The difference seemed to grow even more stark in the last few years, as the country’s culinary centers-Mexico City, Oaxaca, the Valle de Guadalupe-underwent a restaurant revolution. I’ve been vacationing here off and on for 25 years, and like many of my compatriots, I’ve often bemoaned the divide between the fantastic street food and the mostly generic, resort-based fine-dining scene. The draw of the Riviera Maya, a stretch of coastline along the Yucatán Peninsula between Cancún and Tulum, has traditionally been the beaches, the resorts, the Mayan ruins, the cenotes… but not necessarily the cuisine. Yet the restaurant, which chef Jonatán Gómez Luna opened in 2008, has long been an outlier in the region. Le Chique’s menu, a cutting-edge survey of regional Mexican cuisine, is replete with dishes like this. (The caviar, in fact, is a sly textural nod to Colima’s unique style of ceviche, made with finely minced fish.) It’s a cultural lesson on a stunningly delicious plate, one that’s likely lost on the pool-bar crowd. The dish is an ode to the tiny Pacific Coast state of Colima, where coconuts were first brought to Mexico in the 16th century. It consists of spongy sprouted coconut (aka “coconut apple”), gelatinous young coconut, coconut water, coconut shaved ice, and habanero-spiked coconut-milk aguachile-all of it served alongside a generous dollop of caviar. I’m seated at Le Chique, the restaurant at the Azul Beach Resort Riviera Cancún, and as I work my way through the 24-course menu, I’ve reached a dish known as coconut five ways. Partiers may be pounding piña coladas at a swim-up bar just a few feet away from me, but I’m interested in a far more refined coconut indulgence. Mexico’s Caribbean playground finally grows up-and stakes its unexpected claim as one of the country’s best fine-dining destinations
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