From Los Cabos, Mexico:
The One & Only Palmilla Lives Up to Its Name in Cabo San Lucas
by John Mariani

*EDITOR'S NOTE: C by Charlie Trotter has closed and will be replaced by Jean-Georges Vongerichten's Market restaurant, which will open in Winter 2008. (11/10/08)

Poblano Stuffed Chile

You might expect to find one of the finest resorts in Mexico way, way down at the reclusive tip of Baja California in Los Cabos, but you don’t expect to find one of the finest exemplars of modern Mexican cuisine there. Yet this is very much the case at the One&Only Palmilla, whose circus ringleader name doesn’t begin to describe the exquisite balance of elegance and casual chic found at this newly renovated resort, along with two handsome restaurants of real note, the Latino-themed Agua and C, a dining room run by Chicago’s celebrated Charlie Trotter.

Lying between the Pacific and the Sea of Cortez, and built in 1956 by Don Alejandro Rodriguez, the resort was taken over by the One & Only hotel group (which also runs the One & Only Ocean Club on Paradise Island, the Royal Mirage in Dubai, and four others). Now, after an $80 million investment, Palmilla has become one of Mexico’s most luxurious modern resorts, with a splendid, long white beach with sufficiently dramatic surf and shimmering pool areas with impressively tanned women, banks of exotic flowers and desert hillsides, casita-style rooms of Mexican art, tile, and wrought iron, where you have your choice of three different types of bed linens and a butler at your beck and call. If you could rent one of the 13 private villas that function as spa treatment rooms for your stay, you might melt into a nirvana of sweet blossoms and salt air. We never wanted to leave after a two-hour massage.

A fireplace at Aqua

There is a signature Jack Nicklaus golf course here, and deep sea fishing, snorkeling and whale watching are but yards from your room. A library and business area allows free access to the Internet, or you could just sit in the sun away from everyone else and think hard about what form of margarita you will have next.

The two equi-distant towns Los Cabos—San José del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas—are quite different: the former mainly a strip of good local boutiques, bars, and taquerias, the latter a good deal closer to the nightlife of Cancun, Fort Lauderdale or South Beach, traffic, neon and noise included.

Back at the resort all is bliss. Indeed, the service demonstrates the gentleness of people with an innate sense of courtesy and caring. Every staff member greets you and bids you goodbye with a smile, while holding a hand over his or her heart—a lovely gesture that speaks volumes about the details that go to make Palmilla unique. And everyone speaks English with remarkable facility.

Aqua Dining Room at Night

Dining here sets a high standard for any similarly fashioned resort in the future, especially at Agua, an al fresco dining area (which can be enclosed in poor weather) beneath a massive, beautiful, beamed, and thatched roof. The bar and walls are faced with Mondrian-like lighting, the floor is a beautiful terra cotta tile, and the tables are of polished wood, set with excellent wineglasses, all the better to accompany an exceptionally rich wine list that includes several worthwhile Mexican bottlings. Here chef Larbi Darouch is from Morocco, which explains his service of a wonderful tall ceramic tagine of escolar sea bass with sun chokes. But largely he has fashioned a superb modern Mexican cuisine that may begin with a flight of three tequilas and canapés, then move on to a marvelously sweet fresh corn soup with morsels of Baja lobster and a huitlacoche foam. Then perhaps a carpaccio of artichokes with shaved Parmigiano, and thick, juicy, well-fatted pork chop in the Mexican “pibil” style, with crisp skin, with an achiote sauce. This is the kind of food that bespeaks regional tradition and personal flair.

Key Lime Dessert

C is a more sedate interior restaurant—one of designer Adam Tihany’s finest rooms, with glass-enclosed wine cellars, bell-like silver lamps, and very fine glass artwork on each table. Trotter installed his longtime chef de cuisine from Chicago, Guillermo Tellez, in the kitchen, and while we found the cooking a bit precious for this laid-back atmosphere, we suspect months of fine-tuning will make C more responsive to sophisticated travelers who want refinement without fussiness. For the moment you’ll certainly enjoy dishes like breast of quail with a lentil vinaigrette and truffle butter, and the luscious Valhrona chocolate soufflé with vanilla ice cream, oranges, raspberries and spiced nuts.

At the end of either meal you are likely to indulge in a Cognac or perhaps an aged añejo tequila and count stars as bright as a lighthouse beacon buoy up a lazy moon the color of Mexican silver.

One & Only Palmilla, Km 7.5 Carretera Transpeninsular, San José del Cabo, BCS CP 23400 Mexico. Call toll-free from the U.S. at 866-829-2977; outside the U.S. 954-809-2726.

John Mariani is well known for his frank and poignant writing in Esquire, Wine Spectator, Diversion and the Harper Collection. He is author of The Encyclopedia of American Food & Drink, The Dictionary of Italian Food and Drink and co-author, with his wife, of the Italian-American Cookbook.