Missing Mexico

Friends, has it really been two whole weeks since we last spoke? It feels like an eternity. In that time, I’ve moved out of the Upper East Side and into “temporary housing” at my aunt’s, begun the process of moving into my new Hell’s Kitchen apartment, written a story for The Daily Meal, completely redesigned the look of this here blog, watched disappointingly limited amounts of Olympic trampolining (yes that is a sport you can win a gold medal for. God I love the Olympics.) and also managed to drop a diamond earring down an elevator shaft.*

I’ve been more of a spazzy, stressed-out mess than usual, and in those brief moments of respite, have been remembering my trip to Mexico. The trip, coordinated by the Los Cabos Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, was memorable in many ways, and not just because it reintroduced me, however briefly, to the world of fresh tomatoes.

I’ll let the pictures tell the story for the most part, but a few highlights:

Our first night, we attended the first Food & Wine Festival at Capella Pedregal, a luxury resort in Cabo San Lucas. The festival featured fare from chefs Kent Rathbun, who made a heavenly honey and lime-glazed pork belly with charred corn and cotija cheese, Marco Bustamante, Capella’s head chef, who made a variety of tacos (octopus, scallop, parrot fish — delish, barbacoa and chicken), Kevin Rathbun, who made spicy grilled oysters with cilantro butter, and Top Chef: Just Desserts judge Johnny Iuzzini, who deconstructed a mango mousse tart for dessert.

Between breakfast on the beach at the Fiesta Americana Grand hotel, lunch at the One&Only Palmilla resort and then dinner at Don Sanchez (home of that amazing caprese) in San Jose del Cabo, I think I ate enough for 10 humans on Friday. But I was able to burn some of it off in an impromptu salsa lesson at Don Sanchez, and while not knowing left from right can be a real disadvantage in these situations, as someone who is ready to dance anytime anywhere (especially if there’s a stage involved … ), homegirl had a blast.

Photo courtesy of Cabo Adventures

Saturday, I got up close and personal with a camel, and then a few shots of tequila. Note to self: it’s much harder to sip tequila at noon than it is to down it at 1 o’clock in the morning. I then embarked on a taco tour of Cabo San Lucas, with two fellow intrepid journalists (no seriously, after everything we ate on Friday, one had to be brave to willingly eat more than what was required on Saturday). It was an brief opportunity to explore the real city, with its colorful buildings and friendly people and tacos galore. Dinner that night was at our host hotel, the Sheraton Hacienda del Mar. And what better way to end a vacation than free beachside cocktails? From now on, I refuse to leave any new place without this.

Here’s a collection of pictures from my trip:

*What are the odds of that happening? Seriously. These kinds of things only ever happen to me, possibly because I’m the only person on the planet dumb enough to try to put on an earring while walking into an elevator.