BRAD A. JOHNSON » loscabos

Mexico: My Favorite Hotels

bradajohnson — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 19:00:00 +0000

The Viceroy Riviera Maya (Photo by Brad A.Johnson)

“What’s your favorite hotel in Mexico?” That’s a question I get asked a lot.

It’s a loadeded question to which my answer changes daily. I’ve stayed at so many hotels and resorts in Mexico that I can’t possible count—or even remember—all of them. A favorite? I hesitate to pick just one. However, when pressed, I can usually come up with a short list of the places I most want to go back to again and again. This is, of course, a very personal and subjective list, one that varies wildly from glam to rustic, high-end to low. And it depends on whom I’m traveling with, too. So when asked about my favorite hotel, I generally respond with, “What are you in the mood for?”

Grand Velas Riviera Maya (Photo by Brad A. Johnson)

The Ultimate Foodie Retreat
For glamorous gluttony, there is simply no better hotel in Mexico than Grand Velas Riviera Maya. The food is incredible, and it’s all included in the price of your room. All day. Every day. As much as you want. Whatever you’re in the mood for. And I’m not talking buffets, wristbands or tour buses here. This place oozes luxury. It’s among the best of the best. I’d rank the signature restaurant, the very modern Cocina de Autor, among the Top 5 restaurants in Mexico. And the French restaurant, Piaf, might very well be the best French restaurant in Mexico. But of course, when you’re in Mexico, you’re going to want Mexican food—and the chefs at Frida and Chaká, are fantastic. The rooms are sublime. The beach is pristine. And the spa… just, wow.

Banyan Tree Mayakoba

Elsewhere in the Riviera Maya
I’ve been traveling to Cancun, Playa del Carmen and the surrounding area since the late 80s—long before anyone coined the term “Riviera Maya.” I even lived in Cancun for a while in the late 80s. I have so many favorites here, for so many different reasons. For the best overall rooms and romance, my pick is Banyan Tree Mayakoba, where every room is a villa with its own private pool and courtyard—and the French doors of the bedroom open directly into the pool! The resort’s Mexican restaurant is excellent, too (I wish the Thai restaurant were as good.) And the spa is one of the best in Mexico.

And if I get to choose one more in the Riviera Maya, it would have to be The Viceroy, formerly known as The Tides. The Viceroy is opposite of the sprawling Grand Velas or meandering Banyan Tree. Whereas those are grand and posh, Viceroy is quaint and rustic, a wee bit Robinson Crusoe but still luxurious, offering an unparalleled sense of tropical Mayan authenticity. The chef, Jetzabel Barragan, is one of the top female chefs in Mexico—or maybe I should just say, one of the best chefs in Mexico, period. My only complaint about the Viceroy is that the spa is terrible—far too rustic for how much this place costs. However, I’ve been told plans are underway to completely upgrade the spa.

The King Cole Bar at St. Regis Mexico City

Mexico, DF
In Mexico City, I’ve stayed at all the top hotels, and in terms of pure luxury, it’s a toss-up between the Cesar Pelli-designed St. Regis and the ultra-romantic Four Seasons. The St. Regis is just a great hotel all around—as glam as any of the most modern hotels in New York, London or Tokyo. The rooms and bathrooms could not be any more perfectly calibrated. And the King Cole Bar, with those sweeping city views from the terrace, is where anyone who’s anyone gathers for late afternoon cocktails and chalupas.

Four Seasons Mexico City

But the Four Seasons is far more romantic, less business-y, more personal. And I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather be come Sunday morning than than having brunch in the courtyard here. On the other hand, if I’m traveling with my nightlife-y friends, I’m probably more likely to stay at the ultra-sexy Condesa DF, where we’ll spend way too much time at the rooftop lounge with cocktails in our hands.

The pool at Demetria

Guadalajara
And speaking of favorite rooftop decks, my favorite hotel in Guadalajara is the Demetria, which I only recently discovered. It’s a great boutique hotel with an incredible rooftop pool and lounge. For such a cool town, the hotel scene in Guadalajara is fairly old fashioned and stodgy. Not so at the Demetria, which really sets itself apart. This is definitely the coolest hotel in town.

