Daniela Soto-Innes is the Chef de Cuisine at Cosme in NYC and a recipient of the James Beard Rising Star Award. Also pictured: Calamari and Sunchoke Salad.

The snacks or “botanas” at Pujol in Mexico City: little bursts of flavor to start off the tasting menu.

Photo on the left: Elote con mayonesa de hormiga chicatana, café, chile costeño (Baby corn with Ant Mayonnaise)

On the right clockwise from top: Vaina de escamole (pea pod with ant larvae), Oreja de cerdo (pig ear), Bocol Huasteco, Tostada de chía

It’s always fun when real life imitates art… I took this picture at Storm King Art Center and it felt so familiar and then I realized it was almost identical to an image on the opening credits of my favorite TV show Six Feet Under. You can see the image here. 

A few hours drive north of Cancun you will find a lovely little gem called Holbox Island. You take a quick ferry from the mainland to this wonderful little island where golf carts are the main form of transportation and natural wonders are everywhere. The island itself is a bird sanctuary, and in the summer months it is also where you can swim with the largest/friendliest fish in the ocean, the whale shark.

A short ferry ride from Chiquila will get you to the island. They offer cheap beers to everyone on board so the trip gets started off on the right foot.

All in all it’s about a three hour treck from the Cancun Airport to Holbox Island, but all worth while, just for this:

That is the view from our ocean front room at Mawimbi Hotel. Not too shabby I would say.

The first day we arrived we were lucky to have quite a nice storm roll in that afternoon. I love storms so I was a happy gal. Here TJ and the impending down-pour.

Once the storm had passed we walked over to the pier. During our stay in Holbox we ended up making a sunset walk to the pier our daily ritual.

And because I love this pier so much, here is another moment from a different sunset we spent there:

Holbox itself is a quaint little town, with dirt roads and no cars. Everyone drives around in golf-carts which definitely lends to the laid back feeling.

And lets not forget this is Mexico, so Fish Tacos abound.

Holbox is a bird sanctuary so there are many opportunities to bird watch. Either from the beach itself or through a boat excursion. These same excursions will take you to see flocks of wild flamingos or take you to go swimming with the whale-sharks.

That same boat excursion will also take you to swim in a nearby cenote or underwater cave. It usually consists of a unassuming swimming hole that is actually part of a series of connecting tunnels that cover a large part of the Yucatan Peninsula.

Last but not least of the great things about Holbox Island, is that it is surrounded by a very large sandbar. One that you can walk for a pretty long while.

Also not to brag but we found this nice little spot on the sandbar. I could have stayed there forever.