Chef Beto has been cooking in the Riviera Maya for over twenty years. He started in the kitchens of small family restaurants in Puerto Morelos, moved through the kitchens of two of the region’s first boutique hotels, and joined Casa Chanty when the property opened.
His cooking is straightforward and deeply local: yucatecan recados, freshly caught fish, slow-cooked pork, and whatever’s in season from the market that morning. He doesn’t do molecular gastronomy, fusion, or anything that requires a foam canister.
What he does do is make you feel like you’re eating at a friend’s house. The catch of the day might come back as a whole snapper grilled over hardwood, served with a salad of jicama, orange, and chiles that his mother taught him to make. The cochinita pibil is marinated for three days. The salsas are made to order.
Chef Beto cooks for guests at Casa Chanty a few nights a week. Dinner is served on the terrace; you choose the menu with him a day or two in advance. The wine pairing is optional but recommended — he’s worked with a small sommelier in Playa del Carmen for years.
If you’re staying for a week, ask him about his Saturday cooking class. Small group, no more than six, in the kitchen of the main house. He’ll teach you the recado paste from scratch, then you’ll eat what you made.