The elegant, candle-lit La Cueva, part of the restaurant of Mesón Panza Verde serves robust dishes of poultry, duck and red meat with big-hitting flavors. In 2004 Alex Kronick turned the soil of a roses and coffee plantation into Caoba Farms, serving farm-to-fork lunches. Think bowls stuffed full of organic leafy greens, buffalo burgers, mozzarella salads and pizzas. Temple to vegan cuisine is once:once, where Asian and Mexican fusion are strong on the menu in the patio garden as is panache and conscience. Sundays are for the flavor-laced renowned brunches of chef Mario Campollo at the Hotel Santo Domingo. Feast on chuchitos (corn husk-wrapped tamales stuffed with pork in spiced paste), pupusas, homemade breads and crepes in the historic setting. Noemi Dulischewski formerly of Berlin Brünch in London arranges new brunch pop-ups with botanical cocktails in the Finca La Azotea grounds of Luna Zorro. Wild Daughter sees gorgeous alfresco dining tables decorated with wildflowers where Noemi creates cochinita pibil, a Maya slow-roasted pork dish on home-made brioche and chilaquiles verdes, fried tortilla chips made from El Comalote heirloom corn served with fire-roasted black corn, tomato salsa, avocado, black lime and cilantro flowers.
Nights are for magical experimentation. Reach speakeasy-style Ulew via a red telephone-style box below Antigua Brewing Company where craft cocktails are unscripted and mixed to order after barflies suggest their favorite tipples and flavors. At boho haunt Café No Sé you’ll need to crouch to get through to a secret spot to sample Ilegal Mezcal, a double-distilled agave liquor that Oaxacans call the ‘drops of time’.
Where to stay
Childhood friendship brought Claudia Bosch to the door of a down-on-its-luck, hacienda-style villa coddled in greenery on the outskirts of Antigua. Claudia’s daughter, Katina Jongenzoon, grew up with the daughter of American photographer and textile entrepreneur Mitchell Denburg, the owner of the property. Claudia and Katina, a designer, transformed Villa Bokeh which opened with 15 striking rooms in a color palette that roams from onyx to rose pink. The hideaway is artfully decorated with the work of contemporary Guatemalan artists and the restaurant, overseen by executive chef Marcos Sáenz (who worked at Spain’s two-Michelin star Mugaritz), opens out onto lush gardens of palms and fruit trees and parasoled tables with a show-stopping view of Agua.
Good Hotel is a design-forward stay with a big heart. Dutchman Martin Dresen invests 100% of Good Hotel profits into powering education for Guatemalan children from low-income families. The rooms—pared back and minimalist—with an outsized portrait of each child newly schooled—will be joined by 24 more plus a six-meter-long pool by the end of the year.
Luna Zorro’s La Valiente, a two-bedroomed boutique stay designed by Molly Berry and her Guatemalan husband, will soon open. The property uses sustainable hardwood harvested from his family’s forestry plantation and furnished with a curated selection of the studio’s textiles, ceramics, and lighting.
