Deckman’s en el Mogor
You may not think you want to drive 90-minutes beyond the Mexican border for a meal, but from the moment you take a seat, the reasons for doing so become clear. Whether within its haybale dining room, or on rustic outdoor furniture amid blue skies and green vineyard rows, the tranquility of Baja’s wine country exorcises all the noise, pollution, and stress accumulated in your city-dwelling soul. Start with oysters and any crudo dish available: all the seafood hails from the nearby Pacific, and its freshness shows.
Produce comes from closer still, grown here on the El Mogor winery estate, along with the herbs and olive oil adding to the aromas wafting from the wood-fire, outdoor kitchen. Suckling pig ($24), ribeye ($74, for two), and whole striped bass ($47) each present a worthy complement to local wines. But since you came all this way, try the Rosarito-raised quail ($19). The skin of these specially fattened game birds grills to a crisp, offering yet another reminder why you left all those chickens behind in the city.