A Papal Prayer Could Help

As his term winds down, Mexican President Felipe Calderon is banking on a glorious spring to assure that memories of his administration aren't limited to a brutal drug war. In March, for one, Pope Benedict XVI is to visit the Mexican state of Guanajuato, where rival drug gangs already are trying to outdo each other in calling for a truce during the papal tour.

Then, in June, President Calderon is to chair the next gathering of the G20, the finance ministers and often the presidents of the world's more powerful economies, including the European Union, the United States, South Africa, South Korea, India, Brazil, Russia, Japan and France. The intent of the annual meeting is to discuss and resolve issues jeopardizing the stability of the global economy.



Los Cabos Convention Center, three weeks ago...

In five steps from the laptop on which I'm typing I can stand on the second-floor landing of our residence in San Jose del Cabo. When I look west I see the bright red top of a massive crane poking above a hill dense with prickly cactus that hasn't yet been cleared for fairways and homes. When I stroll up there, I can look down at a sprawling and dusty site where construction crews appear to be working 24/7. This is the future home of the Los Cabos Convention Center, where the finance ministers and heads of state of the G20 are to meet in four months.

The website that either Mexico or the G20 created to help showcase the gathering claims that "Los Cabos has all of the necessary facilities...to hold this important international event." That's a stretch, given the frantic efforts to create virtually overnight the region's first substantial and secure convention center. Work on the project began just this fall. Will it be ready for the summit? Local residents are speculating about that, with most seeming confident that it will be. (However, today's Los Angeles Times feature, about Mexico City's controversial bicentennial monument, the Pillar of Light, which was unveiled 16 months late, isn't encouraging.) Even if the convention center isn't ready for the summit, locals are excited about what it will mean for the area when it is finished: A place big enough and plush enough to draw even more foreign visitors to the region's golf courses, resorts, pangas and beaches.



...and yesterday

Why hold the G20 summit here at all, when Mexico City, among other cities, already has the infrastructure to support such a meeting? Proximity to Los Cabos International Airport no doubt played into the decision. But more significantly, some observers speculate, the Calderon administration wants the conclave in one of the country's more remote and isolated states for two reasons: For one, Baja California Sur generally has been free of bloodshed stemming from the administration's pursuit of drug cartels; secondly, protestors who habitually show up at G20 conclaves aren't as likely to go this far out of their way to demonstrate.

A local English-language newspaper, the biweekly Gringo Gazette, puts the cost of the nearly 60,000-square-foot facility at $91 million in U.S. currency. As I look at the scale of the construction, however, that seems low. At the least, I doubt that that figure includes the cost to build an access bridge over the highway that dignitaries will use en route from and to the airport. That's nearly complete.

Surprise: Small Businesses Surviving Walmart

When I last posted here, a Walmart Supermercado just had opened in our neighborhood of San Jose del Cabo. I fretted about the impact that the massive emporium would have on the small grocery stores, panaderias, tortillerias, viveros and other independently owned businesses in the vicinity. That was in April. Then we returned to California and pretty much forgot about San Jose del Cabo.

Now we're back in Los Cabos. I haven't yet strolled about our entire neighborhood in San Jose del Cabo, but I have walked down and about Calle Valerio Gonzalez Canseco, the long street topped by the new Walmart. This much seems clear: Walmart has had little negative impact on businesses along the strip. Quite the contrary. I can't recall ever seeing so much industry along the street. Sure, much of it is traffic drawn by Walmart. And granted, at least one small grocery store is gone, and one cafe looks like it just closed for good. On the other hand, one grocery store is new. A couple of cafes have been added to the street. I saw three boutiques I don't recall from before, two dealing in fashions, one in furniture. A new nursery has opened just off the street. A small panaderia looks to still be flourishing, despite Walmart's close and expansive in-house bakery.

And Papeleria Maya still is open. This long has been our favored outlet for basic office supplies. I suspected it might be one of the early businesses to fold once Walmart unveiled its sprawling departments catering to school and office needs. Why is Papeleria Maya still around? Its proximity to three schools helps, but, again, Walmart isn't far removed from those schools, either. Here could be another reason: When we arrived back in San Jose del Cabo, one of our first needs was for an ink cartridge for the printer. Ordinarily, that would have meant a trip to Papeleria Maya. I had to go to the south edge of town on another matter, however, so I stopped in at OfficeMax to pick up a cartridge. It cost me 269 pesos, about $21 at the current exchange rate. Later, I discovered that Walmart charges the same price. Earlier today, I stopped in at Papeleria Maya to find out about the price of the cartridge; it's 196 pesos, or around $15. I should have stocked up; given the buying and marketing power of Walmart and OfficeMax, who knows how long Papereria Maya can hang in there.

Walmart: Fine Wine, If You Can Get To It

Road-building crews are laboring day and night at the intersection of Calle Valerio Gonzalez Canseco and Boulevard Mauricio Castro, also known as the Transpeninsular Highway, in the heart of San Jose del Cabo. Not sure what they are up to, but the project looks to be an afterthought prompted by the opening this past week of a sprawling Walmart Supermercardo at the intersection. At this late hour, crews won't be able to do much to relieve a bottleneck that any urban planner should have seen coming by just looking at the paperwork and taken a drive.

In a way, it's gratifying to see a corporation like Walmart tackle this sort of in-fill project right in the middle of town rather than building on the outskirts, thereby again contributing to urban sprawl. The lot that the massive structure now occupies previously was an eyesore, which to judge by the stentch that arose from it had been used in large part as a dump for abandoned pets. Any business on the site would have been an improvement, but the scale of the Walmart is laughable, which it is as long as you don't have to put up with the congestion, either as motorist or pedestrian.

