Mexico’s Riviera Nayarit

Punta de Mita, Nayarit, Mexico

As incomprehensible as it seems today, it was considered wildly adventurous as recently as 15 years ago to travel to Cabo San Lucas on the tip of the Baja Peninsula.  

I was reminded of this a few weeks ago when planning a winter escape to Puerto Vallarta. We had been to crowded Cancun and were not inclined to return. Cozumel is nice (we stopped during a 2007 cruise) but getting there requires flying to Cancun, and seats were dwindling fast. We’d just been to Cabo in 2005.

The one destination with ample mid-January flights still available was Puerto Vallarta. Never been there, so why not, we agreed. But a well traveled friend quickly steered us away. The place to go, he said, is Punta Mita, just northwest of traffic snarled, pollution choked PVR. Punta Mita?

It sounded vaguely familiar. My friend offered a simple game plan. You go to Punta Mita, check-in at the peaceful Four Seasons resort, play a little golf on the Jack Nicklaus oceanside course (below, an ill-fated shot), do the spa, hang out. Life will be good.

The plan worked for me until I contacted the Four Seasons and learned that their only remaining rooms were priced off the charts. High season, of course. But persistence always pays. Trolling the Internet, we found a gorgeous four-bedroom beach house on a secluded beach called Playa Careyeros, less than one mile from the gates to the  Four Seasons resort. The owner of the house even arranged through a contact to reserve golf tee times for me at the Four Seasons.

So we found ourselves with the best of all worlds. We discovered the fast emerging “now” destination some 20 miles from Puerto Vallarta called Riviera Nayarit, the wider region in which Punta Mita is located. We found a house we’d go back to without hesitating at one-third the price of a Four Seasons room . We dined every night at the resort, alternating among three Four Seasons restaurants. Played golf on a world-class course. Twice. Walked on a beach along which the largest number of people we witnessed at any one moment was about six. Observed whales in “mating mode” from the coastline.

So, 15 years from now when, hopefully, we are all congratulating  ourselves for buying a little condo or beach villa in Riviera Nayarit, perhaps we will look back and marvel at our adventurous spirit. 

– Steve Woodward

Inspired Destinations: The Grand Del Mar

San Diego

The developer of the newly unveiled southern California resort, The Grand Del Mar, apparently has a reputation for rejecting mere opulence as not quite good enough. I am not sure I want to work for the gentleman (Douglas Manchester), but there is no arguing against what that attitude has wrought.

A $300 million-plus project, according to the Los Angeles Times, that opened last fall, The Grand Del Mar conjures many superlatives. Old World. Upscale. Luxurious. And, dare we say, opulent. (Even so, a few areas are in their final stages of completion and some landscaping is not done yet).

I spent New Year’s Eve at The Grand with family members. For a brand new resort, it offered an incredibly seamless experience. The most frustrating aspect was the back-and-forth with the concierge desk by phone and e-mails before our arrival. They wanted to upgrade our group to a larger suite. Nice. Thank you. However, we found it difficult to convey that we were comprised of various family units and required the same number of beds/rooms no matter how sprawling the suite. Finally, we worked it out.

Some might be put off by the property’s location. It is inland, north of downtown San Diego (about 20 minutes from the airport, Lindbergh Field), just east of Interstate 5. Given the area’s dramatic coastline, an inland footprint is likely not going to appeal to everybody. But after snaking through a residential area to the gates of The Grand, the setting offers an instant sense of utter tranquility. There is a sweeping, spacious, circular front drive, where the valets leave the sparkling Benz sedans and Porsche two-seaters on display (less worthy rental vehicles are parked out of sight). The lobby is jaw-dropping, with a traditional common seating area that becomes a cocktail lounge area after dark.

The doormen, bellhops, front desk staffers and concierges are friendly, efficient and confident. (My daughter was shocked when, after only a few hours as guests, we were greeted by name as we strolled past the concierge desk).

Inside, there is a world-class spa. (My father-in-law was delighted by his massage). Flat-screen TVs in the guest rooms are adorned with heavy, traditional frames you might expect to see paired with a priceless oil painting. Outside, three elaborate pool/lounging areas await, not to mention the adjacent Tom Fazio-designed golf course.  The golf carts feature faux leather-wrapped steering wheels and contoured, comfortable seats. Before my round, I was handed a state-of-the-art course yardage “gun” that measured distances with precision.

