After an absence since the pandemic Sabor a Cabo returned on December 2, 2023, to the driving range on Club Campestre Golf Course. This much anticipated event is a Festival of food and wine to showcase great food and drink in Los Cabos, organized by CANIRAC, the restaurant association of Los Cabos. The initial announcement of the event promised over 50 restaurants and 20 wineries would be participating along with entertainment by Juanes and DJ Khalid. With Juanes planned to go on stage at 9:00 pm, there was an after party that would run until 2:00 am as part of the festival.
Over time, information was released about additional components of Sabor a Cabo – a Chef’s Competition and Support for the Firefighters of Los Cabos.
As we live in Pueblo Campestre, it was quite amazing driving by and seeing the site being constructed, with a huge stage, tents for the restaurants and an entrance way. Just before the event, emails were sent about parking and shuttle service from the convention center across the road from Club Campestre.
THE GOOD
The physical layout of Sabor a Cabo was well planned and constructed. Entering at the top of the driving range, there were separate entrances for each class of ticket – general admission, VIP, Super VIP, stocks. Behind the entrance was a large Los Cabos sign with a view of the entire venue behind it. The wine section was right in the middle, with two rows with wine stores and wineries on each side. The restaurants and other vendors were in tents that went around the area. In the center behind the wine section was a large stage where the chef competition was staged with large screens to broadcast the process. Behind the food and wine area were the different seating (or standing) areas to view the concert.
The selection of wine and food was very good. Restaurants had the opportunity to showcase their cuisine with small plates of one or more of their specialties being offered to attendees. In the wine area, there were several staff behind each wine table to describe their wines, answer questions and provide tastes of their different varietals. Each restaurant was under a tent and brought all of the equipment that was needed to prepare and serve the food they had selected to showcase.
Throughout the wine and food area, there were ample tables and chairs to allow attendees to sit between visits to the food and wine booths to enjoy their offerings. Rather than having garbage bins spread around the area, staff in their black and white uniforms were constantly clearing the tables of any garbage from the tables and cleaning them off as people came and went. Music was played through the sound system to create the additional atmosphere for the event. Four hours were allocated for people to experience the food and wine before the concert by Juanes was to start.
Once, Juanes hit the stage, you could tell that there were lots of fans in venue as they sang along to almost every song.
THE BAD
As an early purchaser of tickets, there was little if any information about the details of the event on the website or social media. I was taken almost immediately to the purchase and checkout section of the website. As I was buying three tickets, I had to enter the information, including names and email addresses in separately for each of us. I never received anything other than a confirmation that I had paid.
When we arrived and went up to the entrance allocated to our class of tickets. They asked for our tickets. However, we had never received any – being one of the first to order. We were then taken to the information booth, where they looked up our order and names and got us the appropriate wrist bands.
Once our way into the Festival, our first stop was in the wine area. This is where we learned that we would have to buy wine glasses for $200 pesos to be able to have wine. Having attended dozens of wine and food festivals, this is the first time that we had to buy a glass after paying more than $400 US each for a ticket to attend.
While the food and wine was good, there were only 25 restaurant booths (photos of each are included). A few were restaurant groups that listed more than one restaurant and there were other booths for tequila, mezcal and beer companies, bottled water companies, Calgas, Cora Condominiums and a few more. The participating restaurants included: Omakai, La Ramona, NickSan, Dum, Sunset Mona Lisa (which listed Pan di Bacco, Jazz on the Rocks and Ufficio on its booth), Tamarindos, Nao, Breathless Resort and Spa, Jardin Secreto, Torote en Valle del Sol, Vegan Foodtruck, Zenna, Capital Sushi, Picato, Aleta, Casa Dorada, La Pampa, a grill, Mama Mia, Semillon, Grupo Baja Cantina, Cafe Con Pan Vikina, Wachinangos, Squid Roe, and a restaurant in the sand trap.
If you weren’t following Sabor a Cabo’s Facebook page, there was no information on the Chef Competition and there was no information available at the event. So even though we could see chefs on stage and judges on a stand, we didn’t know who they were, what they were preparing or who was judging them. Similarly, this was true for the commitment to the firefighters, which was announced on stage before the concert.
Juanes was to go on stage at 9:00 pm. However, it was at that time that the organizers went on stage to announce the winner of the Chef Competition, recognize government officials for their support and recognize the support for the firefighters.
As a result, the start of the concert by Juanes was delayed until 10:00 pm. Unfortunately, with the combination of stage smoke and the lighting of the stage, in most cases, it was impossible to see Juanes and the band performing.
THE UGLY
Desperation was clearly reigning among the organizers of the event. Several discounts (up to 30 %) were offered on the general admission tickets. It was also said that some tickets were sold for the concert only. The lesson – don’t buy in advance wait until it all goes on sale. For those of us who purchased premium tickets, this was a slap in the face. As the concert started, a very large group of people were led to the front (in front of the super VIP section) to stand and watch the concert.
Overall, in hindsight was Sabor a Cabo worth the price? We will have a better comparison as we attend the Gastrovino Festival in Todos Santos tomorrow (December 10th) at Santa Terra behind Oystera. This event offers over 20 restaurants and wineries. Tickets purchased in advance were $1350 pesos (compared to $6000 pesos for general admission, which include 7 wine tastings, with a commerative wine glass and 5 food tastings. Additional wine and food tasting tickets are available for purchase.
For more information on Sabor a Cabo visit their website at https://www.saboracabo.com/ and visit them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/saboracabooficial