Given the size and popularity of Walmart, why couldn't city authorities see this coming, or did they and just not care? Even without Walmart on that corner, traffic congestion had been intensifying. Calle Valerio Gonzalez Canseco long has been one busy street, thus the six topes that try to slow drivers heading up or down the slope. As construction of the Walmart progressed several new businesses joined the numerous schools, restaurants and cafes already lining the street, providing a glimpse of what was coming. San Jose del Cabo residents are grumbling about the placement of the Walmart and the additional traffic it is drawing, but it's pretty late in the game for any kind of effective opposition to develop.

By the time we return to San Jose del Cabo next fall or winter I suspect that Walmart will have wiped out several of the grocery stores, tortillerias, panaderias, viveros and other small businesses that exist in virtually every neighborhood of the town. On the other hand, a large Office Max on the south edge of town so far hasn't seemed to put out of business any of the papelerias alongside virtually every school in the community, so Walmart's impact might not be as severe as anticipated.

As I strolled about the new Walmart I was struck by the caliber and depth of its wine department. I can't recall a Walmart in the United States stocked so extensively, especially with such prized and pricey releases as the House of Morande 2004 Maipo Valley Bordeaux Blend (about $65 in U.S. currency), the De Martino 2004 Maipo Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($43), the Adobe Guadalupe 2006 Miguel ($33) and the Baron de Chivel 2001 Reserva Rioja ($137). Clearly, Walmart is taking on the town's few fine-wine shops, which will be another endangered species in the area. Good luck; we'll be hoping they all are surviving when we return to San Jose del Cabo.

For Our Next Stay, Please Beef Up Your Coverage

An open letter to Fernando Gonzalez Corona (publisher) and Ruben Valdes (editor) of the Los Cabos Daily News:

Since returning to San Jose del Cabo three months ago, we've subscribed to the Daily News, looking forward each morning to its mix of international, financial, lifestyle and sports news, as well as the crossword puzzle.

We're now starting to pack up for our return to Northern California. When we come back to San Jose this fall or winter, I'd like to see some changes in the paper if we are to resume our subscription:

Mostly, I'd like to see more local news. This shouldn't be too difficult. I believe you also publish Spanish-language newspapers with a heavy focus on Baja California Sur generally and Los Cabos specifically. How difficult would it be to translate and include in the Daily News some of those articles? Not difficult at all, I suspect. I believe your ex-pat audience would be more interested in compelling local stories than articles on international events about which they already have been well briefed by CNN and other sources of televised news. By continuing to focus on news out of Washington, D.C., and New York City you are missing an opportunity to close a gap within Los Cabos, and that is the division between the local fulltime native population and the community of residents from elsewhere who live here perhaps only part of the year, but who nonetheless want to be active and positive members of the region. Every time there's a fire or some other incident at the estuary, for example, my wife and I want to know about it, but we never find any sort of report in the Daily News.

If nothing else, add a comprehensive and accurate calendar of local events. Residents who live in Los Cabos just part time but who would like to be a part of the local culture while they are here have no consistent and reliable source that I am aware of to become aware of and to participate in the terrific range of cultural events that occur in and about Los Cabos. Where can I find a schedule of soccer matches at that outstanding stadium in Cabo San Lucas? How do I learn of races at the magnificent velodrome in San Jose del Cabo? That's a goal you should recognize and capitalize on.

OK, I recognize that this sort of additional local coverage can be costly - more expensive than ripping and pasting feeds from The Washington Post and Bloomberg News - but you are missing a potentially lucrative revenue stream by ignoring restaurant news and restaurant advertising. By my experience, when family and friends come to Los Cabos they first want to know about the local culinary scene - where to eat, where to find values, who is doing the most exciting cooking, what's the story behind that cafe or that food stall at the municipal market? You don't have to publish restaurant reviews, just a column of news items about what's new, what you've discovered, and what's inspired this chef or that restaurateur. I'm a longtime journalist, now largely retired, who spent many years reviewing restaurants. I'm not looking for work, just passing on what I consider a valid observation from my experience, and that is that people love to eat out, especially when they are on holiday, and welcome informed and fair guidance.

Finally, I'd like to see more news in the Daily News from the western U.S. I sense that if you were to canvass your readership you would find that it consists mostly of people from California, the Pacific Northwest and Canada. Your current news sources only occasionally cover the issues and personalities of those regions, however. While I admire The Washington Post and the breadth and depth of its coverage, I think you would better serve your readership if you also subscribed to such syndicates as the Los Angeles Times and McClatchy News Service, the latter of which I have had a longterm relationship, though in a modest role.

Please take my suggestions in the spirit in which they are intended: I enjoy the feel of newsprint in my hands each morning, and just want the contents of the paper I'm holding, in this instance the Daily News, to be more compelling, more successful and more influential among local residents, whether they live here fulltime or part-time.

Flat Tire At The Velodrome

When not in San Jose del Cabo, I'm generally in Sacramento, in northern California, variously also known as Alta California, Upper California and Superior California, all of which suggest some sort of inferiority complex. What I'm about to report won't help that, but it also could provide inspiration for Sacramentans to keep the momentum going.

I recently read on The Sacramento Bee's website a feature about the hopes of some city residents to build a velodrome, an oval track with steeply pitched walls on which cyclists can go as fast as they want and are able. In a sense, it's surprising that Sacramento doesn't already have a velodrome, given how many avid cyclists live in and about the city. Then again, there's always the American River Parkway, basically a bikepath that challenges cyclists for its more than 20 miles. But for racing, nothing apparently beats a velodrome, and consequently almost all of the more than 80 comments attached to The Bee feature endorsed the notion of building a velodrome in Sacramento.

