Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - Taste Restaurant@Casa Cupula has re-opened for the season with a new commitment to satisfying your hunger without guilt.

Chef Oscar Rito is forging in a new direction, sourcing local and organic ingredients for the freshest food that tastes so good it’s hard to believe it's healthy. The three "Taste" dinner menu is only $269 pesos, so prices are accessible and diners won’t feel guilty about breaking their budgets.

Taste is also introducing a new website at taste.com.mx, where you’ll find a new menu with many new dishes to complement all of your old favorites.

"We believe that respecting our clients health goes beyond the cleanliness of our kitchen, all the way to where the ingredients are grown or raised" said Chef Rito. "We spent the summer seeking out the best local sources of farm-fresh, organically raised, quality ingredients which are featured in many of our new menu items."

A good example is Rito’s new Grilled lobster, with Tuito Arrayan Jam and toasted Tortillas.

The dish represents three regions of the bay. The lobster is from La Cruz, in a good size that allows us to offer it at a great price. It is cooked on the grill and lightly smoked in the traditional method of Zarandeado. Caramelized with homemade jelly from the Arrayan (mytle in English), a typical local fruit which grows in our mountains.

Toasted tortillas are also typical of the region. When toasted, the tortilla inflates creating a unique texture. It is covered with fresh cheese produced in the magical village of El Tuito. The entire dish is accompanied by locally grown microgreens from Pro Riviera Microgreens. These unique, fresh, and nutritious green sprouts are known for their color and high vitamin and mineral content, and may include beets, arugula, cilantro, or corn.

Each of our dishes use local products and non-industrialized, fresh ingredients produced by the hands of the workers and offering them directly from their place of origin, to our plate, at your table.

Chef Rito

According to the FDA, "food-animal antibiotic consumption dwarfs human medical use by a ratio of 4:1." While pesticides and chemicals used on our foods are supposed to be safe, "organic produce carries significantly fewer pesticide residues than does conventional produce," according to the USDA. Organic meats like chicken, pork and beef are hormone-free.

Beyond that, Rito recognizes that supporting local purveyors not only contributes to the local economy, but provides fresher ingredients. Furthermore, it is environmentally preferably to source, avoiding the costs and pollution from long distance transportation.

Rito is fast becoming one of Mexico’s most celebrated chefs. In Europe, he served in several Michelin 3 Star restaurants including what was considered by many as the world’s best restaurant - "El Bulli" - under Chef Ferran Adria in Catalonia, Spain. He graduated from the Culinary Institute of Mexico in Puebla, where he won several international competitions.

Chef Rito's notoriety has grown beyond Puerto Vallarta. Recently Taste Restaurant@CasaCupula was written up in the well known national publication "Mexico Desconocido," and he was a featured guest this month on TVC's Sazon Arte cooking show.

Rito was previously Executive Sous Chef at the Fiesta Americana Grand in Los Cabos, and at NH Hotels in Puebla and Mexico City. He is Chief Instructor at the Instituto de Gastronomia Franco Mexicana, and he founded theculinaryprojects.com catering in Puerto Vallarta. His second full season in residence at Taste is a great fit: international boutique tastes in an international luxury boutique hotel.

Taste’s kitchen space was doubled this summer, with new equipment for better quality production. New this season is poolside dining at night by torchlight at Casa Cupula’s newly renovated main pool deck. Clients may also request private dining in one of our new luxury pool cabanas, which are outfitted with tables for up to 4 diners at night.

Taste is open for dinner from 6-11 pm Monday to Saturday. A gourmet breakfast and lunch menu poolside are also available. Taste’s legendary Sunday Mimosa brunch is open to the public from 10 am - 2 pm.

Hours: Monday-Saturday Breakfast 9 am - noon
Lunch 12-5, Dinner 6-11
Sunday Brunch 10 am - 2 pm

Visit Taste at taste.com.mx for more information and online reservations.