The Latest in a Chef’s Travels Through San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

San Miguel de Allende is located in the mountains of central Mexico. It has an elevation of close to 6,500 feet, which can take a day or two to get acclimated to after arriving. The city is built on several hills that are stee, but beautiful. The most charming cobblestone streets greet you the moment you arrive and for me, there is nothing that brings the biggest, goofiest grin to my face than the moment my feet lands on those cobblestones.

You discover colonial charm and beauty everywhere, and you can pretty much walk anywhere. The city is known for its doors, beautiful old doors of various, shapes, sizes and colors. The door might open into an inviting courtyard or lead to a quaint patio with a trickling fountain.   

I love the square in the city center or “Centro” which is referred to as “el Jardin”. This is where locals and tourists alike gather on weekends to experience a festival or event. It could be a fireworks display, a parade, a dance troupe performing or the battle of the Mariachis. This involves several Mariachi bands that gather around in the “Jardin” playing instruments and singing to get your attention so that you might hire them to serenade you with a couple of traditional Mexican songs. It’s pretty awesome to watch and experience! Vendors sell toys or balloons for the kids or serve several flavors of “helado’s”, the Mexican version of delicious ice cream that has become an addiction for me. You can also find vendors selling tacos, grilled corn on the cob referred to as “elotes” and sweets of all kinds. Sounding the square are several sidewalk cafes and shops, as well as the occasional hot dog or hamburger stand, but those usually appear only at night. I could go on and on about the beauty and many things to experience in San Miguel. But for me, it’s all about the food. 

As a chef, I’ve had the luck and opportunity to experience different cuisines from around the world. Of course in San Miguel, there are Mexican restaurants that will prepare some of the tastiest, traditional and regional dishes. But you can also experience dishes that are culturally diverse from your standard Mexican fare. 

My first day in San Miguel always starts off the same way. This tradition starts with a trip to Bonanza, a well-stocked grocery and deli known as a “tienda”, to stock up on necessary essentials for the house.

Next it’s off to the bakery La Colmena or as some refer to it “The Blue Doors” for Mexican Pan Dulce. It got its name because of these massive blue doors that invite you into this wondrous place of smells, tastes, breads and sweets.

Dinner is Chiles en Nogada at the restaurant El Pegaso. And finally, I have Churros and Mexican Hot Chocolate at San Agustin.

Unfortunately, this year we had flight issues and I had to wait for all of those things until the next day. That’s the beauty of San Miguel. You learn to just let things go and allow what’s supposed to happen to happen. It’s very freeing!

I have restaurants that I will forever frequent when in San Miguel, but there are also new ones that I’m always thrilled to discover. This year, La Bugambilia bested El Pegaso for its Chiles en Nogada. This dish is prepared by char roasting poblano peppers and stuffing them with a sweet, spicy, crunchy mixture of ground pork and beef, raisins, slivered almonds and herbs. It’s topped with a rich walnut-based cream sauce referred to as “nogada”, and then topped with a sprinkling of pomegranate seeds. This dish is traditionally served during the fall, which is when Mexican Independence Day is celebrated.  The dish symbolizes the green, red and white colors of the Mexican flag.  

A huge draw to return to Bugambilia year after year is a waitress I fell in love with on my very first visit there. Her name is Candelaria, and she has been working for this restaurant since it opened in 1963. This year, to our complete surprise, she had finally retired. She was like an adopted grandmother to us. I will miss her smiling face, charming laugh, the artful way she garnished an order of guacamole, with tortilla chips arranged into the shape of a rose and topped off with a sculpted tomato rose. It was truly a work of art.  

There is someone else I had to honor while in San Miguel. The chef/owner Rod of Orquidea recently passed away. She was an amazing chef, and her curries were legendary! She was always so proud to show me her kitchen and how she prepared many of her various curries as well as her Thai specialties.

My new favorite restaurant is La Sirena Gorda or The Fat Mermaid, which is one of the best seafood places in San Miguel. Patrons are greeted with paintings, drawings, art pieces and figurines to commemorate the beauty that is The Fat Mermaid. Or as a couple of my girlfriends described her, lusciously plump or gorgeously thick. However you describe her, the restaurant and the seafood dishes are terrific! 

