Where to eat in Nuevo Vallarta…

Hello my dear readers, I am sorry for being absent for the last weeks, between the classes and some new projects that hopefully will start soon, I had a lot going on. I am in Nuevo Vallarta in Jalisco Mexico. The place is about 20 minutes away from downtown Puerto Vallarta. I am staying at Grand Luxxe, which is the luxury hotel from the big chain Mayan Palace. The place is enormous and the accommodations are beautiful, with rustic decorations. It has plenty of restaurants to chose from, which include Mexican, seafood, italian, and even a buffet everyday for breakfast and dinner. It has a kids pool area with a slow river and a water slide, where kids can spend hours having fun. Inside the hotel you can also find a market place, where you can do some shopping from several Mexican brands including Pineda Covalin. You can also shop for flowers, delicious chocolates, wine, crepes, and vegetables.
Outside the hotel area I recommend having lunch at “Las 8 Tostadas,” it is my favorite local restaurant in Nuevo Vallarta. The place is not fancy at all but the food is astounding. You will find different types of seafood tacos, quesadillas, ceviche, tuna tartar, carpaccio, and empanadas. Everything is served fresh, and perfectly seasoned. The fish tacos are surprisingly tasty, fresh, and crunchy on the outside. The ceviche and the tuna carpaccio are a must try. If your looking for local food to try, this is the place to go, the only bad thing is that it closes at 8 pm so come early.
The other two restaurant to go to in Nuevo Vallarta are “La Dolce Vita” and italian joint, and “La Laguna de Timo” another amazing local seafood restaurant. This place is even less fancy than 8 Tostadas, but the food is extraordinary. The menu is simple but it doesn’t need anything else because the seafood by itself is tasty enough. The must try here is the Red Snapper Sarandeado, a traditional grilled fish dish from Mexico’s Pacific Coast. The fish is rubbed in a garlic and chile paste and then grilled to perfection. The fish was extremely soft with a small chili and garlic crust which was mild and reduced the salty flavor of the fish, making every bite wonderful. And the plus in this place is that you can spot celebrities from time to time.
Come to Nuevo Vallarta and explore the magnificent nature that this place has to offer, just watch out for the iguanas, they sure know how to make an entrance.
Visit Mexico!!!!

The Dutch for Brunch…

I love the idea of brunch, it’s a good way to enjoy breakfast and lunch at the same time. There is no need to get up early to crave our need for eggs and to wait to eat a nice steak sandwich. I like the freedom we get when eating brunch on a Saturday or Sunday morning, for me it is fun, social, relaxing, and motivating. So given the fact that I’m in love with brunch, I like to show you one of my favorite places to eat it in NYC. The place is called The Dutch, and it is an American dinner like joint with a modern twist. It is owned by the same group that has Locanda Verde: Noho Hospitality Group, and the chef Andrew Carmellini really makes his way to create extraordinary comfort food that will incite you to return. The menu is simple but exquisite, you can find almost anything from oatmeals, yogurt, to gourmet sandwiches, dips, and organic eggs just the way you like them. The place also has an oyster bar where you can enjoy fresh oysters, raw seafood, salads, and even caviar. We ordered an eggplant dip with savory crackers as an appetizer, it was soft, spreadable, really flavorful you could taste the eggplant but it was not over powerful, and the crackers where homemade sprinkled with spices which made the dish much more fun and enjoyable. I ordered a smoked turkey sandwich with arugula, avocado and herb mayo, the bread was amazing, and buttery which complemented perfectly with the smokiness from the turkey, the sweetness form the avocado and the bitterness from the arugula, everything made perfect sense. The good news is that the restaurant accepts reservations, so if you are looking for a good, casual, and comfort local place to enjoy brunch, come to The Dutch it will certainly exceed your expectations.

Ratings:
Price: $$
Ambiance: Casual.
Staff: Friendly
Overall: Perfect for Brunch and it opens late so a good place to go after drinks.

Me encanta la idea del brunch, me gusta saber que en un mismo horario y una misma comida puedo tener la libertad de escoger si como algo de desayuno o de almuerzo. Para mi, el brunch es divertido, relajante, y social pues es un tipo de comida que se presta muy fácil para compartir con amigos, familiares, o con quien sea. Dado mi tanto amor por el brunch quiero enseñarles un lugar muy rico en Nueva York perfecto para disfrutarlo, se llama The Dutch. The Dutch es un restaurante de comida Americana, cuyos dueños son los mismos del restaurante Locanda Verde: Noho Hospitality Group. El chef Andrew Carmellini nos brinda un menú delicioso y reconfortante, donde pueden encontrar desde avena, yoghurt, sandwiches gourmet, dips, hasta huevos orgánicos preparados de distintas maneras. El menú es sencillo pero muy amplio, el restaurante también cuenta con una barra de ostiones, donde además de ostiones frescos, sirven mariscos crudos, ensaladas, y caviar. Nosotros ordenamos un dip de berenjena para compartir, estaba riquísimo, muy suave, con el sabor ligero a berenjena y venía acompañado con unas galletas tipo pitas, hechas en casa y espolvoreadas con especies que complementaban perfecto el dip. Además ordené un sandwich de jamón de pavo ahumado, con arúgula, aguacate, y mayonesa de hierbas. El pan estaba delicioso, con un sabor ligero a mantequilla que hacía perfecta combinación con lo dulce del aguacate, lo ahumado del jamón y la amargura del arúgula. Lo bueno del lugar es que acepta reservaciones por lo que no tendrán que esperar mucho tiempo por la mesa. Realmente recomiendo este lugar para un Brunch perfecto, estoy segura que superará sus expectativas.