Rosewood San Miguel de Allende (Photo by Brad A. Johnson)

San Miguel de Allende
I travel to San Miguel de Allende at least once a year, but I usually rent a house or apartment instead of staying in a hotel. That said, I do occasionally stay at a small hotel or B&B. My favorite? Rosewood. This hotel truly changed the game in San Miguel when it opened almost two years ago. The first luxury hotel here to be built from the ground up, it delivers all the modern amenities you’d expect from a world-class hotel in 2012—while at the same time capturing the charming, old-world sensibility that has always made this colonial town so popular in the first place. World-class restaurant. Sublime spa. The rooftop La Luna bar offers unbeatable sunset views and killer tamarind margaritas.

Ice cream by the pool at Four Seasons Punta Mita (Photo by Brad A. Johnson)

Puerto Vallarta
There are so many hotels in the Puerto Vallarta area that I have yet to explore, but I’ve toured some of the nicest. And my top pick so far is the Four Seasons, just north of Puerto Vallarta proper in the gated community of Punta Mita. One of favorite things about the Four Seasons Punta Mita is the poolside ice cream service, delivered by tricycle every day at precisely 3pm. Three scoops of Mexican vanilla, please.

Las Ventanas al Paraiso (Photo by Brad A. Johnson)

Los Cabos
I don’t know why, but even though Los Cabos is the easiest resort destination to get to from Los Angeles, i probably go there the least. Maybe it’s because it feels too much like California, with so many fellow Angelenos sitting around the pool? Haha. But if I were going to pick a favorite here, I’d go with the classic Las Ventanas al Paraiso. I love the xeroscaped landscape filled with agave and cactus. And I also love the complimentary Clase Azul tequila in the rooms.

Hacienda San Jose

Merida
It’s been a long time since I’ve been to Merida, and I think it’s high time to return. Merida almost feels like another country. It feels like it’s so far from anywhere else in the country. When I was last in this part of the Yucatan touring a number of hotels, my favorite was the insanely romantic Hacienda San Jose. It’s an old sisal plantation that’s been turned into an exotic hideaway not too far from town. It still feels like an old ranch. Porch sitting is an art here, and you’ll want to work on your form for hours at a time.

Villa Montaña

Morelia
It seems like much of the news coming out of Michoacan these days is bad news. But my friends who live in Mexico City say they still love to visit Morelia. They still feel perfectly safe here and actually go frequently. I’ll take their word for it. Morelia has the best candies in Mexico—even better than Puebla. There’s an amazing little hotel here that I can highly recommend. It’s called Villa Montaña. It’s a grand old mansion and collection of detached villas that sit high on the hillside overlooking the city. The view from the pool is breathtaking. The library lounge feels like something out of a Sandra Cisneros novel.

Endemico

New, On My Radar
There are several new hotels that I’m looking forward to trying soon. Tops on the list is the recently opened Endemico in Baja’s Guadalupe Valley. It’s from the same group that owns Basico and Deseo in Playa del Carmen and Condesa DF
in Mexico City. And that same group has also just opened Downtown in Mexico. Meanwhile, down in Tulum, I’m really intrigued by the new Papaya Project, which was originally intended as a pop-up hotel but has become somewhat permanent, at least for now. And coming in 2013 is the Capella Bahia Maroma, which should be truly spectacular.

Now it’s your turn. What Is your go-to hotel in Mexico? Hit me up on Facebook and tell me about your favorites.

I invite you to follow me and join the conversation on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter. (You can also follow my Instagram feed on Facebook.)

This article can also be found at MexicoToday.org, which syndicates my content about Mexico. All stories and opinions about México shared here are completely my own. Mexico Today never tells me what to write or say, nor does the organization limit or restrict the scope of my stories or critiques. You can trust that I will always share my honest, unfiltered thoughts and commentary about the places I visit south of the border.

