Jorge Meraz: Hey folks, on this episode of "Crossing South," we're at Media Luna in Rosarito, where outdoor adventure meets true campestre ranch life.

From zip lines and mountain views to fresh goat milk fire, and a one-of a-kind coffee ritual, and rustic cooking done the traditional way over open flame.

Raw experiences, bold flavors, pure Baja, and it's coming to you right now.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Jorge: Within the city of Rosarito, I'm at a "restaurant" that's more than that, and the man who is in charge of that is standing right next to me.

How you doing, Rafael?

Rafael Tito: I'm good.

How are you?

Jorge: Rafael, what a place.

How long have you had La Media Lunas, which started as a restaurant?

How long have you had this place?

Rafael: 2022, October 2022.

We come from a family of restaurants, more than 50 years on the industry.

Jorge: Really?

Rafael: Yeah, the starts of this project comes from the '70s.

Mr.

Lupe Perez acquired this property.

Jorge: Okay, he acquired this in the '70s, okay.

Rafael: Yeah, in the '70s, and-- Jorge: Like, before you guys opened the restaurant, what was it?

Rafael: It's a limes farm, you know, like--?

Jorge: Oh, really?

Lime trees?

Rafael: Yeah, lime trees.

Jorge: You know, for cerveza and for-- Rafael: Yeah, for margaritas.

Jorge: So you went from acquiring the property, after that, opened a lime farm.

At what point did you go, like, "Hey, let's make this into a restaurant?"

Rafael: About ten years ago.

The construction of this place in 2015.

Jorge: You start thinking about the project, 2015, you--the goal is to open in 2020, but COVID says otherwise, and then you open in 2022?

Rafael: October '22, yeah.

Jorge: Wow, so that's fairly recent.

And what kind of restaurant do you have here, Rafael?

Rafael: Like a farm-to-table restaurant.

You know, we-- Jorge: Farm-to-table.

Rafael: Yeah, we have--we produce our own lambs, and big lamb chops.

Yeah, we fed the--our animals with the organic grass.

Jorge: Oh, really?

Rafael: Yeah.

Jorge: Organic grass here from the property?

Rafael: Yeah.

Jorge: Oh, fantastic.

Well, don't go anywhere, folks.

We're gonna explore here, the property.

Rafael, La Media Luna.

You'll be surprised all the things that are here that you can do here at La Media Luna.

Don't go anywhere, more "Crossing South" coming your way.

Jorge: You know, I'm definitely not a morning person, but Rafael had me wake at the crack of dawn so I could be the first one to hit a very special activity that involves goats, cocoa powder, alcohol, and fire.

Oh boy, I had no idea what I was in store for, but I was definitely curious.

Jorge: You won't believe what pajarete is.

I'm gonna show you right now.

Yeah, just keep in mind that, okay?

You'll see what a pajarete is.

Pajarete is the drink off of the squeezed goat's milk.

Rafael: He's sanitizing the udder of the goats.

Jorge: Is that a special sanitizer or is that--?

Rafael: Yeah, it's a product-- Jorge: Specifically for sanitizing udders before they're milked?

Okay, got you.

What was that?

What was that first powder?

Rafael: It's like chocolate.

Jorge: It's chocolate.

Rafael: It's chocolate, coffee, sugar, and alcohol and a little bit of cinnamon.

Jorge: Oh, wow.

And then what alcohol is he putting on?

Rafael: Alcohol de caña.

Jorge: Cane alcohol, right?

Rafael: Cane alcohol, yeah.

Jorge: Jorge is gonna have his AM ale here!

Rafael: Yeah, but the pajarete is the best way to start the morning.

Jorge: Oh, really?

Rafael: But the pajarete is like a full breakfast.

Jorge: Like a full meal?

Rafael: Yeah.

Jorge: Okay, like drinking coffee is easy enough, but can you drink it with fire?

Rafael: It is like a Mexican cappuccino, okay.

They give it another flavor.

It's a different flavor when you light it up or not.

Jorge: So if he had done that without flaming it, completely different flavor?

Rafael: Yeah, different flavor.

And the next step is for him to squeeze the milk.

Jorge: All right, Mrs.

Goat, don't mind me, it's a new hand, but one thing I do have is I always run hot, so they're not gonna be cold, all right?

So no quick reactions.

Is that the move?

Rafael: Yeah.

Jorge: Oh my goodness.

All right, let's see.

No, I don't have to touch it yet.

There you go!

There you go!

All right, Miss Goat, I think I got it now.

Well, I can say I have milked an animal now.

You know, my dad and me, we had ranch growing up.

We ran cattle.

I don't remember doing this with cows.

Okay, there you go, now I think I'm getting a little comfortable.

I thought I was doing good.

Look at him, like, ba-jam!

