Stewart Haverlack, the co-owner of San Miguel de Allende restaurant Zumo, said that. And I’ll tell you why.
But not right away. First I want to tell you that I’ve always liked Zumo. A lot. Always thought it was one of the town’s best restaurants. But there was always a problem. And, for me, it was a big one.
The restaurant was located about fifteen blocks from the jardin, the heart and soul of San Miguel’s social scene. Those fifteen blocks may as well have been fifteen miles if you were a tourist. And they were still a long, long way for full or part-timers in San Miguel.
Don Day’s Wife and I enjoyed a few delightful dinners at Zumo but we didn’t go very often. We loved the decor, the cuisine, the views; the problem was the coming and going. Pre-dinner drinks and after-dinner music are often essentials for Don Day’s Wife and I but having to cab to and from those venues was always a bit too much of a hassle if we ate at Zumo.
That has now all changed. The old Zumo is closed and the property is up for sale. And there’s a new Zumo. And it’s located just two blocks from the jardin and walking distance to those bars we too often frequent before and after dinner. Not only that, the new Zumo is just as attractive, has a larger and more casual menu, plus a location with what Andy Reddyhoff, one of the guys I had lunch there with last week, called “certainly the best view in San Miguel for lunch”.
There are a lot of nice new rooftops to eat and drink at in San Miguel. What makes the new Zumo’s view so special is it extends for about 270 degrees without being blocked by anything. It gives you a panorama that goes from the east to the south right through to the west.
The restaurant sits atop Villa Limon, a five-room boutique hotel that again showcases the decorating talents of Stewart Haverlack’s partner Vanessa Villegas. Vanessa did the old Zumo in a soft lime green; her new Zumo is a brighter lemon yellow. I applaud the way the color is brought to each table with the use of fruit in the floral arrangements.
Though it had occasional attempts at a lunch business, the old Zumo was primarily a dinner venue, mostly a prix fixe format, and open five days a week. The new Zumo has breakfast, lunch and dinner menus and is open seven days a week, 365 days a year. I was particularly intrigued by the very separate lunch menu.
Most upscale San Miguel restaurants have all-day menus which mean, at lunch, dishes can often be too heavy and too pricey. Zumo seems to have solved both of those problems. The front and back, two-page lunch menu has starters on one side, mains on the back.
The cuisine is very much Mexican but has enough twists and turns and European and Asian influences to make it one of San Miguel’s more creative offerings.
On the starters side of the menu, burrata is really one of those dishes that is the sum of its parts. And Zumo’s adds up to be one of the best I’ve had.
The tomatoes should be perfectly ripe heirloom. Check. The arugula should be young without any bitterness. Check. The cheese should be very fresh. Check (the burrata is homemade by executive chef Alex Zuno). Any extra ingredients must enhance not interfere with the overall taste. Check and double check to the capers and watermelon radishes.
“That’s the super-talented Marcela Lopez helping Alex plate”, Stewart Haverlack told me. “She spent a year at Arzac in San Sebastian which is up there on the list of the world’s best restaurants.”
Other interesting starters include a mahi mahi ceviche with pineapple, orange, lime and grapefruit juice; a peach habanero gazpacho; duck quesadillas with Oaxaca cheese and shitake mushrooms; chile crusted calamari with chipotle dipping sauce; and a China meets Mexico dish of shrimp wontons on a bed of poblano cream sauce.
On the flip side of the menu are the main attractions. Chef Alex sautées oyster, portabello, white and cremini mushrooms for the tagliatelle.
My friend Andy had the Jamaican-style pork ribs.
He told me, “The ribs are fall-off-the-bone tender. I was expecting a little more spice for a jerk sauce but I like a lot of heat and this would be perfect for the average person.”
I was excited to find a fairly traditional chicken curry on the menu. Curries have a bit of been there/done that reputation and you seldom find them on chef-driven restaurants any more. Chef Alex’s curry is Thai style with a lot of coconut flavor along with ginger and garlic. The use of chayote as one of the vegetables adds that Mexican touch that slips into most of his dishes.