The story reminded me that San Jose del Cabo has a stunning velodrome, which I hadn't yet visited during my current stay in the settlement, in large part because while I enjoy some cycling I'm not particularly interested in the sport as either viewer or participant. I saw Lance Armstrong pedal through Sacramento not long ago and found that about as exciting as watching the Daytona 500. Nevertheless, I made my way today up to San Jose's handsome velodrome, perched high on a hillside on the northwestern outskirts of the community. The velodrome is next to a large soccer complex, and flanked by basketball courts, all of which offer striking views of the Sea of Cortez. A cool breeze was blowing across the setting as the sun began to dip behind the mountains to the west. The whole complex represents a substantial monetary investment, even though getting there requires passing a barrio of lean-tos.

I've no idea whether that proximity explains the sorry state of the velodrome, but to judge by the littered grounds and the extent of the graffiti inside and out of the velodrome someone looks to be mightily irked by its presence. The track remains in fine shape, though a guy on hand to help coach the young cycling team in its practice session was reduced to spending a chunk of his time sweeping debris from the track. The velodrome is only around 18 months old, but municipal officials, he indicated, have dropped the ball in maintaining the facility and in providing adequate security. Come back early next month, he said encouragingly, for what promises to be a spirited meet involving several cycling teams.

What's the lesson here for Sacramento? Build a velodrome, but just make sure the money and interest are there to maintain the facility. Actually, from what I've also been reading, the city's NBA franchise, the Kings, may not long be in the community, leaving vacant a basketball pavilion that just maybe could be retrofitted into a velodrome. And with air conditioning, someting the velodrome at San Jose del Cabo doesn't have, though it does have all that sunshine and those caressing marine breezes.

No Menu, Just Delightful Dining

The Wall Street Journal has discovered restaurants without menus. This may be news in New York, but not in San Jose del Cabo, where for five years this month Casiano Reyes has eschewed menus at his intimate Restaurante Casianos.

We returned to the restaurant last night for our Valentine's Day dinner. The restaurant is in a depressed office and commercial complex on the southwest side of town, just above a urine-scented access to the beach. But once through the restaurant's curtained entry you're in a different world, where polished sophistication holds forth. The classy design runs vaguely to French and Spanish traditionalism. Black-clad servers were attentive and smart. For some reason, whenever we visit Casianos I expect to see George Clooney, a not-infrequent visitor to Los Cabos, according to the local press. Last night, however, no George, but there was some guy with the heft and confidence of a professional football player, though I couldn't place him without his jersey.

At any rate, diners are greeted with a parmesan breadstick that would please Biba Caggiano, a tray with a selection of fresh lemon, lime or mint to go in your glasses of water, and a question about whether you have any dietary restrictions. No menu is handed over, just an opportunity to specify whether you want the three-course meal or the five course.

Once that's resolved, a basket with four kinds of warm breads arrive, followed soon after by plate after plate of what Reyes calls "spontaneous cuisine." His intent is to surprise guests and leave them delighted by both their adventurous spirit and his precise cookery, perhaps best classified as New-Wave Mexican. Traditional staples of the Baja diet make their appearance, but in totally original presentations. Sweet scallops were sweetened even more with a concentrated puree of sun-dried tomatoes. The brightness and juiciness of finely diced watermelon contrasted with the crackle of its accompanying fried goat-cheese ravioli. A creamy corn sauce and a puree of beets lit up the lobster medallion with their earthy sweetness. A filet of sea bass covered with lentil scales floated on a sea of pureed green beans.

Filet mignon and New York steak aren't my favorite cuts of beef, but both were handled with imagination and care, the former exceptionally tender and rich, the latter succulent and smoky, its red-wine-and-rosemary sauce the perfect accompaniment.

The most unusual dish was a cylinder of poached potato filled with foie gras and blueberry. The foie gras, said our server, was produced at Guadalajara.

Dessert consisted of two kinds of cake (white chocolate for one, red velvet for the other) accompanied by two kinds of ice cream (rose petal for one, tequila for the other), both paired with pears that had been marinated in orange and thyme, then topped with feta.

Restaurante Casianos isn't inexpensive - 900 pesos per person for the five-course selection (about $75 at the current exchange rate) - but then Valentine's Day comes around just once a year. We stuck to wines by the glass, including a minerally and lemony Chilean chardonnay and a quiet Chilean pinot noir, after finding the restaurant's wine list to be the weak link in the operation. In excitement, the wine selection isn't up to the same level as the food, with most of the choices pedestrian and overpriced. The Bogle chardonnay is a fine take on the varietal, but not at the 700 pesos (nearly $60) that the restaurant expects to get for it. Nevertheless, Restaurante Casianos at five years old is continuing to meet its exacting standards.

OMG (Oh My, Gallo)

To judge by Saturday night's "Ritmos, Colores y Sabores" on the plaza in San Jose del Cabo, food festivals in Mexico don't differ much from food festivals in the United States. The serving starts a little late and progresses slowly, the lines get long fast, and the food disappears quickly; chefs were breaking down their stalls a little after 8 p.m., though the event was billed as lasting until 10 p.m. And in a sense, it almost did, given the range of entertainment that occupied the stage until nearly 10 p.m., long after most of the food was gone.

In that sense, Ritmos, Colores y Sabores - Rhythms, Colors and Flavors - was a step up from the entertainment at food festivals in the U.S., usually limited to some jazz combo nobody can hear because it's stuck in an obscure corner. Here, the entertainment went on and on, and at times was so lively it helped alleviate pressure on the food stands by distracting diners. The show included the large and uniformed glee club of a local elementary school, numerous high-energy vocalists, mariachi, folk dancers, fire dancers and belly dancers.

