Two hours south of Cancún, tucked away among the trees off a seaside jungle road in Tulum, Mexico, sits Hartwood. It's a tiny restaurant with no walls, stoves, electricity, or refrigeration. But none of this stops chef and Brooklyn ex-pat Eric Werner from turning out food inspired by the indigenous ingredients of the Yucatán Peninsula, where he has run Hartwood with his wife and restaurant manager, Mya Henry, since 2010.
Werner sat down with deputy editor Andrew Knowlton and executive editor Christine Muhlke on today's podcast to talk about leaving behind the rat race and turning many an overworked person's dream into a reality. As he explains, there are some definite upsides to running a destination restaurant in the middle of nowhere (nopales and coconuts supplied by taxi!) and some, well, challenges. Not having indoor seating, for instance, can lead to some creative customer service tactics.
“[People] have been in the restaurant when it’s rained, and they'd have to come into the kitchen," Werner says. "And I'd say, 'Here’s mezcal right now for everyone. Drink.' That’s the whole mentality.”
For more stories about Werner and Henry's restaurant life off the grid, plus recipes you can make at home, check out Hartwood's first cookbook, out now and co-written by none other than our own Christine Muhlke and her husband Oliver Strand.
Plus, if you're in New York and want to taste Werner's food for yourself, you're in luck: Join our editors on Tuesday, October 27th, from 6 to 9 p.m., when Werner and Henry will join chef Lee Desrosiers of Achilles Heel in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, for a one-night-only pop-up to celebrate the release of the Hartwood cookbook. Expect whole fish cooked over a wood fire, fresh ceviche, and plenty of mezcal, naturally.
Two hours south of Cancún, tucked away among the trees off a seaside jungle road in Tulum, Mexico, sits Hartwood. It's a tiny restaurant with no walls, stoves, electricity, or refrigeration. But none of this stops chef and Brooklyn ex-pat Eric Werner from turning out food inspired by the indigenous ingredients of the Yucatán Peninsula, where he has run Hartwood with his wife and restaurant manager, Mya Henry, since 2010.
Werner sat down with deputy editor Andrew Knowlton and executive editor Christine Muhlke on today's podcast to talk about leaving behind the rat race and turning many an overworked person's dream into a reality. As he explains, there are some definite upsides to running a destination restaurant in the middle of nowhere (nopales and coconuts supplied by taxi!) and some, well, challenges. Not having indoor seating, for instance, can lead to some creative customer service tactics.
“[People] have been in the restaurant when it’s rained, and they'd have to come into the kitchen," Werner says. "And I'd say, 'Here’s mezcal right now for everyone. Drink.' That’s the whole mentality.”
For more stories about Werner and Henry's restaurant life off the grid, plus recipes you can make at home, check out Hartwood's first cookbook, out now and co-written by none other than our own Christine Muhlke and her husband Oliver Strand.
Plus, if you're in New York and want to taste Werner's food for yourself, you're in luck: Join our editors on Tuesday, October 27th, from 6 to 9 p.m., when Werner and Henry will join chef Lee Desrosiers of Achilles Heel in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, for a one-night-only pop-up to celebrate the release of the Hartwood cookbook. Expect whole fish cooked over a wood fire, fresh ceviche, and plenty of mezcal, naturally.