The Grand Golf Club is not new. It opened in 1999 under its former name, Meadows Del Mar. The clubhouse is a mini-castle, occupying 50,000 square feet as it accommodates both resort guests and locals who own memberships. The course features extremes from start to finish. Many tee boxes are severely elevated, confronting players with varying degrees of visual intimidation. Good luck finding a truly flat lie on most of the fairways. The perfectly maintained greens are ultra-fast and devilish to read. (Next time, I will avail myself of one of the club’s tan, surfer dude caddies). As a reminder that this is no average golf experience, the on-course “comfort stations” look like designer showcases inside, complete with marble surfaces and shining fixtures.

If you are more interested in brilliant architecture than golf, the 249-room resort will keep you occupied. Just walking around is pleasurable. The Grand is designed with a nod to the late Addison Mizner, who put south Florida on the map in the 1920s and early 1930s with his Spanish Revival architecture by developing both private estates for an elite group that included J.P. Morgan, among others, and resort hotels. (Mizner also designed The Cloisters Hotel in Sea Island, GA). 

My principal complaint, a minor one, is that The Grand is almost too sprawling. It occupies a 235-acre footprint, so there were no restrictions on building size. I became hopelessly lost trying to find the pool where my family members were gathered. (The upside was that I stumbled upon the resort’s corporate meeting rooms which are designed to resemble private wine cellars). Of course, I was saved by a helpful staff member and ended up poolside in no time.

Looking back, there are many worse things that could happen to a person than to be forever sentenced to wandering aimlessly about The Grand Del Mar.

– Steve Woodward

Dining Essentials: Tastes

Encinitas, Calif.

It was de ja vu when we walked into the bistro Tastes just after Christmas while visiting the California coast north of San Diego.

A scant year ago, on the eve of 2007, we discovered a high-concept dining spot in North Naples, Fla., called Naples Tomato. It successfully combines authentic Italian fare in the dining room with a retail gourmet food space out front and … even an adjacent wine tasting lounge. The lounge was notable for self-service wines-by-glass accessible by inserting a pre-paid “member’s card” into a corresponding slot above a given selection. There were dozens from which to choose.

Even with so much going on under one roof it all seemed to co-exist quite well. The other quirky note on Naples Tomato was its location in a new but nondescript strip mall that did not exactly scream “memorable dining destination”.

So, too, was the first impression of Tastes when viewed from the sidewalk in the village of Encinitas, a time-warped surfers’ town where VW buses and Ford “Woodies” share the roads with new hybrids bearing bumper stickers that are anti-war, anti-Bush and anti-mainstream. (So secede. Nobody will stand in your way.).

Pardon the rant. Inside, Tastes delivered on many fronts. We visited twice in three days. Tastes is billed as The Total Wine Experience, offering customers an extensive selection of premium wine by the glass or bottle, a ”Euro-bistro” menu and a wine retail area. The staff is exceedingly pleasant and attentive, and Chef Sean Fisher is visible and chatty and, clearly, a serious oenophile.  He co-owns the establishment, opened in 2005, with wine director Mark Dubiel.

Fisher and Dubiel have come up with perhaps the greatest concept in the history of wine retail/dining, in my opinion. Yes, there is a wine list. It is altered continuously, as is the food menu. But … if a wine connoisseur is dining with his entourage and wishes to peruse the retail wine racks, where multitudes of premium and reserve wines reside, he can select one or more to be opened at his table. The price? Regular retail plus $10. Those of us who are offended by typical restaurant marks-ups — aka, everyone — instantly recognize the signal this sends to wine enthusiasts. It says, “Come on in, enjoy great food and wine in an environment that appreciates you and is not created to soak you of your last dollar.”

The menu also is worthy of praise. The staff warns that portions are not large. But they are not small. This is not some annoying tapas bar. The first courses are great entrees, if so desired, and the second/main courses could do double duty as a hefty starter dish. Take your pick.

What we enjoyed most from the menu:  Blue Crab Cakes (2 @ $10.50); Panko-Crusted Soft Shell Crab ($17.50); Sirloin of Kobe Beef ($19.50, as tender and perfectly cooked a medallion of beef as you’ll ever encounter).

What we enjoyed from the wine racks: Ceja Vineyards Sonoma Carneros Pinot Noir (about $50). Perfectly balanced. A limited production Pinot that Thomas Keller favors on his wine lists. Tastes is the only San Diego-area restaurant that receives an allocation of Ceja.

If San Diego beckons, drive north on I-5 to Tastes. Steer clear of the VW buses and enjoy a culinary immersion and a great bottle or two.

– Steve Woodward