As in the U.S., participating restaurateurs donated dishes representing their menus in hopes of attracting new customers. It worked for me. I've added to my list of restaurants to visit before heading home Baja Blue Bar & Grill in San Jose del Cabo on the strength of its zesty seafood shots, La Galeria at the marina in Cabo San Lucas for its hearty nopales salad and fresh scallop-and-mango ceviche, Los Deseos Restaurant Bar at the marina in Cabo for its intriguing assortment of salsas, and Mi Cocina in the boutique hotel Casa Natalia in San Jose because of its bracing salad of scallops, octopus and nopales. By and large, the food was intricate and artful, the servings generous.

Sponsored by the Public Relations Association of Los Cabos to benefit a program assisting local women with cancer, the festival was well worth the price of 200 pesos per adult ($20 in U.S. currency). I think if they were to raise the price to $30 per person next year they'd still see the same size crowd, but hopefully they'd also arrange for more food. Aside from small sample shots of tequila and cups of coffee, beverages were an additional charge - 20 pesos per can of beer, 50 pesos per plastic glass of wine. And the only wines being poured, much to our dismay and no doubt much to the mortification of the Mexican wine trade, were by Barefoot Cellars, a California brand owned by E&J Gallo Winery. I've had pleasant Barefoot wines over the years, but the releases being poured Saturday night apparently don't travel well. Neither the cabernet sauvignon nor the pinot noir showed any varietal character, and overall weren't up to the quality of the food being served. That Modelo Light, however, isn't a bad can of beer.

Home On The Range, However Risky

My walks this week to and from the new San Jose del Cabo branch of Cabo Fitness Club leave me both charmed and perturbed. Who wouldn't like to brush by a couple of docile and handsome horses that seem to have been hired to mow the grassy strip between Punta Sur Golf Course and the Transpeninsular Highway? A concrete path winds through the narrow and lush strip, and the highway is just a few feet to the west. That four-way helps account for my consternation. These are free-range horses, untethered and apparently unattended; no cowboys were in sight, though a crew of groundskeepers from either the city or from Fonatur, the national agency responsible for developing tourism in Mexico, generally isn't far off, though they seem virtually oblivious to the horses.

I'm hoping motorists behave as if they are a bit more aware of the horses, though rarely do any obviously slow. I'm also hoping the horses don't decide the grass is greener on the other side of the road, though that isn't likely, given that the opposite side mostly is a dry arroyo and a stand of brush that looks barely alive. Nonetheless, I've strolled by the calling cards of horses in the neighborhood reaching up into the hills from the west shoulder of the highway. The golf course would be tempting, but a fence keeps out the horses, who appeared at their happiest yesterday, when sprinklers were on and they could amble over for a welcome drink at their leisure.

I have yet to see if anyone drops off the horses in the morning and picks them up at night. They look well cared for, and I'm hoping they continue to look that way as they enjoy their precarious pasturage.

New Ruling Party For Baja California Sur

In San Jose del Cabo, voting booth, left; ballot boxes, right

Today is Constitution Day in Mexico, which is especially fitting for residents of the state of Baja California Sur, who just yesterday elected a new governor. He's Marcos Covarrubias, a former congressman who was the nominee of the National Action Party (PAN), which is headed by Mexican President Felipe Calderon.

Residents of the state also elected new presidentes - or mayors - for five municipalities. In Los Cabos, which includes the cities of San Jose del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas, the new presidente will be Tony Agundez, the candidate of the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD).

According to various online news sites and blogs, Covarrubias won 40 percent of the vote compared with nearly 34 percent for Ricardo Barroso (the candidate of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI) and 21 percent for Luis Amando Diaz (the candidate of the PRD).

The results are being interpreted early on as a repudiation of the PRD, which had run the state for the past 12 years. The PRD, however, remained in charge of the municipalities of Los Cabos and Mulege, while the PRI will run La Paz and Loreto and the PAN will oversee Comondu.

While today's Tribuna de Los Cabos reported the arrest of six persons in Cabo San Lucas for polling-place "intimidation," the voting in San Jose del Cabo went off smoothly.

Nearly 60 percent of the state's electorate reportedly voted.

Growing Pains At Farmers Market

On my drive to the farmers market at San Jose del Cabo this morning, I encountered a small group of pedestrians who judging from the bags they were carrying had just gotten their fill of heirloom tomatoes and dried epazote. You don't often meet people walking into or out of the farmers market, and my immediate thought was that they were adventuresome environmentalists or lost tourists. I admired their spunk, but I also thought that this would be the last time they take in the farmers market on foot, given the dust and the traffic congestion they were enduring.

Musicians at Saturday's farmers market

Sunday is election day in Baja California Sur. That includes the election of a new presidente - or mayor - to oversee a municipality that includes San Jose del Cabo. Maybe the new mayor will recognize something that the current administration appears to have blithely ingored: The Saturday farmers market is a huge success whose popularity looks to be growing each week. Los Cabos is just starting to see its annual surge of winter visitors, and in a week or two the farmers market could be impossible to enjoy, or even reach. With the opening of the new bridge over the arroyo to the south of the market, effectively cutting off access to the market from that direction, the route in and out is inadequate to accommodate the masses who attend. The parking lot, while fairly large, can't handle all the SUVs congregating on the site, despite the efforts of stressed attendants who are quick to spot and then guide drivers to vacant slips.

