One of the things that I love about traveling is trying new restaurants and savoring different tastes. While vacationing in Ensenada, we had a list of restaurants and wine we wanted to enjoy. We knew that in the past year it the restaurant industry has evolved and there are many new restaurants to try and amazing chefs.
With the growth in popularity of Valle de Guadalupe aka Baja's Wine Country where you'll find some of the best wines in Mexico, Ensenada has put their best foot forward with delicious restaurants that create their own menus; the options are unique to the area, recipes are authentic which makes for an interesting and exquisite food tour.
On a Thursday evening my girlfriend and I left our families behind to spend an evening out catching up on life and talking in person instead of over the phone or facetime. We began with watching the sunset as we enjoyed some wine and cheese and ended in the best restaurant I have dined at to date in Ensenada. It is a new, up and coming restaurant named UVE.
UVE stands for Union of Valle and Ensenada or in spanish "Unión del Valle y Ensenada", Valle as in Valle de Guadalupe. UVE prepares dishes using only ingredients from the region. I told my friend I wanted a delicious salad with a unique and equally delicious vinaigrette and this is when her excitement couldn't be contained to share with me her latest restaurant find that had only been open for a couple of months. She said: "wait 'til I take you to a very chic, minimalist and delicious new place". Both my friend and I love minimalist decor and design so once she said that word I too was excited to find out what this place was all about.
I honestly did not know what to expect, but once I saw the outside of the four story high building all I could think was the owner must love traveling. The outside of the building is so simple yet very modern, with a large living wall. I know all about living walls because I've seen many of them on Pinterest and StumbleUpon where most of the ones I've found have been in Europe. Little did I know that there was one in my own beloved Ensenada.
We chose to take the stairs to the second floor, but there was an elevator with an attendant waiting to take you to the floor you chose. The first floor is a wine boutique offering the best wines from the region and from around the globe, the second floor is where the kitchen and dinning area is setup, the third floor has a piano and dinning area too and the fourth floor is also for dinning. The view from the second and third floor is mostly to the living wall and all the amazing plants in it, with lighting effects that make you feel as if you are in a rainforest.
As we made our way into the restaurant we were greeted by Francisco {the host} who let us chose our table and suggested some options from the menu as our server came to serve us water and take the order for our drinks. After a few minutes going over the menu I decided on a green salad with berries and a house honey-mustard vinaigrette, my friend decided on a tiramisu.
My salad was fresh, you could taste all of the ingredients {goat cheese, walnuts, berries} in the vinaigrette and it looked perfect! My friend's tiramisu also tasted and looked fresh, it was honestly the best tiramisu I've ever tasted. I began asking questions about the restaurant and of course taking pictures, yes the blogger in me wanted to share all about UVE restaurant. The staff was amazing, they had perfect timing and never did we get interrupted in our conversations. One of the details I loved about UVE is that they bring a stand that is table height to hang your handbag in it and place it in a corner of your table, this way you are not worrying about your handbag being on the floor or falling off the chairs.
I enjoyed the ambience so much that we went back the following night for date night, same friend but now with our spouses. My husband also didn't know what to expect, but I had talked about how special and different it was that he was excited to have dinner at UVE. This time around we took the elevator and as we entered we were greeted by the host, he smiled since he remembered us from the night before and we had told him we'd be back because I wanted to enjoy their dinner.
UVE Restaurant has a wide variety of coffees, in fact my friend was telling me they have the best coffee in town. You can easily see why.
It is family owned and operated, the family has selected the perfect team to convey the experience they were searching for. In fact they're a traveling-foodie family that have been in many countries and cities and through the restaurant they want their customers to feel part of that experience. We had the chance of meeting the owner Mr. Garibay strives for excellence in everything he does, which is why when he began working on his idea for UVE he contacted the best. He traveled to Paris to invite one of the chefs that works alongside Pierre Gagnaire {one of the best chefs in the world, who's received many awards and accolades} to travel to Ensenada to train his staff and develop new recipes alongside Claudio Rodríguez. UVE's concept is based on restaurants with 3 Michelin Awards, making UVE more special.
Another detail about this restaurant and the main reason why it is called UVE is because it is the only restaurant in Ensenada in which you can try wines from different vineyards that Valle de Guadalupe has to offer, you simply purchase a pre-paid card with the amount you choose and you are given a wine glass. There is a display with different wine bottles from different vineyards and each one has its own valve, using your pre-paid card you purchase the wine you chose to try and you can purchase as little as an ounce so you can taste all the wines and then decide on the one you'd like to enjoy with your meal. I knew what wine I wanted so of course I went with my favorite wine from my favorite vineyard: Monte Xanic's chardonnay. They are also the only restaurant in the region to have a great variety of champagne and wines from Europe.
For dinner we started with a fish ceviche that had mango in it and gave it the perfect balance and texture along with a bowl of onion soup. Simply delicious, so delicious that I didn't realize I didn't take a picture of it before we began eating it {I guess we have to go back ;) }. After our appetizers I had ordered "pollo campesino" which is skinless-boneless chicken breast in a rich and creamy sauce made out of goat cheese, apples and mushrooms it is served with a side of creamy risotto and grilled vegetables of the season.
For dessert we ordered an apple strudel with hazelnut gelato, it was the perfect combination of flavors.
And we also ordered a vanilla gelato with a red fruits sauce and some mint, also delicious combination of flavors and textures.
I should mention that every meal, bread, gelato, dessert, etc. is prepared in house fresh every single day, like I said they strive for excellence!
If you were to ask me what I liked most besides the food {because it is obvious I loved the food} I'd say the ambience, it was an experience I look forward to enjoying again when we travel back to Ensenada and I'd say that since I went two nights in a row it just shows how much I liked UVE. I can't wait to go back and enjoy my delicious meal once again and try new dishes from their menu.
