Where's the farm to table food near Cartagena?
Ours is 25 minutes away by boat, on the island of Tierra Bomba. We cook mostly with local things, we're serious about where the meat comes from, and we're a 20-minute crossing from the Walled City rather than a table on a street in it. That's the trade. Here's what you actually get for it.
Who's cooking
Our kitchen was built by Chef Silvestre Saiz Cortazar, born and trained in Ibiza and raised in the kitchens of Bogotá. Pedro Mosqueda has taken over as Executive Chef. He trained under Jean-Georges before coming home to cook with what the islands actually grow, which is a shorter way of saying he could be doing something more glamorous somewhere colder and chose not to.
What "farm to table" means when you're on an island
Mostly, local things. We're conscientious about what we buy and what you put in your body. The meat we serve is sustainably raised and ethically treated, including how far the animal travelled, which is not a small consideration on the Caribbean coast.
What it doesn't mean is a menu of fried fish and coconut rice, which is what an island day usually gets you around here. We take the eating seriously. It's the reason people book the boat over rather than treating lunch as the thing that happens between swims.
The wine list, which we're smug about
We were the first beach club in Cartagena to have a wine list, so we'll start there. Yes, we sell rosé by the magnum. Our cocktails are made with fresh juices, and most of our gins, rums and other spirits are chosen rather than inherited from a distributor's catalogue.
You can pre-order wine for your meal through our restaurant staff. You cannot bring your own bottle. Outside alcohol isn't permitted, tequila included, and the only exception is a full privatisation of the place, where we charge corkage.
Vegetarian, vegan, gluten, lactose
A lot of us have been vegetarian or vegan at some point, so there's a proper offering for non-meat eaters rather than a grilled vegetable afterthought. We know how many of you are lactose or gluten intolerant. Tell us when you book and it's handled.
Eating with us if you're not staying the night
You're welcome. The restaurant is open to people who aren't hotel guests, and guests from other properties on the island come over too. You'll need a day pass to come in, because the restaurant sits inside the beach club rather than on a public street.
The kitchen runs from 10am to 11pm. The beach club takes day visitors from 11am to 6pm. Dinner is the quieter version of this place: the day crowd has gone back on the 5:30pm boat and the tables by the water are candlelit because there isn't much else out there to light them.
Groups
For 10 or more we do a set lunch menu at US $45 per person, and the menus are on our website. For 13 or more you'll need to contact us directly and we'll agree the menu before you arrive. This isn't bureaucracy for its own sake. We're on an island, everything arrives by boat, and a table of 20 deciding at 1pm is a genuinely different problem here than it is on land.
We don't do all-you-can-eat or an all-inclusive bar. Full board with all food and soft drinks is US $90 per person per night if you're staying.
Getting to lunch
Our boat leaves Muelle de la Bodeguita at 10am, 11:30am and 5pm, and the crossing is 25 minutes. Boats leave us at 4pm and 5:30pm. The 11:30am out and 4pm back is the classic lunch shape. Reserve rather than turning up, because the boat has a limited capacity and the wait for the next one is long.
One last thing: there's no phone signal on the island. Nobody at your table will be taking a call.