Andaz Mayakoba Resort Riviera Maya, which debuted this year, has added four diverse onsite restaurants lead by executive chef Vincent Wallez. The spaces were designed by architecture firm CSS Architecture.
A taste of the dining venues:
Casa Amate
Casa Amate is open exclusively for dinner and serves Latin American cuisine. It is designed to resemble the home of a traveler passionate about Latin culture, and is built around a courtyard with an Amate tree, which gives the venue its name. Each room is designed as one would find in a house.
The “Studio” is a lounge with a small bar. The “Library” is lined with bookshelves and has a large communal library table where guests can dine. The “Estancia” has a fireplace, shelves for collectibles and art with various types of tables and chairs for dining. The “Comedor” has large sets of doors that connect to the courtyard and overlook the lagoon; this room has more traditional dining furniture along with art on the walls.
The menu, created by Casa Amate head chef Ernesto Torres, includes a variety of salads, soups, meats, poultry and fish inspired by different Latin American countries. Highlights include: the Salad of Paguas (Nicaragua) with firewood-toasted ayote seeds, red beans and cured papaya; the Beef Chorizo Steak Wagyu (Argentina) with roasted marrow, beef juice with Mendoza wine and feta cheese salad with Kalamata olives, cherries and chimichurri sauce; and Manchamanteles Duck (Mexico), slow cooked and accompanied by chochoyones of blue dough, Oaxaqueno manchamanteles mole with a garnish of roasted pineapple, fried plantain, jicama and apple.
Cocina Milagro
Cocina Milagro is the resort’s poolside pavilion restaurant with floor-to-ceiling glass doors and windows, two open kitchens and a bar terrace. The interior of the restaurant has handcrafted tile, local tzalam wood, and stone.
Open for all-day dining, the restaurant has a market-to-table menu concept with an emphasis on seafood. For breakfast, guests can opt for a buffet breakfast or order a la carte from the menu, which offer the Andaz Mayakoba custom-blended coconut pineapple tea. Mexican breakfast options include Motulenos Eggs over corn tortilla with tomato sauce, green peas, cotija cheese, turkey, ham and plantains and Chicken Chilaquiles with green or red sauce, cream, coriander and ranchero cheese.
OllaTaco and Olla Ceviche
OllaTaco and OllaCeviche are the resort’s poolside, beachfront restaurants offering live entertainment and ocean views. Each venue faces the sea and is surrounded by sand. Both have similar architecture and have open kitchens and a bar centered on a tall sun-lit coffer. The décor is vibrant and festive with colorful pendant lights and stained wood and tiles.
OllaTaco is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and offers a market-style feast of tacos, Yucatán specialties, and local craft beers. Breakfast tacos include the Papadzules, baked tortilla with sikilpak sauce, filled with egg and grated Edam cheese; Suckling Pig Tacos with chicharrdon dust, pico de gallo and habanero with bitter orange; and the Valladolid Mexican Sausage Enchiladas filled with egg and topped with bean sauce, roasted tomato, Mexican sausage crumble, purple onion and roasted habanero chili. For lunch and dinner, guests can select from a variety of different tacos or fajitas. A highlight is the mescal-soaked Watermelon Salad with cured duck, caramelized nuts, feta cheese, greens, roasted xcatic chili and local lime dressing.
OllaCeviche offers fresh ceviche and sharing plates, as well as a tequila bar. Specialties include the Scallops Ceviche with Coconut, crusted with burned citrus, lemon juice, tangerine, coconut, coriander, confit beet, seaweed Salicornia and pasilla chili oil; Conch Ceviche in green tomato water with melon liquor, green apple slices, chalot rings, tender corn, crispy Chaya, anato oil and tree chili, coriander and beet; and the Black Octopus Ceviche with burned chilitomate, crispy onion, cherry tomato, coriander and roasted garlic oil. Guests can also try dessert with infused tequila like the passion fruit sorbet with mango and tequila or a tepache sorbet with tajin and mezcal.
Andaz Mayakoba Resort Rivera Maya has 214 guestrooms, including 41 luxury suites, a 10,000-square-foot Naum spa, and access to the beach.