VIA Magazine

Crispy chilaquiles from River Café on the Isla Rio Cuale. | Kristen Haney

Second only to Mexico City in terms of sheer volume, Puerto Vallarta’s 400 restaurants boast a range of cuisine available in Mexico. From riverside chilaquiles to plated steak dinners, Puerto Vallarta’s growing reputation as a culinary destination position it as an ideal stop for food-focused travelers. I was lucky enough to stuff myself at two of Puerto Vallarta’s establishments courtesy of Virgin America, the Puerto Vallarta CVB, and CasaMagna Marriott.

For breakfast, stroll through cobblestone roads to The River Café. Located on Isla River Cuale, a large island in the middle of a river, the open dining terrace has unobstructed views of vibrant foliage and the sounds of nearby water and live harp music.  Morning selections range from homemade breakfast pastries to a shredded beef machaca, but the crispy chilaquiles pair best with the café’s spice-laced coffee.  Eating fried corn tortillas simmered in a red sauce, served with ranchero cheese and a side of refried beans, provided plenty of fuel for crossing the swinging pedestrian bridges and exploring colorful tiendas in Old Vallarta.

If you pass a man hawking pours from a large gourd, spare a few pesos for a cup. The combination of coconut milk and palm sap makes for an excellent refresher during the balmier summer months and works wonders as a cure for a killer hangover. Vendors can frequently be found strolling the area near and on the Malecon, a modern boardwalk that follows the beach.

We headed to CasaMagna Marriott Puerto Vallarta Resort & Spa, a four-diamond luxury resort located in Vallarta’s Marina Area, for dinner at La Estancia. Helmed by Chef Fred Ruiz, it served up skillful dishes such as a flavorful corn soup garnished with a caviar of frozen huitlacoche and a delicate tres leches cake shine next to a la carte arrachera steak and slow cooked pork shoulder. The restaurant has a worldwide wine list, but even fervent oenophiles should stray from their trusted grapes to Mexico’s agave plants.

CasaMagna’s resident tequila expert (and former sommelier), Audrey Formissano, amassed her encyclopedic knowledge by extensively studying the spirit and training with tequila masters. Guests are given the opportunity to appreciate the legs and color of the tequilas, try unexpected flavors, and learn about the 140 different varieties the hotel carries, including a kosher tequila and the property’s brand.  Don’t miss the reposado produced by CasaMagna. Skip the salt and lime and sip the lightly golden spirit neat, which allows the complex layers of honey and oak to shine.

Jalisco’s altitude and soil make it the ideal environment for agave plants to flourish. Similar to the restrictions surrounding the labeling of champagnes, only tequilas grown in the state that have passed a rigorous inspection can be designated as such, and the difference in designations given to tequilas reflects their respective ages. Blancos are relatively unaged and full of bright agave flavors, whereas both the reposado and anejo varieties are aged in oak barrels—six months to a year for reposados and up to five years for anejos—which imparts greater depth of smoky, nuanced flavor to these amber colored tequilas.

If your prime objective is to sample the greatest variety of food possible in one trip, plan your visit to Puerto Vallarta for November 2012. Tianguis, a food festival held in Acapulco for the last 36 years, is packing up and moving to Puerto Vallarta as it begins a new tradition of changing locales yearly.