Jorge Meraz: On this episode of "Crossing South," we visit a restaurant adjacent to polo grounds, and we visit an animal rescue which has become self-sufficient, and it's all coming to you now.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Jorge Meraz: We're at the polo grounds here in Valle de Guadalupe, a very beautiful restaurant with a lot of care, with a lot of purpose, a lot of intention that sprung up here.

We've heard very good reviews about it.

It's called Elena, in Spanish.

And it's right now, folks, it's "Crossing South."

Jorge M.: So we're here with one of the entrepreneurs who launched this venture, my namesake, my tocayo-- how're you doing, Jorge?

Jorge Salas: Jorge Salas.

Jorge M.: Good seeing you.

Jorge M.: Jorge, tell me, what's so special about Elena?

We keep hearing about this place.

Jorge S.: This is a project that we came up together with--five friends.

We've been friends for a long time.

One of our partners, Juan Francisco, he always liked the horses.

Jorge M.: Okay.

Jorge S.: And he never rode horses before, and then he met this person that introduced him to the horses, and they actually invited him to start playing polo.

And he started to practice polo-- Jorge M.: No way.

Jorge S.: Playing polo without ever being on a horse, and then the first time they had a game, he invited us as a friend, and that's when we came in, and we saw the place.

We saw the horses, and we already had the idea of openin' a restaurant, and since we all do different things--I'm in real estate, Francisco and Alfredo are in finance, so we put everything together the very--I wanna say, the cooperative way.

We thought about everything.

We hired a company down from Guadalajara that has done about 80 restaurants all over the world.

Jorge M.: When you say that, you're talkin' about the architecture?

Jorge S.: Yes, yeah.

Jorge M.: It's beautiful.

Jorge S.: We told them everything we wanted, and before we did this, we went to five or six different cities through Mexico.

Jorge M.: Mm-hmm, scouting restaurants?

Jorge S.: Scouting restaurants, and we selected the things that we liked the most from every single place we visit.

Jorge M.: I love it.

Jorge S.: And then we put it together.

We look at the numbers.

We look at the area, and we thought it was something that we wanted to do and that it makes sense.

Jorge M.: And I love the deck also.

It's almost like, you know, like, Ancient Rome.

You're watching, you're eating, and you're watching, like, a game outside, like, the chariot race.

Jorge S.: Everything has a sense that nothing is without design, without thought.

Jorge M.: Okay, without purpose.

Jorge S.: Yeah, the name has a reason why and-- Jorge M.: Okay, what is the name?

Jorge S.: The name is 'cause we wanted something related with the countryside, the wines, and the horses, and I first thought it was something Greek, but there's nothing Greek right here, so since we like the horses, then we decided to go with Helena de Troya, the horse of Helena.

Jorge M.: Oh, Helen of Troy.

Jorge S.: Yeah, and it's the most beautiful woman in the world, so that's where the name came out.

Jorge M.: So hearing about the vision of Jorge and his friends when creating Elena enriches the experience, however, I wanted to see how that vision translates into their cuisine.

Jorge M.: So the first plate right here, I'm gonna show it to you guys.

It's a very good representation of what Baja is.

Look at all this produce.

All this is from the gardens, from the ocean.

This is actually sea bass.

It's almost like a crudo.

The name of the plate is called Tiradito de Abulon.

If you see these slices, that's the abalone right here.

It's based in a Worcestershire sauce.

It's got, you know, cherry tomatoes, what they call "watermelon radish," and you've got some avocado.

We wanna put some avocado, cilantro.

You know, let's try to put a little bit of everything in it, all of this from the valle, from Baja.

If I could describe to you how good is this--I don't know how good that looks to you, but the taste is phenomenal.

It tastes citrusy.

The seafood tastes fresh.

You know, all the elements seem to combine together.

It just seems like such a simple dish, almost like raw, you know, piece of fish.

Every ingredient has a purpose and a place in the taste of this, of each spoonful.

Jorge M.: So, apparently, crabs, when they're, you know, shedding or changing shells, there's actual fishermen who catch them right there before they move onto the next shell, so it's a naked crab taco.

Handmade tortillas here.

You've got your cilantro, and you've got a peanut sauce which sounds phenomenal, right?

But I don't think this looks like a Reese's Pieces, right?

This looks like something of its own thing, so we're gonna try it.

This is scrumptious.

Oh, my.

This taco, which is unlike, you know, any of the typical seafood tacos you'll have--your shrimp, your fish tacos-- this is its own thing.

