In the early 2000s, Mexico’s wine country was a charming destination for huevos rancheros, the odd Moroccan-Mexican restaurant, Molokan museums, and a handful of boutique wineries. There were a couple of nice bed-and-breakfasts for weekend visitors, but
daytrippers comprised the majority. Back then, the big buzz centered around Rancho El Mogor’s Wednesday farmers market. But in summer, especially during the annual Vendimias wine harvest festival, tourists could taste what was to come when the region’s best chefs erected seasonal campestres, merging a new style of Mexican cooking with the open-flame cooking traditions forged in the indigenous fires of the Kumiai.
The stage was set for visionaries like Laja chef Jair Téllez and oenologist Hugo d’Acosta of Casa de Piedra and Paralelo wineries to help foster the grand movement of Valle de Guadalupe cuisine while architects Alejandro D’Acosta and Claudia Turrent dreamed up modern, recycled designs that complemented the sophisticated yet rustic gastronomy. Today, the area is home to well over 150 wineries and some of Mexico’s most celebrated kitchens, including several of Latin America’s 50 best restaurants as well as restaurants with recently gained or protected Michelin stars. But the boom in tourism also has a downside: overdevelopment, which has brought nightclubs and cookie-cutter restaurants to the region.
Two decades after its transformation began, here are the essential places to eat in Valle de Guadalupe.