Exclusive Sneak Peek: Las Ventanas’ Menu Revamp (All Mexican! No More Baja-Med)

bradajohnson — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 08:19:00 +0000

Tres leches from the upcoming menu at The Restaurant at Las Ventanas al Paraiso (Brad A Johnson)

Worldwide exclusive: Las Ventanas al Paraiso in Los Cabos has been serving so-called “Baja Mediterranean” cuisine (a term it coined) at its signature Restaurant since the resort’s inception in 1997. But come January, that not-quite-authentic approach will be jettisoned in favor of a new, more genuinely Mexican menu inspired by regional classics (still incorporating the finest local ingredients), thus creating a far more authentic sense of place and local culture at the resort.

Executive chef Fabrice Guisset, a Frenchman who long ago adopted Mexico as his home, encouraged his staff (as well as employees from other departments of the hotel) to bring him their best and favorite family recipes from anywhere in Mexico—Campeche, Michoacan, Guerrero, Oaxaca, Baja, Yucatán, Veracruz—and he was amazed at the range and quality of ideas that came pouring in from proud cooks, recipes for everything from cochinita pibil (slow-roasted Yucatán-style pork) to tres leches (classic three-milks cake). He’s since been working with those classic flavors and concepts, creating modern interpretations and presentations for the new dinner menu, which he’ll debut at The Restaurant in January.

Suckling pig tamal with Oaxaca cheese foam (Brad A Johnson)

Kitchen supervisor Julio Luna offered his family’s recipe for suckling pig, and then, working with Guisset and using suckling pigs from a local farm, they translated the idea into an extraordinary entrée of slow-roasted pork served with a rustic tamal, topped with modernist Oaxaca cheese foam and a savory sauce of xoconostle (cactus fruit). Guisset has arranged to send Luna to Spain next year to stage with the legendary Martin Berasategui in San Sebastian.

Executive sous chef Victor Palma came up with an idea for mussels steamed in Negra Modelo, a dark Mexican beer, along with hoja santa, chipotle chiles and tomatillo. But for Guisset, merely steaming the mussels in the kitchen wasn’t spectacular enough, so he commissioned custom molcajetes (large volcanic stone mortars) in which the mussels can been cooked at the table directly in front of the guests.

Shrimp al ajillo with chorizo dust (Brad A Johnson)

Additional highlights of the upcoming menu also include braised short rib “pascalito,” whose sauce is sort of like mole made with pumpkin seeds, serrano chiles and epazote, and red snapper a la talla, a speciality from Colima, in which the fish is wrapped in a banana leaf and cook over charcoal. Starters include a gorgeous parrot fish tiradito, made with one of Baja’s best local catches, as well as shrimp al ajillo, made with prawns from La Paz or Mahia Magadlena, depending on the season, and garnished with chorizo dust.

Tres leches reinvented as a vertical Napolean with pasilla chile ice cream (Brad A Johnson)

For dessert, tres leches pastry chef Rene Bermond has reinvisioned the classic tres leches. And there will be a mind-blowingly delicious chocolate cake made with X-tabentum, a liqueur from the Yucatán made with anis and honey.

Naturally, a few of the classic Baja Mediterranean dishes will still be made available to guests who ask for them, although the standards probably won’t be listed on the menu. Guisset figures some longtime regulars will still ask for their favorite local heirloom tomato salad with buffalo mozzarella and grated garlic vinaigrette or the agave glazed chicken. And the longstanding tradition of serving prime rib on Friday nights will probably migrate to the resorts Sea Grill rather than being offered at the new all-Mexican, all-the-time Restaurant.

See also: Las Ventanas slideshow and Challenge the Chef: tortilla soup.

I invite you to follow me and join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.

Full disclosure: I am being compensated for syndicating my content in the Mexico Today program. All stories, opinions and passion for all things México shared here are completely my own. Mexico Today never tells me what to write or say, nor does the organization limit or restrict the scope of my articles or critiques. I’ve
always loved Mexico, and I will continue to share my honest, unfiltered thoughts and commentary about the places I visit south of the border.

Challenge the Chef: Tortilla Soup at Las Ventanas al Paraiso, Los Cabos (recipe included)

bradajohnson — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 06:03:00 +0000

Texas Meets Yucatan-style tortilla soup (Brad A. Johnson)

I challenged the chef—and I won.

