Party at The Cape: Thompson Hotel Excels at Big Events

Party at The Cape Thompson Hotel Excels Big Events – The opening of The Cape: A Thompson Hotel was one of the big events in Los Cabos last summer. Now, less than a year later, the boutique property–which overlooks one of the region’s best surf beaches, Playa Monumentos, and offers spectacular views of El Arco and the half-mile Land’s End headland in Cabo San Lucas from each of its 161 rooms and suites–is making a name for itself as a host of big-name events.

Last weekend, International Chef of the Year Enrique Olvera and James Beard Rising Star nominee Daniela Soto-Innes brought Cosme, their enormously successful Mexican restaurant in the Flatiron District of New York City, to The Cape, importing both menu and ambiance to create a special weekend experience at the hotel’s signature restaurant, Manta.

Next month, pro surfers Rob Machado and Tim Curran will host an exclusive surfing retreat, a weekend devoted to the sport and its culture that will include luxury accommodations, workshops, live music, photography and screenings of cult surf movies.

Cosme Chef de Cuisine and James Beard Rising Star nominee Daniela Soto-Innes (second from right) joined Manta Chef de Cuisine Alex Branch (far right), and Enrique Olvera (far left), Executive Chef at both restaurants, to create a weekend of fine cuisine at The Cape: A Thompson Hotel.

Cosme Comes to Cabo

Enrique Olvera is the common denominator between Cosme and The Cape. Best known for Pujol, his restaurant in Mexico City that’s currently ranked among the 20 best in the world, the talented and celebrated chef has expanded his brand in recent years with high-profile projects in New York and Los Cabos.

These projects share similarities of course, but are each stamped with individual concepts and personalities. Manta at The Cape is a celebration Pacific Rim cuisine. As Olvera likes to say:  “Baja has a Pacific influence, so that’s why we’re playing around with Peruvian and Japanese flavors; because a sashimi, a tiradito, and a Mexican ceviche have a common language.” Mood and music at Manta are tempered to the laid-back atmosphere of Los Cabos rather than the hectic, fast-paced rhythm of New York City, with black paint used to mute the interior and enhance the breathtaking views of Land’s End.

Cosme, which opened to widespread acclaim in New York City in 2014, is a more purely Mexican concept, although it required a few necessary adjustments, particularly in sourcing ingredients while so far removed from México itself. Olvera and Rising Star nominee Soto-Innes both believe in fresh local ingredients, so Cosme has developed its own unique regional expression, with an informal urban chic atmosphere and Latin-flavored music played at volume levels that might be considered average in New York, but are very high-energy by Los Cabos standards.

There were three options for each of the four courses on the Cosme menu, allowing guests to sample them all over the course of the three-day weekend event.

The idea, then, of bringing the New York restaurant experience to Los Cabos for a weekend was a novel one, and one that ultimately proved extremely popular with hotel guests and local gourmets alike. Olvera, Soto-Innes, Branch and staff executed a four-course menu, with three options for each course so that guests could try every single dish during the weekend dinner extravaganza. Wine pairings extended to artisanal tequila and mezcal, and were offered as a $40 upgrade on the basic $80 prix fixe menu.

Highlights included an aguachile de callo with scallops, poached jicama and fresh wasabi-cucumber lime; a salad of beets, green tomato salsa and local farmer’s cheese paired with a grassy Grüner Veltliner (an Austrian wine varietal known for its pairing flexibility); black garlic rubbed NY strip steak tacos with shishitos (Japanese pepper) and tarragon-avocado purée paired with Mezcal El Jolgorio; and a dessert of fried cinnamon tamal with Mexican spiced chocolate served with rich Oaxacan coffee.

No announcement has been made on whether Olvera will bring the Pujol experience to Cabo, but given the undeniable interest and the unqualified success of the Cosme experiment, it seems likely to happen at some point.

Pro Surfers Lead Weekend Retreat

The Cape’s privileged position overlooking Playa Monumentos, one of Baja California Sur’s best surf beaches, makes it an ideal site for a surfing themed retreat. Pros Rob Machado and Tim Curran will host the upcoming weekend event, scheduled for May 19–22, 2016.

What’s the point of having access to a great surf beach if you don’t use it? The Cape has taken advantage its gorgeous location overlooking Playa Monumentos from the very beginning, integrating surfer chic accents into their rooms and suites, in addition to offering boards and equipment.

But the Thompson brand hotel is taking things to another level by bringing in professional surfers Curran, Machado and Damien Hobgood, plus iconic surf photographer Tom Servais (former staff member at SURFER Magazine), for an exclusive weekend retreat.

“We were inspired to host a retreat like this,” Curran said, “after Rob and I went on a surfing trip through México. We were surfing, playing music, and surrounded by this amazing and talented group of photographers and film professionals. We want to offer folks the chance to explore surf culture just like the world’s top surfers do. And The Cape, with its surf-inspired vibe and incredible location right on Monuments Beach, is the perfect place to do it.”

The immersion into all things surfing is scheduled for May 19–22, 2016. Packages include three nights of accommodations–most notably in the hotel’s three-bedroom Surfer Villa–hands-on coaching workshops with the pros, daily beachside yoga, live music and film screenings at the rooftop lounge, a photographic exhibit of Servais’ work, plus assorted “surf swag” (gear provided from sponsors of the visiting pros).

For reservations or information about the upcoming surf retreat, visit https://www.thompsonhotels.com/hotels/mexico/cabo-san-lucas/the-cape