This is something new, and I'm starting to see why this place is getting such a reputation.

This is scrumptious.

I'll just say that.

Jorge M.: What style of food did you decide on?

There's so many things happening in Baja, you know, in the valle.

What style did you guys focus on?

What are you doing here?

Jorge S.: Our main focus was Baja Med.

Jorge M.: Baja Med, okay, very nice, Mediterranean, Baja produce, all that good stuff.

Jorge S.: All the seafood that we have here, luckily, which is the best seafood in the country, we've got the best place.

You know, it provides for most of the best restaurants down in the whole Mexico, and with all the complements and all the things that grow up in the area, we wanted to make it something-- Jorge M.: From garden to table, right?

Jorge S.: Exactly.

The chef gets what he thinks on his mind is gonna make sense, and he makes--put it together, but everything, thinkin' of what he's gonna get from the area.

We don't sell anything that it has to be exported from somewhere else that we might be able just to provide it for one time, and then we don't know who's gonna keep, you know, getting it for the people who likes it.

Jorge M.: And your chef, where's he from?

What chef did you get?

Jorge S.: He's from Mexico City.

He worked for 14 years at a group of restaurants down in Mexico City.

I think he collaborated a little bit with--or he used to work for Pujol, down in Mexico City.

We looked for three or four different chefs, and he's the one that he was more open to what we wanted to do, and he understand it.

Jorge M.: Right, humble enough to "I know a lot, but I wanna do what you guys want."

Jorge S.: Exact, right, and before we started this, we send them, him and his group of people working in the kitchen, to go to those restaurants that I mentioned in the beginning, to say, "This is--look at this.

This is what we like from here, here, here."

And all those dishes, you know, they were made--some ones were made in Mexico City, some other ones were made in Guadalajara, but we told 'em that's the idea.

Jorge M.: The style, right?

Jorge S.: That's the style.

Jorge M.: How can we merge it with the produce from here?

Jorge S.: From--exactly.

Jorge M.: Okay, so this is their Lamb Chamorro.

It's cooked for 24 hours, so imagine how tender it is if this is cooked for 24 hours.

It's on a garbanzo paste.

It's got chives; pickled, you know, purple onions, cilantro.

Got your radish.

Seems to be a common theme.

You know, all taco stands in Mexico have radish, and I hate the taste.

You know, you see' em right there.

You're eating tacos, and they're right there for you to grab as many as you want, but I never understood why until I heard, I read--I forget--that radish actually helps with the digestion of meat.

Look at the meat how--you're looking at it in real time, folks.

Look at this side.

Look at how it stabs, and it just goes through.

I'm putting very little, you know, pressure on this meat, and look at, look at just how it just tears apart.

Jorge M.: This is so tender, mm.

This vinegary onion, this cilantro-y and onion-y radish, now, it takes skill to balance it all out because this can fall on a dime.

This paste wants to get away from me and-- This drink right here from their mixology center starts with lemon juice.

It's got coconut cream, it's got a butterfly tea, and it's got mineral water.

Really refreshing.

So the initial taste just tastes like basically mineral water, very fresh and so on, but let me mix it.

Let me do this.

Oh, yeah, it makes a difference, hah-ha-ha.

Jorge M.: Now, this one's called Opalo, and this one's got bourbon.

It's got pear.

It's got apple.

It's got cinnamon.

So this one is one of their own inventions.

Oh, yeah, that's good.

Jorge M.: It doesn't get any better than this, folks.

We're in the valle, Mexico's wine country in Baja California.

We're watching talented folks play polo as we enjoy the amazing food art of talented chefs who use the produce of this region.

It's "Crossing South," folks.

That's what it is.

Jorge M.: And tell me, Jorge, where do you want Elena to go?

'Cause I see you guys still, like, expanding.

It seems like you got multiple projects goin' on here.

What are you guys lookin' to do?

You have Elena the restaurant.

Jorge S.: Yes.

Jorge M.: I saw that there's, like, a oyster bar-- Jorge S.: Bakkus Oyster Bar.

And I always like the oysters, and that was just the idea to have an oyster bar where the people come in and have some, you know, champagne and wines and oysters.

Jorge M.: For sure.

Jorge S.: And then we put a little bit of music on it, and we throw a DJ, and it's been workin' out really good.

And then we got polo games every weekend.

You're eating, and you're watchin' a polo game, so the experience is-- Jorge M.: That's crazy.