Holy smokes!

[laughter] Okay, amateur, pro.

You see that?

You filled that thing in, like, five squeezes!

Pajarete Media Luna, bebida de campeones.

All right, let's do it!

All right, folks, bottoms up!

Oh wow, this is really good, my friend!

The things I do for you folks.

From the udder of the goat to yours truly innermost sanctum, pajarete here at Media Luna, this is really good, by the way.

The reason why you have all these names is that in different parts of Mexico people know it by different names.

yes, so paloma is, like--do you know where?

Rafael: The pajarete is from Jalisco, Colima, Nayarit, Michoacán.

Jorge: Oh, wow.

Rafael: Lechi calienti from Michoacan, also.

Jorge: The lechi.

Rafael: Yes, the lechi, the lechi calienti.

Jorge: All of you, come to me!

Like Ace Ventura.

Jorge Ace Ventura, come to me, animals!

Oh my goodness, all right, I got some for everyone.

I got some for everyone.

Is this an experience available for guests that come for visitors?

Rafael: Yes.

Jorge: So, I mean, just imagine what kid wouldn't like to be in here and having all these animals crowd them, for sure.

And you know the goats are pretty well behaved.

You got chickens, you got lambs, and the pigs, right?

I don't got no more carrots.

[laughing] [laughing] The kid's like, "Forget this, you can have it all!"

Yeah, that was funny.

Kids will enjoy this, for sure.

You know, this is a rural experience, but conveniently located at the edge of town.

The products at concession stands reflect the organic ranch lifestyle that they sell here.

Jorge: Oh, cajeta!

Rafael: It's from our goat's milk.

Jorge: Oh my goodness, this is like the Mexican caramel, but cajeta is actually better than caramel because caramel is just molten sugar, but cajeta is made with milk, sugar, and-- that's it.

Rafael: That's it, yeah.

Jorge: That's real cajeta, made right here on the premises.

Oh, that's good, mm!

All right, I'll take one of these, yeah.

Rafael: We made the different jams.

That one is raspberry.

Jorge: You make it with products from here?

You have raspberries?

Rafael: Yeah, from our farm.

Jorge: Okay, wow.

Rafael: Fig.

Jorge: Oh, fig?

Oh, I love the figs!

Oh, that's really good.

Rafael: Yes, it's all organic jam.

Jorge: Pickled quail-- Rafael: Pickled quail eggs.

Jorge: Hard-boiled eggs.

Rafael: Yes.

Jorge: They're boiled?

Rafael: Boiled, yeah.

Jorge: I don't like hard-boiled eggs, just so you know.

Folks, you're gonna see me go against my conscience here.

Nothing morally wrong with it, I just don't like hard-boiled eggs.

That's not bad!

Rafael: Oh, this is really good.

Jorge: It almost tastes like a cheese, man!

Rafael: It tastes like a cheese, but the--it is a healthier one than the chicken ones.

Jorge: Folks, I would have told you I do not like chicken-hard boiled eggs, wow!

Jorge: There is no shortage of activities here, they certainly stretch out well on their property.

I mean, check it, they planted a beautiful lavender field because why not, right?

Smells wonderful, looks beautiful, hey, they've got the room to do it.

Jorge: As man emerges in the Garden of Eden, looking for Eve.

Rafael: We use it for the desserts, or for the coffee.

Jorge: Oh, really?

Rafael: Sometimes the--like, a lavender lemonade, or with all different drinks for--with that.

Jorge: Not bad, my friend!

So you think of an idea, you got land to do it, and you just implement it, right?

Rafael: Yes.

Jorge: Oh, these are, like-- steak--with steak, some butter, steak, and some romano, some rosemary, fantastic aroma too, will also make your beard grow thicker, you know?

Jorge: You know, they have a flexible business model, a model that allows them to call audibles and provide their patrons with trendy things.

If something is trending, they have the versatility to provide it.

Jorge: Oh, that's delicious.

How'd you get this in here?

Rafael: [speaking in Spanish] Jorge: With a crane, wow.

♪ You'd be better off than you are.

♪♪ Now, if you thought that's all the activities they had, you'd be wrong.

This place is quite adventurous, and everyone seems to love it.

[kids screaming] Jorge: Nice, love the enthusiasm, kid.

You have a zip line here, so people--that's available for the--for your guests here?

Rafael: You cannot come to the Media Luna and don't do the zip line.

Jorge: I sure can.

Rafael: Yeah, but, if you don't do the zip line, it's not the same experience, you know?

Jorge: I think I've done enough zip lines.

I'm almost 50 years old.

I think I'm gonna chill--I'm gonna sit this one out, but tell me, what do you do with this one?

I'm not gonna go on, folks.

I'm just--yeah, I'm just gonna dress up.

