I was invited to a soft opening of the Valle’s newest elevated dining experience. Lunario Restaurant in Valle de Guadalupe is the new project by La Lomita Winery co-owner Fernando Perez Castro and young up and coming chef Sheyla Alvarado, a mere 28 years old and comes from Oaxaca and is making fantastic cuisine.
We started our late afternoon winetasting in the newly appointed tasting patio.
The patio is in the middle of the winemaking area. They are a zero-gravity winery, so everything flows down. In the center of the room is a large hole that you can look down onto the large stainless steel vats. They attach hoses to the bottom of the vats and transfer the wine to barrels.
The sides of this room are painted with murals of Fernando’s parents. His father is on one side and his mother on the other. Each mural shows people around and behind them meaning the people around them to help make this whole venture happen. As they say, it takes a village.
As the sun set we tried a few wines and listened to Fernando and his story.
We walked over to the restaurant compound. There are two restaurants here. Tres Lomita is the casual outdoor restaurant and Lunario is the more upscale, formal dining experience indoors.
We were lavished with an 8 course dinner with 7 wines and a Mako Pale Ale by Aguamala Brewery of Ensenada
Here are some highlights of courses:
Course #2: Chile Relleno- Chile Ancho stuffed with oyster, mushroom and a puree of caramelized onions
Course #3: Striped Bass Aguachile (ceviche) cooked with mandarin, chile morita (chocolate base) with chayote, paired with a Rosé of Grenache
Course #4: Soft shell crab taco with Pumpkin molé, paired with a Chardonnay
Course #5: Duck (super crunchy) with aioli of habanero chile molé sauce, paired with an Arbol organic wine from their sister property Finca la Carrodilla
Course #6: Beef loin with a cauliflower puree roasted Kolrabi, sauce of bone marrow, pistachio and sherry vinegar paired with a Cabernet/Merlot blend wine
Course #7: Pineapple fermented Tepache gel with Olive Oil Ice Cream, no pairing with this
The final course was a plate of chocolates- but they got snatched up so fast, I didn’t get a photo! But I did get a photo of the wine. Pagano, which is a Grenache.
After this incredible meal, I swore off food for a few days! How can you top this? We had an incredible wait staff, food, wine and beer. Fernando was incredibly generous to host this dinner and I’m forever grateful.