That's gotta be real cool.

How have people reacted to that?

Like, has someone shown up just to the restaurant and not realizing there was gonna be a game goin' on?

Jorge S.: Oh, yeah, oh, yeah, many, many people get surprised, and they really love it, and that's what makes 'em come back too because they--you don't see that many often.

You don't get to a restaurant where you were able to see a polo game.

Jorge M.: These are your rib eye tacos, but it's rib eye meat, but it's prepared in the Mexico City style of a taco called suadero.

Let's see how rib eye tastes when you give it the suadero treatment, right?

I've had suadero street tacos all the time, ha-ha.

This is really good, folks.

That's all I can say.

They know how to cook their meat, and they know how to season their meat.

It's a classy taco, for sure.

It's a very classy taco.

Jorge M.: Now, that's a charbroiled octopus.

This is an amazing dish.

You've got your potato, your mashed potatoes on the bottom.

Look at the octopus.

It just--look, by the way it's charbroiled, the crunchiness of this, it just tells me that it's gonna be good.

It's got the arugula, it's got parmesan cheese on top, and it's got this sauce that they call an XO sauce.

That XO sauce is made from dehydrated scallops, dehydrated shrimp, but the main thing is that it's prepared with cognac and sake, and so it's a very Oriental sauce, a high-end Oriental sauce, and we've got it.

So we're gonna try this right now.

It almost has a sweet taste.

It's almost caramelized, the octopus.

It's so good.

Jorge M.: So for the last salty meal of this carousel of taste, we're gonna try the one that I'm most reluctant to try, and that's the cow tongue.

I'm not a big fan of cow tongue, but look at this.

It's got your arugula.

It's got yam chips.

There's this tomato paste at the bottom.

We're gonna try it, folks.

You know, that's why we're here, right?

That's why you guys are, like, you know, having me be your journey friend.

This dish has not converted me.

I mean, it's not bad, but it didn't have all the pizzazz, all the explosion and the uniqueness that the other ones had.

Let me try another piece just to give it another chance just so you guys know that I didn't punk out on you with one shot.

Let me cut another piece here.

Second mouthful of tongue, heh-heh-hah.

A little better.

Difference is the first mouthful that I did was a bit on the thicker side.

This one was a thinner slice, and it was charred a little more, so I would say, if you're gonna have a tongue like this, where it's like, literally, the tongue's sliced thinner and charred would be the way I would go.

Jorge M.: This is dessert right here.

It's called the Forest Escape or Escape from the Forest.

It's a little bread mushroom.

It's got a chocolate mousse.

It's got a white chocolate inside.

It's got raspberry mousse.

It's got some chocolate ice cream.

Check this out.

[laughing] I feel like it-- I was gonna be all black and charred like in the cartoons, "whaaap."

Look at that, folks.

We're gonna destroy it because--well, we wanna try everything that's inside.

I made a mess of it.

That's for sure.

Delicious.

I think I consider myself a dessert connoisseur, so trust me.

It's "Crossing South," folks.

This has been a good one.

I hope you enjoyed it.

Don't go anywhere.

More to come.

I'mma have to just eradicate this because I can't leave a morsel.

Jorge M.: So now we leave the gallantry of Elena and the picturesque Valle de Guadalupe and head to a more urban setting in the city of Ensenada, where we are about to have a wild experience.

Jorge M.: You know, if there's an animal emergency in the city of Ensenada and you dial 9-1-1, the one and only people that are gonna come to your rescue, to the rescue of the animal, really, to retrieve it safely, to make sure the animal, if it's injured, it's rehabbed, to make sure it doesn't hurt anyone, doesn't hurt itself and it can be rehabbed, reintroduced into the wild or being taken care of for life, the one and only person that will answer that call in the city of Ensenada is standing right next to me.

So, Ernesto, talk to me about this refuge.

Like, this is your job.

How'd you get into this to begin with?

How did you volunteer, "Okay, any animal emergency, I'm the man in the city"?

How'd you volunteer for that?

Ernesto Salmeron: Yeah, because we love this.

We love animals, and we have more than 20 years of experience as falconers.

Jorge M.: Falconers, and I see the guys with the falcons, right?

Ernesto: Yeah.

Jorge M.: You teach 'em to hunt, and I mean, where did you learn this, Ernesto?

Ernesto: Yeah, the falconry is an art.

Then I have another-- friends, they teach me.

Jorge M.: They teach you.

Was it here in Ensenada?