I'm not gonna go on this.

Feels wrong to even do this.

I'm not happy right now.

Not a happy camper.

I'm not going to go, just so you know.

I'm not going to go, just--not cool.

They've managed to put this on me, doesn't mean anything though, so.

Okay, I think I've fulfilled my duty to the audience.

[buzzer noise] female: [inaudible] Jorge: I can't talk.

Oh my god.

♪♪♪ Jorge: [speaking in Spanish] [inaudible] Oh my god.

Jorge: Yeah, the people there, they saw how nervous I was.

They gave me a nice bon voyage cheer.

I'm telling you, I don't have that danger, adventure gene, but once up there, all you can do is enjoy the ride.

Not the most gracious of glides, but it'll do.

Jorge: I can't believe I did that!

How many more times do I have to do this?

When will it be enough, folks?

When will it be enough?

Oh, my goodness.

My main concern is literally the height, it's not the speed.

And I don't know how they do it, like, the physics to actually reach this because the cable dips, so I was just wondering how is it gonna--where does it pick up?

I don't know, it just-- it seemed weird.

I didn't know how we were gonna make it, but we did, we did.

Jorge: Unfortunately for me, the only way back to the facility is through the return zip line.

So, I had to suck it up one more time.

Jorge: Oh, I can't see a thing!

Where are you, oh?

I think, folks, it's safe to say this will be the last time you'll ever see Jorge doing a zip line.

This should be the last one.

Don't open any more in Baja because I'm not doing another one.

Okay, folks, don't say I didn't do anything on behalf of the show, of the audience.

Thank you, my friend.

Thank you so much, thank you!

I need food now.

I'm ready for food.

Jorge: Folks, this takes a little bit out of you.

I'm ready to move over and try their Campo ranch cuisine.

You know, I think it's a pretty good rule of thumb to eat food that you know where it's from, you know?

If you're gonna hunt, you eat what you hunt.

If you're gonna grow it, if you know where it comes from, it's much better than from far away processing plant where you don't know how the animals lived, what the animals ate.

We're gonna see this guy gut it.

The things you normally don't get to see, folks.

We just get our food in the supermarket, right?

You--this--these are the parts you don't get to see.

Imagine a guy like this been doing this for years.

It becomes second nature to cut an animal like that.

Front legs right here, these are the hind legs.

This right here is the meat that was covering the rib cage.

Look at the cuts that he's making.

Pay attention, folks, you're looking at the master, right here.

Pepper it, he's peppering it.

We're peppering, we're peppering the conversation here.

I'm just peppering.

You like the pepper?

You like the pepper.

so you have your butter with incredible amount of--look at those garlic pieces, garlic cloves, and all the--all that veggie goodness.

Look at that goodness, oh my goodness, let's get into the crevasses.

Yeah, I was gonna be generous with the garlic herb butter, for sure.

All right folks, we're gonna put this bad boy in the oven.

This is gonna be a three hour job.

Let's put it in there, okay, and we'll come back in three hours and see how that cooked.

Media Luna, "Crossing South," don't go anywhere.

We'll come back to see how this garlic butter goat--lamb tastes like.

Okay, so these are four of their many mixed drinks, so we're gonna try the cucumber.

Cucumber should be very refreshing.

Let's try this mezcallito.

Mm, oh man, it gets you here and it gets you right here.

That's a high-ranking one.

These ones have a high bar to clear if they wanna compete.

Hmm, let's see the jamaica one, hibiscus.

Wow, super refreshing, not better than the cucumber, but super in its own right.

Red berries, obviously made with heart.

All right, let's try the red berries.

This is real good.

If you like subtly sweet alcoholic mixed drinks, these mezcallitos are really good.

And then you have the classic one, the lime one.

This will be the closest to your margarita, your Baja Mexico drink, right?

You have your lime and the mezcal, salt.

This is gonna be a classic.

Okay, the first dish that I'm gonna try is this torta, this piglet torta.

Ciabatta bread, they have their local pigs here, and we have our Belgian fries.

Interesting story behind that.

Our one of our cameraman is from Belgium, Kevin, and he was telling me that the term French fry is inaccurate.

French fries--fries were actually born in Belgium.

The GIs after World War I, they ate them in parts of Belgium where they speak French, and when they went home, they thought they were French, because the Belgians that made them for them were speaking French.

And if you ever want the best-tasting fries, according to Kevin, our cameraman extraordinaire, you should go to Belgium and they will be exquisite.

Mm, look at the lechon.

Generous portion of lechon meat.

You got an avocado base.

All the trendy Gen Zers that like avocado toast if they're not vegan and don't mind piglet meat, this could be an option for you.

Mm, that is very good, wow.

Okay, now here is the lamb or goat, and this is the one that you saw the butcher carve up.