(An aside: Persons who take advantage of the farmers market could be much better neighbors if only they were a little more conscious of what's going on around them. Today, for example, a party of about four or five clearly had finished their shopping and were about to climb into their rig. As I waited for them to load up and pull out so I could grab their spot, vehicles backed up behind me in a long and growing line. Yet, the dawdlers continued to dawdle, chatting at length over what seemed to be the design or color of the rig, something they could do in the driveway back at their time-share. I was convinced they were a bunch of Canadians (that's a little joke), but when I glanced at their license plate, expecting to find British Columbia, I instead read Wisconsin. Wisconsin! That's home to several of the friendlier and more considerate people I know, even if they aren't related to me. What was so important that they continued to jabber, completely oblivious to the incoming throng? The Super Bowl, maybe? At any rate, I gave up, moved on and eventually was directed to an opening. Those attendants, tip them a few pesos next time you visit the market, OK?)

Artist in residence, San Jose del Cabo farmers market

At any rate, the Saturday farmers market is one of San Jose del Cabo's principal attractions, though it's apt to lose its allure if something isn't done to find a more convenient setting, or somehow enlarge the existing location and make access more user friendly. "Oh, you don't want to eat breakfast before coming here," I overheard one seasoned visitor remark to a newcomer. That's true. The array of food vendors, who are marketing everything from fresh-fruit smoothies to grilled chicken, are numerous, tempting and varied. Nevertheless, organizers may have to rename the market "artisans market." While food remains the primary attraction, the number of artists, jewelers, musicians, furniture makers and the like looks to be gaining, and may indeed already outnumber the people selling wheatgrass shots, tamales and pastries.

As If Someone Pulled The Plug On The Estuary

A fisher casts his net in the estuary Sunday

Saturday, the waterways of San Jose del Cabo's principal natural feature, its lush freshwater estuary, began to gush into the Gulf of California. Sunday, the draining continued, reducing the lagoon's broad and lazy channels to slim and quick-running streams flanked by expanding mudflats. The carcasses of thousands of fish littered the banks. For scores of pelicans, buzzards, egrets and osprey, Thanksgiving had arrived. The easy catch also was welcomed by local fishers, who arrived by the dozen, waded into the receding water and hurled their nets at schools of fish clustered in dwindling eddies. Virtually every cast was successful, though the fishers generally discarded the stout black fish that looked like some kind of bass while keeping a sleek silver variety about as long and fat as a good-sized trout.

This phenomenon of the disappearing water was new to us. As we strolled along estuary paths that had been underwater just a short time ago, a longtime resident of San Jose del Cabo paused to explain what appeared to be happening. As water in the estuary rises from both winter rainfall and discharges from the city's sewage-treatment plant, pressure builds along the high and wide wall of sand separating the estuary from the Gulf of California. That pressure, coupled with a high tide, is enough to breach the barricade, sending surging water from the estuary into the gulf. This happens once a year or so, he indicated.

The estuary is a birdwatcher's paradise, even on ordinary days. But this weekend the number of birds was exceptional. Our acquaintance on the estuary path even pointed out a Belding's Yellowthroat, a tiny and fidgety warbler whose sunny coloring is set off by a dramatic black mask. According to BirdLife International, the marsh at San Jose del Cabo constitutes a rare and prized habitat for the bird, but it's jeopardized by fires, drainage, reed cutting, intrusions of urbanization and the occasional hurricane. I've no idea what impact this weekend's abrupt siphoning will have on the Belding's Yellowthroat, but at least for awhile it will be easier to stroll about the estuary in search of the bird.

No Fog Here, Just Good Eats

A fellow Sacramentan who is helping to coordinate a rendezvous for her family in Los Cabos in February has emailed me some questions about Mexican wine and restaurants and markets in San Jose del Cabo. They will be staying on the “corridor,” the beachside strip of resort hotels and timeshares between Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo, but they expect to frequent San Jose more than Cabo. I’m guessing that other Northern Californians are planning to escape the area’s chilly temperatures and persistent fog for a few days in Los Cabos, where it’s overcast right now but still edging into the 70s. Thus, in hopes of being helpful I’m posting here my response to her:


- As to your interest in exploring Mexican wine, be aware that quality is wildly uneven and that prices can be stunningly high. I just came from the gourmet shop La Europea across the transpeninsular highway from the landmark Las Palmas hotel in San Jose del Cabo. Their selection of Mexican wine is extensive and varied, but also pricey. They are well stocked with releases from the usually reliable Mexican brands Monte Xanic and L.A. Cetto. But they also carry several Mexican brands new to me, including one with a 2004 zinfandel for 875 pesos (about $75 in U.S. currency) and a 2005 nebbiolo for 1,295 pesos (about $110). When I win the lottery I’ll be able to report on what they’re like. In the meantime, I’ll be sticking pretty much to Chilean, Argentine and Spanish wines, which are the wines most readily available, most attractively priced and most consistently reliable in Los Cabos. However, for a special dinner at which I would like to show off what the Mexican wine trade is capable of achieving, I’d select a wine by Casa de Piedra, Adobe Guadalupe, Vinedos Malagon, Vinisterra or Roganto. Good, solid representations can be found at $40 to $60 for those brands. And I’d stick to warm-climate grape varieties, like petite sirah, tempranillo and especially grenache. Also, you may want to stop by the wine shop La Casa del Vino de Baja California, which stocks only wine made in Baja California. It’s in Plaza del Cabo, along the transpeninsular highway just south of La Europea. Starting at 7 p.m. each Tuesday, the owner oversees a tasting of four Baja wines. The cost is 200 pesos per person.

