TIJUANA.-It's not in my nature to write food reviews, or is it? I am a pretty chubby guy with a voracious appetite but of course that does not make me an expert. As a child my father would never be cheap when it came to food, he usually wanted to eat at the nicest place in town no matter what part of the world we found ourselves lucky enough to be visiting, and we visited quite a few places. My younger sister went to culinary arts school, works for famous Tijuana chef Marcela Valladolid and over the years my interest for the food scene has matured. Tijuana has lived a gastronomic and artistic revolution over the last couple of years, almost single handedly cleaning the image of violence heavy headlines by media both Mexican and International. Add to this one of the world's best street food scenes, to put it as my friend Jason, aka Tijuanalandia says, Tijuana is "Yum City".

Jair Tellez is of course no stranger to the Mexican chef scene. In fact, Tellez is one of it's shinning stars. His Mexico City restaurant, MeroToro, is one of the most well respected spots in a metropolis of 20 million people. It has brought him fame from all over and his amazing spot in Baja California's now world famous wine region, Valle de Guadalupe, Laja, just asserts his position as one of the top three most well respected chefs Mexico has. These factors make Verde y Crema one of the most anticipated new restaurants in Tijuana's food scene since forever. Javier Plascencia's Mision 19 has really set the bar for cuisine in the state and a few more places in Valle de Guadalupe leave almost no room for mistakes in a country where food is king and new techniques, ingredients and chefs are becoming more common.

Verde y Crema supports local Baja California foods, artists and every single thing on the menu is organic ( OK not the Sprite ). The parking lot is beautiful display of murals painted by Tijuana artists, well lit and extraordinary. The parking lot is very welcoming, there is beauty as soon as you arrive. My favorite of these murals is the one by Tijuana artist, El Norteño. It is illuminated beautifully and is intriguing from the street, automatically grabbing your attention without having a single clue that there is a world class restaurant right next to it. The fact that Verde y Crema commissioned local street artists to do the whole parking lot is almost unheard of in a city where traditionally high end places to eat just don't mess with street artists.

So "TJ" it takes it's name from a taxi and bus driver union, Verde y Crema ( named after the color of the busses and taxis that are green and cream colored) that still sits next door to them and once housed a daycare center , gym and small classrooms for the children of hard working public transit operators. The restaurant's decor goes very well with this part of its history. Located in front of Tijuana craft beer Mecca BCB, the new and anticipated restaurant makes the block a Tijuana hot spot for organic, craft dinning and drinking.

Let's get down to the yummy yummy. I had already ate 2 hours before my first visit to Verde y Crema but my girlfriend was going out of town the next day, so I decided to treat her to a very nice early dinner. This doesn't;t mean I didn't eat. First the salad. Delicious Quinoa salad: green beans, zucchini and sundance squash, pickled carrots all of the veggies come from Baja Malibu ( beach spot near Rosarito) and of course, everything organic. Next up Cheese! Not just any cheese of course but local, artesian cheese from rancho Cortes of Valle de Guadalupe along w fresh raisin bread that they make right there inside of Verde y Crema. Yes, that's right, they make their own fresh bread everyday. The main course; Braised beef in it's own juice also from rancho Cortes from Valle de Guadalupe, cooked in a wood fire oven for 8 hours, salsa tatemada and home made flour tortillas. To top it off we ordered the cobbler with nata ice cream. I gave everything 10 finger licks on my finger licking scale.

No complaints, just compliments on this amazing food. It is basically Mexican home cooking with the finest of ingredients. Sous- chef Martin Vargas came out twice to ask me how I was enjoying my meal, the staff was young, good looking and very attentive. You don't have to be a foodie or a culinary art food snob to enjoy Verde y Crema, like I said before it is Mexican home cooking with the finest of ingredients. The support for everything local is just a very welcomed cherry on top. I will be coming back soon for the Chicharron de Oreja de puerco ( Pork ear chicharron) that I just could not eat anymore and will have to go back. Any excuse is a good one when it comes to going to this beautiful new Tijuana restaurant.

If you want to visit Verde y Crema here is some helpful info :

Adress : Orizaba 3034 Col Neidhart, Tijuana

Tel : (664) 6812366

Official website : www.verdeycrema.com

*Follow Tony Tee on Twitter @tonyteefiesta

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