This is the one I was pouring all the butter goodness, the garlic.

Look at the pieces right there.

Look at how juicy that looks.

You know, it takes like three hours to make, hour-and-a-half into it, they turn around all the pieces, but look at how that is.

Look at how juicy that looks.

That's how meat should be.

Oh my goodness, fatty goodness.

You know, I remember when I was a kid, this would have disgusted me when I was a kid.

Your tastes chang as you grow up.

Wonderful, mm.

Okay, now this is the rib cage, right here.

This is charbroiled.

Oh, you gotta get your hands in there.

There's a lot of sinew.

[grunting] Jorge discovered fire, you know?

Neolithic way of eating.

Okay, so this is charbroiled ribs, but this is beef, this cow ribs, and they call it a chain cut.

You see how the chain links, that's how they call it.

And this one is simply charbroiled with salt and pepper, so it's a very simple one.

Mm, you can't go wrong with salt and pepper.

So the one thing I'll say about these ribs is they're not as tender.

As you can see, I'm putting in quite the effort to tear them to shreds with my hands.

Let's try the other one that I have--that I've left in one piece.

Let's try it with an actual steak knife.

Let's see, yeah, that's how it should be, right?

We're no cavemen here.

The seasoning is good.

Once you, you know, tenderize them by chewing them it's good, but a little rougher than--for my taste.

Now we're gonna end up now with their quail dish.

These are Baja quail, and the interesting thing about them, their preparation, is that, first, they seal them on the grill, and then they fry them in butter, and then they take it back and charbroil them again.

It's a multi-step preparation.

It's for a reason, so I'm looking forward to this quail.

It's tender, it's not too tough because the way it's cutting with the knife, it's pretty easy, so that gives me hope.

Let's see.

I was right, this is a winner.

A very good quail, mm.

And a little bit surprising because, you know, you think they're like a little--you know, little chickens, but they're not.

Quails are a little birds, so the amount of meat you get when you cut a piece, this is very small.

That's why they give you three entire quails on each plate.

Mm, excellent.

Okay, so this is their dessert gauntlet.

Let's get some coffee ready, you have to.

So this is their tiramisu, apparently it's the one they order the most.

Now, I'll be honest, I'm not a tiramisu kind of guy, so that kinda, like, skews my judgment a little bit, but we'll try, we'll honor them.

That layer of chocolate looks pretty good, so let's just cut into it.

So we'll see if this is a yay or nay.

I like the creaminess in it.

Wow, let me tell you this, for someone who not only doesn't like tiramius, probably I could almost say I dislike tiramisu, this is incredibly good.

Man, hit it out of the park on the first try.

The fact that desserts aren't overly sweet, overbearingly sweet, the fact that that is, like, just the right touch, I love that.

That makes it very elegant.

Okay, let's try the carrot cake.

This one apparently is the recipe that the matriarch of the family that owns this place, that is a--this is the recipe that she made, the grandma.

When a cake or or a pie has this kind of texture in the back, instead of cutting it from the front, I like to cut it from there so I can taste everything just to get some of that shredded coconut.

Very good, you know, I like this one.

The one thing I'll say, I think the butter cream is a little sweeter than what I would like, but what I am tasting is that the actual bread, which is something that I normally don't like, the bread is very good.

This one scares me.

It seems like it's gonna be overwhelmingly chocolatey.

I like the density of the bread.

I can see it, it's dense, it's heavy, has a very nice texture.

I like that.

It is a little on the sweet side.

I guess I have a good eye because I could tell that that was gonna be a little sweeter than what I like, for my particular taste.

We're gonna close with what I do like, like, personally.

My taster for for like pies, for cheesecakes, cobblers, so this one has berries from the field here that they grow.

Perfect, mm.

Ah, parting is such sweet sorrow, but it must be done.

Folks, I hope you enjoyed this episode.

I ziplined for you.

I milked goats for you, and I eat a whole lot of food so you know what's available here.

We hope you enjoyed the show.

We're gonna try to finish this up, and we'll see you on the next episode.

I'm gonna try to see if I can combine one of these, maybe put a layer, kind of like a multi-cake tiramisu extravaganza.

I don't know if I can do that or not.

Jorge: So after experiencing the rugged spirit of campestre ranch life at Media Luna, where adventure, tradition, and bold flavors come together, we leave with a taste of Baja at its most raw and authentic.

And as the dust settles and the fires fade, we head out ready for whatever wild experiences await us the next time we get to cross south.

Jorge: Fries are really Belgian fries.

Kevin Schuster: I am Kevin, and I approve this message.

Jorge: [laughs] male announcer: Like to know more about the places you've just seen?

Maps, videos, podcasts, and more at crossingsouth.com.

We also do Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

♪♪♪