When Hurricane Milton formed off the Yucatan peninsula in the Gulf of Mexico during a scheduled trip to Hotel Mousai in Cancun, to avoid the hurricane and days of rainy, windy weather, we switched to explore Garza Blanca in Los Cabos instead as the forecast predicted nine-days of sunny, warm weather.
Every so often one comes across someone who stands out as an example of a model and the best of what a Food and Beverage Manager and Restaurant Managers and Head Chefs should provide guests. Food and Beverage Manager, Rodolfo Sarabia Dias, was gracious and kind in listening to the requests for vegetarian food without meat, fish, fowl, or eggs, but with dairy, and also vegan dishes. He spoke to the supervisors and chefs of each of the restaurants there to go over dietary needs and allergies. While many places may initially do this, over the 9-day stay, Rodolfo communicated with the supervisors and chefs before every meal, whether breakfast, lunch, and dinner to make sure they would provide what was needed. He stayed in constant communication with his food service team to make sure there were no mistakes. We could see the care he took with every guest. He also provided specially made vegan menus from which to select. Yet, the customer service he provided along with the team he inspired did not stop there. He frequently asked the chefs to go above and beyond to make special dishes that were not even on the menu to give a first class culinary experience. They prepared dishes that gave us a taste of the local cultural cuisine, beautifully and artistically presented, and scrumptiously delicious. Below are some examples of the special vegetarian and vegan dishes he had them prepare which helped make the trip memorable.
Blanca Blue at Los Cabos
This restaurant provided daily breakfasts, including ala carte and buffet, and full dinners. Jose Torres and Jessica, the supervisors, and Chef Humberto Aguilar, went above and beyond to provide delicious culinary delights for all nine days.
Memorable breakfast dishes included vegan waffles and vegan pancakes and topped with choices of berries or bananas, and for those not vegan who could eat dairy but no eggs, the most delicious freshly made whipped cream. Vegan omelets included a toasted hash brown wrapped folded like an empanada, stuffed with finely cut tofu, onion, and mushroom, and topped with sliced avocado and greens. They made a tofu scramble varying the ingredients from tofu, portobello mushroom and onion to adding green and red peppers, sliced asparagus, and served with a side of hash browns.
Dinner highlights included vegan empanadas, or vegan enchiladas filled with portobello mushrooms and onions, or with minced vegetables and on request tofu. One special night the chef made an off the menu recipe of vegan Sopas, filled with mushroom, vegetables, and onion, a dish from the Yucatan that his own mother used to make, which was beyond delicious.
The signature roasted corn soup was extraordinary, where it was served over a bed of baby roasted corn and small pieces of polenta cracker. The special smoky flavor elevated its savoriness.
The chef made a special appetizer not on the menu to start off the dinner. It was a miniature sweet potato rice ball with a light outer crust and soft interior, resting in mole, roasted red pepper with peanut sauce. It was so scrumptious that on another night they made it as a main course, larger size, with two types. One was a sweet potato ball and the other, a white potato ball. The contest was on as to which was the best. As a delight that many in certain parts of Mexico grew up on as children, they often debated as to which type of potato they loved the best. Saying both were equal was not an acceptable answer, so I finally chose the white potato as superior, to the pleased restaurant staff who agreed. Guacamole prepared tableside by the waiter was bursting with freshness. Served with freshly backed tortilla chips it was hard to stop eating to save room for the main courses.
While the various Garza Blanca hotels and Hotel Mousai resorts have been serving a vegan cake which was layers of chocolate cake and vanilla cake, topped with chocolate frosting, Pastry Chef Alejandro Lemus wanted to experiment and try out some new vegan cakes. He tested out two new creations with us and they were among the best vegan cakes we ever had at any resort anywhere! One was a triple chocolate cake, with the most moist, light and fluffy chocolate cake, topped with the riches, most flavorful chocolate icing, and a chocolate wafer, in a raspberry sauce, and topped with fresh raspberries. It was out of this world and we suggested that every Garza Blanca and Hotel Mousai, whether in Los Cabos, Cancun, or Puerta Vallarta add it to their menus as options for vegans at each of their restaurants.
