Every morning, Chef Gaz Herbert, director of culinary project, Todos Santos Boutique Hotel, heads to Agricole Tienda de Campo, a 37-acre farm cooperative just 12 minutes down the road, where he picks the produce he will serve in the hotel’s restaurant each evening. He explores the fields filled with sweet strawberries and an array of vibrant, beautiful vegetables as he decides which of the organic offerings will make the final menu.

The backstory of this activity is how a boutique hotel in the small town of Todos Santos, on the Pacific coast of Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula and backed by the Sierra de la Laguna mountain range, is creating an authentic, farm-to-table culinary program, including an exciting visiting chef series that already hosted two of New York City’s most talented chefs.

© Ricardo Ramos

Chef Flynn McGarry from New York visited in February, and celebrated Mexican Chef Lucho Martinez (now working at New York restaurant Em) hosted in early May. Other highly regarded chefs from other cities are on the horizon, waiting to participate in the visiting chef program that both hotel guests and local residents have enjoyed.

The restaurant at the hotel, named 1890 (the year the hotel was constructed), embodies the definition of farm-to-table by offering meals made with the freshest ingredients possible, as the majority of the produce served at 1890 is harvested the same day it is served. If guests staying in the hotel are interested in learning more about Agricole, they can join a tour of the farm led by Chef Gaz himself.

Chef Gaz’s menu focuses on freshness, color and seasonality, with menu highlights including simple salads like Josper burnt fennel, burrata, orange chili oil and roasted pecan. Main courses may include ravioli with ripe heirloom tomatoes, ricotta and fresh basil, with a flavorful strawberry and almond tart dessert featuring Agricole’s famous sweet strawberries.

© Ricardo Ramos

During the late 1700s and 1800s, Jesuits settled in the area and supported themselves by growing fruits and sugar cane, eventually establishing trading routes with some of the miners and traders from the nearby Mexican states of Sonora and Sinaloa, exchanging their agricultural produce for fabrics, raw materials and other provisions. The hotel 1890 is a historical landmark in the center of Todos Santos, the site once a rural estate previously belonging to a Spanish countess. After a major revitalization, Todos Santos Boutique Hotel reopened in February 2024 with new owners.

Popular with artists, Todos Santos offers art galleries for browsing and the modern Profesor Néstor Agúndez Martínez Cultural Center, housed in a former school, includes a local history museum. A 15-minute drive south from the hotel, beaches like San Pedrito and Los Cerritos are known for good surfing conditions.

The hotel has 10 luxurious rooms, most with hand-painted murals. Some of the many hotel amenities include a swimming pool, WiFi, wet bar, valet service and much more.