Coastal Surge

Daniel Bausa brings a new European twist to Mexico’s Riviera Maya

It’s a long way from goat tacos to sous vide suckling pig. With the latter dish, the Riviera Maya — the stretch of coastline south of Cancún that’s long been popular with budget travelers — has officially grown up.

While you can still get goat tacos from roadside stands, baby pig cooked for hours in a sealed bag at a low temperature is a singular detour. That dish is served falling off the bone at Casa del Lago (Carretera Federal, Kilometer 298, 52.984.875.8000; rosewoodmayakoba.com), the marquee restaurant at the just-opened Rosewood Mayakobá resort, where chef Daniel Bausa is bringing European élan to the local larder.

< p>Bausa comes to Mexico from the place that many in the culinary world consider the epicenter of food invention: Spain. He brings with him some of that country’s revolutionary food techniques — foams, for example — along with a flair for flavor and texture (like his pairing of meaty seared tuna with rich foie gras) and an interest in all-day dining (breakfast eggs cooked sous vide, resulting in gelatin-like whites with runny — but hot — yolks).

Before Bausa moved to Cancún, he asked his friends about the restaurant scene and was told no one featured real European cuisine. “They said many nice hotels were doing French food,” he explains. “But Europe is not only French cuisine; Spanish is very important too.”

The celebrity chef trend has yet to make a huge impact on this resort-heavy coast, but Bausa trails a little stardust in his wake. Before taking his current post, the ebullient, camera-ready chef had his own television cooking show in Barcelona, teaching what he calls “easy food.” Easy, of course, is a relative term. In one segment he suggested updating the traditional paprika octopus and potato dish of Spain’s northwest Galicia region, making it into a terrine using the mollusk’s natural gelatin, creamed potatoes, and paprika. Simple or not, his preparations gained a following among fans who recognized the chef in markets and e-mailed him for recipes.

The show also helped build a following at the fine-dining restaurantL’Orangerie, in Barcelona’s Gran Hotel La Florida, where Bausa was executive chef. He originally learned Catalonian and Basque-style cooking, both revered in Spain, at the Barcelona School of Restaurants and Hotels. Later he landed a job as executive chef at the Ritz-Carlton’s Hotel Arts Barcelona and also worked at restaurants in Belgium and Italy, developing his style of Mediterranean cooking with an emphasis on local and seasonal products.

Bausa’s arrival in Mexico has introduced a world of new ingredients and a rich culture of regional cooking to the Riviera Maya.

“Mexico is like Spain,” he says. “Everyone used to say Spain was paella and gazpacho, and they think Mexicois tacos and quesadillas. But it’s an enormous country, and each region has a different style.” At Rosewood Mayakobà’s more casual beachfront restaurant, he uses what he calls “grandma’s recipes,” adapting traditional foods in his uncluttered style, with a relish for experiment. “There is so much to learn here,” he says.

Getting there: Continental offers daily nonstop service to Cancún from its hubs in Houston, New York/Newark, and Cleveland.

1

El Sol. Carretera 307, Kilometer 51, Solidaridad, 52.998.872.8200. At El Sol, the fanciest of four restaurants at Maroma Resort and Spa, Chef Guillermo Gomez creates trek-worthy dishes like venison barbacoa.

2

Labná. Margaritas 29, Cancún, 52.998.884.3158. For authentic Yucatecan food, seek out this restaurant in downtown Cancún where you can dine in view of vintage pictures of working farms.

3

Las Brisas. Carretera 307, Kilometer 298, Playa del Carmen, 52.984.206.3000. The fine-dining restaurant at the Fairmont Mayakoba procures locally sourced food, including lobsters caught in Punta Allen down the coast.

4

Playasia. Avenida 5 at Calle 12, Playa del Carmen, 52.984.879.4749. The menu at this trendy but romantic restaurant spans local sea bass (the playa, or beach) and Japanese maki (the Asia).

5

Yaxche Maya Cuisine Restaurant. Calle 8 between Avenidas 5 and 10, Playa del Carmen, 52.984.873.2502. Yaxche pays homage to the native Maya culture in dishes like axiote — marinated fish grilled in a banana leaf.

A lunch staple on the Mexican shore, ceviche, a salad of raw fish marinated in lime juice, is actually a Peruvian invention. Adapted throughout the Latin American world, it crashed U.S. shores with the nuevo Latino wave of the late 1990s. Try any of these three, and Buen provecho!

La Mar, Lima. Avenida La Mar 770, 51.1.421.3365. Peruvian celebrity chef Gastón Acurio runs this popular spot for ceviche, which is offered in dozens of varieties. Though it’s open only for lunch, expect to line up for a table.

Ola, Miami. 1745 James Ave., 305.695.9125. Have ceviche from chef Douglas Rodriguez, who literally wrote the book on it (The Great Ceviche Book, Ten Speed Press 2003). In addition to this South Beach hot spot, Rodriguez also dishes up ceviche at his restaurants in Chicago, Philadelphia, and Scottsdale, Ariz.

Seviche, Louisville. 1538 Bardstown Road, 502.473.8560. Chef Anthony Lamas experiments with global flavors and preparations in his ceviche menu, spanning Italian crudo (raw fish) and Latin-Chinese fusion tuna.