Scallop Ceviche Tostadas
Recipe Courtesy of Mary Mita Boat Bar, St. Regis Punta Mita Resort
the edible traveler
Punta Mita
A PLACE WHERE SUENOS REALLY DO COME TRUE
You know the cliche fantasy of finding yourself sitting on a beach, alone, and having a gorgeous mermaid emerge from the sea? Cue Sandro Botticelli’s Birth of Venus (ca. 1486) and Daryl Hannah in Hollywood’s Splash (ca. 1984).
Well, some version of this actually happened to me, and in my version, the gorgeous “merman” emerged from the sea bearing an equally gorgeous, freshly speared red snapper. Now that is my kind of fantasy…
This dreamy scene unfolded last May, on the white sand beach at the St. Regis Resort in Punta Mita, Mexico, where I had been invited as a guest at Punta Mita’s first-ever Golf Kitchen event. No, I am not a golfer, despite having been a member of my high school golf team. That short-lived “membership” was driven largely (OK, solely) by my desire to ingratiate myself to the mother of the quarterback of the football team, who drove the school van to practices because the QB’s younger sister was, unlike me, actually interested in learning to play golf. Rather, I was in Punta Mita to enjoy the sun and sea, along with meals prepared by the resort’s chefs in collaboration with other chefs from renowned golf resorts from around the world.
The less-than-four-hour flight from SFO to the modern, efficient international airport in Puerto Vallarta makes Mexico’s Riviera Nayarit an easy getaway from the Bay Area. I first made the trek 15 years ago to attend a women’s surf camp in Sayulita, an artsy, bustling fishing village filled with gringo expats just north of Punta Mita. Once we found our “surf legs” at the two easy breaks in town, my campmates and I graduated to the reef breaks offshore from Punta Mita. All I could see of Punta Mita from the water side were sprawling resorts, giving me the impression that I was more of a Sayulita “adventurer” than a Punta Mita luxury vacationer. My visit last May proved that initial impression quite wrong.
Punta Mita is actually a 1,500-acre spear-shaped peninsula that houses a collection of resorts, clubs and residential communities. Entering the private enclave through the tiny town of Punta de Mita, guests are ushered into meticulously kept grounds filled with local flora and dotted with two Five Diamond–rated resorts—the St. Regis Punta Mita Resort and the Four Seasons Resort Punta Mita—plus a tennis center, three beach clubs and two Jack Nicklaus Signature Championship Golf Courses. And those white sand beaches, of course.
We opted to stay at the St. Regis, my traveling companion having previously stayed at the Four Seasons at Punta Mita, but both had been highly recommended. It lived up to the hype, with stunning ocean views from our room, and an outdoor shower that made us shudder to think of ever showering indoors again.
A welcome massage in the resort’s serene Remede spa worked the work and traveling kinks out in a hurry, hastening the dive into full vacation mode. The trip was off to a very auspicious start.
And then there was the first-night dinner at the stunningly beautiful Carolina, the St. Regis’ signature restaurant. The South Carolina– meets-Mexico menu prepared jointly by Carolina’s executive chef Jesus Duron and Doug Blair, executive chef of Cassique, at the Kiawah Island Club in South Carolina.
Every course was bursting with flavor, and tasting Mexican wine for the first time was a revelation. James Hughes, general manager of the St. Regis, joined us. A native of Uruguay, he has clearly fallen in love with his Mexican home of the last three years.
But I digress. Let’s get back to my merman, who turned out to be Sebastian Melani, the Argentinian world-class free diver and spear fisherman, and owner of SpearMex, the free diving, spear fishing and sport fishing outfitter based in Punta Mita.
Clearly excited about my arrival in paradise the day before, I had posted a photo of the delicious St. Regis welcome margarita on social media, which had been noted by my former abalone fishing guide back in California. He posted a response, suggesting that if I wanted to go spearfishing while I was in Punta Mita, I should contact his buddy Sebastian, including a link to Sebastian’s Facebook page. I saw the post while happily ensconced at the resort’s Mary Mita bar situated right on the beach, and despite feeling like this was to be more of a sunbathing, reading and eating vacation, I clicked. And up popped digital Sebastian. When I finally I looked up, there was Sebastian, and the snapper, in the flesh, walking towards me out of the sea. The only polite thing to do was introduce myself. . .
As luck would have it, Sebastian was available to take us out the next morning, promising to initiate us into the world of spearfishing almost right in front of the resort, returning us to shore in plenty of time to make our flight home.
But first we had another visit to the spa, and more eating and drinking to enjoy at the closing gala of the Golf Kitchen event. The dinner, held at the spectacularly gorgeous Kupuri Beach Club, was a gastronomic tour of Argentina, Mexico and Uruguay, prepared by Punta Mita’s executive chef Pato Persico, alongside guest chefs from resorts in the other two Latin American hot spots. Upon arrival, we were greeted by cocktails and passed hors d’oeuvres served poolside, against the backdrop of the almost surreally calm Bay of Banderas, broken only by the occasional spouting of a whale. A personal highlight of the multi-course seated dinner was pumpkin soup served in an individual serving-sized calabaza (Spanish for pumpkin).
Returning to the resort, we were treated to what almost felt like a private fireworks show, courtesy of a wedding taking place at the resort that evening. Earlier thoughts of crashing the dance floor had evaporated, however, in anticipation of our early morning adventure.
The next morning, we showed up at SpearMex’s kiosk, just steps away from Mary Mita, where Sebastian and his team zipped us into wetsuits and showed us how to operate our spear guns before we hopped into the boat and headed out, in search of one of the many species of delicious fish that ply the krill-filled waters of the Bay. I won’t bore you with the details, but let’s just say it will take more than one time out to get the hang of hitting a fast-moving target, underwater, while fighting ocean currents and the nagging thought of what else might be out there, hunting the same prey.
But those are lessons I am very much looking forward to returning for, along with the complete relaxation and delicious food and drink that Punta Mita has to offer. A place where fantasies really do come true.
Pack Your Bags
Mexico’s Riviera Nayarit is a booming destination that is home to many resort towns, surfing beaches and small picturesque fishing villages including Nuevo Vallarta, the historic village San Blas (aka San Francisco), the exclusive Punta de Mita and “boho-chic” Sayulita—and 192 miles of Pacific coastline.
Golf Kitchen 2019 will take place April 25–29. In addition to the Golf Kitchen event, Punta Mita also offers surf camps several times a year and the family-oriented Punta Mita Beach Festival each August. For a full schedule of events, visit Club.PuntaMita.com/Events-and-Activities.
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Scallop Ceviche Tostadas
Recipe Courtesy of Mary Mita Boat Bar, St. Regis Punta Mita Resort
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