When Food & Wine magazine plans a vacation, food always plays high on the priority list. Perhaps there are those who will first worry about choosing a destination where the cultural, entertainment or ecotourism proposal abounds. But what overwhelms us the most is where are we going to eat?
In order to answer this question, we have created this guide that includes fine dining and street food, ceviches and aged cuts of meat. International wines and the largest tequila collection in the world. All without having to leave the comfort of your hotel: are they ready to check-in? We started!
Baja California
Montage Los Cabos
Self-proclaimed as the oasis of Baja, this hotel has three gastronomic proposals that range from Mexican to Mediterranean food, and that of Southeast Asia. In addition to their Mezcal restaurant, run by chef Odín Rocha and inspired by the markets of Mexico, Montage has two other experiences with slightly more casual dyes, such as Talay, by chef Marc Narongchai (Best New Chef of Food & Wine Mexico in 2020 ) and Marea, which serves fish tacos to eat by the pool during the day and cuts of meat and fish at night that pair wonderfully with views of the Sea of Cortez. But regardless of Montage’s “home” restaurants, this hotel’s culinary team, led by chef Xavier Salomon, has turned to presenting collaborations with chefs such as Dominique Crenn.
Website: montagehotels.com
Solaz, a Luxury Collection Resort
Visiting Solaz means completely immersing yourself in the soul of Baja and forgetting for a while the city routine. The visual treat of the complex is almost overwhelming. There is beauty in any of its angles: the endemic landscaping of the area, the waves of the sea, the swing of the hammock in the room, the culinary offer, and the facilities that narrate the origin of the first communities that settled in the area of the Sea of Cortez. In addition, the place is the only Resort in the Baja California peninsula, with its own museum, where pieces of great historical value are exhibited. Solaz is for travelers who seek to connect with culture through gastronomy. One of the surprises within the complex is the variety of international cuisine with first-class ingredients.
Website: solaz.com
Chileno Bay Resort and Residences
The gastronomy in this hotel of the Auberge Resorts chain is fresh and contemporary, inspired by the flavors of Baja California and all of Latin America. Yvan Mucharraz —who was part of our Best New Chefs 2019— confesses that “the best memories are moments related to food and storytelling”, a philosophy that reflects in Chileno Bay. Starting with Comal, a restaurant that offers contemporary versions of the most traditional and fresh flavors of Mexico, among which the braised ribs with cocoa mole and the cuts of raw fish prepared in its Raw Bar stands out. All in a comfortable environment with large terraces facing the
Sea of Cortez, perfect for a romantic dinner or a quiet family breakfast. To accompany the stories of the day-to-day is TNT, a bar of tacos, salads, ceviches, craft beers, and tropical cocktails that becomes the oasis of a perfect beach vacation. Adding the artisan touch we have the El Molino cafeteria, located in a quiet patio where it offers from 6 in the morning and organic coffee grown in Chiapas, showing that nothing compares to seeing the sunrise in front of the sea with a good cup of coffee in the hand.
Website: aubergeresorts.com
Mist
One would think that being in the Valle de Guadalupe, between sea and desert, between bread and wine, there would be no more surprises to discover. But Bruma has that spark. It is a property that falls in love with its views: the vineyards surrounding the hotel blend one with the flora and fauna. Not to mention the impeccable design of the property, it is a work of selection and support
for local products such as recycled glass, wood, and adobe, the same that dress the eight luxury rooms of the hotel. But what this gastrohotel has as its secret weapon is Fauna, the gastronomic project, very much like the “farm to table” of the young chefs Maribel Aldaco and David Castro Hussong.
This place is a mandatory stop in the wine region. Not surprisingly, the restaurant has received the 2020 Miele One To Watch award, a recognition that is only given to those restaurants with the potential to rise to the top 50 rankings of Latin American restaurants. The soul of the restaurant is to cook with what is at hand, without complications or assumptions. An example of this is the salpicón of pork jowls, the lettuce from the organic garden that is grilled with smoked dyes or the green kampachi aguachile. For dessert, the honey semifreddo with raw milk snow and corn flakes is a sweet spoonful, at the same time delicate and subtle, that you crave again every time you remember it.
