Putting the Aha! in Baja

Hungry beachfront strollers in Sea Isle City tired of pizza and pork roll should flock to Baja Blend, a beachside grill with a healthy, delicious menu featuring items like fish tacos and Ahi tuna burgers.

This is fresh food made by two enterprising and energetic young Jersey natives who returned home from college missing the tropical flavors they had come to love during their years at Flagler University in St. Augustine, Florida.

Krista Purcell, 26, and Justin Ahmad, 27, high school sweethearts, grew up as “a surfer and a beach girl," says Purcell. "When we went to college and tasted this sort of food, we said, ‘Oh my gosh, we have to bring this back to Sea Isle.’ This was our dream.”

PHOTOS: Purcell and Ahmad at Baja Blend, and an order of chicken burritos, aka the Bajrito. Photos by Jacquelyn Campbell.

Diners coming off the beach are greeted with a large chalkboard menu next to the ordering counter.

There is a selection of salads like the popular Strawberry-Avocado ($7), served over greens with shredded carrot and house-made vinaigrette; burritos, including a vegetarian mix of hummus, black beans, rice, avocado and fresca salsa (7.50) called the SoCal; and flatbread sandwiches made with slow-cooked chicken, turkey or tuna, ($7.50-8.50), in addition to sundry tacos.

Many of the items include the couple’s signature pink and creamy ‘Baja Sauce,’ which has a mild chili-cumin flavor. The recipe took years to develop and is a well-guarded secret (though they admit it is sour cream-based).

Though the word baja–meaning "low" in Spanish–is seldom associated with either New Jersey or Florida, they chose the name to suggest a certain tropical vibe they were after, and added the word blend to suggest a fusion of Mex-trop influences.

All dishes are made to order from local, seasonal and often organic ingredients delivered daily, but it is the smoothies that really fly out the door.

The Baja Blend ($4), a fresh-frozen mix of strawberries, pineapple, mango and grapes, with apple juice and vanilla yogurt, is the biggest seller.

Although Purcell will return to her job as an event planner and fundraiser for a private school when summer ends, the couple will keep the business going as long as there are people walking the boardwalk.

There may be a mid-winter hiatus, but they promise to be back and serving for the annual Polar Bear Plunge, which is said to draw 20,000-30,000 people in the depths of February..

bajablend.com
9 42nd Street on the Boardwalk
Sea Isle City

[justified_image_grid exclude="featured"]
Read more Soup to Nuts articles.

By submitting comments you grant permission for all or part of those comments to appear in the print edition of New Jersey Monthly.

Required
Required not shown
Required not shown