The second vegan cake experiment was equally as tasty. Chef Karina Gonzales at Noi created this new taste sensation. This dessert was a moist, fluffy coconut mousse in a chocolate vegan graham crust on the bottom with a pineapple frosting as a topping surrounded by fresh berries. These two desserts would give vegans option not just for desserts at meals, but when anyone wants to order a birthday, anniversary, or wedding cake!
We recommended that Rodolfo’s creation with this team be offered at all Tafer resorts, besides a few more they were going to be testing out. Their experiments were a huge success.
Hiroshi
Hiroshi is the upscale Japanese restaurant and Rodolfo worked with Chef Carlos Leyva and their supervisor Carlos Namur and their waiters to also go above and beyond to make special vegan dinners. They made two memorable off-the-menu dishes that were amazing. Instead of popcorn shrimp, they made popcorn tofu, with a crispy crust and smothered in a black sesame and umami sauce.
They also made vegan dumplings where the wrap was made without eggs. It was filled with minced vegetables in a vegan smoked succulent plum sauce.
Other vegan dishes included salted edamame, noodles with vegetables and tofu in a teriyaki sauce, and vegan fried rice. The vegetable robata was made of fresh asparagus, Brussel sprouts, portobello mushroom, and zucchini delicately grilled and served on skewers.
Noi
Noi is their upscale Italian restaurant which became another new favorite. The focaccia bread was freshly made from thin triangles of pizza dough topped with subtle and flavorful herbs. It was hard not to fill up on these as they came out fresh and warm.
Being a pizza connoisseur, it is hard to find good pizza in many restaurants, but Chef Karina Gonzales made a scrumptious Margherita pizza with perfect dough, savory tomato sauce and for those who eat cheese, the freshest mozzarella cheese. Many restaurants use pasta made with eggs, but Rodolfo and Chef Karina went out of their way to make sure they used pasta without eggs. She made eggless gnocchi and two types of special eggless pastas: fusilli and linguini. Karina also made a special off-the-menu dish where the linguini was smothered in rich, savory pomodoro sauce. She cut up small pieces of soy to blend into the red sauce as a vegan “meat” sauce. It was so delicious and had such great mouth feel we had to return on several other nights because it is rare to find a vegan meat sauce in any restaurant anywhere.
Her aioli salad was also memorable with a mixture of organic lettuce, cherry tomato, fried capers, zucchini, nell peppers, red onion with a light vinegarette, bursting with freshness.
What stood out is the attention to detail, diligence, and generous, caring nature of Rodolfo as Food and Beverage Manager and his spectacular food service team as they made sure that each of the restaurant venues provided great customer service and superior culinary experiences. A special person like him exemplifies the best in what food service should be and it is hoped that other resorts and restaurants who are reading Ricki’s List model themselves after him.
Beverages:
The mocktail list provided a variety of new taste sensations. The Rosemary Hibiscus was sweet and satisfying. They also served an off the menu local favorite called Horchata, a cold coffee brewed one and a non-coffee one with sweet rice milk and almond milk.
My favorite drink was the virgin coconut colada. It is rare to find a resort, restaurant, or cruise ship that makes it just right. Many don’t know how to make it without the pineapple, but the food truck on the beach aced it. Raul at the Food Truck on the beach specially made the sweet creamy virgin coconut colada every day for an afternoon pick me up.
Every few days at the pools they rolled out a cart with coconuts, cut the tops open, placed a straw in it so guest could enjoy cold, sweet coconut water. When done, they then cut the coconut into pieces so guests could eat the white coconut meat inside.
Secret to Customer Service:
In an interview with Rodolfo about his views on his career, he said, “I believe one should be happy where they work. People spend many long hours at their jobs in the restaurants so the leadership should provide an environment where they enjoy coming to work and enjoy being with each other. Leadership should be open to listen not only to customers but to the workers, connect with them, and find out what they need. Managers should then take steps to keep improving to make the work experience for staff and guests better and better. Excellent customer service means listening to people. If they want a special dish, instead of instantly saying ‘no’ staff should go out of their way to fulfill what they are requesting. When experimenting with a new recipe the staff should try again and again to make it, give it a try until they perfect it, and then make it part of an ever-evolving menu so others can enjoy. Little things and paying attention to detail makes all the difference at work, in relationships, and in life.”
For all these reason, the restaurants at Garza Blanca Los Cabos has made it onto Ricki’s List on HealthAndTtravelGuide.com.