Nature’s Chef: Miguel Angel Guerrero

Being hands on with food has been part of Miguel Angel Guerrero’s life for as long as he can remember. The chef and owner of three (soon to be four) restaurants learned to hunt, dive, fish, and farm at age five and was a regular on his family’s Baja California ranch. He's turned that experience into a successful culinary career and will soon showcase those skills at the Baja California Culinary Fest, happening October 29 through November 2. 

“I have so many memories, but the one that has stuck with me is of my mother churning the blood from the pig that was sacrificed to prepare morcilla and how the process took place,” said Guerrero. But despite the comfort Guerrero found around food, he wasn’t always prepared for it to be his path.

“I studied law because back in those days it was a common career,” Guerrero said. He earned his law degree – and met his wife while doing so – but realized soon after that his heart was somewhere else. “My true calling has always been being a chef,” he said.

So before diving into the kitchen, Guerrero opened a liquor store and market in Rosarito. Encouragement from his wife led him to Mexico City to study culinary arts, and in 2001 he cut his market in half and opened his first restaurant, La Querencia, a year later.

“I was thinking to bring the name of Baja California cuisine to the world,” Guerrero said. “That was my main purpose.” What he did was create BajaMed cuisine, a culinary movement that marries the frontier region between Mexico and California and calls upon international influences in the chef’s life.

Next, Guerrero talks BajaMed cuisine… [pagebreak]

“There are three influences in BajaMed: Mediterranean, Mexican, and Oriental,” Guerrero said. “But the main focus is the products that exist in Baja California.” With his restaurants, that’s Guerrero's focus as well. He grows all the produce in his garden and hunts and fishes for ingredients.

“When I bring things from my garden – I have gardens for my restaurants – the vegetables and the spices and herbs and the fish, or the deer, the venison, the quails, [I] then try to cook it and share it with [customers],” Guerrero said. “For me, there’s nothing better.”

His passion for staying true to Baja is evident on the plate with dishes like octopus with potatoes and chile, guajillo, paprika, and tuna steak with house made cilantro sauce and avocado.

“Baja has a lot to offer; we are living in a historic moment where there are a lot of options that you can choose from,” Guerrero said. “You have several options, such as a valley where you can taste splendid wines and enjoy incredible views, olives, cheese, art and many different things. Baja California is and always must be a destination.”

It's a destination that is always changing. For his part, Guerrero says that he is constantly staying on top of trends and food movements. “You have to be up to date in all professions,” Guerrero said. “The same thing happens in the kitchen. Tendencies change according to your day's perspective; the inspiration that you get. What I try to bring to the table for my clients is innovation. If I were to run out of ‘product’ I would feel extremely under pressure; but Baja California is so generous, I can see myself cooking for a while.”

Next, what the future holds for Guerrero… [pagebreak]

After the success of La Querencia, Guerrero added to his culinary portfolio and opened El Colegio and El Taller. At El Taller things are more casual. Plates like pizzas, sandwiches, carpaccio, and salads are served in an urban and “easy-to-adapt” environment. El Colegio, the BajaMed College, has an urban flavor that captures the unique essence and dynamics of Tijuana.

But no matter which kitchen he is in, when he is cooking, Guerrero takes inspiration from the days he roamed the ranch and helped his mother in the kitchen, making corn tamales. “Growing them, cleaning them, preparing the corn, calling all the helpers to make the tamales, sweet and sour,” Guerrero said. “Everything was done in my backyard, where I live today. For this and so many reasons, my fourth restaurant is called La Esperanza, to give my heritage continuity, to who I was, who I am, and to who my son will become.”

His son, he says, is quite the chef in the making. At 15, he is already a hunter and fisherman, and he accompanies his father on motorcycle trips to source ingredients. He also works making desserts in one of the family’s restaurants. For Guerrero, whose first food memory was of his grandfather cooking lamb on a grill in an open field, sharing the cooking experience with his son is natural.

“I come from a family with roots, where they taught me to share, especially in the kitchen,” Guerrero said. “My mother used to say, nada de hambres ni frios, which means, ‘no hunger, no colds.’ I am like this."

If you want to see Guerrero in action, he'll be sharing a kitchen with Martin Gonzalez at La Esperanza for a BCCF chef dinner. Find out more here.