I enjoy fresh oysters, so I had to have the oyster shooters appetizer at The Fat Mermaid. They are served in these really cute little enamelware mugs, which are really made to sip tequila out of. Each mug comes with 3-4 fresh oysters, bathed in a rich, spicy, limey, kinda sweet, peppery sauce, that also had bits of cilantro and tiny pieces of diced avocado. It's by far my favorite item on their menu, but just slightly. 

I experienced called “Aguachile,” which contains thinly sliced shrimp or scallops, presented on a plate in a sauce of dried ground chiles and lots of fresh lime juice and served with a basket of tostadas, which are tortillas that have been either fried or oven baked. The dish is accompanied with a delicious tomatillo salsa made with green chiles, pureed avocado, fresh tomatillos, onions and lime juice. You break apart a bit of the tostada, add a bit of shrimp or scallop and top with some of the salsa and it’s spicy seafood heaven. They also serve some of the best seafood soups, ceviches, cocktails or “cocteles”, tacos and tostadas. They also serve a ginger or tamarind margarita that you will soon discover, after your first sip, that just one of these margaritas just won’t do. There must be a second one, because they’re that good!  

I highly recommend the pozole at La Alborada.  Pozole, which means hominy in Spanish, is a soup that contains either shredded pork or chicken, in a spicy broth that you can get either “rojo” (red) or “verde” (green) style and of course the soup contains plenty of hominy, which are dried white or yellow corn kernels that have been reconstituted and treated to soften and remove the outer skin.

This restaurant is right in the centro and right off the Jardin. It’s not a fancy restaurant by any means. You are given the choice of sitting downstairs at a table with the coolest, bright red, old-time aluminum folding chairs, each one emblazoned with the Coca Cola logo. Or you can choose upstairs in the small but comfortable dining room. It really doesn’t matter where you sit, because there is going to be delicious pozole, which comes with an array of toppings. They consist of lettuce, onions, radishes, Mexican oregano, plenty of limes, ground chile, two salsas, a basket of tostadas and tortilla chips. But there's no better companion to this soup than a really cold beer or a refreshing fruity Mexican soft drink. 

My truly favorite restaurant in San Miguel is Mare Nostrum. It’s a very quaint Italian restaurant with pizzas, handmade pasta,  salads, risottos and appetizers. But beside the food, the other reason why this is my favorite restaurant is because of the welcoming hospitality and friendly nature of the chef Guilio and his wife Brenda. Every time I go there, I’m treated like family. They are one of the most charming and loveable couples ever! 

I always order the pappardelle with Bolognese sauce. It's ground pork, pancetta and ground beef in a rich tomato sauce, cooked for hours with diced aromatics, wine and then served over hand-made pappardelle noodles. I’m also a huge fan of their Salmon Carpaccio, thinly sliced salmon with freshly cracked black pepper sprinkled right in the center of the salmon slices and then drizzled with some of the best olive oil. Guilio then finishes the dish with pomegranate seeds and finely diced celery to add texture. 

This year, Guilio blew me away with his fantastic version of a Caprese Salad. It had scoops of fresh mozzarella, served with drizzles of olive oil, dots of balsamic vinegar and if I’m correct, it was the Cream of Balsamic that I purchased from The Chopping Block and gifted to him last year. The appetizer was finished with a sprinkling of poppy seeds on top of the mozzarella, grape tomatoes, tiny basil leaves and decorated with edible hot pink Bumgambilia blossoms. Not only was it mind blowing delicious, it was also one of the most beautiful and colorful pieces of food art on a plate.

Another Italian restaurant that always impresses with every dish as well as the service is Mi Vida.  They serve a Salmon Tartare that is fresh, delicious and presented beautifully. It has chunks of salmon dressed in orange juice, herbs, almonds, shaved fennel and fennel fronds, on a bed of baby arugula and than topped with a yogurt “helado.”

They also have a pasta dish of tagliatelle in a garlicky tomato sauce, an assortment of fresh herbs and a seafood broth with clams, mussels and fresh fish. The chef and owner Davide is from Italy. He is not only a very talented chef, he is also a very personable host. He greets every customer at each table with a smile and a willingness to accommodate and make your evening there a special, one of a kind experience. 

