Having missed a wine tasting dinner hosted by Dawn Solomon and the Cabo Wine Club at Torote, we wanted to check out this new farm-to-table restaurant. Located in a new development, Valle de Sol created by John Buckley and Blanca Buckley, an eco-friendly community with one- and two-bedroom residences that have views of the marina and Land’s End as well as hiking trails through the mountains. Torote, the restaurant in Valle de Sol is under the direction of Chef Victor Garrido, who was at The Cape for the past seven years. The restaurant is surrounded by gardens where they grow most of the fresh herbs and vegetables that are used in the preparation of their menu items.

After traveling down some dirt roads at the back of El Tezal, arriving through the gates of Valle de Sol, you see the residences up along the hill and the restaurant almost directly in front of you. With valet parking at the entrance to the restaurant, we stepped through an archway to the desk where we were greeted by a hostess. The restaurant itself is on two floors, the first floor has the kitchen, a bar, dining tables, a small stage area for live music and a large pool. The second floor, with a great view of the Arches at Land’s End and the Sea of Cortez has three tables, a lounge area with fire pits and a second bar. This is where we were seated just in time to watch a spectacular sunset. We met our server, who introduced himself and delivered our menus. He also suggested a special mezcal cocktail to enjoy the sunset.

Tatiana, the manager of the restaurant introduced herself and offered to give me a tour of the property, along with a little history of Torote, which has been open for dinner for four months. We walked out the side of the first-floor dining area toward the gardens. One of the first things to see is a spectacular outdoor dining area with two large tables under the trees. Tatiana said that they had recently had a wedding at the restaurant and we in the process of building a chapel at the back of the garden to make this part of the service that they an offer their guests. We walked through the gardens as she pointed out the different herbs, vegetables and fruits being grown. There was even a big watermelon in one patch of the garden. She indicated that they also had relationships with farms to obtain some of their organic meats and order only the best lamb from Colorado and beef.