This Los Cabos Hotel Should Be On Every Foodie’s Bucket List

Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal is thought for its serene environment (on the southernmost tip of Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula, it’s wedged between cliffs and the seaside); personalised service (it has earned each the lodge and spa Forbes Travel Guide 5-Star awards since 2020); lavish lodging (every comes with a plunge pool and ocean views); and a one-of-a-kind spa (the remedy rooms sit atop a lagoon). However what some don’t but know is that it’s additionally a premier culinary vacation spot.

The Los Cabos lodge delivers distinctive upscale Mexican eating experiences. Whether or not you desire a deep dive into mezcal or an unforgettable cliffside meal, Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal will delight your palate.

A Romantic Alfresco Dinner

Carved into the cliffs on the far fringe of the property and jutting over the ocean, El Farallon presents a panoramic location for dinner. Sit beneath the celebrities within the open-air, dimly lit restaurant, gaze on the foamy water lapping the sandy shoreline and hearken to the waves pounding the boulders simply ft away. The enchanting setting is eminently romantic — this can be a place to pop the query, commemorate an anniversary or sweep folks off their ft. Nevertheless it’s simply as acceptable to mark a brand new starting, an ending or something in between.

In fact, any celebratory event requires popping open some bubbles. Upon getting into the restaurant, you’ll discover the Champagne Terrace, the place you begin with a tasting. We basked in a flight of Veuve Clicquot, Henri Abelé and Taittinger as an professional sommelier led us by every invigorating pour, explaining the place it got here from and serving to you evaluate the tastes. The aperitifs allowed us the possibility to take in extra of the unimaginable vista from the ocean-adjacent tables whereas easing us into dinner (although we might come only for the champagne, too).

Stroll just a few ft to El Farallon for the principle occasion. Your waiter brings over a big chalkboard menu — and most of it comes from the water surrounding you. The dishes change primarily based on what fishermen catch that day, however if you happen to see chocolate clams, you’ll want to get them organized. The native delicacy will get its identify from the darkish brown shade of its shell. Right here, the meaty catch is roasted and deliciously topped with crumbled bacon and chunks of feta.

We additionally savored a lightweight however flavorful inexperienced tomatillo salad with guava dressing, amberjack slices doused in a tangy cilantro sauce, bluefin tuna with pineapple purée and radishes, and a succulent lobster. Settle in for an unhurried meal that permits you to linger with that view.

A Taco Tasting

Whereas almost each lodge in Mexico serves tacos, Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal is without doubt one of the few to supply a proper taco tasting. The beloved road meals will get the gourmand remedy on the lodge’s seasonal nine-course Travesía Su Cocina menu, a non-public eating expertise that takes place at an extended wood chef’s desk within the colorfully tiled hacienda-style kitchen at Don Manuel’s restaurant.

Every course includes a taco filled with proteins starting from lamb barbacoa to wagyu cheeks birria. Chef Gustavo Pinet upends the normal taco with variations like frivolously breaded and fried oysters and aguachile tucked into a big slice of jicama that serves as a tortilla. In one other inventive providing, items of uni and crumbled chorizo artfully sit on high of a scallop “tostada” with an edible purple flower garnish. The flavors sing, particularly within the blue prawn with chintextle, a wealthy Oaxacan smoked chili paste.

Remember to add on the cocktail pairings. Just like the tacos, every libation presents a style of Mexico — primarily by agave spirits. The uni tostada arrives with a Sangría Tapatía, a refreshing mix of raicilla (which comes from the agave plant), chardonnay, lime, ginger and soda water. Throughout dessert — a taco with apple beignets, banana and peanut mole, fermented pineapple, raspberry bits and crispy plantains — sip an earthy and candy mezcal distilled with mole.

Since this can be a tasting menu, you additionally obtain one remaining chunk. However as a substitute of petit fours, you get quick churros and a cup of thick sizzling chocolate to finish your memorable Mexican meal.

An Agave Lesson

Each Waldorf Astoria has a Peacock Alley bar, however Pedregal not too long ago added a neighborhood contact with its new Agave Examine, an open-air lounge for agave tastings. Sit at a live-edge desk for a cliffside peek on the water and a tour by mezcals from Koch, a family-owned model primarily based in Oaxaca.

Whereas tequila nonetheless reigns as the favourite agave liquor worldwide, mezcal has been gaining recognition, popping up on extra restaurant and bar menus. And a current study predicts that the worldwide mezcal market will develop a median of 10.3% a yr over the subsequent decade.

In fact, the centuries-old spirit is a standby in Mexico. Our agave tasting information shared a well known saying within the nation: “For all the things dangerous, mezcal. For all the things good, mezcal.”

Throughout your tasting, you find out how Koch’s artisanal mezcal is made, together with the greater than 30 completely different agave crops it comes from; the “mezcal guardians” or producers behind the handcrafted course of; and the way completely different areas have distinct traditions of how they create the spirit. And then you definitely get to be taught all this in one of the simplest ways with samples of the deep, smoky pours.

A Celeb Chef Sizzling Spot

Time your journey fastidiously to have the possibility to satisfy among the world’s most distinguished cooks and check out their meals. The Waldorf Astoria hosts a month-to-month Culinary Weekend sequence, when it invitations top-of-their-game cooks to cook dinner up a scrumptious food-and-drink-themed itinerary on the resort. Sometimes, these weekends encompass a welcome cocktail reception on the seaside, quite a few chef takeover experiences and a non-public chef’s desk dinner. You’ll be able to attend the complete weekend or particular epicurean occasions.

Brian Malarkey, a Prime Chef alum who helms eating places that embrace San Diego’s sizzling Herb & Wooden, was the visitor toque throughout our keep. We attended his hosted dinner at alfresco Don Manuel’s. Given Malarkey’s proficiency with seafood, we went for the sea-based choices. We began with the brilliant, recent Pacific blue shrimp aguachile with blood orange, Calabrian chili and mint, after which had the offended native lobster, which packed a taste punch with the chili, garlic, lemon, brown butter and gochujang aioli. All through the night time, Malarkey visited each desk to speak with diners.

Upcoming visiting cooks embrace Michael Mina, who will showcase his acclaimed Bourbon Steak steakhouse chops June 9 to 11, and Texas pitmaster Ronnie Killen, who will throw a seaside barbecue and different Fourth of July festivities July 1 to five.