Did you learn here?

Ernesto: Here in Ensenada, in Mexico, and USA too.

Jorge M.: Okay, okay.

Ernesto: We have friends from Spain.

Jorge M.: Amazing.

Ernesto: We have a lot of books.

You know, but the most important is the practice.

Jorge M.: So you rehab animals that are dangerous.

They got hurt because they got tangled.

That's how they end up in someone's home or interacting with humans, right?

Ernesto: That's right.

Jorge M.: You retrieve the animal, bring it here, you rehab it, and after?

Ernesto: Yeah, we try to reintroduce the animals to their natural habitat.

Jorge M.: Okay.

Ernesto: When it's possible.

We are talking with the people in the schools, with the government.

We are making programs to avoid the, you know, the illegal traffic of wildlife Jorge M.: I need to be educated too, Ernesto, so tell me, what would you say this, to people, you have an encounter with a wild animal.

What's the best thing to do?

Do you just walk away from it?

But what if it's near your home, near your environment?

What would be the thing to do with a-- Ernesto: Yeah, when that happen, you have to call the 9-11, or 9-1-1.

Then a team of experts like us gonna visit your house and say, "Okay, this is not a dangerous snake" or "Oh, there is a-- it's a dangerous snake.

We're gonna handle it."

Jorge M.: Who's helping you guys?

Like, this costs money, obviously, to feed the animals, all the things that are involved.

You guys, you know, you're volunteers probably, but still, I mean, some kind of compensation.

Like, how are you guys funding this?

Ernesto: We are self-sufficient, you know?

Jorge M.: Okay, self-sufficient.

Ernesto: Yeah.

Jorge M.: How?

Ernesto: What we do is we offer service.

For example, we are working in the municipal dump.

What we do is to prevent seagulls to-- from eating garbage.

Jorge M.: Really?

Ernesto: Yeah, we use eagles and falcons trained to-- Jorge M.: You're kidding.

Scare them away?

Ernesto: To scare away the seagulls.

Jorge M.: But why?

Why would you do that?

Ernesto: You know, seagulls are wildlife, and you have a dump, a lot of garbage there.

The seagulls are eating plastics.

It could be dangerous.

Jorge M.: Oh, okay, okay, okay, okay, that's amazing.

And people are paying for this service.

Ernesto: Yeah, they pay for that.

Jorge M.: That's fantastic.

Ernesto: We can offer this service to animals.

Jorge M.: That is so cool.

You guys are self-sufficient.

You're--oh, that is-- Ernesto: Yeah, that is very important because you are trying to get money from another-- Jorge M.: Yeah, yeah.

Ernesto: It's possible, but it's very hard, you know?

Jorge M.: Right.

All right folks, it's "Crossing South."

We're gonna get to see some of the animals that they're protecting, which ones are being rehabbed to be reintroduced to nature, to their habitats, and which ones just will have to make a home for themselves here at Contacto Salvaje.

Don't go anywhere.

It's "Crossing South."

Jorge M.: You've got a couple of bobcats here.

Ernesto: Yeah, we have a couple of bobcats.

Jorge M.: Oh, my goodness, so what's the story with these bobcats, Ernesto?

Ernesto: Yeah, they arrived when they're babies.

Jorge M.: Okay.

Ernesto: Somebody killed the mom, you know?

Jorge M.: Oh, no.

Ernesto: Almost five years ago, a person called to authority and say, "We found two baby cats in the street."

Jorge M.: "Two kittens."

Ernesto: Yeah, "two kittens," yeah, and then, "Okay, we'll see," but maybe, you know, domestic cats, but, no, the first day we saw the-- Jorge M.: Oh, you got called in?

Ernesto: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Jorge M.: You got called in?

Ernesto: Yeah, yeah, yeah, and we said, "Oh, these are bobcats.

You know, the ears, the closed eyes, but you could see the jaws, the color.

Jorge M.: No way.

Ernesto" I said, "Oh, bobcat."

Jorge M.: What would've happened if these people, out of ignorance, had thought that they were kittens, and they just started to grow up in their home?

What would've happened?

Ernesto: They would've lost all the chickens, another cat, maybe dogs.

Jorge M.: Would the kittens have become, as wrong as it is--I know it's wrong, but would the kittens have become attached to the owners, or would they have attacked them?

What do you think?

Ernesto: These cats are like normal cats.

Jorge M.: Yeah?

Ernesto: Yeah, very kind, very--like, want to kiss you because they grow with us.

