Every week, Baja Window to the South interviews people that are essential to the Baja California’s development. On this occasion, Tana Plascencia, President of Tijuana’s National Chamber of the Restaurant and Seasoned Food Industry (CANIRAC) was present. Tana is also a member of Grupo Plascencia, created in 1969, which brought to Tijuana natives and Mexicans its first pizza restaurant chain.

This pizzeria became the Italian food restaurant Giuseppis, which is one of the main touristic reasons why many Americans cross to Tijuana. The creation of Giuseppis took inspiration from San Diego’s restaurant Filippi’s, a place that “Don Tana”, Tana’s own father, visited frequently with his family where he learned a lot of things from the restaurant’s staff.

Plascencia stated a very interesting fact: he said that Giuseppis created the first Mexican pizza, an invention created by his father. Don Tana had grown tired of making pepperoni pizzas, so he decided to add refried beans instead of tomato sauce and ingredients such as jalapeños, bacon, and more.

Grupo Plascencia is not just Giuseppis but also other restaurants such as Villa Saverios which combines Italian and Mexican cuisine in a more elegant manner. Tana also said that the names of these restaurants are the Italian versions of the names José and Javier, Don Tana’s and his children’s names respectively.

Hotel Caesar’s, located in Downtown Tijuana, is also a member of Grupo Plascencia where the world-renowned Caesar salad is served, another point of pride for the city. Its dressing recipe is not mysterious at all since it is prepared in front of clients and the process is explained step by step. This salad has put Baja California and Mexico on the map; no matter which restaurant you go to, you can find this salad, and tourists and foreigners are usually surprised to know that it originated in Tijuana.

Tana also shared how Baja California presents all of its gastronomic wonders, which all have different characteristics depending on the place one visits. That means that both its cuisine and its touristic attractions have made Baja California famous worldwide, making it a gastro-touristic destination.

Hosts Olga Sánchez de la Vega and Scott Koenig have both stated that all international guests have said that they have never tasted food as delicious as the one from Baja California, taking into account both its flavor and the experiences lived here. All of this is created not only by one restaurant chain, but by Baja California’s chefs, waiters, farmers, and agriculturists.

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