Seafood Festival Amigos Del Mar 2024 Returns To Rosewood Mayakoba

Rosewood Mayakoba has been widely recognized for its culinary offerings, inspired by the gastronomic heritage of Mexico and the distinct traditions and culture of the country’s diverse regions. Overseen by executive chef Edgar Chávez, the resort’s bars and restaurants boast a solid commitment to responsible and sustainable sourcing as well as philanthropic and cultural collaborations with local communities. One of his most important collaborations is the Amigos del Mar event, which will celebrate its fifth iteration on August 24.

Since its inception, Amigos del Mar has grown and evolved alongside the Pesca Con Futuro movement. The fundraising event welcomes over 400 food loving locals and travelers who wish to sample and learn about Mexican sustainable seafood and aquaculture products. As in previous years, all proceeds from the event will benefit a local school and area fishermen so they can keep fishing sustainably while earning a living.

Surrounded by endemic forests and winding lagoons, Rosewood Mayakoba is an ultra-luxury property in Mexico’s Riviera Maya. Mayakoba is an ecological enclave comprised of small islands surrounded by mangroves and white sand beaches, which also houses three other properties: Andaz, Fairmont, and Banyan Tree. The event includes chefs from Mayakoba properties, and guest chefs from around the country.

The son of a city bus driver and a traditional cook from the mostly rural Mexico City borough of Xochimilco, Chávez graduated from the renowned Cordon Bleu culinary school and has honed his skills by traveling extensively throughout Mexico, immersing himself in its culinary traditions, and mastering techniques and ingredients of pre-Hispanic cuisine. He is a gastronomic ambassador for Come Pesca, a national organization dedicated to promoting sustainable seafood and fishing practices, and an active member of Pesca Con Futuro, a nonprofit movement that advocates for the balance and health of Mexico’s oceans.

During Amigos del Mar, renowned chefs and mixologists set up food and drink stands at Mayakoba’s El Pueblito space. Guests can stroll around at their own pace, sampling every delicious bite and sip in a relaxed atmosphere. The event is family-friendly and offers an educational component.

“Each of the chefs who have joined us has done an extraordinary job to enhance our gastronomy,” says Chávez. “I am super grateful to them because I know that they have many things to do, but fortunately they took the time to be here, sharing with us, giving our resort that push to stay current. It truly is a titanic task for the entire team and for our guest chefs.”

Chávez says how visiting chefs approach him to ask what products they can use. “I tell them, you can use whatever you want, from sustainable seafood to Yucatecan hairless pork, the idea is to use our local products in a way that does not impact the environment too much and that supports the community.”

Chávez sees the need to keep his staff engaged and learning so they can compete with the newer hotels that surround the Rosewood Mayakoba, which, at 16 years of age, is considered an older property. “That’s what we must do all the time, since we are an older hotel. We think about what else we can do, so that our guests come back and are surprised every time.”

“I think that also influences our staff a lot, because I am a fervent believer that I would not be here if it were not for my team. At the end of the day, I am just another cook with more responsibilities. But my team is the one that pushes me to move forward and gives me that little space to say what else are we going to do? The idea is that the kitchen remains avant-garde.”

Among the recent initiatives is a new cevichería in Punta Bonita, the poolside family-friendly area of the resort. “I love fish and seafood, and we wanted interesting dishes around this theme of sustainability,” says the chef. “We made an al pastor-style sea bass tiradito, marinated in achiote, dried chiles and lime juice; we added onion, creole cilantro, and charred pineapple. It is our interpretation, and that is the beauty of our gastronomy, that it can be adapted. And I tell the guests, do you know tacos al pastor? Well, now you are going to try a ceviche al pastor. Most of our products are sustainable. The Maya octopus, the bass, the totoaba, the kampachi. The oysters are delicious – we have oysters such as Kumamoto, Chingón and Ensenada.”

But the chef’s sustainability commitment goes beyond seafood. He also works with Mestiza de Indias, a farm in Espita, Yucatán, that delivers vegetables twice a week. “They send me a list, I see what they have and what we can do with it. We can get sprouts, mizuna, purple sweet potatoes, African cucumbers. I feel like a kid in a toy store, you know?”

These products are of the highest quality. In fact, it was the place where René Redsepi came to get supplies when he did the Noma pop-up in Tulum. “The product is a little more expensive than normal, but we understand that this is how we can help. And it’s also important because it is ladies, housewives from the community, who grow the produce. And they get paid a fair wage.”

Rosewood Mayakoba has recently been recognized for the third year in a row by 50 Best, which named Zapote Bar No. 11 at the 50 Best Bars of North America Awards 2023. Overseen by Chávez and award-winning bar director Joshua Monaghan, Zapote was created as a love letter to the Yucatán, its products, culture and people, offering food and cocktails using Maya ingredients, tools, and techniques, with hints of Asian and Lebanese cuisines.

“I don’t want to sound pretentious, but we are at the cutting edge, because before Zapote, no other Rosewood hotel had a bar within the 50 Best. Now it’s not only us; there are other properties in Hong Kong and Brazil, so we are spearheading that trend,” says Chávez.

The chef also prides himself on the fact that many Rosewood guests go out to eat somewhere else outside the resort, and return to share that, although they had a great experience, they prefer to dine at one of the resort’s establishments.

“We must do our part to take care of our world, right? Because at the end of the day they say, well, how are you going to help the world? Well, by teaching my staff that they should take care of the product itself and not just the fish; optimize the vegetables, take care of the herbs and get the most benefit you can from the stem to the leaves. That is taking care of the environment. It is not discovering sliced bread, it’s simply doing what my grandparents did in Xochimilco, which was take care of everything that the Earth gave us.”

5th edition of Amigos del Mar, August 24, 2024

• 10 chefs will cook 10 species of sustainably sourced seafood and aquaculture products which attendees will be able to taste.
• An educational space for children, where they can play and learn about the Pesca Con Futuro movement.
• Funds benefitting two cooperatives from the Yucatan Peninsula to improve their fishing practices.
• The goal is to raise $250,000 pesos (about 14,000 USD)

Tickets and list of participating chefs will be published in Rosewood Mayakoba’s calendar in the next couple of days. Stay tuned and plan on attending this one-of-a-kind fundraising event.