- As to restaurants, you asked about Casianos. As with your friends, it’s one of our favorites, though we haven’t yet checked it out this visit. It’s in a peculiar location, a lifeless office and shopping complex along Bahia de Palmas east of the transpeninsular highway and just northeast of the Las Mananitas development. Owner/chef Casiano Reyes cooks what he calls “spontaneous cuisine.” The menu, in other words, changes daily, and by our experience includes two prix-fixe options. Stylistically, the food is Nuevo Mexican - duck on a plantain tortilla, lobster and chile peppers in filo pastry, sea bass on a pineapple puree, tenderloin on sweet-potato puree. The setting is smart, the service prideful and precise in explaining dishes, and the wine list captivating, though dear (the 2006 Russian River Valley pinot noir from Clarksburg’s Bogle Vineyards was listed at 750 pesos (about $60 for a wine that generally was selling for around $14 in the Sacramento area). We enjoyed the restaurant immensely, and this year it could be our Valentine’s Day destination.

Our overall favorite fine-dining restaurant, however, remains Restaurant H, a small but exquisitely designed and operated place in the heart of San Jose del Cabo’s art district. The father-and-son team of Luis Herrera Blanc and Luis Herrera oversee a compact menu of what they call “modern rustic” Mexican cookery. It’s the first place we hit when we return to San Jose del Cabo and the last we visit before returning to Sacramento. The food just seems to be getting better and better, and the other night we had our best meal yet there. If it’s still on the menu, be sure to order the heirloom-tomato and roasted-beet salad, sweetened with goat cheese and a fruity vinaigrette. The kitchen even knows how to glorify pan-seared chicken breast, keeping it moist while jazzing it up with smoky chile peppers, asparagus, mushrooms and a sweet-potato puree. In the past, we’ve enjoyed such entrees as pan-fried chicken with a curry of tomatillos and poblano and jalapeno chile peppers, grilled pork chop with a green herb sauce, chorizo and a white-bean puree, and local sea bass crusted with sunflower seeds over a sweet and creamy sauce of corn, potato and peppers. I’m not crazy about Restaurant H’s wine list, but the corkage is a not unreasonable 200 pesos. Book well in advance, and hope you get a table with Daniel as your server.

Other San Jose del Cabo fine-dining restaurants we plan to revisit this stay include the spirited El Matador in the neighborhood Colonia El Chamizal, where the menu ranges from traditional Mexican to contemporary European; Maison del Angel in the art district, not so much for its shaky service but for the appeal of its open courtyard and the force and tradition of its Mexican cooking; and La Dolce Restaurante Italiano on the central plaza, simply because a body can go only so long without sauteed calamari and competently turned out thin-crust pizza.

- As to more casual everyday dining spots, we’ll be meeting friends at Guacamayas in a week for our first visit during this stay. It’s very basic but almost invariably very crowded, thanks to the quality and value of its traditional Mexican cooking. It’s in either the Pescador or El Chamizal neighborhood. It’s an adventure to find, but somehow I always eventually get there. The food court at Mercado Municipal, the traditional central market in San Jose del Cabo, is very reliable for inexpensive Mexican dishes, especially for breakfast and at lunch. Rossy Taqueria where Pescador intersects with the transpeninsular highway long has been a favorite outing for simply prepared but generous fish, shrimp and scallop tacos, but go for lunch, not dinner, when, for some reason, quality slips in everything from service to the assorted add-ons at the salsa bar.

- As to where to buy fresh seafood, I’ve had good luck at the Mercado Municipal, which includes two fish stalls. The snapper and shrimp looked especially appealing today, but the selection at both places was wide. The market also includes a couple of meat purveyors, including one, Marlena, that has excellent Oaxacan mole, as well as other prepared sauces. There are also a couple of produce stands, as well as a shop stocked with school uniforms. From Boulevard Mijares, the main north/south street on the east edge of downtown, head up Doblado and watch for the market just off to your left.

- If your stay here includes a Saturday, make your way to the farmers market on the northern outskirts of downtown. Don’t eat beforehand. It includes an array of vendors selling blended juice drinks, grilled chicken, pastries and the like, as well as fresh produce, though most of the stands deal in arts and crafts. I’ve found produce prices to be surprisingly high there. I paid 20 pesos Saturday for a bunch of Swiss chard no larger or more attractive than a bunch that cost 10 pesos a few days earlier at the new Mercado Organico along the west side of the transpeninsular highway just north of Las Palmas.

- If you will be in San Jose del Cabo on Super Bowl weekend be forewarned that that’s also election weekend in Baja California Sur, which means no sales of alcoholic beverages. Alarmed that this could mean no cerveza during the game, I last night asked a principal of the popular Shooters Sports Bar just off the square downtown if that means no Super Bowl party come Feb. 6. No, she said, business is expected to be as brisk as ever. She said the Super Bowl and the election overlap every few years, and in the past authorities have said they could stay open and pour drinks as long as they don’t serve Mexicans, a tradition they expect to continue next week.

Staying Safe In Baja California Sur

Several representatives of the Consulate General of the United States in Tijuana came to San Jose del Cabo yesterday to assure U.S. citizens who live fulltime or part-time at the southern reaches of Baja California Sur that they have their back. Here is some of what I learned:

- Despite Mexico's continuing brutal drug war, chances of an innocent being killed by narco-related violence in Baja California Sur are fairly remote. During the past calendar year, 1,007 narco murders occurred in Baja California, the state just to the north, which includes Tijuana. In contrast, only nine narco murders occurred in Baja California Sur, which is where we reside during the winter. This comforting word was delivered by Ben Whitaker, special agent with the U.S. Department of State Diplomatic Security Service.

