residents.
On a recent afternoon at Tecate’s Asao Restaurante, sunlight glinted on the goblets of excellent vintages from nearby Adobe Guadalupe winery. Lunch was an indulgence of contemporary Mexican cuisine, combining local ingredients and classic Mexican flavors with international influences and avant-garde techniques. On my plate, slices of house-cured tuna carpaccio, festively garnished with a confetti mix of diced jicama, pineapple and red onion, were topped with an avocado sorbet that delighted my taste buds with its smooth iciness. Other plates on the elegant table held comparable culinary treasures: succulent fruit and nut-crusted jumbo shrimp with hibiscus flower molé, rich duck confit in sweet-sour tamarind sauce, and juicy-rare chunks of rib-eye paired with a silky smooth coffee cream sauce. The superb food and the excellence of service rivaled that of any of Southern California’s four-star eateries — but at a three-star price.
Asao’s beautifully landscaped restaurant complex, which includes a conference center and brand new luxury hotel, sits high on a hill, commanding a scenic view south toward the verdant Valle de Guadalupe, Baja’s wine country. It epitomizes the hopes of this picturesque area for becoming a tranquil getaway destination for wine, food and nature.
With its mountain backdrop, Tecate is a great town for strolling around and walking off the calories consumed at Asao. Visitors can while away some time in Parque Hidalgo, the center of town life, or make their way over to the newly opened Tecate Community Museum, an interactive testament to the lives of indigenous Kumeyaay people for thousands of years before the coming of Europeans and other non-natives.
Perhaps the most well-known destination in Tecate is Rancho La Puerta, the award-winning luxury health resort and spa founded in 1940 by current San Diego resident Deborah Szekely and her late husband Edmund. With its top-notch fitness program, spa amenities, lush gardens, organic farm and La Cocina Que Canta — the spa’s cooking school, where some of the most famous chefs in the U.S. and Mexico teach classes on healthy gourmet cuisine — “The Ranch” has become the gold standard of exclusive destination spas. Most guests opt for the one-week program, but for area residents, the monthly “Saturday at the Ranch” program is an ideal introduction to this slice of heaven on Earth. The full-day experience includes round-trip transportation from San Diego, fitness classes, free time for exploring or relaxing by several pools, hiking, tennis, spa treatments (additional cost), gourmet lunch, and a three-hour hands-on culinary experience at La Cocina Que Canta, where you get to savor the results of the class.
About 15 minutes east of Tecate, on the free road to Mexicali, is a gated dirt road that winds past an organic apricot orchard whose flowers flutter like white puffs of cotton candy in the spring air. This is the entrance to Rancho Los Chabacanos (apricots), a hacienda-style center of peaceful respite nestled into a hill-ringed valley. Take a yoga class, walk the stone labyrinth, cleanse your soul in the sweat lodge, unwind with a massage or herbal mud bath. Make it a weekend getaway or stay for a six-day anti-stress program. Accommodations are in colorful casitas full of rustic charm, and healthy meals can be included in your stay.
When it is time to return to the U.S., forget hours-long waits at the border á la Tijuana or Otay. On weekdays the wait to drive back across is usually only about 15-30 minutes, or mere minutes to walk through. On busy weekends the wait will be much longer, as there are only two gates, but still shorter than at other ports of entry.
That is, until the word gets out, so please, let’s just keep Tecate our little secret.
http://www.utsandieg...ures-of-tecate/
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