Chef Betty Vazquez From Nayarit Wows the Crowds in Toronto Jim Byers - The Star Toronto
go to original August 30, 2013

Mexican chef Betty Vazquez will be showing off her talents this weekend at the Hot and Spicy Festival at Harbourfront

The Riviera Nayarit is said to be the fastest growing beach destination in Mexico. The area is located along 300-plus miles of the Pacific, just north of Puerto Vallarta, and there are almost 200 miles of beaches.

We hear a lot about the Riviera Maya, with glittering Cancun and the ruins of Tulum and the great beaches. It's a wonderful part of Mexico.

Most Canadians also have heard of Acapulco and Cabo San Lucas, the latter on the tip of Baja California. The words Riviera Nayarit probably don't sound as familiar. But it's a hugely popular stretch of Pacific coastline north of Puerto Vallarta, and it looks wonderful.

The folks from Riviera Nayarit on Tuesday put on a great lunch at Frida restaurant on Eglinton West (Toronto), thanks in part to a virtuoso job by Mexican chef Betty Vazquez. Vazquez will be showing off her talents this weekend, by the way, at the Hot and Spicy Festival at Harbourfront.

She served up some lovely ceviche with jalapenos and mango and scallops yesterday, plus a lovely duck breast with a guava marmalade and some luscious desserts. Mexican cuisine is hugely varied and much more sophisticated than some might think, and Vazquez is a real treat.

Not to mention a very good public speaker.

"The heart of Mexico is in every shake of the hand and in every smile," she said, her eyes beaming. "Our food is full of flavours, full of colours, full of magic."

She also talked about the importance of cuisine to a great holiday.

"A great destination is fun, but if you don't have great meals the trip is spoiled," she said.

I had no idea, but it turns out 24 per cent of visitors to Riviera Nayarit are Canadians, while 22 per cent are Americans.

The Riviera Nayarit is said to be the fastest growing beach destination in Mexico, and new hotels are opening all the time. Among the properties who've been on the coast for a while already is the Four Seasons Punta Mita.

In addition to great beaches, there's excellent snorkeling and diving, good surfing, beautiful sunsets and much more, including pretty colonial towns inland from the Pacific.

Mexico has well-known security issues, but those are almost entirely in states near the U.S. border, officials said. The Mexican border with Arizona is as far away from Cancun as Turkey is from Germany, they noted, and nobody would suggest avoiding Berlin because of protests in Istanbul.

I've never been to the Riviera Nayarit, but it looks terrific. Tastes good, too!

Read related story.