Still, any return to Tijuana is risky. About 30 people from the Chula Vista area who travel back and forth across the border have been kidnapped in the last 1 1/2 years while conducting business or visiting relatives in the Tijuana area, according to the FBI. Some have been killed.
Extraordinary security measures aren't limited to visits to Mexico. Many families won't tell even their closest friends their new addresses in San Diego County. Some parents with kids who carpool tell them to get dropped off a few blocks from home and walk the rest of the way.
Homeowners cast wary eyes on nosy landscapers, maids, busboys, members of their health clubs -- fearful that someone will pass along valuable information about them to kidnappers.
A lifestyle adjustment
Many emigres miss their old lifestyles in Tijuana. Accustomed to lives of privilege in Mexico, some had to downsize their tastes to afford the more expensive San Diego suburbs. Some traded customs homes for tract houses. Their social lives, which revolved around country club lunches and all-night parties, have been dialed down in their adopted country of early last calls.
Slowly, an emigre culture is taking root. Golfers tee up at the Eastlake Country Club instead of Tijuana's Club Campestre. The Vega Caffe in the Eastlake Design District offers carne asada tortas with cappuccino shots. English isn't an issue in most Eastlake stores, where signs are in Spanish and clerks are bilingual.
Power lunch spots such as Frida Restaurant and Romesco have filled the gaps left by Villa Saverios and Sanborn's in Tijuana.
For many, Romesco has become the next best thing to an elegant night out south of the border. Its shopping center locale lacks the curb appeal of the Plascencias' Tuscan-style restaurant on Sanchez Taboada Boulevard. But the fare is familiar: Baja-Mediterranean seafood, featuring olive oils and wines from the Guadalupe Valley.
Plascencia, who recently joined elite chefs at a West Hollywood culinary event called Tables of Ten, says his restaurant offers the kind of gourmet experience that his fellow refugees crave. "The people who come here miss the atmosphere of Tijuana," he said. "They're like us. They can't go back very often."
Before his infrequent visits to Villa Saverios, he has trusted friends scout the area for suspicious-looking people. He never stays long.
"I can't play host anymore and say hello to guests," he said. "I take a quick tour of the kitchen, walk the dining room and come back."
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richard.marosi@latimes.com
