It was 2010 when New York chef Eric Werner macheted his way through the lush jungle to create what was destined to become one of Tulum’s most popular restaurants, and an inspiration for the evolving local culinary scene. Werner back then aspired to build a wood-fired shrine to locally sourced seafood and the flavours of the Mexican land, and in the last 12 years very little has changed. During high season it is next to impossible to get a table in this rustic first-come-first-served tropical joint, although nowadays you can make reservations via email, but that is at least for one month ahead. The menu rotates daily and Werner himself writes the evening’s dishes on a chalkboard, as he depends completely on local seafood and produce. “Throughout the week, we travel hours into the interior of the Yucatan to markets and farms where we collect ingredients that allow us to offer our customer a new and exciting taste of a community that has existed for centuries”, as the people of the restaurant state. Sustainability is a key element in every practise regarding the restaurant, with solar panels producing clean energy, waste becoming 100% organic compost, used to regenerate the mangrove environment and the interior farming, and all cooking done using open fire in Hartwood’s artisanal wood burning oven and grill.