Well, sort of. Las Ventanas al Pariaso in Los Cabos offers a program called Challenge the Chef. To be honest, it’s not exactly what I thought it was going to be when I first heard about it. Initially I thought it was going to be a head-to-head competition, and I thought to myself, “Bring it!” More specifically, I was thinking of tortilla soup. I’ll pit my tortilla soup against anybody’s, even the chef of a five-star resort in Mexico.

As it turned out, I wouldn’t get to challenge the chef head-on, soup-to-soup. Instead, I would get to cook my soup for the chef, Fabrice Guisset, and he would then critique it and give it a rating (from one to three spoons). And if he liked it well enough, he would consider putting it on the menu for a day.

Mexico has many regional variations of tortilla soup, and the most common style in Baja (and in California) is the kind in which corn tortillas are ground into a paste to thicken the base of the soup. And while that might indeed be the true tortilla soup, it’s not the style I prefer. I grew up in Texas, where tortilla soup is spicy and brothy—not thick and sludgy—with fried, crunchy tortillas added on top of the soup rather than being ground into it. I also lived briefly in the Yucatán, where the regional tortilla soup (called sopa de lima, or lime soup) is refreshing and bright, made with bitter limes found only in that part of Mexico. My own creation is hybrid of Texas and Yucatán styles, a spicy, brothy soup filled with shredded chicken, chiles and tomatoes along with a vibrant dose of citrus.

I prepared my soup in the outdoor kitchen of the resort’s beautiful herb garden. I was nervous as I handed my soup to the chef.

He held the bowl to his nose and inhaled. Then he dipped his spoon into the bowl and raised it to his mouth.

“This is really interesting,” he says.

“That’s usually what someone says when they can’t think of anything nice to say,” I respond.

“No, really,” he says. “This is absolutely terrific. I give it a rating of three spoons. Do you mind if I put this on my new menu?”

“What, like, for a day,” I ask?

“No,” he says. “On the new, everyday menu.”

Brad’s Texas-Meets-Yucatán Tortilla Soup

Ingredients:

2 quarts chicken stock
2 large chicken breasts (I sometimes use 6 thighs instead)
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
2 large sprigs of fresh oregano
½ head garlic, crushed
2 or 3 ancho chiles
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ medium onion, diced
1 green chile poblano, diced
3 roma tomatoes, roughly chopped
juice of 2 limes
zest of ½ grapefruit (shaved into bite-sized pieces)

Garnish:
lime wedges
chile serrano, thinly sliced
tortilla chips or strips
avocado, diced
fresh epazote leaves

1. In soup pot, bring the chicken stock to a boil. Add the chicken, 1 teaspoon of salt, peppercorns, oregano, garlic and anchos. Reduce to a medium simmer and cook for about 20 minutes or until the chicken is done. Remove the chicken and anchos to cool. Strain and reserve the stock. When the chicken and ancho chiles are cool enough to handle, dice the softened chiles, and chop and hand-pull the chicken into bite-sized pieces.

2. Heat the olive oil in a soup pot. Add the onions and remaining salt, and cook until the onions begin to turn translucent. Add the poblano chile and cook a few more minutes. Add the tomatoes and the reserved stock, chicken and anchos. Bring to a boil briefly, then remove from heat. Add the lime juice and grapefruit zest. Allow flavors to meld at least 5 minutes before serving.

3. Garnish with extra lime juice (throw the squeezed lime wedges into the soup), serrano chiles, tortilla chips, avocado and epazote.

I invite you to follow me and join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.

Full disclosure: I am being compensated for syndicating my content in the Mexico Today program. All stories, opinions and passion for all things México shared here are completely my own. Mexico Today never tells me what to write or say, nor does the organization limit or restrict the scope of my articles or critiques. I’ve always loved Mexico, and I will continue to share my honest, unfiltered thoughts and commentary about the places I visit south of the border.

Quick Look: Las Ventanas al Paraiso, Los Cabos, Mexico

bradajohnson — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 14:42:00 +0000

Las Ventanas al Paraiso (Brad A. Johnson)

I’ll have more to say about Las Ventanas soon. But for now, no words, just photos. (Slideshow after the jump.)

All photos by Brad A. Johnson