Website: bruma.mx
Riviera Nayarit, Guanajuato, Guerrero and Chiapas
Riviera nayarit
One & Only Mandarina
This resort is a hidden haven with a sui generis eco-design. There are 105 houses in the trees and villas on the cliffs in an environment that combines luxury and nature. It has amenities such as spa, yoga, wellness activities, kayaking, horse riding and diving, but perhaps the one that has stood out the most is its gastronomic offer.
It has three restaurants: Alma and The Jetty Beach Club are concepts run by chef Olivier Deboise and Carao has a menu designed by Enrique Olvera. Alma is the ideal restaurant for families, where one of its qualities is the menu from the garden to the plate. The kitchen features a wood-burning oven, an intimate dining room, and a patio with citrus trees for outdoor gatherings. Some of the specialties are the octopus tiradito and the catch of the day. Jetty Beach Club is located on the private beach, the menu offers fresh and grilled seafood, such as coconut ceviche with cucumber, apple, mango and mandarin, as well as cocktails overlooking the ocean such as the Beach Cooler, with St. Germain, gin, grapefruit juice, ginger syrup and lemon juice. Finally, Carao has a Mexican menu created by chef Enrique Olvera, where the use of top-quality local ingredients is highlighted. You can find dishes such as coconut tamale, with green mole, purslane and turnip or smoked octopus zarandeado.
Website: oneandonlyresorts.com/mandarina
Guanajuato
Live Aqua Resorts & Residence Club
It preserves the colonial essence of San Miguel de Allende but with an avant-garde style. Zibu is the restaurant that arises from a fascinating history of the ship from Asia, the Manila Galleon, which transported great treasures such as silk, porcelain, and precious spices, which played a leading role in the miscegenation of Mexican gastronomy. Inspired by that past, Zibu presents a new concept and invites us to taste the wonders of Mex-Tai cuisine, which pays tribute to the exchange of the first cultures with irresistible delicacies that mix spicy, acid, sweet and salty as the shrimp banderillas in sweet cane, the ceviche ola de avocado, the lima ramen soup or the thai rib eye.
Continuing with multiculturalism, the second gastronomic destination at Live Aqua is the Spice Market, which represents an exploration of Southeast Asian flavors, techniques and ingredients creating a culinary sanctuary that takes you on a journey through dishes ranging from a tuna tartare, a steamed pork bun, to grilled local fish with a Malaysian chili sauce and Tai basil oil.
Website: liveaqua.com
Guerrero
Thompson Zihuatanejo, a Beach Resort
In Zihuatanejo, Guerrero, in Playa La Ropa, this hotel is located on the nostalgic coast of the Mexican Pacific, were far from feeling sadness for the classic adage “all the past was better”, the present is considered as the only possibility. The hotel is cozy and luxurious, you can either relax in a private pool or explore the jungle landscape with waterfalls and quiet lagoons.
But in addition to the traditional amenities, like the spa and activities, the dining options are unmissable. Chef Miguel Baltazar is in charge of the proposals for Ceniza and HAO, two restaurants with gastronomic options from the sea that honor the flavors of the Costa Grande of Guerrero.
HAO is all-day dining, with a casual approach where marine products from the Cooperativa de Pesca Artesanal de Barra de Potosí and other local products are used. Ceniza is a project that offers cooking on the coals, using the products of the garden that are in the hotel (in addition to the local product), as well as the use of all the ingredients. Try
the salmon trout, wild tomato salad, and lemongrass cream.
Website: thompsonhotels.com
Chiapas
Hotel B¨o
A place destined to enhance traditions, surrounded by impressive landscapes and colonial streets, it reflects art, textiles and Chiapas nature in its welcoming design. His restaurant LUM, means “land” in Tzotzil, and is a space that portrays the connection of the four elements with a diverse offer inspired by Mexican and international cuisine.
In this restaurant, they are distinguished by prioritizing fresh, top-quality, and seasonal ingredients that result in dishes made at the moment, which also have vegetarian or vegan versions to pamper all palates. The main feature of the menu is the versatility it offers to diners, they can choose between ceviches, aguachiles, tongue tacos, beef in adobo, a traditional tortilla soup, chiapanecan cheese cream, mushroom consommé, pasta, octopus in sauce. green, duck confit with a delicious roasted apple puree and to close with the finishing touch of the desserts, a verrine of coffee mousse with homemade cajeta stands out that is an explosion
of sensations.
Website: hotelbo.mx
Source: foodandwineespanol.com
Mexico Daily Post
