“There are plenty of good restaurants in the center,” one art gallery owner huffed, complaining about the popularity of the farm-based restaurants drawing tourists away from her downtown location. But you needn’t choose one or the other. We spent two highly agreeable afternoons at the idyllic organic farm restaurants outside San José, followed by strolls in the colonial city’s gallery-filled Art District.
Since it opened in 2010, Flora’s Field Kitchen, about 10 minutes outside San José, has blossomed into a destination restaurant. Its produce comes from the 10-acre farm surrounding the restaurant; meats come from Flora’s nearby ranch; and bread is baked on-site. Embraced by verdant gardens, dining tables are shaded either by a broad metal roof or umbrellas, and on the day we visited, a musician played a pleasing selection of jazz and pop. My margarita — made with fresh beet and ginger juices — felt almost healthful, and I enjoyed the simple, elevated cuisine just as much.
Pickled cauliflower and toasted almonds added a welcome crunch to a bright and finely textured cucumber soup with lemon cream, after which we relished fresh yellowfin tuna with buttery zucchini slices and velvety polenta. After lunch, we wandered through the gardens and indulged in dishes of house-made roasted-fennel ice cream from a stand near the entrance. The exquisite display of produce for sale made me wish we had a kitchen in our room. Cooking classes are also available.
Flora’s Field Kitchen
Las Animas Bajas. Tel. (52) 624-142-1000
Acre, which opened in late 2015 just down the road from Flora’s Field Kitchen, is larger, with 25 acres of gardens and fields, but quieter. Less well-known than its neighbor, Acre feels chic and contemporary, its rigidly orthogonal concrete exterior a striking contrast to the winding paths and mature palm-studded gardens surrounding it. Tables in the main dining area stand in the dappled shade of a roof of reeds. Fresh flowers decorate each place, and at our table were peach and white roses in a stoneware vase, an upgrade from the more-casual sunflower in a Mason jar at Flora’s.
Food presentations at Acre were also more formal. An appetizer of silky chicken-liver mousse came topped with a nest of red and purple edible flowers, crunchy chicken chicharrón crumbs, pickled onion and a fennel frond. More flowers speckled the top of my gorgeously fresh Kampachi, accompanied by caramelized spring onions and savory kale with soy sauce. And I loved a light dessert of passion fruit sorbet and sweet-potato chicharrón concealed within a cloud of rose-scented foam. Acre plans to open 12 rustic “Treehouse” guest accommodations this fall, and if the brochure is any indication, they won’t be suitable for upscale travelers. But I recommend the restaurant without hesitation.
Acre
Rincon de las Animas, Las Animas Bajas. Tel. (52) 624-171-8226
Andrew Harper members have access to full travel-planning services through Andrew Harper Travel.
1 (800) 375-4685
Open M-F 8:30AM-5:30PM CT