One more thing that should be said about the curry is the price. It’s $160. That mushroom tagliatelle is $180. Those aren’t the kind of main course prices I’m used to seeing on the menus of high-end San Miguel restaurants. Those aren’t the kind of prices I’m even used to seeing on some mid-range priced San Miguel restaurants.
As we admired another view from the new Zumo’s roof, I spoke to Stewart Haverlack about how, when the old Zumo opened about three and a half years ago, there were three, maybe four high-end restaurants in San Miguel de Allende. We started listing the new ones and we were soon up to ten. I asked Stewart how he thought he could compete against so many contenders.
“I think there’s room for all of us”, he said. “There are enough people coming to this town to keep us all busy. If they’re here for five or six nights, they don’t want to eat in the same restaurant every night.”
“I always believed in our food. I knew we had a good wine list, a good cocktail menu. The ambience, the service, the decor…they were all there. I knew our prices were fair, in the right ballpark, but I also knew what we were missing. I knew I had to do something about it. Now we’ve also got the location.”
Zumo is located in Villa Limon, Quebrada 93, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.
If you enjoy walking a million steps down in the dark with no handrail, and three storeys up to the roof in the dark without very many handrails, well, that’s your choice. Six of us went to the new Zumo and not one of us enjoyed our meal. My steak was waaaay overdone. Three others ordered the fish and it reeked as well as being tough. All three were returned to the kitchen. What they got in return was equally smelly fish and the plate this time had fish, just fish, only fish, no vegetables as had been the case at the first serving. It was a windy and chilly evening and the wind just howled through the place. We asked for a heater. It was brought over. It was not lit. Worst SMA restaurant experience all around.
My name is Stewart Haverlack, and I am the owner-operator of the new ZUMO Centro. Thank you very much for your feedback, and I am deeply sorry that your experience at the new ZUMO was far from optimal.
We have petitioned the city of San Miguel to allow us to put handrails on both or our outside entrances, and we are waiting for their approval. Unfortunately you entered on the left side of the main door, which does in fact have 12 stairs without handrails. Fortunately, our north entrance, which is to the right of the main entrances is much more accessible with a series of 7 graduated small steps, and a handrail is not necessary. We have added additional lighting to illuminate both walkways.
Currently, we are installing an elevator and it will be completed on the twelfth of December, so no need to ever climb any stairs again.
In response to the concerns with wind and the cold on the terrace you raised, we are installing accordion-style floor to ceiling glass doors on the terrace to completely enclose 70% of the terrace and are installing two, 2 ton heating and air-conditioning units. The result will be the only 100% completely temperature controlled rooftop terrace is San Miguel. For the remaining 30% of the terrace, we have 8 gas heaters, which are completely functional and that keep the space toasty.
No excuse for the poor preparation of your food. However, after 30 years of combined experience in the restaurant business in Europe, the United States including 14 years in Mexico, new openings tend to be hectic and even seasoned chefs in a new kitchen can sometimes be off their rhythm resulting in less than optional results.
After December 12th (elevator installed), I would like invite your party of six back to ZUMO to experience our new elevator and enjoy a complimentary dinner with wine or cocktails on our temperature controlled terrace, and I personally guarantee your experience will be world class
Thank you again for your valuable feedback. Please contact me on my personal cell phone at 415.103.3042 or by email at zumo1@zumosma.com to make your reservation
What about parking?
We offer complimentary Valet Parking
Looks good, will definitely try it…R
We’ll be there in February!
Zumo has long been one of our favorites – Chef Alex Zuno is consistent with his great in-season offerings. And we love the new location!
We visited Zumo at its new location on Saturday night and the whole experience was amazing as always! And, yes, the burrata was excellent! Zumo is one of our “go to” restaurants every time we visit SM.
Stewart Haverlack’s response (above) is world class. I can’t wait to go!