I think that’s one of the things that I appreciate most about San Miguel. The restaurant scene is pretty amazing because the chefs and staff are all willing to make your dining experience a friendly and tasty one. 

This leads me to Anders and Kajsa, the husband and wife team that own the restaurant Tapas SMA. They’re from Sweden and have come up with a tapas menu that encompasses flavors from around the globe. Of course, there are dishes that hail from Spain, but you can just as easily find Greek, Italian, Mexican, Swedish or Japanese inspired tapas dishes. There may even be a tequila or beer tasting while you're there. They really go out of their way to offer new and inventive things to their guests.   

For breakfast, I highly recommend Café Contento., which has some of the best “chilaquiles” I’ve ever eaten, in either a “Rojo” or “Verde” sauce. They also serve a basket of delicious grilled bread and homemade guava marmalade to go with their great coffee. A “panaderia” or bakery is connected to the restaurant where you can buy pan dulce, breads, cookies or crossiants.  It was an absolute pleasure meeting Chef Bosseut and having the friendliest server Marta wait on us.

I was grateful to have my parents join me in San Miguel for a week this year. It was such a cool experience finally having the opportunity to show them why their son is so in love with San Miguel. They adjusted to the elevation and the cobblestone streets much better than I expected. I decided for their first night to take them to the restaurant La Posadita. It's situated on a rooftop terrace that overlooks the beautiful and famous church in San Miguel, La Parroquia. I’m so glad I talked my mother into having a frozen margarita that turned out to be a tower of frozen delight!

Every year I look forward to having an “helado” or Mexican ice cream. The flavors are endless! You can have several fruit flavors, some kind of kitschy-like “peeps” flavored, others flavored with Mole sauce or shrimp or tequila. My favorites so far have been the “Mantecado”, which is heavy cream and egg yolk-based with cinnamon, vanilla, pecans, prunes and a dash of cloves. I’m also a huge fan of the “Beso de Angel” or angel’s kiss ice cream with pine nuts and cherries. This year I tried the “Zarzamora”, or blackberry “helado”.   

Some of my other favorite food experiences from this year was the Saturday Organic Market, which is next to the Instituto Allende Cultural Center. This organic market happens every Saturday and has all types of foods, vegetables, drinks, pastries, breads, soaps, etc. There's also an organic restaurant called Via Organica, where you can eat some amazing organic salads, soups, entrees, pastries and breads. Connected to the restaurant is a small organic grocery store, which is another of my favorite places in San Miguel.   

A new restaurant that just opened that I really enjoyed is called La Bodega, a steakhouse that also has a wood burning pizza oven. The owner Omar is another very hospitable and friendly host.  

Now on to the street food. There is a taco stand that is said to have the best tacos in San Miguel. I couldn’t agree more, and it’s just about three blocks from the house that I rent every year… dangerous!

How about a “gordita” as big as the size of your head? You can find those at El Comal De Dona Meche! The first thing you'll notice is a huge comal or flat top grill, with a woman turning fresh masa dough into gorditas. On the wall is a large menu of ingredients that can be stuffed into the gorditas.  My favorite is “rajas” with beans. Rajas are charred poblano peppers, the charred skins peeled away, sautéed with onions and Mexican sour cream. There are no forks or knives. Just your hands and plenty of napkins, cause it’s gonna get messy!   

You might ask, other than the great food and colonial beauty of the city, what else could be on my list of favorite things about San Miguel? I’m in love with The “mojigangas”! Mojigangas are giant dancing puppets that you might encounter on the streets of San Miguel. Sometimes they are made to resemble the bride and groom during a wedding procession.   

Every year, it gets tougher and tougher to leave San Miguel. A visit here is always tranquil, peaceful and relaxing for me. And as I've describer here, it’s also a time when I eat very well. This year, I gained an extra four pounds there. But it was worth it!  What’s an extra 15 minutes on the treadmill? 

You too can experience the world of Latin cuisine in these upcoming hands on cooking classes at The Chopping Block. Our December class calendars were just released today. Check them out!