- My odds of being traumatized by narco-related crime will increase if I decide to drive back to California from San Jose del Cabo, however. The biggest threat during such a trek is carjacking, said Whitaker. Cartels running drugs up the peninsula apparently need more vehicles, or at least want bigger ones. To get them, they are apt to set up phony checkpoints on the transpeninsular highway, though this has been rare, he was quick to note. By my experience in driving the route, a genuine military blockade pops up on the highway about every 100 miles. So how is a motorist to tell the legitimate checkpoint from the fake? Motorists can feel somewhat secure that they are approaching a real checkpoint, said Whitaker, if signs to alert travelers of an impending mandatory stop have been set up starting about 1,000 meters before the roadblock, if cones to guide motorists into the correct lane have been arranged on the pavement, and if a guy in military fatigues waving a flag and "looking bored" is directing traffic. Motorists can best help assure their well-being by driving only during the daytime, sticking to toll roads whenever possible (which is rare), and remaining alert to whatever is going on around them. If all the drug runners want is your vehicle, give it to them while remaining polite and humble and avoiding eye contact, Whitaker indicated. One final tip: If you have a choice between driving a sedan or an SUV on your trip through the peninsula, go with the sedan; drug cartels love SUVs, which give them more room for hauling contraband. I love our Ford Explorer, but not as much today as yesterday.

- The odds of the northwest peninsula becoming another battleground in Mexico for competing drug cartels is remote, indicated Whitaker. That's because the Sinola narcotics organization has such a strong hold on the area that no other drug cartel is eager to challenge it. "No one has the power or ability to mess with them," said Whitaker. I'm not sure how reassuring that is, but henceforth whenever I arrive at an intersection simultaneously with a car bearing Sinola plates no one will need to remind me who has the right of way.

- Thinking of driving to Baja California from California for spring break? San Ysidro just south of San Diego is the safest border crossing, said Whitaker. It's always open, it's well lit, and U.S. law-enforcement agencies have a high profile at that entry.

- Lynne Skeirik, the deputy counsel general stationed in Tijuana, who conducted Tuesday's gathering, offered no help in resolving a problem that continues to stymie me: How do I get the aforementioned SUV registered without returning it to California for its periodic emission-control checkup? I really didn't expect her to have an answer, given that regulations governing vehicle registration are the responsibility of state officials, not federal authorities, and California representatives of the DMV already have told me I can't get any sort of extension or exemption. Local residents at the meeting suggested some alternatives, including registering the rig in South Dakota, but I don't live there and have no intention to relocate.

- No one knows for sure, but between 13,000 and 15,000 expats from the U.S. are believed to live in Los Cabos, with 5,000 alone scattered along the stunning and remote East Cape, a serene stretch of hills and beaches ranging north beside the Gulf of California from San Jose del Cabo. It's home to prized marlin fishing, as well as the artsy community of Los Barriles and the Cabo Pulmo National Marine Park, celebrated for sea kayaking and mountain hiking. Water there is in short supply and the roads are unpaved, but the East Cape is the setting for the sort of large and posh homes chosen to illustrate articles about luxury living in Baja California Sur. It's a favorite retreat of several California winemakers. It's also so isolated that consulate officials wish some of its residents would volunteer to join its "warden network," which sounds like something out of "True Grit," and indeed isn't far removed from early frontier telegraph communications. Inspired by World War II "air raid wardens" who were to alert their fellow citizens of potential attack, members of the warden network are to keep consulate authorites up to speed on perceived dangers in outlying areas, whether the problem be hurricane, terrorist threat or spike in crime. You can learn more by reading this State Department document. And anyone interested in signing on should contact Skeirik via email: ACSTijuana@state.gov.

- When U.S. citizens in Baja California Sur are the victims of crime it's usually burglary, officials and residents appeared to concur. Solid wood doors that can be well locked and bars on windows are the starting point in securing a residence. Alarm systems and private patrols look to be rising in popularity. Opinion about whether police should be notified in case of a breakin looked to be divided and uncertain. Investigations aren't necessarily pursued eagerly, and some residents don't trust local police, said participants. On the other hand, a police report is necessary to collect on an insurance policy, noted Skeirik.

La Internacional: Best View Of The Plaza

Not long after our return to San Jose del Cabo we ambled over to our favorite destination for thick and succulent steaks, the handsome restaurant El Vaquero along the east edge of the plaza in the heart of the community's historic district. We found it closed, as in permanently. A sign bearing two of the more common yet depressing words in town - "Se Renta" - hung on the building that had housed the steakhouse for the past few years. We don't have a clue what happened to the place. All we know is that we'll miss the refreshing yet bracing peach martini, the juicy prime rib carved tableside, and a real rarity hereabouts - the truly professional staff, which on our last visit doted over our grandson as he struggled to hang on to and gnaw the bone from a hunk of rib-eye.

 El Vaquero occupied one of the more storied and visible buildings in San Jose del Cabo, a long and low-slung structure directly across the plaza from the municipal hall. Over the decades, the building variously had housed businesses ranging from the first newspaper of Baja California South, Le Voz de Sur, to the busiest Ford dealership outside of Mexico City. A prediction: It won't long remain vacant. I'm tempted to dispatch an email to Kurt Spataro, executive chef of the Sacramento restaurant Centro, devoted to regional Mexican food. While San Jose del Cabo has a wide range of restaurants, not one comes close to Centro in emulating with precision and pride Mexico's intricate, enduring and diverse regional cuisines. Given all the license plates that we see here from Mexican states far removed from Baja California Sur, such a restaurant could be immensely popular.

