Cocina de Autor is a Mexican restaurant brand within the all-inclusive resort Grand Velas Resorts. The restaurant marque is found at the Riviera Maya and Los Cabos Corridor establishments, in Quintana Roo and Baja California Sur, respectively. Cocina de Autor offers creative cuisine featuring dishes made with ingredients from various regions. In 2024, Nahúm Velasco was the head chef at the Riviera Maya location, while Francisco Sixtos and Sidney Schutte held the position at the Los Cabos resort.
Both restaurants have received positive feedback from food and travel reviewers. In 2024, each one received one Michelin star in the first Michelin Guide covering restaurants in Mexico. Grand Velas is the only all-inclusive resort brand in the world to offer two Michelin-starred restaurants. Additionally, both locations received the Five Diamond Award from the American Automobile Association (AAA).
History and description
Businessman Eduardo Vela Ruiz owned Grand Velas Resorts, an all-inclusive resort company in Mexico, until he died in 2023. During his lifetime, the brand opened at three coastline locations: Riviera Maya, Quintana Roo, Riviera Nayarit, Nayarit, and Los Cabos Corridor, Baja California Sur.[4]
The resorts operate independently. Guests pay for their stay per night and can enjoy the amenities, such as pools, spas, and restaurants, at no additional cost. Grand Velas Riviera Maya has eight standalone restaurants, including Cocina de Autor.[5] It is also one of the seven diners at the Los Cabos resort.[6] The name translates to "signature cuisine", a concept that reflects a chef's culinary choices, with dishes that do not conform to a specific cooking style, country, or cuisine type.[7][8][9] Consequently, food and travel reviewers label the brand's cuisine as "creative".[10][11]
Both restaurants offer an eight- to ten-coursetasting menu.[10][12][13] The Riviera Maya establishment welcomes guests aged 12 and older and has a smart casualdress code. The Los Cabos diner is open to guests aged 18 and older, with a business casual dress code. Both locations require reservations.[1][2][3]
When the Michelin Guide debuted in 2024 in Mexico, it awarded 18 eateries with Michelin stars.[14] Each location of Cocina de Autor was awarded one star, signifying "high-quality cooking, worth a stop".[15] Grand Velas is the only all-inclusive resort brand in the world to offer two Michelin-starred restaurants.[16]
The Riviera Maya resort began operations in 2008 in Solidaridad Municipality, Quintana Roo.[20] Cocina de Autor debuted alongside the resort, with Xavier Pérez Stone serving as its first head chef.[21] Nahúm Velasco became the head chef of Cocina de Autor in 2024. He studied at the Centro Culinario Ambrosía in Mexico City and worked as a chef at Cocina de Autor, Geranium, and Passion before returning to the first one.[22]
Cocina de Autor Riviera Maya features dishes inspired by Mikel Alonso and Bruno Oteiza, chefs from Biko in Mexico City, who also collaborate at the restaurant.[23] Meagan Drillinger wrote for Travel Weekly that the restaurant's menu is replaced regularly, with options that have included spider crab with jackfruit; roasted pork with black garlic; and Cocina de Autor's own Melipona honey.[24] Isabel Leal from Robb Report México visited the resort during its Sensory Voyage festival. She was presented with gazpacho, smoked whipped cream, chicharrón, Australian wagyu with figs, Ossetra caviar, scallops, fricassee, and venison with a crust of raisins and coffee, served with a pine nut and cinnamon sauce.[25] The Michelin Guide mentioned that the menu "emphasizes novel flavor combinations and compelling textures".[15]
Los Cabos
Grand Velas Resorts opened the Los Cabos resort in November 2016 in the municipality of the same name in Baja California Sur.[20] Francisco Sixtos and Sidney Schutte are the executive chefs of Cocina de Autor.[1] Sixtos was born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, and has worked at the kitchens of Le Méridien, Hyatt and Carlyle hotels.[26] Schutte is a Dutch chef and the head of Spectrum, a Michelin two-star restaurant in Amsterdam as of 2024.[27] Schutte also heads Loto, another restaurant in Grand Velas Los Cabos.[28] Schutte commented that his "cuisine is distinctive for its outspoken [flavors] that pop".[29]
Drillinger described its dishes, including scallops with miso butter, beef tenderloin with celery rootpurée, poached beetroots and maitake mushrooms.[24] Further, she mentioned that the restaurant "takes diners on a culinary journey, with a dimly lit, sumptuous dining room to set the scene".[16] Becca Hensley mentioned for Elite Traveler additional menu options like Australian wagyu with smoked parmesan and figs, oysters in its shell served in green apple aguachile, and fig and arbequina juice.[30] Alan Nájera wrote for El Universal that he enjoyed giant oysters from Comondú served with green apple aguachile, cucumber and a tempura crisp, longfin yellowtail served with daikon slices, accompanied by nixtamal and a cilantro-habanero sauce, shiitake mushroom, pecan, and jicamatetela, drizzled with corn velouté, and a piece of sliced beet in sauce, on a sourdough base, topped with smoked almond zabaglione and black sesame.[1]
CNN named Cocina de Autor Los Cabos one of the best new restaurants in 2017.[31]Forbes Travel Guide awarded it four out of five stars, noting that fine dining is typically rare in all-inclusive resorts, but the restaurant "redefines the art of vacation dining".[13] The Michelin Guide mentioned that the terrace "is a nice spot for bites and cocktails, and a few choice tables overlook a koi pond".[32] Nájera noted that the restaurant opened to the general public and no longer requires a resort reservation after receiving its Michelin star.[1]
^"Nahum Velasco". Concurso Nacional de Pinchos y Tapas (in Spanish). 22 August 2023. Archived from the original on 15 June 2024. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
^"Cocina de Autor". Marco Beteta (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 3 October 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
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