La Deriva Review

San José del Cabo, Los Cabos, Baja California Sur, Mexico.

La Deriva Review – There is a new player in town and their name is La Deriva and it is located in the Los Cabos Corridor at KM 18.5. For those of you who have been coming to Cabo for the past few years, you may have gone to an Italian Restaurant called DOC Wine Bar. Earlier this year, executive Chef Emanuele Olivero opened a new restaurant called La Deriva on Valentines Day. It is located in the Solaz Hotel which is still being built, but they wanted to open the restaurant first and so far, everything has gone well for them. The reviews have been extremely positive. The restaurant is located on the beach front with a beautiful view of the Sea of Cortez. Not sure if this happens for everybody, but my wife and myself were greeted at the front door by the chef. As you walk into the restaurant, your breath is taken away by the amount of large panes of glass that allow a breathtaking view of not only the beach, but four fire pits that illuminate the beach area along with the landscaping.

They have a very simple menu in which to choose your selections for what you would like to eat for dinner. Please let me inform you this fact, they are only open for four hours, from 6pm to 10pm. This may have changed since we were there, but when you make your reservation and you will need one, please check for the hours. The menu is upscale Italian. They have a full bar and a wine list that is mostly Italian and Mexican wines.

I can tell you what I had, but I’m not a gourmet chef so I can’t tell you how the dish was prepared and I’m not going to try to steal the recipe from the chef. First we were brought a complementary appetizer that consisted of a scallop that was served in a half clam shell that was hidden underneath a layer of breadcrumbs with fine herbs. Sometimes my wife and myself like to share courses because it gives the option of trying more things without getting tied down to one or two items and the restaurant had no problem with that.

We started with Beef Carpaccio served with arugula and pearl sized pieces of papaya. Next we had mussels served with white wine, gorgonzola cheese. They also serve you three different types of bread that were perfect for dipping in the sauce after your mussels were gone. Our next course was ravioli stuffed with lobster and parmigiano in a lobster sauce. We decided to order this dish after we heard the ooh’s and aah’s from the table next to us as they started to eat their ravioli. Our next course was grilled fillet mignon that was cooked to perfection and melted in your mouth. A few minutes later, Chef Olivero came to our table to ask us how our dinner had been and in all honesty, I told him that it was the best dinner I have ever had since I have lived in Cabo and that has been for the past 24 years.

We spent a few more minutes talking with the chef and I asked him if he had a dessert menu and he gave us an explanation of six different choices and then I asked him his favorite and he said without a doubt, the Tiramisu so we decided to order that and again it was excellent.

La Deriva, I feel will be in the top 10 restaurants within the next year. The food was great and the wait staff was very attentive to all of our needs. Even though it is out in the corridor, it is worth the drive or the taxi ride to get there. You can make a reservation on their web-site using Open Table. Please enjoy your dinner and your evening, you will not be disappointed.

Written by Michael Bobo

La Deriva Restaurant
Address: Corredor Turístico CSL-SJC Km. 18.5,
Cabo Real, San José del Cabo. Los Cabos, B.C.S.
Phone: (624) 144-1800
Email: laderiva@solazloscabos.com
Website: www.laderivarestaurant.com