Don Emiliano - Slow Food (Cabo Times 2005)

Don Emiliano Restaurant - San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico

Don Emiliano Restaurant features delicious Mexican haute cuisine and offers an unforgettable gastronomic experience.

Our Chef Margarita C. de Salinas is an internationally-known chef who has created and promoted Mexican cuisine throughout the world. We use only high quality products and operate under Serve Safe specifications.

To complement our exceptional cuisine and service, we have a specially selected wine cellar with well-priced fine Mexican and imported labels.

Don Emiliano Restaurant - San Jose del Cabo

Don Emiliano main objective is to make all our customers feel like they are an honored guest in our house, which is your house.

Some of the most recognized Mexican chefs and cooks have honored us by sharing their personal recipes, which you'll find at “The Friends Corner” for you to enjoy. Our goal is to reach perfection and be the finest gastronomical Mexican experience in Los Cabos.

Don Emiliano Restaurant - Chef Margarita C. de Salinas 

Chef Margarita C. de Salinas

Mexico-born Chef Margarita C. Salinas is from a family with strong Mexican cooking traditions. Married with three sons, she holds a B.Ed. from the National University of Mexico (UNAM). She studied cuisine in international cooking schools like "The Culinary Institute of America" and "Le Cordon Blue", among others, as well as in Mexico, with many distinguished Mexican chefs.

She has dedicated more than 20 years to researching, studying, teaching and cooking Mexican cuisine. Chef Salinas is also a Chef instructor on the "Mexican cuisine rescue workshops" with "Cucul" Cultura Culinaria A.C. and UNAM.

Since 1996, Chef Salinas has been the Chef of the ministry of Agriculture in Mexico and has made Mexican food festivals and gala dinners in England, Italy, USA, Guatemala, Japan, China, Spain, Mexico, Canada, Holland and others.

She is the Chef of two restaurants in Los Cabos Baja California Sur, Mexico:

"Don Emiliano" and " Brisas."

Don Emiliano - Slow Food

By David Mandich - May 8, 2005

Don Emiliano restaurant in San Jose features exceptional Mexican cuisine prepared by internationally famous master chef Doña Margarita Salinas. Chef for the Mexican Ministry of Agriculture, she often puts on gala Mexican cooking demonstrations at food conventions in Europe, Asia and the U. S. The restaurant is a member of the “Slow Food” movement - an international association founded in Milan twenty years ago as a counter-point to the fast food industry. Slow Food promotes appreciation of fine cuisine using regional foods, served in an unhurried atmosphere where family and friends can relax and enjoy life in the slow lane.

A delicious Slow Food entrée at Don Emiliano’s is the Filete Nicolasa. A wonderful tenderloin of Chihuahua beef prepared with a seared crust of dried chiles, leaving the meat tender and juicy on the inside. It comes centered on a platter of red hibiscus flower sauce garnished with apple slices sautéed in tequila caramel. This dish will destroy any fantasy you ever had about vegetarianism. Another is the Filete Eredira. “A Chihuahua beef tenderloin bathed with scented ten chile oil and garlic flakes.” The filet comes served on a bed of blue masa (cornmeal) stuffed with seven different of mushrooms of the forty-nine varieties found in Mexico.

A specialty dish is the Chile Relleno San Jose – A large mild Ancho Chile (dark red, toasted nut flavor) stuffed with medium shrimp in an angelic goat cheese and wine white sauce. A dish worth fighting over. Lamb Mixiote is from a pre-Hispanic recipe. Lamb stew meat is steeped in a light salsa verde and served in a Maguey skin (Tequila plant) paper wrapping which comes from a small village in Mexico.

Try the Espiral con Mole de Pollo de Pistache – a delicious dish featuring Chicken crepes in a tantalizing pistachio mole. Seafood offerings include Atun Encendido - a charcoal seared tuna covered with a light vinaigrette and a favorite - Camarones la Tequilera. Large prawns sautéed in a creamy tequila enhanced white sauce. Some “Slow Food” dishes can take up to four days to prepare. Try to not be in a hurry when dining here so you can slow down, savor and enjoy Doña Salinas' fine culinary art, the paintings, music and your friends.

Prices range from 20 to 36 dollars for main courses, 7 to 20 dollars for appetizers, soups and salads. Parties up to 150 persons can be accommodated.

Reviewed by David Mandich - May 8, 2005