Recent published work in Continental Airlines magazine from the One & Only Palmilla, Los Cabos, Mexico

1. Eat
Go to Market
one los Cabos eatery introduces cuisine made from local ingredients
By CandyCe H. Stapen
five to try
these restaurants turn locally sourced
products into great tastes.
1 La Panga antigua. zaragoza 20,
San José del Cabo,
52.624.142.4041, lapanga.com.
Chef Jacobo turquie’s contemporary
mexican cuisine features organic
produce and fresh seafood.
2 tequila. manuel Doblado 1011, San
José del Cabo, 52.624.142.1155,
tequilarestaurant.com. much of the
food served in this courtyard eatery
los cabos comes from the owner’s organic farm.
3 the Restaurant at Las Ventanas
al Paraiso. Km 19.5 Carretera
transpeninsular, San José del Cabo,
52.624.144.2800, lasventanas.com.
Chef Fabrice guisset serves Baja-
mediterranean cuisine that’s as
lovely as the sea views.
4 Mi Cocina. Casa natalia Hotel,
Bulevar mijares 4, San José del
Cabo, 52.624.146.7100, casanatalia
.com. the nouvelle mexican-euro
cuisine at mi Cocina has earned
accolades from Food & Wine magazine.
Clockwise from left: executive chef alex theil in the kitchen; the swanky main dining area; crispy
wild huachinango with jicama, sea beans, and radish salad with sesame vinaigrette
5 Mocambo de Los Cabos. Corner
of leona Vicario and 20 de
noviembre, Cabo San lucas,
624.143.2122, mariscosmocambo
when i walk through the shimmering, amber-lit glass entranceway and see .com. Savor delicious seafood served
the racks of wine bottles stored neatly in vaults, and the open kitchen, I think I could mexican style. — C.H.S.
be at a slick eatery in Manhattan or Chicago. But Market (Km 7.5 Carretera Trans-
peninsular, San José del Cabo, 52.624.146.7000, oneandonlyresorts.com), which best way possible. Many chefs try to
debuted just over a year ago, is actually part of the posh One&Only Palmilla resort make everything complicated, but Jean-
in Los Cabos, Mexico. Georges tries to make everything simple
Market is Michelin-starred chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s first West Coast and very good.” At Market, the result is
keith dannemiller
restaurant. It’s part of a Los Cabos trend favoring fine restaurants that use farm-fresh, Euro-Asian-inspired cuisine, with Mex-
local items to create world-class global cuisine. “Jean-George’s philosophy,” notes ican accents, that’s neither overstated
executive chef Alex Theil, “is to buy great products and to make simple things the nor overworked.
70 Continental.Com/magazine DeCemBeR 2009

2. Eat
The heirloom tomatoes for the web exclusive
watermelon gazpacho, as well as the Still hungry? Visit us
squash, pumpkin, avocados, strawber- at continental.com/
ries, and other fruits and vegetables, magazine to get more
suggestions for great
come from an organic farm in Mira-
eats in los Cabos and make
flores, an hour from the resort. The chili your own recommendations.
peppers — habanero, jalapeño, and other
varieties — come from handpicked
suppliers. The bluefin tuna is caught I go back to Austria and I have chicken
off Ensenada, the shrimp in the Gulf of soup, I think, ‘Where is the chili? Where
Mexico, and the blue crab in La Paz. is the cilantro?’”
To these traditional Mexican sta- Jicama, a kind of tuber-like legume,
ples, Market’s recipes add Vongerich- finds a place in Market’s crispy wild
ten’s characteristic Asian herbs and huachinango (red snapper). Sea beans,
spices. Crystallized ginger and lime also known as “sea grass” or “sea aspar-
juice with a bit of mango enhance the agus,” add a salty taste and a crusty
La Paz blue crab cake; a ginger mari- texture to the dish.
nade along with avocado brings out the When I ask for his favorite item on
flavor in the ribbons of tuna, a signa- the menu, Theil immediately suggests
ture appetizer that appears in several the roasted veal chop with chipotle
Vongerichten restaurants. glaze. Why? “First of all, the veal chop is
Theil, who hails from Austria, ar- a nice portion,” he says. “It has a simple
rived in Mexico four years ago to serve garnish of sautéed porcini mushrooms
as executive chef at C, the Charlie Trot- from near Mexico City. Then, there’s an
ter restaurant at One&Only Palmilla aromatic glaze of chilies with orange,
that Market replaced. He knew Span- lime, and lemon juices.”
ish, having worked in Barcelona. “When I ordered the veal chop and can
I arrived in Mexico,” he says, “I traveled report that Chef Theil was right. I still
the country, discovering the local cul- daydream about the mix of tangy tastes
ture and sampling Mexican enchiladas, and tender veal — it’s world-class.
frittatas, and chipotle sauces.”
Among Theil’s discoveries: “I love Writer Candyce H. Stapen enjoys eating
jicama and tamarinds. These products — and walking — her way through a city
don’t exist in Europe. I also like all the (though not at the same time).
varieties of chilies as well as sea beans. Getting there: Continental offers nonstop
Everywhere the locals put a little lime service to Los Cabos from its hubs in
and a little chili on their food. Now when Houston and New York/Newark.
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72 Continental.Com/magazine DeCemBeR 2009