That's the problem.

You know what happens, something-- Jorge M.: That's why they cannot be introduced to the wild.

Ernesto: No more because we get it from babies, you know?

Babies, we feed it, and that's the problem now.

We can't release them in their natural habitat now.

Jorge M.: What are these?

Ernesto: American kestrels.

Jorge M.: Kestrels?

Ernesto: Kestrel is the smallest falcon in North America.

Jorge M.: Are you rehabbing them to release them, or are you having them just--they're here for good now?

Ernesto: Depends.

If there is an adult, takes two weeks to rehab, then, if we see, okay, this bird is ready to release, we do that.

But another situation like babies, it's very hard to do that because they are--they have no experience for hunting.

They have no--an area for hunting, you know?

Jorge M.: Can you teach them falconry?

Ernesto: Yeah, yeah, we try with the--most of them, we tried to teach them to--how to hunt to catch a bird, use the falcon retainage for that.

Jorge M.: Gotcha.

This is a California kingsnake, and it's not poisonous.

As you can see, you know, I'm not being bitten into oblivion, but this snake, on top of killing rats, on top of killing, you know, other vermin, it actually eats rattlesnakes.

And the problem is that sometimes people confuse it for a coral snake, which is very venomous.

This one isn't, so take a good look at it.

The kingsnake is not venomous, and it actually kills rattlesnakes, bites it from the neck, wraps around its neck, and asphyxiates it, and then it swallows it.

So take a good look, folks.

Make sure you educate yourself by looking at images of a California kingsnake, because it is your friend.

It is a friend that's actually eating venomous snakes.

Okay, so this is a snapping turtle you can normally find in the U.S. and Florida, the Gulf of Mexico, the state of Tamaulipas, but the thing is it's a turtle that's not native to this region, and sometimes people who buy exotic pets, they release 'em into the wild where they shouldn't.

An animal like this has to be taken care of by human hands forever.

It can never be released into the wild now.

And just to get an idea, imagine you have a child.

It's roaming around your backyard because somebody released it, unknowingly the capabilities of this animal, and imagine this animal doing this to one of your pets or to your kid... Holy smoke!

Yeah, I wouldn't want that laceration on me at all.

[crunch] [laughing] Did you hear that?

Crunch.

Jorge M.: What are these ones right here?

Ernesto: Harris's hawks.

Jorge M.: Harris's hawks?

Ernesto: Harris's hawk.

We use these hawks for pest control.

Jorge M.: Okay, pest control.

Ernesto: Pest control, yeah.

Jorge M.: Like, to rats and all that.

Ernesto: They are training, all of them.

Jorge M.: So, like, for instance, a winery will ask you to scare away all these birds that eat the grapes and so on, so that would be, like, probably they'll hire during the harvest season or something, right?

Ernesto: Yeah, you're right.

Jorge M.: Okay, okay.

And so Damian here is the Mexican falconry champion, so, wow.

Ernesto: He has a lot of experience in this.

He teach me a lot of stuff.

Jorge M.: Oh, very nice.

Look at that, look at that.

Jorge M.: After getting to know a lot about the place here and seeing the mechanics of how it functions, I think I was ready to become "The Falconer."

[falcon screech] Folks, you know Jorge Meraz travel show host, but do you Jorge Meraz "The Falconer"?

[screech] You can go.

[laughing] It's awesome, isn't it folks?

Makes you wanna try falconry now.

Imagine, folks, falconry literally allowing this place to be self-sufficient.

I don't think I've ever heard of a more pragmatic benefit for a sport that many probably see just like a hobby, an art, like falconry.

Jorge M.: Thank you very much, Ernesto.

Ernesto: Thank you very much, my friend.

Jorge M.: I appreciate everything, everything, all your efforts for the animals, and keep it up, okay?

Ernesto: Yeah, thank you very much.

Jorge M.: Well, folks, we hope you enjoyed this as much as we did.

We sure enjoyed being "The Falconer" for a little bit.

Take care, folks.

We'll see ya next time.

We're gonna continue enjoying here.

We're gonna hunt some vermin right now?

Ernesto: Yeah, real good.

Jorge M.: No, I'm just kidding.

[laughing] It's "Crossing South," folks.

Jorge M.: So, after enjoying the delights of Elena in the wine valley and getting to see these wildlife handlers do their thing, we left wondering what new adventures would come our way the next time we get to cross south.

Jorge M.: "The Falconer."

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