Hartwood
Off-grid gourmet flame cooking
Having started life as a clearing in the jungle with a solar-powered fridge and a wood-burning oven, this off-grid concept with its simple collection of tables under the stars is now an international gourmet destination, commanding queues from sundown ’til closing.
There’s nothing predictable on the ostensibly simple daily chalkboard menu: Hartwood is renowned for its changeable creations and Yucatán produce. Calling the local fishermen and farms Hartwood’s lifeline is an understatement — pretty much everything here is local.
The daily catch nets anything from mahi mahi (dorado), mero (grouper) and robalo (like sea bass) to Caribbean pulpo (octopus). Signature rib eyes, filets and skirt steaks make regular appearances alongside a harvest festival of seasonal produce, hand-selected and transformed into wild and wonderful creations by restaurant founder and chef Eric Werner using Mexican specialties like jicama or papaya (papaya empanadas the day we were there).
This genuine farm (and sea)-to-table celebration has put Hartwood on just about every current “best restaurants” list. If you can’t snag a table, the new Hartwood cookbook lets you at least enjoy Werner’s talents in your own living room, taking you on a culinary journey over land, under sea and through the markets of the jungle paradise he now calls home. Carretera Tulum Boca Paila 7.6Km, 77780 Tulum, Q.R., Mexico; hartwoodtulum.com
Hartwood
Off-grid gourmet flame cooking
Having started life as a clearing in the jungle with a solar-powered fridge and a wood-burning oven, this off-grid concept with its simple collection of tables under the stars is now an international gourmet destination, commanding queues from sundown ’til closing.
There’s nothing predictable on the ostensibly simple daily chalkboard menu: Hartwood is renowned for its changeable creations and Yucatán produce. Calling the local fishermen and farms Hartwood’s lifeline is an understatement — pretty much everything here is local.
The daily catch nets anything from mahi mahi (dorado), mero (grouper) and robalo (like sea bass) to Caribbean pulpo (octopus). Signature rib eyes, filets and skirt steaks make regular appearances alongside a harvest festival of seasonal produce, hand-selected and transformed into wild and wonderful creations by restaurant founder and chef Eric Werner using Mexican specialties like jicama or papaya (papaya empanadas the day we were there).
This genuine farm (and sea)-to-table celebration has put Hartwood on just about every current “best restaurants” list. If you can’t snag a table, the new Hartwood cookbook lets you at least enjoy Werner’s talents in your own living room, taking you on a culinary journey over land, under sea and through the markets of the jungle paradise he now calls home. Carretera Tulum Boca Paila 7.6Km, 77780 Tulum, Q.R., Mexico; hartwoodtulum.com