With El Vaquero closed, we looked about for a nearby alternative. We didn't have to look far. On the second floor of the building directly next door is La Internacional, which opened about six months ago, according to our server. As its name suggests, La Internacional takes a global approach to its menu and wine list. Dishes draw inspiration from Africa, Asia, Europe, Mexico and elsewhere. The wine list is similarly wide ranging, including no fewer that four Champagnes, as well as releases from the United States, Argentina, Mexico, Chile and Spain. Both menu and wine list, however, are truncated, as if the people behind La Internacional still are gauging just how receptive local residents and tourists will be to their novel concept before investing more ambitiously in their food and drink. The most appealing dish among the plates we ordered was the fresh and spicy Vietnamese spring roll, fruity with papaya, crunchy with cucumber and herbal with cilantro, basil and mint; its accompanying peanut sauce is what brought the spice to the plate (65 pesos). A Moroccan beet salad was bright and wholesome, but could have been more liberally seasoned with cumin (55 pesos). A glass of the Crin tempranillo from Rioja tasted ripe but tired (60 pesos). Servers were amiable and attentive, and the setting comfortable and relaxing. In design, La Internacional has two fetching features. The long balcony provides the best view in town of the plaza, which during a balmy dusk came alive with all sorts of diverting activity. Directly below, a half-dozen youngsters got involved in a pick-up soccer match, using sneakers they'd taken off to designate the goals. The ever-present balloon man sauntered across the plaza, a chubby kid on a skateboard clattered over the concrete, and a youngster in a bright pink pedal car weaved about other children on trikes and in strollers. As the sun disappeared behind the distant hills, a group of about three dozen people, each bearing a lighted candle, emerged from the east side of the plaza and swayed solemnly toward the silhouette of the mission church across the way, where some sort of service was commencing.

And don't ignore La Internacional's bathrooms. They're large, clean, considerately appointed and artfully decorated, with a large vase of fresh flowers in the women's, an even bigger floral painting in the men's. I almost invariably seek out the banos in a Mexican restaurant because I'm curious to how they are designated. Almost invariably, restaurateurs eschew the standard blue-and-white male and female silhouette signs so common in the United States. Instead, they go in for imaginative artistry. Much of it, to be sure, is politically incorrect, a throwback to traditional and outdated stereotypes of what signifies feminity and masculinity. In that regard, the bathroom signs at La Internacional are rather tame. When looking for the men's room, watch for the uniformed officer on the motorcycle above, and for the women's look for the fashionably attired and coyly poising woman. They're good, but not as clever and lyrical as what was used at El Vaquerro - a fine lacy shawl draped on the door of the women's restroom, a pair of spurs on the men's.

The Cactus Blooms Again

My mistake. Contrary to my remark about the Cactus Mini-Super in the post just below, the neighborhood convenince store, which is at Cactus and Jarilla in San Jose del Cabo, is open following a short closure, apparently for some remodeling. It's spiffed up, with new refrigeration equipment, what looks to be a refinished floor, and freshly stocked racks. Ownership also may have changed, to judge by a bit of uncertainty at the checkout counter. At any rate, glad to see it back in business.

Sleepy San Jose del Cabo Awakens

Moonrise over Punta Gorda, Jan. 19, 2011

We chose San Jose del Cabo for our annual winer retreat in large part because it was smaller, quieter and less congested than Cabo San Lucas, about 20 miles to the southwest. Over the past five years we've convinced ourselves that that's the case and have been pleased by our choice. But from the start, we've learned that San Jose del Cabo isn't the static community it first seemed. It's actually fairly dynamic, and the scale and pace of change here seems to be intensifying. A friend who lives in the area fulltime just remarked that before long residents of San Jose del Cabo won't ever again have to make the trek to Cabo San Lucas; everything they need will be right here, short of a Costco, and who knows, that could be next  Just across the highway from the still relatively relaxed neighborhood in which we have our casa is the fast-rising framework of a monstrous Walmart. Eventually, this proximity will make our life here all the more convenient, provided we survive unscathed our dashes across the highway, already busy and sure to be even more congested when the Walmart opens. Why local officials approved such a huge structure fronting a narrow street (Valerio Gonzalez) with little available parking and awkward access  is a mystery. Selfishly, I'd like to see a pedestrian bridge built over the highway, but if that were to happen it likely would be coupled with a parking lot or garage on "our" side of the road, which isn't something I'd like to see encouraged.

We don't have to stroll far from our residence to find other signs of growth and change. The neighborhood convenience market Cactus Super-Mini has closed, possibly in anticipation of the opening of the Walmart. On the other hand, the well-stocked Mercado Organico has opened, inviting with the finest and most extensive selection of greens and herbs I've found in the area. Nikko Sushi has moved into the neighborhood, and just up the highway the long-vacant building that formerly housed the restaurant Milo's has been razed to make way for a fully automated car wash. New pizza and falafel joints are close by, and during the Thursday night art walk downtown a week ago we found four new galleries.

But some things never seem to change. One is the local ritual that on the night of a full moon you head to the beach to watch it rise over the Gulf of California. We packed the cooler with sandwiches, salsa and beer and made our way up the East Cape to watch the moon rise over Punta Gorda. And as popular as the rite may be, just one other couple was nearby, and they left before the moon was even up. We didn't stay long ourselves, given that it was somewhat breezy and chilly. The final stretch of the road to get to our favorite spot was as rutted and unpaved as ever. But wouldn't you know it, the first stretch of the trek from downtown San Jose del Cabo to the old fishing village of La Playa was on a new two-lane bridge spanning a wide arroyo that frequently floods during the occasional heavy rain.