Ratings:
Precio: $$
Ambiente: Totalmente casual
Servicio: Bueno
En general: muy recomendable para brunch y además abre hasta tarde.

Great Combination

I arrived to Mexico City a year ago and when I started going out to restaurants, clubs, bars, etc., I’d never imagined that I would fall in love with this city. This weekend I went out with some friends that have been living here for a while now, and we were talking about how this city can be a little bipolar; it gives you these amazing places to go out, to explore, to have fun, to meet people, to have a nice cup of coffee, you name it and Mexico has it; but it also gives you a lot of traffic, people drive like crazy, and it’s always crowded (everywhere, anyplace). However, we all agreed that it gives you more than it takes you. So I want to recommend this amazing place that perfectly combines the elegance of French food with the extravaganza of our traditional Mexican food (which I absolutely adore and admire).

The place, which is located in Condesa/Roma one of the trendiest neighborhoods in the city, is called Mexsi Bocu. Everything about the place creates the perfect fusion between Mexico and France: the decorations filled with chandeliers, ancient pictures with golden frames, and the chairs are different among them, but classy; and if you go to the terrace upstairs, you will find yourself in an outdoor mexican patio with a full bar and amazing music. The food is really good and the menu has a lot of classic french and mexican dishes to offer, as soon as you get in you can smell the baguettes baking, which makes you wanna eat anything that comes out of the kitchen. We ordered tuna and salmon tostadas as an appetizer, really fresh and citrusy; as an entree we ordered a seafood soup with a tamale inside, at first I couldn’t imagine eating something like this, but it really surprised me, they combined perfectly the tamale absorbs all the juices and flavors from the soup making it melt in your mouth. Also we ordered the famous “chile en nogada” which the executive chef Alexis Preschez managed to reconstruct turning it into a napoleon  (classic French presentation of dishes) with layers of sweet and savory ground beef and poblano chile topped with the nogada sauce; the colors of the dish were amazing. I completely recommend trying Mexsi Bocu, the place is comfy, homey, classic, with two great open spaces which incite you to drink and socialize. The waiters are always smiling and they have a great attitude, which is always a plus; and the food speaks for itself. Hope you like it!!! Always remember to keep it local!!!

Ratings:

Price $$$

Service: Excellent

Ambiance: Casual and great for drinks before going out.

Reservation recommended at night.

Hace un año que llegue al DF y jamás pensé que cuando empezara a salir a restaurantes, antros, bares, etc. me iba a enamorar de esta ciudad. El otro día estaba cenando con unas amigas, que ya tienen tiempo viviendo aquí, y platicábamos de cómo esta ciudad puede llegar a ser un poco bipolar, por un lado te ofrece una gran cantidad de restaurantes, de lugares hermosos, donde tomar un cafe agusto, ir de compras, ir a cenar, cualquier cosa que tengan en mente y México lo tiene; pero por otro lado el tráfico es horrible, la gente maneja como loca y siempre todo está lleno. Sin embargo, acordamos que es más lo que te da que lo que te quita. Entonces quiero hablarles de un lugar que fui hace tiempo y me encantó, es un lugar que fusiona perfectamente la elegancia de la comida Francesa con la extravagancia de la comida Mexicana, la cual amo y admiro con todo el corazón.

El lugar se llama Mexsi Bocu y está situado en la colonia Condesa/Roma, que es uno de los barrios más hipsters de la ciudad. Lo que me encantó de este lugar, además de su comida, es que todo se mezcla perfecto entre Francia y México. Las paredes están llenas de retratos antiguos de flores como deslavadas con marcos dorados, las sillas de las mesas no combinan entre si pero a la vez se ven muy clásicas, hay candelabros por todo el restaurante, todo esto totalmente francés. Por otro lado, la terraza del segundo piso asemeja a un patio antiguo mexicano, con una barra enorme (donde muchas de las bebidas son servidas en vasos de peltre) y excelente música. El menú está súper variado, además de que ofrece muchos platillos clásicos franceses y mexicanos. Nosotros pedimos unas tostadas de atún y salmón para empezar, estaban muy frescas y con mucho sabor a cítricos. De segundo tiempo ordenamos una sopa de mariscos con un tamal al fondo, al principio de verdad no me imaginé comiendo algo así, pero realmente me sorprendió combinaban perfectamente; el tamal absorbe todo el jugo de la sopa y los mariscos, lo cual hace que se derrita en tu boca. También ordenamos el famoso chile en Nogada, y lo que me encantó de este platillo es, que el chef ejecutivo Alexis Preschez presenta una reconstrucción del platillo en un Napoleón (una clásica presentación francesa) de láminas de carne y chile poblano bañadas con la salsa Nogada. La presentación se veía muy bonita y los sabores estaban perfectos. Verdaderamente recomiendo Mexsi Bocu, el lugar es acogedor, clásico y muy bonito; los meseros fueron muy amables y siempre estaban sonriendo y atendiendo con la mejor actitud. Cuenta con dos terrazas muy bonitas que te incitan a tomar y convivir, y la comida es deliciosa. ¡¡Espero les guste!!

Ratings: 

Precio: $$$

Servicio: Excelente

Ambiente: Casual y excelente para precopear.

Les recomiendo hacer reservación especialmente en la noche pues si se llena mucho.